SBaby
Dungeon Master
- 2,005
- Posts
- 19
- Years
- Seen Apr 9, 2015
So yeah. I looked around and there doesn't seem to be a recent topic about this game. So I figured that since I'd gotten my copy a couple days ago, I'd start a thread about it here for people to discuss it. I know alot of people are wondering what others think about it. In fact, there are probably a few of you out there that may or may not buy it based on what I say. So I will give my input on it right now.
I'll try to avoid spoilers as much as I can, since the game hasn't officially come out yet. The only real reason I have my copy this early is because one of the stores I do business with got their stock in early (and I usually get tons of product samples from them anyway). But I imagine there are others that have one by now.
Anyway, so far, the story's not too bad. I'm at Chapter 6 upon writing this, and thus far, the narrative seems to be done through a combination of flashbacks and cutscenes that show you what's currently going on. In fact, a majority of Cocoon is seen through flashbacks, as opposed to actually being visited in the present. One thing that you're going to notice is that after Chapter 3, there isn't really a central character anymore (at least not that I noticed). The flashbacks and cutscenes are seen through multiple perspectives, and you get to see each of your party members' takes on what's going on, as opposed to there being one main character responding to everything around him. I prefer this approach, simply because it has a larger scale feel to it. You've got your serious character, your comedy relief, your rookie, your over zealous heroic type, your nature freak and your oddball. Anyway, it's not too bad so far. It's a pretty straightforward plot, but it gets the job done, and the characters all have their own motives for being in the party.
For the most part, the English voices are pretty decently done, and just like previous games, they sound very movie-like. However I will say that I can't stand Vanilla's forced accent-sounding voice. It's like her English voice actor couldn't figure out if she wanted her to be Australian, European, or just American. While it's not a game breaking problem, it does get a little comical and quite a bit distracting during a few of the scenes. Minor issue, but something that I think needed to be mentioned.
As for the gameplay. I don't normally use magazine reviews as bases for any of my opinions, but I think Playstation Magazine probably said it best when they used the word 'streamlined'. The game is very linear. I have yet to run into a single sidequest, and from what I've read everywhere else, there really aren't any until toward the end of the game. I guess there are monster hunt missions in Chapter 11, but I haven't gotten there yet, so I don't know what those'll be all about. I'll probably post about it once I get there.
There really aren't any towns. In fact, the only time you ever see peaceful towns or cities is in cutscenes. And you seem to have Zidane's Curse too, so whenever you think you're about to enter a town, it either gets destroyed or you come under attack and you're forced through another combat area instead, or it ends up not being what you think it is. By the way, you can't get back into alot of those places afterward. So it definitely feels like you're sent straight from one point to another. So far, I really haven't been able to backtrack. I don't know if that'll change. Like I said, I'm only in Chapter 6. And by the way, Pulse, where a majority of the game takes place in, is nothing but wilderness and a couple defunct bases.
All your shopping is done through the Save Points that are scattered around the maps. Fortunately, there are alot of them, and each boss fight is preceded by a Save Point right before them. So you can make last minute adjustments, purchases and upgrades to your party before fighting them. And you will want to, because boss fights are tough.
Speaking of combat, I do want to go over this, because there seems to be alot of misconceptions about the battle system. First and foremost, you only control one character, and that character is set as your Party Leader which you can't change once battle begins. Anyone who's played a Persona game knows what I mean by this. Yes, if your party leader dies, the game is over right then and there. No auto-revive, no Phoenix Down, no nothing. Just Game Over. And yes, this has happened to me twice already. Although the first time was me being a moron and thinking that a battle was unwinnable, when actually I just had to hit the SQUARE button during a certain point. It was actually really easy once I noticed it.
Now that that's out of the way, the battle system is more of a modified version of the ATB systems from past Final Fantasies. Unlike previous games though, you actually pick what you want to do ahead of time and then the bar fills up, as opposed to the bar filling up first. So if you want to attack twice, pick two Attack commands and the bar will fill two ticks before doing both attacks consecutively. Same thing with Magic and Skills. It levels up over time, and you eventually get to the point where you can do 6 attacks at a time. The bar always fills at the same speed (under normal circumstances), so it effectively increases your overall rate of fire.
