Support NeoGAF

[Basileus777]

Exorcism was nerfed pretty significantly from the original. Before, you didn't need to kill an undead unit to cast exorcism on it and exorcism was a multi-target spell. Undead seem to revive more quickly than they used to as well.

 

[Jerk]

*flips the Necromancer off* Fuck you and fuck your "hardness," you ain't shit once I get proper MP gaining for exorcising your bitches and get the brid close enough to silence your ass/kill you with a finishing blow.

Had a few close calls and ate a mend leaf on one unit (IIRC) but finally after about 20 or so attempts I got through it AT THE START with maybe 5 level grinding battles before it and no one falling/dying.

Two level 7-8 warriors (Ramza/Main character is one)
Two level 6-7 archers (one of the new ones given to you by the freed dude in addition to a bought/stolen from a dead corpse Great Bow)
Two (three as guest) level 6-7 Clerics for Exorcising
One level 6-7 Rune Fencer with Heal/White Magic learned to use in a pinch on troubled units
Canopus level 6-7 Vartan for kicking the necromancers ass with a cross-bow and his default hand-axe finishing blow.

Finally. Now I can go back to the freed resistance dude and continue with the story. >_>

The fuck...

You know you could have completed almost everything else in the chapter and come back before the last mission right?

 

[Freyjadour]

Exorcism was nerfed pretty significantly from the original. Before, you didn't need to kill an undead unit to cast exorcism on it and exorcism was a multi-target spell. Undead seem to revive more quickly than they used to as well.

It wouldn't even be that bad if they didn't revive at FULL health. I've been blocked from completing two sidequests by a MASSIVE undead battle in Golyat and it has really pissed me off. Trying to move the story along as much as I can and retry later, but fuck. What am I supposed to do with a win condition of "Vanquish the Enemy" on a map of 20 Undead in Full Armor? Bring 6 Clerics?

 

[Basileus777]

It wouldn't even be that bad if they didn't revive at FULL health. I've been blocked from completing two sidequests by a MASSIVE undead battle in Golyat and it has really pissed me off. Trying to move the story along as much as I can and retry later, but fuck. What am I supposed to do with a win condition of "Vanquish the Enemy" on a map of 20 Undead in Full Armor? Bring 6 Clerics?

Buy a ton of exorcism scrolls, then any unit can exorcise them without worrying about MP. You should be able to afford it at that point in the game.

 

[Freyjadour]

Buy a ton of exorcism scrolls, then any unit can exorcise them. You should be able to afford it at that point in the game.

Maybe. In any case I'm done with it for now, the protection aspect of the battle has me irritated as well.

 

[Totakeke]

Undead battles are fine. What's wrong with some actual difficulty? They're undead! They're supposed to be scary and stuff. Bring some extra clerics if you have to, no one is forcing you to use the same characters every battle.

 

[Freyjadour]

Undead battles are fine. What's wrong with some actual difficulty? They're undead! They're supposed to be scary and stuff.

Get back to me when you get to the Undead sidequest in Chapter 4. The Chapter 1 Undead battle pales in comparison.

And you know, they're just another random spike in difficulty along with any number of different conditions thrown at you in a manner that is irritating at best that all SRPGs have that make me dislike the genre as a whole. It feels not well thought out and I'm not going to defend it with some inane statement like "what's wrong with difficulty".

Also I was joking about bring 6 Clerics, that's silly and suicide. Scrolls may work at higher levels however.

 

[Totakeke]

Get back to me when you get to the Undead sidequest in Chapter 4. The Chapter 1 Undead battle pales in comparison.

And you know, they're just another random spike in difficulty due to a number of different conditions thrown at you in a manner that is irritating at best that all SRPGs have that make me dislike the genre as a whole. It feels not well thought out and I'm not going to defend it with some inane statement like "what's wrong with difficulty".

Also I was joking about bring 6 Clerics, that's silly and suicide. Scrolls may work at higher levels however.

I beat it yesterday, it was tough but fine. I used 3 clerics. That was a sidequest and it was meant to be hard.

