So is the only town this boring first town I keep coming back to? I just don't think I get the appeal of this game. Story isn't driving anything, combat difficulty spikes out of nowhere, and nothing really interesting to explore. What am I missing? Surely there is something here? I'm about 3 hours in by the way... just past where the demo ended. Talk me out of trading this in!
I realize it's intentional but damn I can't help but really really want to be able to use one more character in battle.
One person always defending, one for healing and making a contract, and the third for attacking/whispering shard using was a decent plan up until I got my second singing shard... How do I juggle all this when my enemies have the advantages from contracts plus there's more of them?
I like this game. Whenever I enter a new area it makes me really earn my wins, haha.
That just isn't going to cut it against a lot of enemy groups. I think you'd be better off doing a Support strike to kill the weaker enemies before they get a chance to act. There's a lot going on with the battle system and formation/stance mechanics.
QUESTION: What triggers new maps getting added to the shop? Be vague. I have 4 areas accessible now.
I realize it's intentional but damn I can't help but really really want to be able to use one more character in battle.
One person always defending, one for healing and making a contract, and the third for attacking/whispering shard using was a decent plan up until I got my second singing shard... How do I juggle all this when my enemies have the advantages from contracts plus there's more of them?
I like this game. Whenever I enter a new area it makes me really earn my wins, haha.
Yeah, Filmia got Bombard which is immensely helpful. I just need to find the Singing Shard for Air to mitigate the SP usage, haha.
I got the Fire one already which I think might have been out of order? I'm not sure. Progress is very nonlinear in this game.
Yeah, Filmia got Bombard which is immensely helpful. I just need to find the Singing Shard for Air to mitigate the SP usage, haha.
I got the Fire one already which I think might have been out of order? I'm not sure. Progress is very nonlinear in this game.
I'm guessing this means you've tried the boat with no luck? I got my healing items off of the middle-tier boat, and its pretty quick to go and come back.
I am skipping using the boat on my initial run through the game. Kind of felt like it would break the balance big time in the first half of the game based on my experience from the demo. That has worked out fairly well outside of access to better healing items.
During a fight against one of the giant birds (which took at least 15 minutes) I tested out all ten of the different sword skills one of my characters has multiple times. I still don't understand why there are so many and what the difference is between them in most cases.
For example, I have five different 0 cost skills (slice, cut, cheap shot, wild swing, crescent slash) that have attack values of 4, 3, 2, 4, & 2. Is there any reason to not simply focus on using one of the 4 attack value skills to level it up while ignoring all the others?
For example, I have five different 0 cost skills (slice, cut, cheap shot, wild swing, crescent slash) that have attack values of 4, 3, 2, 4, & 2. Is there any reason to not simply focus on using one of the 4 attack value skills to level it up while ignoring all the others?
If I read correctly, different skills have different chances of unlocking certain skills. And using some skills is the only way to unlock some of the skills. I could be wrong.
During a fight against one of the giant birds (which took at least 15 minutes) I tested out all ten of the different sword skills one of my characters has multiple times. I still don't understand why there are so many and what the difference is between them in most cases.
For example, I have five different 0 cost skills (slice, cut, cheap shot, wild swing, crescent slash) that have attack values of 4, 3, 2, 4, & 2. Is there any reason to not simply focus on using one of the 4 attack value skills to level it up while ignoring all the others?
There are three physical damage attributes: Slash, Bash, and Pierce.
Slice is Slash, Cut is Pierce, Cheap Shot is Pierce, Wild Swing is Slash, and Crescent Slash is Slash (you can press L/R in battle to read the descriptions when selecting attacks and see what it says). Different skills have different Awakening lists, so there's that. If Japanese wikis are to be believed, Cheap Shot has the widest variety of skills that can be Awakened from it.
Now, whether or not there's a meaningful difference in damage output from those damage attributes is a whole other story.
Learned a valuable lesson today. Had gone down into the burrows and completed the first floor and saw an egg. Went to egg and got attacked by a boss type that didn't allow you to run away. I had awakened a ton of stuff and if you die, you lose all that progress. So, don't go after eggs unless you either want to risk losing stuff or you've just saved.
Learned a valuable lesson today. Had gone down into the burrows and completed the first floor and saw an egg. Went to egg and got attacked by a boss type that didn't allow you to run away. I had awakened a ton of stuff and if you die, you lose all that progress. So, don't go after eggs unless you either want to risk losing stuff or you've just saved.
One of the cool things about fully exploring an area and selling the map is that if you die in battle you will get rescued by an adventurer with full health rather than having to reload.
You don't keep any of the skills/stats you unlock, but a cool perk nonetheless.
. It whipped my ass when I started the game the other night but I came back prepared and took it down very quickly the second time around. I feel like I might have been a little overprepared. Had attacks doing 200+ to it and it died in a few turns.
Basically the same strategy I'm going to use on the
Water Golem
1. Water Contract
2. Water Shield
3. Guard with my tank
4. Unload with my attackers on their high damage attacks
5. Heal if I need to.
I swear Bianca gets stat ups more than anyone else. Almost has as much HP as Filmia who I was using to tank before I recruited Garnet. Feel like those are going to be my three this playthrough. Those are just the three I like.
Sure the next area will be tougher but I feel like I adjusted pretty well and built my team alright to survive.
I'm still getting used to how unbalanced this game is.
It's unforgiving in many ways if you aren't prepared on your first playthrough. But then you can pretty much run from any random battle and have a free pass back to the town.
And god forbid you forget to quicksave after every few battles and get stuck fighting a boss you didn't know would be there. Really the worst part of the game for me sure
When do I get to stun everything. Holy fuck it's so annoying.
There are three physical damage attributes: Slash, Bash, and Pierce.
Slice is Slash, Cut is Pierce, Cheap Shot is Pierce, Wild Swing is Slash, and Crescent Slash is Slash (you can press L/R in battle to read the descriptions when selecting attacks and see what it says). Different skills have different Awakening lists, so there's that. If Japanese wikis are to be believed, Cheap Shot has the widest variety of skills that can be Awakened from it.
Now, whether or not there's a meaningful difference in damage output from those damage attributes is a whole other story.
Oh dang thanks I honestly thought the references to slashing and piercing on the skill description was just flavour text... they could have at least put a small icon that shows the attack type on the skill. And of course now that I look at the sword skills they all mention the type, except desolation for some yet to be known reason.
. It whipped my ass when I started the game the other night but I came back prepared and took it down very quickly the second time around. I feel like I might have been a little overprepared. Had attacks doing 200+ to it and it died in a few turns.
Basically the same strategy I'm going to use on the
Water Golem
1. Water Contract
2. Water Shield
3. Guard with my tank
4. Unload with my attackers on their high damage attacks
5. Heal if I need to.
I swear Bianca gets stat ups more than anyone else. Almost has as much HP as Filmia who I was using to tank before I recruited Garnet. Feel like those are going to be my three this playthrough. Those are just the three I like.
Sure the next area will be tougher but I feel like I adjusted pretty well and built my team alright to survive.
From what I gathered, there are aptitudes for characters where certain traits level up faster. In Bianca's case, she has a high aptitude for nearly everything except for three aspects HP, SP, and Med Box Healing.
I'm still getting used to how unbalanced this game is.
It's unforgiving in many ways if you aren't prepared on your first playthrough. But then you can pretty much run from any random battle and have a free pass back to the town.
And god forbid you forget to quicksave after every few battles and get stuck fighting a boss you didn't know would be there. Really the worst part of the game for me sure
When do I get to stun everything. Holy fuck it's so annoying.
Is there any Fire magic worth bothering with? I mean obviously the Fire Shield is there, but anything else? I've tried out some Air and Water, and so far Bee Stinger is the only halfway useful one.
Oh dang thanks I honestly thought the references to slashing and piercing on the skill description was just flavour text... they could have at least put a small icon that shows the attack type on the skill. And of course now that I look at the sword skills they all mention the type, except desolation for some yet to be known reason.
A lot of people make that mistake, because the text that pops up when you go to quick save says something like "You can continue from the title screen" and makes it sound like it's a temp save.
So is Garnet pretty much who I should use as a tank since she already has a higher hp level than Owen or Filmia?
Also i'm no stranger to SaGa, but the skills are still a little shaky for me. Each character can become more proficient in Attack, Support, or Guard by using those arts, but then each art seems to have its own rating for stances, and each weapon as well? But you also increase a skill's level when used?
