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[killatopak]

When I sampled it on GP, the one thing I didn't like about it was when you move from room to room, the enemies always come right back even if you just cleared them. I got tired of seeing multiple paths, taking one to follow it to the end, come back and have those slow fights all over again.

That’s not true iirc. They respawn if you leave the entire area not just the room. An area can cover dozens of rooms.

 

[StueyDuck]

It's almost as good as chrono trigger...

What more needs to be said.

It's not though, but almost is, we don't get almost anymore in gaming.

 

[StueyDuck]

Ouch :/. I don't understand that as a design choice, then. Maybe to prevent the player from ending up under-leveled before reaching a boss? But then you would think, bosses could have ways of being beaten with a variety of strategies.

Or, if the player needs to grind a bit, it wouldn't be too hard for them to realize that and they wouldn't have to go far to do so.

There is no permadeath in battle. Your characters resurrect after 3 or so rounds depending on your build.

That's how they offset the escape so you are never in a position where you can't do anything, you lose from poor battle planning. (The one thing to say about the game is its too easy, you'll barely ever be "underlevelled")

 

[Sleepwalker]

Get star ocean instead

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

That’s not true iirc. They respawn if you leave the entire area not just the room. An area can cover dozens of rooms.

Okay that makes more sense.

There is no permadeath in battle. Your characters resurrect after 3 or so rounds depending on your build.

That's how they offset the escape so you are never in a position where you can't do anything, you lose from poor battle planning. (The one thing to say about the game is its too easy, you'll barely ever be "underlevelled")

Do they resurrect with partial or full HP and MP? TBH that does make it sound like battles are too easy (especially if you can't really avoid triggering them anyway, so you never "miss out" on fighting opponents and never end up under-leveled).

Granted easy battles aren't that bad if the mechanics are fun and the story's strong, and/or exploration is a big focus. I've been teasing maybe picking the game up sometime down the line tho FWIW, I haven't played Chrono Trigger either (well, not beyond the early parts, but this was a long time ago) and between the two it seems I'd be better off with Sea of Stars first to save the better experience after.

 

[SantaC]

Get star ocean instead

I am playing star ocean now and it is 10x better.

 

[Synless]

It's almost as good as chrono trigger...

What more needs to be said.

It's not though, but almost is, we don't get almost anymore in gaming.

It doesn’t hold a candle to Chrono Trigger. It’s not close at all, not even a country mile.

 

[StueyDuck]

Okay that makes more sense.



Do they resurrect with partial or full HP and MP? TBH that does make it sound like battles are too easy (especially if you can't really avoid triggering them anyway, so you never "miss out" on fighting opponents and never end up under-leveled).

Granted easy battles aren't that bad if the mechanics are fun and the story's strong, and/or exploration is a big focus. I've been teasing maybe picking the game up sometime down the line tho FWIW, I haven't played Chrono Trigger either (well, not beyond the early parts, but this was a long time ago) and between the two it seems I'd be better off with Sea of Stars first to save the better experience after.

they come back with less HP/MP but you obviously get items later in the game that can change that as well as items you can use in battle to revive a character instantly.

it's definitely not as good as chrono trigger but if you like the idea of an TB system with input triggers, like a mario rpg, then it'll keep your attention, it starts off a little slow and it's a little too easy those are the two biggest complaints you'll get from those who have actually played the game (some of the comments in this thread are so outrageous that i'm pretty sure people haven't actually played this game).

There is definitely more to the battle system then just press X to attack like some in here are painting it, if you are to do that in the game you will lose many fights, the battle system only really opens up fully once you get a 4th party member and all the lock systems start to make sense instead of just being an obstacle it becomes a puzzle.

It has old school exploration and has many little secrets and hidden areas as well as a True ending for 100% completion, it's pretty much anything an old school RPG gamer would expect.

I'd say pick it up, it's also on both sub services, so it's easy to try.

I will say anecdotally speaking, in my old long time friend group who all grew up with me playing SNES/PS1 RPG classics, everyone i know who has played this game has either enjoyed it or loved it. I am really confused at the arbitrary hate it gets on here.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Ouch :/. I don't understand that as a design choice, then. Maybe to prevent the player from ending up under-leveled before reaching a boss? But then you would think, bosses could have ways of being beaten with a variety of strategies.

Or, if the player needs to grind a bit, it wouldn't be too hard for them to realize that and they wouldn't have to go far to do so.

There is no need to grind. Just fighting 90% of the enemies you’ll find in your way will get you all the exp you need and then some.

And no, there’s no variety of strategies against bosses. The game isn’t that flexible, and the lock system will often interrupt whatever strategy you may have been planning, making you just rush to break the locks on the boss’s attack to prevent it from being used.

Quite ironically, the more advanced and aggressive the boss, the most repetitive the battle usually gets.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

they come back with less HP/MP but you obviously get items later in the game that can change that as well as items you can use in battle to revive a character instantly.

it's definitely not as good as chrono trigger but if you like the idea of an TB system with input triggers, like a mario rpg, then it'll keep your attention, it starts off a little slow and it's a little too easy those are the two biggest complaints you'll get from those who have actually played the game (some of the comments in this thread are so outrageous that i'm pretty sure people haven't actually played this game).

There is definitely more to the battle system then just press X to attack like some in here are painting it, if you are to do that in the game you will lose many fights, the battle system only really opens up fully once you get a 4th party member and all the lock systems start to make sense instead of just being an obstacle it becomes a puzzle.

It has old school exploration and has many little secrets and hidden areas as well as a True ending for 100% completion, it's pretty much anything an old school RPG gamer would expect.

I'd say pick it up, it's also on both sub services, so it's easy to try.

I will say anecdotally speaking, in my old long time friend group who all grew up with me playing SNES/PS1 RPG classics, everyone i know who has played this game has either enjoyed it or loved it. I am really confused at the arbitrary hate it gets on here.

Great & detailed write-up, I appreciate that. Battle system-wise I just like stuff where you have to put some real thought into what you're doing; whether or not there are active button elements doesn't necessarily matter to me. Sounds like thankfully this game does have regular battles where you need to be mindful of strengths & weaknesses, so on and so forth.

That 'lock' system doesn't sound great though; I've watched some footage and a brief read-up makes it out to remind me of the Press Turn system in the SMT and Persona games. Just, without being necessarily outright punished for not exploiting enemy weaknesses? I can see how it might limit combat options though since it seems like it funnels towards using specific types of attacks to gain an advantage.

I've been catching up on a lot of JRPGs I missed out on and am a pretty big fan of the old-school ones I've played up to this point (Lodoss Tou-Senki, Phantasy Star IV, Okage, almost done with Lunar 2 EBC (pre-Epilogue) right now, etc.), so between things like what you've written and some of the footage I've seen, seems I should give this game a shot.

There is no need to grind. Just fighting 90% of the enemies you’ll find in your way will get you all the exp you need and then some.

And no, there’s no variety of strategies against bosses. The game isn’t that flexible, and the lock system will often interrupt whatever strategy you may have been planning, making you just rush to break the locks on the boss’s attack to prevent it from being used.

Quite ironically, the more advanced and aggressive the boss, the most repetitive the battle usually gets.

Yeah it seems maybe the one thing that might be an issue for me is the Lock system, but I don't honestly necessarily mind there being a puzzle element to battles. If it's in moderation of course, and preferably flexible enough to where a number of solutions are viable (which doesn't quite seem is the case with boss battles going by what you're saying).