Oh! Let me complain about the lvl 20 enemy units sidequest in chapter 4 when I was only lvl 15. I beat it yesterday too. Should I complain that I needed to grind to beat that battle? No, I just went in with different setups and beat it at lvl 15.

 

[Freyjadour]

I beat it yesterday, it was fine. That was an optional battle and it was meant to be hard.

Oh! Let me complain about the lvl 20 enemy units optional battle in chapter 4 when I was only lvl 15. I beat it yesterday too. Should I complain that I needed to grind to beat that battle? No, I just went in with different setups and beat it at lvl 15.

Run across the map with level 15s and nuke the first condition while hoping to fuck you can resurrect and defend a god damn mage in the worst possible spot on the map from the AI that will absolutely most definitely target her first. Assuming you manage that, then deal with the 20 fully armored undead units that are already harassing your back units. Best hope you stockpiled a metric fuckton of exorcism scrolls as well because your unattended slow-shit Clerics are surely tasting death by now.

Whatever. If one aspect of the fight was different it would be manageable, but as is with the undead bullshit it is exceedingly frustrating. This is the sort of shit I don't mind seeing in a dungeon like Hell's Gate. That's as far as I'll give you.

You defend bad design with the old "challenge" trope and I'll move along and put another bullet point under the reasons I don't play SRPGs.

 

[Ben Morales]

Archers seem to do obscene damage to undead. Maybe bring a bunch of them and a couple clerics? I need to test this out and see how it works.

 

[Totakeke]

Run across the map with level 15s and nuke the first condition while hoping to fuck you can resurrect and defend a god damn mage in the worst possible spot on the map from the AI that will absolutely most definitely target her first. Assuming you manage that, then deal with the 20 fully armored undead units that are already harassing your back units. Best hope you stockpiled a metric fuckton of exorcism scrolls as well because your unattended slow-shit Clerics are surely tasting death by now.

Whatever. If one aspect of the fight was different it would be manageable, but as is with the undead bullshit it is exceedingly frustrating. This is the sort of shit I don't mind seeing in a dungeon like Hell's Gate. That's as far as I'll give you.

You defend bad design with the old "challenge" trope and I'll move along and put another bullet point under the reasons I don't play SRPGs.

It's a sidequest. Are you going to complain about any game that has optional content that you cannot complete without extra effort?

There are also a lot of extra methods like setting up a good defensive position while having units that are mobile enough to go in and take hits while you heal her to good amounts of health. But it's not like that matters now right? You already completed the battle and you're just unhappy about putting in the extra effort. I personally put in an extra hawkman in the battle that i almost never use except for these situations just to go in and take hits.

 

[Freyjadour]

Archers seem to do obscene damage to undead. Maybe bring a bunch of them and a couple clerics? I need to test this out and see how it works.

Usually yes. Someone on GameFAQs mentioned that the blue colored undead are zombified versions of your generic characters including gear? I dunno about that, but in any case these don't have the same soft/no-armor qualities that most of the Undead do. They're more or less regular units that have to be exorcised.

 

[Totakeke]

Usually yes. Someone on GameFAQs mentioned that the blue colored undead are zombified versions of your generic characters including gear? I dunno about that, but in any case these don't have the same soft/no-armor qualities that most of the Undead do. They're more or less regular units that have to be exorcised.

Blue units on that chapter 4 sidequest does not need to be exorcised. They just die. Maybe not all of them.

 

[Suzzopher]

Oh dear. Seems I forgot to cancel my UMD order and it just got dispatched. I was going to buy the digital version.

 

[duckroll]

You know what you two need to do?

 

[Ben Morales]

Speak of the devil (no pun intended), right after I post that I enter side quest battle in the woods of Chapter 3C with a bunch of undead! XD

Archers pwn the ghosts and my Rogue's dagger do INSANE damage (without Sneak Attack) to the skeletons.

By the way is it just me or is the Rogue class uber?

