anyway some proper impression,it was a good game but somehow i feel like the amazing production value's have plus the fact that i think this is the first "proper" rpg i've played in a while,blinded me on all the bad aspect of the games...
1) the game drags,a lot,there isn't a single thing that gets done without running a fetch quest or doing some chore,this is especialy bad at the start of the game where it takes 1 hour and half of dickering around before you get to the first proper dungeon of the game,worse yet is when you have to cross over to the real world to help someone so that they stop being a jerk in the fantasy world... but my favourite one is when oliver gets 3 magic mcguffin to power up his magic wand but the mcguffin's don't fit the wand so he has to run ANOTHER fetch quest
2) the plot is generic fantasy fluff,there is a bad guy,oliver goes to kill him and then everyone is happy,yaaaaaaaaay...
spoiler (click to show/hide)
oh and of course the bad guy wasn't really bad,it was just misguided by society and hatred and desperation and all the other bad things that makes things bad in jrpg... also the game should have ended after you kill shadar,the game totaly blows his load early and then ask you to shake his flaccid dick for no other apparent reason than they sort of forgot the game subtitle was called "wrath of the white witch"
the way it's presented kinda reminds me of zelda,in fact one of the boss you fight is suspiciously similiar to zelda darknut,i think some zelda fans might dig this
3) the game tries to be this weird mix of turn based and action in that a lot of action have charge time (like in a turn based game) and stuff but you can still dodge and block attack (like in an action game) this combination doesn't work bad as long as you are alone but as soon as you get other party member it becomes incredibly frustating as your party member have no idea how to block,dodge or use any sort of consumable,there is a button that tell your whole party to defend but there is a delay between the command and the execution of it and i've lost count of how many times i've told my party to defend only to see them still getting hit in the face,it gets to the point where actualy playing solo and dodging and blocking attack on your own while ignoring your party member is easier than defeating the boss by working as a party
4) there is no real system to it,your character level up and gets new moves but most of them are useless,there is no real satisfaction behind it,when the mon gets to a certain level (around 15 first time and around 3X second time) they get to evolve but since they get back to level 1 you don't really notice them getting stronger,there is a rock-paper-scissor but it feels like it rarely makes a difference,the game really fucks up as far as a mon game goes
so sure,it has towns,these towns all have their own theme and have treasure chest hidden in them,there are a shitload of dungeons and bosses,there are sidequests which all come with their own nice rewards,there are the obligatory ice and fire dungeons and all of this is done with an amazing presentation so it really feels like a proper solid rpg,but when you think about it more deeper and compare it with other games it just sort of falls short....
tales of vesperia is a better game,it's pretty sad that the best jrpg of the gen is on 360
