Welcome to the 1990s, me!

[N-Man]

Concerning SD3 and SoE, I've played both (the former on an emulator, independently translated) and SD3 is something of a drag. The class-change system is cool, but that's pretty much all it's got going for it. It's whack-a-baddy for hours on end with tiny bits and pieces of a storyline popping up from time to time - the storyline btw seems really deep and detailed, but never really gets going - and when the plot does pan out, it's a big disappointment (for lack of spoilers). I guess it leads you to think there's more to the story than "bad guy wants to destroy the world; you are the hero of legend who will stop it" when there really isn't.

SoE with its dozens of different weapons and alchemy spells, and the whole trading system, gives a feeling of open-endedness that's more functional than SD3's turns out to be. The storyline and its conclusion are more satisfying as well IMO.