 

[Basileus777]

By the way is it just me or is the Rogue class uber?

I found them to be a poor man's Ninja.

But considering how nasty Ninja's are, that's still pretty good.

 

[ixix]

I finally abandoned all pretense of keeping a varied battle team and turned every single member of my squad into either a Knight or an Archer. Except Canopus, since Canopus has no need for my rules.

The sheer number of Rampart Auras and the traffic jam of the enemy vanguard that they cause make Brimstone Hail even better than it already was. I've gone from having some difficulty with most battles to absolutely steamrolling them. Not sure I'm terribly keen on how much the game seems to be rewarding me for taking such a singular focus.

 

[Totakeke]

I finally abandoned all pretense of keeping a varied battle team and turned every single member of my squad into either a Knight or an Archer. Except Canopus, since Canopus has no need for my rules.

The sheer number of Rampart Auras and the traffic jam of the enemy vanguard that they cause make Brimstone Hail even better than it already was. I've gone from having some difficulty with most battles to absolutely steamrolling them. Not sure I'm terribly keen on how much the game seems to be rewarding me for taking such a singular focus.

A lot of melee units that cannot learn Rampart Auras can still use them. I'd imagine you'd have problems against Golems, but there aren't too many of those anyway.

 

[ixix]

A lot of melee units that cannot learn Rampart Auras can still use them. I'd imagine you'd have problems against Golems, but there aren't too many of those anyway.

Yeah, I discovered that during my brief dalliance with a Dragoon. The main reason I went Knight is because I wanted all the experience to be given to a single class and Knight was my highest leveled frontliner. That and being able to heal.

Golems and Dragons are actually giving me less trouble now than ever before. Just gum them up in my auras and unleash Brimstone Hail and Dark Weight. Problem solved. There haven't been enough of them fielded in any of my fights so far to make finishers a non-viable way of dealing with them. S'pose that might change in the future.

 

[Shouta]

Archers seem to do obscene damage to undead. Maybe bring a bunch of them and a couple clerics? I need to test this out and see how it works.

I think Balder Bows especially +1s do more damage to undead than most regular bows. Canopus normally did less damage than Arycelle but only against undead would he do more.

 

[Jerk]

A lot of melee units that cannot learn Rampart Auras can still use them. I'd imagine you'd have problems against Golems, but there aren't too many of those anyway.

Yeah, the dragoon is a good example of this.

Also, I think I am going to start killing off 1~2 units in order to consolidate some skills/spells. Anyone know if skill points also transfer?

 

[Ben Morales]

I think Balder Bows especially +1s do more damage to undead than most regular bows. Canopus normally did less damage than Arycelle but only against undead would he do more.

That has to be it because that is exactly what I had equipped!

 

[aceface]

Buy a ton of exorcism scrolls, then any unit can exorcise them without worrying about MP. You should be able to afford it at that point in the game.

Wait wait wait...any character can use the magic scrolls as an item...and it has the same effect? *slaps forehead*

 

[Urban Scholar]

How goes the story for everyone thus far? Good? I doth declare this game is rather ballin'

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Two level 7-8 warriors (Ramza/Main character is one)
Two level 6-7 archers (one of the new ones given to you by the freed dude in addition to a bought/stolen from a dead corpse Great Bow)
Two (three as guest) level 6-7 Clerics for Exorcising
One level 6-7 Rune Fencer with Heal/White Magic learned to use in a pinch on troubled units
Canopus level 6-7 Vartan for kicking the necromancers ass with a cross-bow and his default hand-axe finishing blow.

All my characters were lvl 3....

The exorcise spell takes too much mp, considering how battles with undead units have a ton of them. You could always buy the arcana items to use, though.

Or you could buy MP restoration items, which are very cheap.

Seriously. Ravness even tells you not to be stingy with your money.

 

[Wazzim]

I didn´t play much until a bit today, hammers are really good in the beginning.

 

[MSIMagus]

Going back to the Undead/Necromancer battle early in the game I must say it was one of my biggest complaints with the game so far. I mean they toss that and the battle to save that lone girl at you pretty much back to back. Both of those battles are hella hard and the deck is just so stacked against you. Funny thing is after clearing those two battles the game has kind of been cake.

It certainly helps that you can grind without having to do anything Just turn all your characters to A.I and sit and play another game. They pretty much do everything for you, all you have to do is invest skill points and start a new battle after the current one is over. I did that yesterday to get past a tough battle, I just let my characters grind for me while I played Lara Croft and the Guardian of light! Every once and awhile id look down and have to press X because a caster had text for their spell or to start a new battle.

Over all I am enjoying this game a good amount, but still vastly prefer FFT.

 

[MSIMagus]

I didn´t play much until a bit today, hammers are really good in the beginning.

I can agree to that! I will also toss out that 2 hand weapons are much more effective in this game then most others. It seems like most games if you equip a two handed weapon you get like a 10-20% power increase where as in this it seemed like my damage pretty much doubled.

 

[Yuterald]

Going back to the Undead/Necromancer battle early in the game I must say it was one of my biggest complaints with the game so far. I mean they toss that and the battle to save that lone girl at you pretty much back to back. Both of those battles are hella hard and the deck is just so stacked against you. Funny thing is after clearing those two battles the game has kind of been cake.

The necromancer battle in Chapter 1 is optional though, right? Optional stuff should never be taken into account when judging the raw difficulty/challenge of a game. If the side/extra stuff is tough as shit, it's cool. If it's not challenging and just filler, oh well.

I am not the biggest fan still of the suicidal AI in guest battles either, but that's what the WORLD system and CHARIOT system come into play. At least they added these subsystems so if the player cared to use them they could rectify poor decisions either made by you or the AI. I've been playing the game trying to go for zero deaths, incapacitations, and chariot uses and some battles have been a real problem. But I am the one making the problems, making the game harder.

You can easily get through this game stress free if you don't care about saving everyone or tarnishing your Warren Report. As I have said, that's what the WORLD system is there for. It's there so you can go back post game and recruit anyone that may have died or those you may have missed on a different route. That's what makes this remake God-tier and why it's better than a lot of games out there. FFT is bad ass and all, but it all came from Tactics Ogre.

 

[MSIMagus]

The necromancer battle in Chapter 1 is optional though, right? Optional stuff should never be taken into account when judging the raw difficulty/challenge of a game. If the side/extra stuff is tough as shit, it's cool. If it's not challenging and just filler, oh well.

I am not the biggest fan still of the suicidal AI in guest battles either, but that's what the WORLD system and CHARIOT system come into play. At least they added these subsystems so if the player cared to use them they could rectify poor decisions either made by you or the AI. I've been playing the game trying to go for zero deaths, incapacitations, and chariot uses and some battles have been a real problem. But I am the one making the problems, making the game harder.

You can easily get through this game stress free if you don't care about saving everyone or tarnishing your Warren Report. As I have said, that's what the WORLD system is there for. It's there so you can go back post game and recruit anyone that may have died or those you may have missed on a different route. That's what makes this remake God-tier and why it's better than a lot of games out there. FFT is bad ass and all, but it all came from Tactics Ogre.

I disagree. First off I do not think they always do the best job of making it clear its optional since it is often on a direct path. Second off it is never clear if you can come back and do these quests later or not. Third in some battles like the one to save the girl even using the chariot system it can be a major pain, the enemies all still want to attack her and you are still so far away from her. Fourth I disagree that the world system is effective, I would much rather have a new game + and I know I have seen many others make the same comment. Finally if you mean to say TO is better because it came first I disagree with that premise. Which game came first should have no hand in deciding quality of a game.

 

[TheSeks]

The fuck...

You know you could have completed almost everything else in the chapter and come back before the last mission right?

Yes. But really the difficulty isn't that hard if you have proper defense. The undead units with the shit 34 MP requirement to finally "kill" them is fucking stupid and what makes it hard at the start.