I'm actually not sure. I completed the game and there is no crafting at all (unless I totally missed it somehow). Selling maps can unlock 'special' items in the store, including weapons. However, on my new game + file the store was no different than my original file.
I was curious about this myself and I think they're referring to the unlockable bargains. Certain rare drops will appear in your shop in NG+. You probably didn't get any of those rare drops so nothing was different for you. I'm wondering why Atlus listed as a western change though. This was already in the Japanese version?
I'm about ten hours in and have awakened the three elemental cores, and there are still things I don't understand about this game. It seems like my water magic gets more powerful as the water affinity decreases. I find it more effective to use Hailstorm 1-2 turns after making the contract. This seems counter-intuitive to me. Am I just missing something obvious here?
Also, does anybody know the specific bonuses for stances? Is something like Ambush a straight upgrade over Attack because it also increases initiative, or does it have a reduced attack bonus? Also, how long do spells like Kindle last? There's no indicator on how long the damage boost lasts and damage has such a wide range it's hard to tell when it's working and not working. I'm also not really clear on what raising the Defense level on a damage-oriented ability does, and vice-versa. Garnet has a shield ability that does group-wide damage. It awakened with a really high Defense level... is its damage based on Defense or should I bet using this from an attack stance or what?
Anyway, Filmia is my protagonist on spears, Garnet on shields, and Eloise on spell damage and support.
Imported a 2 hour or so save from the demo. I understand the criticisms about the lack of story and vagueness of it all, but that's actually what drew me to it.... as, well, most jRPGs stories are kinda shit anyways.
Gameplay IS addictive/satisfying for sure and it's just relaxing to uncover the world gradually
Also, I have ZERO experience with the SaGa series.
I turn the game on intending only to try and unlock a stance or two and end up playing for two hours and progress my map quite nicely in the Roaring Valley.
Went back to spears for Filmia and awakened a skill that hits all enemies!
Also sent out my first merchant ship. I chose the 5,000 one. Still have a decent chunk of coin saved and some weapons that I probably won't ever use ready to sell if things go poorly.
The sense of discovery and the sense of progress when you get even the most minute rewards from a fight is awesome. Even getting a few coins is great.
I'm about ten hours in and have awakened the three elemental cores, and there are still things I don't understand about this game. It seems like my water magic gets more powerful as the water affinity decreases. I find it more effective to use Hailstorm 1-2 turns after making the contract. This seems counter-intuitive to me. Am I just missing something obvious here?
You're not missing something obvious, you're missing obscured game mechanics that don't appear to be referenced anywhere in game:
A Water-dominated field reduces elemental damage by half. So when you're making a Water contract, it likely makes it a water-dominated field. Since the elements in your contract decrease a little each turn, it switches back to neutral or wind or whatever after a round or two. This is extremely counter-intuitive, yes.
A Wind-dominated field reduces physical damage by half. A Fire-dominated field doubles physical damage. A Shadow-dominated field apparently triples magic damage? Or maybe it just makes enemies really strong? I dunno.
1 Singing Shard and 1 Elemental Cane per character is a must have for sheer versatility, and you lose nothing because you can still have your main weapon and this also frees up your secondary accessory.
Played so much today. This game is addicting. Always something I could be doing! Got a Dynasty Spear drop and gave it to Filmia and he is now hitting like a truck. Fought and killed a couple of the big bird type enemies
(one in the Valley Ruins after killing a baby and one in the cave after inspecting the set of three eggs)
. Awakened so many spear skills during those two fights.
Setup is as follows:
Filmia
- Spears
- Water contract (learned Water Shield, the light heal, purify)
- still trying to learn Hailstorm
Garnet
- main tank
- Awakened a few nice shield skills including perseverance, ricochet, and another
- learned a few of the water skills like the light heal
Bianca
- long swords now
- Air contract
- main healer with health pack
- also has learned a variety of water skills like shield, the heal, purify
Getting into the Valley Ruins was a step up from what I was used to but playing defensively saves the day. Killing the enemies that steal your elements really helps.
Anyone know when I can fully explore the Boiling Sea? I go to that map to check it out but can only access a small part of it right now. I'm guessing I need to take care of business with the air singing shard first but I'm not sure.
