I have also started playing this game recently, and I find it to be wildly inconsistent.
I switched to Manual before even playing my first battle, Auto just didn't seem like a good idea since it restricts movement. I don't know how much damage is reduced, but I haven't felt like I'm dealing weak hits, so it can't be too much. In fact, I end up doing the majority of damage, because my party members have the worst AI I have yet to see in an RPG. For a while into the game, they'd get themselves killed within five seconds, even to lowly grunts, so I'd either have to take out all enemies meself or risk getting mobbed trying to revive them. Things got better after I was able to gain them enough levels and better equipment, but they'll still sit there trying to cast spells when repeatedly getting hit, and they attack very slowly. If that speed is the same as Auto, it wouldn't work well.
Now to be fair, I hate party AI. Part of the reason I like turn-based RPGs is that I can control every member. Command mode helps somewhat, but it isn't enough for me. There really should be a multiplayer component, both local and online. This is even less excusable than Xenoblade since they already took the time to set up an online component, so you should be able to play through the game in multiplayer. It'd certainly make my time with it a lot more enjoyable.
The combat system is novel. Spamming the attack button does work for most enemies, however it takes a lot more time. Battles feel more like a puzzle since there's usually a way to make them go a lot faster and more smoothly, and bosses have a specific way of dealing with them. However, it doesn't feel like there's more than one way to tackle each battle, so I'm not so sure how much strategy is actually involved. I'll have to play some more to figure that out, maybe there are some intricacies that I have yet to pick up. It would also be nice if there were some incentive to finish battles quickly, to discourage spamming.
The graphics are also a mixed bag, some things look nice and detailed whilst others look blurry and blocky. The colouring is kind of drab as well, but I s'pose that's just the game's style. The story is decent, most of the characters are clichés but have enough personality to still be interesting in some cases. The narration with white text on a black screen is a real copout though, makes the game feel cheap. The scenes where you have to look around to find something aren't as bad as Metroid Other M since the thing you have to spot is usually easy to find, but in most cases it's unnecessary. I'm also confused why there is no pointer control for the crossbow.
I want to like this game, but it sure does show its ugly side a lot. I've even run into a few glitches that made me had to reload a save, such as prompts not appearing for places I needed to go. It is starting to get better, but it's definitely a rough game, and I don't know if its novel ideas are enough to save it in the end. I shall see.
Topic: Mistwalker's "The Last Story" out in NA via XSEED! (Read 171261 times)