The Necromancer himself isn't shit. If you have a proper "haste"/fast unit you can get up there and smack him in the ass in two turns. The problem becomes getting up there while getting past his units and making sure they don't revive to stab you in the back.

 

[joelseph]

So skills learned don't carry over when you respec? Like I can't switch my wizard into a cleric and have them cast cleric spells and wizard spells? Seems kind of odd if true.

 

[Skilletor]

So skills learned don't carry over when you respec? Like I can't switch my wizard into a cleric and have them cast cleric spells and wizard spells? Seems kind of odd if true.

I don't think it's odd. It keeps you from making uber homogeneous characters. It makes you strategize exactly which units you want to take into battle with you.

 

[Yuterald]

I disagree. First off I do not think they always do the best job of making it clear its optional since it is often on a direct path. Second off it is never clear if you can come back and do these quests later or not. Third in some battles like the one to save the girl even using the chariot system it can be a major pain, the enemies all still want to attack her and you are still so far away from her. Fourth I disagree that the world system is effective, I would much rather have a new game + and I know I have seen many others make the same comment. Finally if you mean to say TO is better because it came first I disagree with that premise. Which game came first should have no hand in deciding quality of a game.

I just figured if the battle was too difficult then most players would check out the other path, make progress, and see that the story continues to move. It's not like the necromancer battle is in the only option available.

The games manual clearly explains that the player can return to old battles through the WORLD system. I guess if you got the digital copy you are a shit out of luck. Still though, if you are on the internet or read reviews, EVERYONE has been saying you can return to old battles, etc. It's not like it's the 90s and you may or may not have the internet to find out about these things. I guess if you went full media blackout on the game then you wouldn't understand or expect these problems, but who the fuck does that anymore?

I will agree that an actual new game+ would have be nice because you can screw yourself out of some Titles. The no death/chariot use ones have to be done on one playthrough as the WORLD system does not let you alter anything registered on the Warren Report. Implementing a new game+ with the WORLD system somehow would have been ideal.

I am just trying to say that Tactics Ogre was the foundation for a lot of things and FFT undeniably drew a lot from that game.

 

[TheSeks]

So skills learned don't carry over when you respec?

Wait... what? I have to relearn Anatomy and Swords and all that if I change classes?

That's... stupid. :/

It's not like the necromancer battle is in the only option available.

No, but it is red/"story battle"d. Which does make some people think it's required.

It's just shit design all around, man.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

I disagree. First off I do not think they always do the best job of making it clear its optional since it is often on a direct path.

It's only unclear if you subscribe to common videogame tropes.

Normally if a game tells you that you have the option of going forward or retreating they will either give you an obvious dialogue choice or the game is linear so you are forced down one road.

Stuff like this fight is more akin to the Millennia Trial or

Spoiler

death of Chrono

in Chrono Trigger where you always have a choice, but you make that choice through playing the game normally.

And frankly, I think that is way better picking an option from a static menu.

 

[hiro4]

Finally mine is shipped.
Hopefully I can run it on CFW.

 

[joelseph]

I don't think it's odd. It keeps you from making uber homogeneous characters. It makes you strategize exactly which units you want to take into battle with you.

I think it is odd due to the fact that the caster growth options (spells/skills) seems very limited. ie. My wizard can cast a bolt or an indirect spell. Now I am only in the start of chapter 2 so maybe more stuff gets added but it just seems restrictive.

 

[epmode]

The games manual clearly explains that the player can return to old battles through the WORLD system. I guess if you got the digital copy you are a shit out of luck.

Just FYI, PSN users get a software manual. It's annoying to navigate but it's there!

 

[Totakeke]

Yeah, I discovered that during my brief dalliance with a Dragoon. The main reason I went Knight is because I wanted all the experience to be given to a single class and Knight was my highest leveled frontliner. That and being able to heal.

Golems and Dragons are actually giving me less trouble now than ever before. Just gum them up in my auras and unleash Brimstone Hail and Dark Weight. Problem solved. There haven't been enough of them fielded in any of my fights so far to make finishers a non-viable way of dealing with them. S'pose that might change in the future.

