But the rest of the package was so charming that you just get used to it, and I came to appreciate parts of the art direction. It's a 20 year old game the textures, backgrounds, and video cutscenes look rough. The graphics were the weakest part of the package. You can save anywhere outside of battle.There's a "Turbo Mode" that lets you accelerate the game speed in cutscenes, battles, and out in the world.Outside of battle, the rest of the game felt really frictionless: The game has a reasonably fleshed out system for status effects and debuffs, that it disincentivizes you from investing in since most bosses are immune to them.Towards the of the game, battles started to devolve to spamming my strongest AOE attacks, and this one broken defensive spell (Earth Wall).Though it wasn't without its share of gripes: This coupled with the equipment system gave me the sense of progression that I usually look for in games like this and kept me engaged. It's a turn-based JRPG with a battle system that emphasizes the importance of turn order and positioning. The storytelling was the cherry on a solid gameplay foundation. One of my favorite things to do in this game is to click on already-looted chests, which seem to each have a unique line/joke berating you for wanting more. Trails of the Sky FC is surprisingly funny too! The jokes landed consistently for me, even in some of the more ridiculous situations (* cough Oliviercough*). A characterization I couldn't help but contrast against the 2 leads of Sea of Stars, the last JRPG I started and unfortunately quickly dropped, who are never much more than vehicles for exposition. They are so expressive of their very different personalities, and the pacing lets them show off their strengths and grapple with their insecurities in a way that I found very affecting. The care the game has for its characters felt especially strong for the two main leads. This game made it really easy to suspend my disbelief, and just give in to the story it was telling. Characters both in and especially outside your immediate party have their own lives and concerns, which evolve as you move through the story. Other events are happening in the world as you go on your journey, and there are opportunities/quests that come and go. That slowness creates space that the game uses to build a world that didn't feel like it revolved around the main characters. You don't actually know who the game's central antagonist is until most of the way through the game. You spend the first 10 hours doing menial tasks. I'd consumed a couple reviews that warned that the story was slow. So color me surprised that the writing and storytelling stole the show. Give me engaging gameplay, nice graphics, and a story that doesn't get in the way of the former, and I'm happy. I don't usually look for good storytelling in videogames. I picked up the first entry and binged a 40hr playthrough in an embarassingly short number of days. I ended up falling into the Trails series. I had a couple weeks of break for the winter holidays and wanted to spend some of it playing a JRPG.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |