I got in about 8 hours so far and I'm having a lot of fun. It's great. I just arrived at Wraith Island and I'm listening to the band jam in the inn
The combat system is engaging and has quite some depth underneath the surface; The combat mechanics are tight, they mesh well with one another, so you end up keeping track of many variables when deciding your next moves. How much mana do I want to regain and to do what, when will the opp play, how can I boost my attack or do a combo and chain it with another move so as to break their shield before they can play, should I reposition an enemy so the AoE of my attack breaks two monsters' shields in one swing... Add to that the dynamic rhythm element, and you have a recipe that makes each encounter a pleasure to go through.
I also like how much food plays a role in the gameplay. I had already noticed and appreciated that aspect in the demo and it's still there, and I assume it'll only grow in importance as I progress and difficulty ramps up. The pixel art looks good asf when you cook
The environments look and feel amazing to traverse. That's one of the most pleasant surprises I had with the game so far. The first big town has no business being this huge and dense
That wasn't in the demo! The puzzles that are generously peppered all over are also entertaining, so combined with the ambient sounds and the great soundtrack, I'm having a blast just cruising throughout the map.
The story so far is engaging to a point I didn't expect. O.K., I didn't anticipate much but it seems they built quite the lore and I'm just starting to unravel it. The stories you can listen to at the campfire are dope and very reminiscing of the Shopkeeper's from the Messenger (which is great) in that they're not only legitimately good, they're tied to the main narrative and makes the world feel all the more anchored in something real. The characters haven't shown me much yet but I like them. And the comedy that I loved in the Messenger is definitely back, even if it's more subdued, which is great since the context calls for it.
One last thing that I've noticed and I'm intrigued about is the game's approach to difficulty: instead of opting to put different modes, they weaved them in the games through relics that you can buy and activate and that alleviate some parts of the challenge, which is fascinating, because it's... What items normally do. So besides them designating those items as difficulty modifiers, they're not different in essence than any other optional RPG item. And in effect, they do allow you to change how hard going through the game is. As soon as I realized that's what it was, I deactivated my shyt and stopped buying them. But... I have no issue buying and using regular items. Which again, follow the same principle and make the game easier for me. I don't know, I never really thought about it that way. That's interesting to me.
I picked it up again and the shyt is mid-tier compared to most of the recent pseudo-90s RPGs. Shallow story, shallow gameplay
goddamn lol