One thing that is very different is the Paradigm system. Basically, each character can assume one of 6 different battle modes. Each one specializes in certain things. The Commando specializes in physical attacks. Ravagers specialize in attack magic and stagger damage. Sentinels do pretty much nothing but guarding (great for when you know a boss is about to unleash a major attack). Medics heal the party. Saboteurs debuff enemies. Utilizing these different modes is one of the biggest keys to staying alive in combat. In fact, there will be regular battles where you'll find yourself having to Paradigm Shift every 5 to 10 seconds. This is just something that you'll need to get adjusted to. Fortunately, it takes one button and no time to do this.
There is a stagger system, which is similar to the Break system from Xenosaga, where if you fill the bar, the enemy goes into a weakened state where its attacks do less damage and it takes more damage for a time. This is important to keep in mind, because some bosses and enemies are virtually immune to any appreciable damage until they're staggered. Yes, you'll even find your strongest weapons merely chipping away at the hides of these tough enemies until then. Ravagers excel at doing stagger damage, so you definitely want one of those during these situations.
Summons also make a return. Each character gets 1 of 6 Eidolons, which they can use if they're the Party Leader. In other words, only one summon is available in any given battle. And due to the way the Tech system works, Summoning can only be used a maximum of one time per battle. That said, it seems the Summon designs had some influence from Transformers. Instead of resembling monsters, which has been the staple of past Final Fantasies, the summons this time around are more robotic and even transform during combat. In fact, your characters will mount them after a certain amount of time has passed. This is where the battle system changes significantly. During this mode, the battle system resembles something found in an action game rather than one found in an RPG. You mash buttons and input combinations in an effort to dish out as much damage as possible before time runs out. Afterward, the attack culminates with the Eidolon's burst attack, doing one final massive blast of damage, ending the sequence in a flashy manner.
After battle, you are rated from 1 to 5 stars. Depending on your performance, you will earn items and materials at the end of each fight, which range from Potions to items that may be necessary to create new upgraded weapons. In addition, you are also awarded CP, which is used to upgrade your different Paradigm Modes through the Sphere Grid-like Crystarium. Instead of directly improving your characters, you actually upgrade their different Paradigms. In other words, each battle mode comes with different stats, in addition to different attacks. All this sounds daunting, but honestly, it took me a mere couple hours to get used to it all and come up with a decent setup for handling most battles. It also helps that your party is fully healed after each battle.
Overall, it's not bad so far. I don't know if it'll stay that way, but so far I can say that they did a pretty good job. It definitely feels different from most other games, but as they say, sometimes change is good. It's definitely an improvement over FFX.
I'll try to avoid spoilers as much as I can, since the game hasn't officially come out yet. The only real reason I have my copy this early is because one of the stores I do business with got their stock in early (and I usually get tons of product samples from them anyway). But I imagine there are others that have one by now.
Anyway, so far, the story's not too bad. I'm at Chapter 6 upon writing this, and thus far, the narrative seems to be done through a combination of flashbacks and cutscenes that show you what's currently going on. In fact, a majority of Cocoon is seen through flashbacks, as opposed to actually being visited in the present. One thing that you're going to notice is that after Chapter 3, there isn't really a central character anymore (at least not that I noticed). The flashbacks and cutscenes are seen through multiple perspectives, and you get to see each of your party members' takes on what's going on, as opposed to there being one main character responding to everything around him. I prefer this approach, simply because it has a larger scale feel to it. You've got your serious character, your comedy relief, your rookie, your over zealous heroic type, your nature freak and your oddball. Anyway, it's not too bad so far. It's a pretty straightforward plot, but it gets the job done, and the characters all have their own motives for being in the party.
For the most part, the English voices are pretty decently done, and just like previous games, they sound very movie-like. However I will say that I can't stand Vanilla's forced accent-sounding voice. It's like her English voice actor couldn't figure out if she wanted her to be Australian, European, or just American. While it's not a game breaking problem, it does get a little comical and quite a bit distracting during a few of the scenes. Minor issue, but something that I think needed to be mentioned.
As for the gameplay. I don't normally use magazine reviews as bases for any of my opinions, but I think Playstation Magazine probably said it best when they used the word 'streamlined'. The game is very linear. I have yet to run into a single sidequest, and from what I've read everywhere else, there really aren't any until toward the end of the game. I guess there are monster hunt missions in Chapter 11, but I haven't gotten there yet, so I don't know what those'll be all about. I'll probably post about it once I get there.
