26th January 2013, 8:50 AM
So I got this game the moment I found out Studio Ghibli was behind the art direction. It'd be like finding out Pixar actually developed a game (as opposed to having lame movie licensed nonsense based on their movies).
It's amazing! Here's the deal, it's classic RPG and all that used to stand for. There's an overworld map and actual exploration! It's not tube quest! Sure, it may not be as open as your Fallouts or Elderscrolls, but that's fine. An incremental ratcheting of places to explore still means exploration. From the videos, I'll eventually get a dragon to fly around on, so it's all great.
The story is very childish in a good way. There's heart here. Blue Dragon felt a bit too "by the numbers" in its story, this one does what it wants, even if it still does have cliches. There's also an INCREDIBLE amount of world building. Near the start you'll get a magician's guide, and if you read it you'll find Tolkein-esque levels of description of the world. It explains the history of the runic language that spells use, right down to explaining why there are no lower and upper case and such. The writing is amazing, and the translation is amazingly written as well. The wizard's oath and all the three laws of wizardry are awesome (notably because one seems to be utterly ignored by all wizards, one seems to be an excuse to be lazy, and one is hilariously superficial). It actually reminds me of Penny Arcade's extremely well developed Lookouts world.
Much like some of the best RPGs, this one has no random encounters. Not even on the world map! Unlike Chrono Trigger, you do get into fights on the world map, but they're still all visible and avoidable. If you get spotted, you can outrun enemies, or learn the way they move and dodge them. Like Earthbound, if you sneak up on an enemy, you get initiative, and vice versa.
Further, no save points. You can save your game at any point so long as you aren't in the middle of conversation or combat. They didn't try to force "realistic" inventory management in here (which has never, NEVER been realistic, even if I can only carry 10 items in a tetris style grid, those 10 items are still 10 full suits of armor the size of mountains), and noted it loudly when your funny side kick (the Lord High Lord of the Fairies, that's two Lords) gives you a "bottomless bag" (I want to turn it inside out, put it over me, and walk through dungeon walls).
The combat system is classic RPG with just a little bit of character movement. It won't generally let you avoid attacks or anything, but as you hit enemies, if you hit a weak point, orbs will spill out that restore HP and MP. You can run over these to restore it if you're paying attention, giving something to do between turns. Otherwise, it's a classic turn based combat system, which I'm fine with as long as it allows me lots of strategy.
So that last one's been why it is getting some disappointing reviews. I think this game is amazing, but so many reviewers have written things to the tone of "this is a game that refuses to modernize, so you're stuck with an outdated and clunky turn based system instead of real time combat like people expect these days".
I often wonder if these reviewers get the point here. Turn based combat is a genre unto itself and a perfectly acceptable and fun way to play a game, not a forced concession to poor technology. Not EVERY game needs to be an action game demanding quick reaction speed and combo systems, and I would hate it if it got to that. I played Zelda and Secret of Mana before moving on to Final Fantasy 6. FF6 blew me away, because I felt like I was playing a grand version of chess. In fact, I have to wonder what a modern reviewer would say if they had to review chess for the first time. Would they lament that both sides need to take turns, or the odd movement restrictions? Would they suggest the game would be a lot more fun if you could just pick up the rooks and march them straight down the line and knock over all the enemy's pieces, and they had to pick up some pieces and force block you in real time? It just seems to me they don't understand what turn based combat is all about.
At any rate, this is an amazing game if you like this sort of classic RPG, and happily brings back the vast worlds we used to know back during the SNES and Playstation 1 days.
It's amazing! Here's the deal, it's classic RPG and all that used to stand for. There's an overworld map and actual exploration! It's not tube quest! Sure, it may not be as open as your Fallouts or Elderscrolls, but that's fine. An incremental ratcheting of places to explore still means exploration. From the videos, I'll eventually get a dragon to fly around on, so it's all great.
The story is very childish in a good way. There's heart here. Blue Dragon felt a bit too "by the numbers" in its story, this one does what it wants, even if it still does have cliches. There's also an INCREDIBLE amount of world building. Near the start you'll get a magician's guide, and if you read it you'll find Tolkein-esque levels of description of the world. It explains the history of the runic language that spells use, right down to explaining why there are no lower and upper case and such. The writing is amazing, and the translation is amazingly written as well. The wizard's oath and all the three laws of wizardry are awesome (notably because one seems to be utterly ignored by all wizards, one seems to be an excuse to be lazy, and one is hilariously superficial). It actually reminds me of Penny Arcade's extremely well developed Lookouts world.
Much like some of the best RPGs, this one has no random encounters. Not even on the world map! Unlike Chrono Trigger, you do get into fights on the world map, but they're still all visible and avoidable. If you get spotted, you can outrun enemies, or learn the way they move and dodge them. Like Earthbound, if you sneak up on an enemy, you get initiative, and vice versa.
Further, no save points. You can save your game at any point so long as you aren't in the middle of conversation or combat. They didn't try to force "realistic" inventory management in here (which has never, NEVER been realistic, even if I can only carry 10 items in a tetris style grid, those 10 items are still 10 full suits of armor the size of mountains), and noted it loudly when your funny side kick (the Lord High Lord of the Fairies, that's two Lords) gives you a "bottomless bag" (I want to turn it inside out, put it over me, and walk through dungeon walls).
The combat system is classic RPG with just a little bit of character movement. It won't generally let you avoid attacks or anything, but as you hit enemies, if you hit a weak point, orbs will spill out that restore HP and MP. You can run over these to restore it if you're paying attention, giving something to do between turns. Otherwise, it's a classic turn based combat system, which I'm fine with as long as it allows me lots of strategy.
So that last one's been why it is getting some disappointing reviews. I think this game is amazing, but so many reviewers have written things to the tone of "this is a game that refuses to modernize, so you're stuck with an outdated and clunky turn based system instead of real time combat like people expect these days".
I often wonder if these reviewers get the point here. Turn based combat is a genre unto itself and a perfectly acceptable and fun way to play a game, not a forced concession to poor technology. Not EVERY game needs to be an action game demanding quick reaction speed and combo systems, and I would hate it if it got to that. I played Zelda and Secret of Mana before moving on to Final Fantasy 6. FF6 blew me away, because I felt like I was playing a grand version of chess. In fact, I have to wonder what a modern reviewer would say if they had to review chess for the first time. Would they lament that both sides need to take turns, or the odd movement restrictions? Would they suggest the game would be a lot more fun if you could just pick up the rooks and march them straight down the line and knock over all the enemy's pieces, and they had to pick up some pieces and force block you in real time? It just seems to me they don't understand what turn based combat is all about.
At any rate, this is an amazing game if you like this sort of classic RPG, and happily brings back the vast worlds we used to know back during the SNES and Playstation 1 days.