I don't know about your Golems, but my front lines are pretty much decimated if the golems decide to use their Raven Eyes twice in a row.

Wait... what? I have to relearn Anatomy and Swords and all that if I change classes?

That's... stupid. :/

Not true, the unit always maintains the skills that he already learned, the only question is whether the new class can use it, it doesn't even have to meet the level requirements.

 

[Yaweee]

Wait... what? I have to relearn Anatomy and Swords and all that if I change classes?

That's... stupid. :/

That is incorrect. You KEEP every skill you learn, and nearly all of the basic passives are usable by every class (the racial bonuses, stat bonuses, elemental magics, etc.)

Special Skills, Class Skills, and SOME of the passives have restrictions (Hold square and tab over to see the full list and level restrictions). This is mostly restricted to things like ranged units not getting Rampart, and Knights not getting Ranged bonuses. However, this just greys the skills out; they'll be reusable if you switch to a race that can use them.

Individual spells have various class and level restrictions, as well, which you can again Tab over to. Clerics can't use elemental offensive magic, and Wizards can't use Divine healing magic, but there are plenty of classes that can fill that gap. Basically, the starter classes, (sans Rune Fencer) are the basic non-hybrid classes that only do one thing well, but there are later classes that do multiple things very well.

Juggernauts= Berserkers with Lances and 5 Move
Familiars = Clerics with attack magic and ranged weapons, but not Exorcism
Terror Knights = Knights with Debuff Magic

For what it's worth, Divine and Dark magics are technically the same "type", and can't be equipped together, which explains how the Familiar class is used for both Fairies and Gremlins.

No, but it is red/"story battle"d. Which does make some people think it's required.

It's just shit design all around, man.[/QUOTE

The moment you go back to town it advances the plot, doesn't it? It's kind of hard to spend much time preparing without realizing that, unless you are literally walking back and forth across just those two squares.

 

[MSIMagus]

I just figured if the battle was too difficult then most players would check out the other path, make progress, and see that the story continues to move. It's not like the necromancer battle is in the only option available.

The games manual clearly explains that the player can return to old battles through the WORLD system. I guess if you got the digital copy you are a shit out of luck. Still though, if you are on the internet or read reviews, EVERYONE has been saying you can return to old battles, etc. It's not like it's the 90s and you may or may not have the internet to find out about these things. I guess if you went full media blackout on the game then you wouldn't understand or expect these problems, but who the fuck does that anymore?

I will agree that an actual new game+ would have be nice because you can screw yourself out of some Titles. The no death/chariot use ones have to be done on one playthrough as the WORLD system does not let you alter anything registered on the Warren Report. Implementing a new game+ with the WORLD system somehow would have been ideal.

I am just trying to say that Tactics Ogre was the foundation for a lot of things and FFT undeniably drew a lot from that game.

I was less referring to the Necro battle then I was referring to the battle to save the girl.

I understand what the world system is and how it works. However I disagree that being able to go back with it is the same as being able to make the choice/win the battle the first time around. I would much rather be able to play straight through the game.

Also media black out is more common then I think you realize. I do it with a lot of games(I did not with this one)and the older I get the more I do it. It seems like the internet is ruining games for a lot of people. It makes us feel the need to buy a game day 1, to compare games to other games, to know every little thing about the game before it is released and many other bad things. I think it makes people enjoy games less and less because they focus on the experience less and less. I also think you fail to realize that many people do not constantly have internet access. Tactics Ogre was bought by me to be a game I could play on the couch while my wife is watching netflix and that I could play in bed when she is ready to fall asleep and I am not. Neither of those situations gives me constant access to the internet. You then also have kids who play on the bus ride home or while sitting and waiting an hour for their football practice to start, adults who have to take a train/subway home and many many other types of people. Another example I guess would be that as I type this my wife called and informed me she will need a surgery on her ear for an issue she has been having. That will mean I spend a night and day in the hospital without net accese.