There really aren't any towns. In fact, the only time you ever see peaceful towns or cities is in cutscenes. And you seem to have Zidane's Curse too, so whenever you think you're about to enter a town, it either gets destroyed or you come under attack and you're forced through another combat area instead, or it ends up not being what you think it is. By the way, you can't get back into alot of those places afterward. So it definitely feels like you're sent straight from one point to another. So far, I really haven't been able to backtrack. I don't know if that'll change. Like I said, I'm only in Chapter 6. And by the way, Pulse, where a majority of the game takes place in, is nothing but wilderness and a couple defunct bases.
All your shopping is done through the Save Points that are scattered around the maps. Fortunately, there are alot of them, and each boss fight is preceded by a Save Point right before them. So you can make last minute adjustments, purchases and upgrades to your party before fighting them. And you will want to, because boss fights are tough.
Speaking of combat, I do want to go over this, because there seems to be alot of misconceptions about the battle system. First and foremost, you only control one character, and that character is set as your Party Leader which you can't change once battle begins. Anyone who's played a Persona game knows what I mean by this. Yes, if your party leader dies, the game is over right then and there. No auto-revive, no Phoenix Down, no nothing. Just Game Over. And yes, this has happened to me twice already. Although the first time was me being a moron and thinking that a battle was unwinnable, when actually I just had to hit the SQUARE button during a certain point. It was actually really easy once I noticed it.
Now that that's out of the way, the battle system is more of a modified version of the ATB systems from past Final Fantasies. Unlike previous games though, you actually pick what you want to do ahead of time and then the bar fills up, as opposed to the bar filling up first. So if you want to attack twice, pick two Attack commands and the bar will fill two ticks before doing both attacks consecutively. Same thing with Magic and Skills. It levels up over time, and you eventually get to the point where you can do 6 attacks at a time. The bar always fills at the same speed (under normal circumstances), so it effectively increases your overall rate of fire.
One thing that is very different is the Paradigm system. Basically, each character can assume one of 6 different battle modes. Each one specializes in certain things. The Commando specializes in physical attacks. Ravagers specialize in attack magic and stagger damage. Sentinels do pretty much nothing but guarding (great for when you know a boss is about to unleash a major attack). Medics heal the party. Saboteurs debuff enemies. Utilizing these different modes is one of the biggest keys to staying alive in combat. In fact, there will be regular battles where you'll find yourself having to Paradigm Shift every 5 to 10 seconds. This is just something that you'll need to get adjusted to. Fortunately, it takes one button and no time to do this.
There is a stagger system, which is similar to the Break system from Xenosaga, where if you fill the bar, the enemy goes into a weakened state where its attacks do less damage and it takes more damage for a time. This is important to keep in mind, because some bosses and enemies are virtually immune to any appreciable damage until they're staggered. Yes, you'll even find your strongest weapons merely chipping away at the hides of these tough enemies until then. Ravagers excel at doing stagger damage, so you definitely want one of those during these situations.
Summons also make a return. Each character gets 1 of 6 Eidolons, which they can use if they're the Party Leader. In other words, only one summon is available in any given battle. And due to the way the Tech system works, Summoning can only be used a maximum of one time per battle. That said, it seems the Summon designs had some influence from Transformers. Instead of resembling monsters, which has been the staple of past Final Fantasies, the summons this time around are more robotic and even transform during combat. In fact, your characters will mount them after a certain amount of time has passed. This is where the battle system changes significantly. During this mode, the battle system resembles something found in an action game rather than one found in an RPG. You mash buttons and input combinations in an effort to dish out as much damage as possible before time runs out. Afterward, the attack culminates with the Eidolon's burst attack, doing one final massive blast of damage, ending the sequence in a flashy manner.
After battle, you are rated from 1 to 5 stars. Depending on your performance, you will earn items and materials at the end of each fight, which range from Potions to items that may be necessary to create new upgraded weapons. In addition, you are also awarded CP, which is used to upgrade your different Paradigm Modes through the Sphere Grid-like Crystarium. Instead of directly improving your characters, you actually upgrade their different Paradigms. In other words, each battle mode comes with different stats, in addition to different attacks. All this sounds daunting, but honestly, it took me a mere couple hours to get used to it all and come up with a decent setup for handling most battles. It also helps that your party is fully healed after each battle.
Overall, it's not bad so far. I don't know if it'll stay that way, but so far I can say that they did a pretty good job. It definitely feels different from most other games, but as they say, sometimes change is good. It's definitely an improvement over FFX.
Last edited:
