I am in love with this game.
My husband took a few screen captures so you could see it. *smile*
The fighting is crisp and satisfying with a definite puzzle feel to getting the different arts to work. It’s actually my favorite part of the game and is all about timing and slotting things in together properly to get the result you want.
The graphics are pretty, the characters cute, and the story entertaining with little bits of Japanese anime humor thrown in. It has its dark moments, but it also has levity and fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously. See Pyra’s ‘disguise’? Subtle.
This game makes no bones about being a game. It’s not aiming for an ‘experience’ or to be realistic. This is a Japanese RPG, and it’s happy being a Japanese RPG.
So far the only annoyances are:
1.) The map system is confusing – there are many layers to a map, and they’re not clearly laid out.
2.) The enemies are mixed levels in whatever area you enter which means Territorial Rotbart killed me repeatedly when I got too close to his wandering pattern. Just requires a little more attention to where you’re standing in relation to higher level enemies, and it’s worth watching a moment to make sure their pattern won’t take them too close to you.
But there are a ton of cool things!
The world is a Cloud Sea, and there are what they call ‘Titans’ walking/swimming around in it. The people on this world live in and on the various Titans, which is endlessly interesting, and I found it very creative.
There are Drivers and Blades – the Driver is the actual person running the show, and the Blade is summoned from a core crystal and becomes a person who supplies power and such to the Driver. They’re a weapon, but they don’t directly fight. They support you and supply your magic and skills and such. It’s kind of a neat system.
The main character doesn’t start out a Driver… he starts out as a salvager searching the cloud sea for useful debris.
There are tons of drops… anyone who knows me, knows I’m a total drop monkey. In the previous games, you picked up blue orbs and they magically gave you stuff, but I didn’t find that very satisfying. In this game, the blue orb drops several items that you then get to pick up. Silly, I know, but it was a huge difference for me!
My husband and I have been taking turns playing it – he loves it too, and it is actually his Christmas present.
Anyway, I totally recommend this game! Has anyone been playing it yet? What do you think? Do you enjoy JRPGs? Inquiring minds want to know! *smile*