As for FFT vs TO. Yes FFT borrowed much from TO, but I think FFT did everything from story to skill system better then not just the original TO but the GBA, PSX and now this one.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Red means unexplored territory, not story battle.

Edit: Not unexplored, rather, unconquered.

 

[MSIMagus]

It's only unclear if you subscribe to common videogame tropes.

Normally if a game tells you that you have the option of going forward or retreating they will either give you an obvious dialogue choice or the game is linear so you are forced down one road.

Stuff like this fight is more akin to the Millennia Trial or

Spoiler

death of Chrono

in Chrono Trigger where you always have a choice, but you make that choice through playing the game normally.

And frankly, I think that is way better picking an option from a static menu.

I would agrue that many gaming tropes are gaming tropes for a reason. They often make the game more enjoyable to the mass majority. That said do not get me wrong, TO is not a game intended for those people and we need games like TO who cater to games that kick your ass and do not explain nearly enough

I am just blowing off a bit of steam and my main point was less about TO being bad for the reasons we are currently discussing and more saying it was a good game that hammered you with a few tough options far too early.

 

[Dogfacedgod]

I had trouble with that one as well. It was mentioned somewhere earlier in the thread, but the only trick I found to work was to unequip Vyce (you can also unequip Leonar or both of them). In this example, Vyce now moved first and then distracted most of the ranged units that were problematic so that I could get a knight with heal within five squares of her. Apparently, the AI knows to go after low-hanging fruit, so someone with no armor becomes the more attractive target as opposed to Cistina.

If that doesn't help you can always just choose the second option so that you don't have to save her.

After two random battles to level up a bit I saved her and moved on.

 

[Yaweee]

Nearing the end of chapter 3, so here are some thoughts and comments regarding the game:


- The story is still very good, and I like the non-linearities, but I prefer FFT's style more. FFT just feels so much more cinematic with how it uses the camera and sprite animations. Something that used those aspects of FFT, plus TOs amazing portraits, would be phenomenal.

- I like leveling classes separately. It only takes a few battles to bring a unit up to viability due to the huge exp/kill bonus given to units lower than the average enemy level, and I've always loved the joy of quickly leveling units starting from 1.

- Music is fantastic, especially all of the old OB music that they brought back for random battles (I love the wildwoods)

- The game focuses more on battle tactics than customization requirements. You can get by story missions with almost any type of composition, as long as you can deal decent damage without letting your ranged guys get ransacked. Side missions, however, are far more demanding (a 6v6 battle against 4/5/6 dragons? good luck archer teams) and interesting.

- I'm okay with the game's difficulty level. I don't care how often I see the Game Over screen, or how much time gets wasted when I see it. What I want is a game that forces me to think out my moves during battle and make it feel like my individual movements matter, and they do. It's satisfying seeing slight changes in my positioning change my hit %, or that I can build successful walls to protect my healers, lowbies, and recruiters still charging TP.

- The interface is a bit of a disaster, but doesn't hamper things too much. Of all the past complaints, here is a new one: If you can only equip ten skills, why not shrink the font ever-so-slightly that they could be on the screen at the same time? I end up un-equipping Counterattack 1 by placing Counterattack 2, and vice versa =(

- The crafting system is simply the worst I've ever seen. If anybody can think of one worse, please share, because I can't think of anything.

- Overall, I'm enjoying the customization, class, and recruiting mechanics more than I did in FFT or any other SRPG. I'm up to around 40 party members and 31 classes, and I'm constantly switching various classes in one or two at a time to level them, and I like the vast majority of them. (Anything with healing or Field Alchemy and a slingshot can help even at low levels)

 

[webrunner]

Wait a sec

Squeenix

Squeenix

IT WAS WRITTEN FROM THE BEGINNING

 

[MSIMagus]

There is something incredibly satisfying about killing an enemy with a stone

 

[Soulhouf]

Wait a sec

Squeenix

Squeenix

IT WAS WRITTEN FROM THE BEGINNING

I see what you did there.