Anyone know when I can fully explore the Boiling Sea? I go to that map to check it out but can only access a small part of it right now. I'm guessing I need to take care of business with the air singing shard first but I'm not sure.
You should be able to do the entire first screen as soon as you can access it, but I think the second will require the Air shard. It's not a very big location though.
So unlike Saga games enemies don't scale with you? Ugh, putting a ton of trash mob battles in a game with slow paced combat and making it so those encounters give you nothing isn't great design.
making the Great Crag area look super ominous, which encourages you to go to the Ship Graveyard first and get your teeth kicked in
.
It's kinda lame that you don't get the end of turn 1 SP regen when you complete a battle, it effectively means you're being penalized for being efficient and ending things in one turn.
Finally got the other singing shards. I played around 8 hours with just water, walking by a dozen shrines I could do nothing with, then the other two quickly land on my lap. Fire Contract seems like a shortcut to a party wipe (though I love seeing big numbers) while Wind seems like the way to go. I should go and actually beat the red griffon thing now that I can actually get the wind effect working on my side (and have about twice the HP.)
A few annoyances.
Owen heals for 130 with the medicine box while the guy with the highest support stat heals far less, like 65. Baffling, unless there are hidden stats that play a larger role in these things than the stats the game tells you affect them.
The healing spell I have is weaker than the medicine box, costs 3 SP more than the box, and ultimately still takes up an equipment slot. I guess I can level it up, but sheesh.
I have four one-handed swords with the exact same attack power, 31, and the only weapon I've seen with more attack power than those is also a one handed sword. Until I found a spear that was close in power my entire party had the exact same arts. It also seems a bit odd that all my characters resist every damage type with no effort on my part.
The normal enemies in the fire ruins were stronger (much stronger) than the golem boss. Especially the purple demon things. Despite that, beating them generally gave nothing while the boss triggered a lot of growth.
Guys what's the appeal of this game for the people that love it?
I love the aesthetics, music and charm and vibe of it all but I'm worried chugging through battles with no story or character development is gonna fall flat.
Guys what's the appeal of this game for the people that love it?
I love the aesthetics, music and charm and vibe of it all but I'm worried chugging through battles with no story or character development is gonna fall flat.
I guess the general challenge of the game? Theres story, but its kinda what you make out of it I suppose. Kind of like Romancing SaGa 1 / Minstrel Song.
Guys what's the appeal of this game for the people that love it?
I love the aesthetics, music and charm and vibe of it all but I'm worried chugging through battles with no story or character development is gonna fall flat.
10 hours in I'm asking myself that same question. Even as a big Saga fan this is so bare-bones that it's not scratching that itch particularity well either.
They're pretty different games and it depends on why you didn't like Bravely Default. This is a really simple Saga type game that doesn't have much story and almost all of it is spent mapping and exploring dungeons.
Guys what's the appeal of this game for the people that love it?
I love the aesthetics, music and charm and vibe of it all but I'm worried chugging through battles with no story or character development is gonna fall flat.
I can walk around a map or set of maps, get it to 100%, fight most things I come across, get gains in different skills, learn magic, and just have a good time. I can actually feel myself getting stronger too. Enemies that I couldn't kill before now I can. And there always seems like an abundance of maps to fill out and explore.
I don't have to worry about some complex story. I don't have to worry about getting stuck with an unskippable cutscene before a boss. I know I can run from most encounters and immediately head back to town to heal up. I know that the battle mechanics are pretty easy and fair once you get how elements and magic work. I don't even really feel like I have to worry about getting lost.
Filling in maps and fighting just one or two more fights wondering if I'll get a gain somewhere or a drop or money is almost addicting. It feels almost like betting. I could avoid this monster, or I could fight it and see what I get. Way more fun than if I had a set number of experience to get and just had to work towards that.
They're pretty different games and it depends on why you didn't like Bravely Default. This is a really simple Saga type game that doesn't have much story and almost all of it is spent mapping and exploring dungeons.
Outside of a similar artstyle and that the combat is generally turn-based (round-based), it's not really much like BDFF.
Try out the eShop demo if you wish. It's a pretty decent representation of the full game. As been said, story is quite minimal and the game attempts to hold itself through battle and progression mechanics. Unfortunately there's not much variety in locations or combat encounters which makes the game more repetitive than it needs to be.
