The 60 bucks pricetag on Steam made me hesitate a bit before buying it, but in the end I caved in and got it anyway.
Technically, first impressions aren't good: the game starts in a 1920x1080 window, and upon switching to 3840x2160, the game is still windowed, not even borderless. But then again the game runs beautifully at max detail on a 3080ti, and thanks to an SSD loading times are fast, which is a very welcome feature as the game prefers to load smallish chunks: some cutscenes have loading between cuts and even Lyra's diary is behind a load/unload cycle.
On the good side, the game accepts the Switch pad without any extra driver, and buttons are correctly linked to the actions...but there's a catch: button icons are from a X Box pad, and actions follow buttons. For example attack is X, and because X Box pads have letters in the wrong order, the attack action follows the button position on the Switch's pad. It's nothing big, and surely a remapping of controls will solve it...only that the remap control menu only works for keyboard and mouse. Maybe it'll work with an X Box controller, but a quick search shows that the game only shows/officially supports X Box pads, even if the game is on Sony consoles. This is a typical problem with (too) many games, and it's time developers get this right. I mean, Ender Lilies did that years ago even for Switch controllers, I guess Cygames can spare a couple of hours to implement proper controller support.
There's are also some strange choices, like the pause menu which changes based on what's going on. I just defeated the first introductory boss, and the game places you on the road to the first town; I wanted to change the binding to the first special attack, I hit the pause button and a menu with continue/skip/options comes up. I had to wait to get to the town to get the "proper" pause menu where I could change bindings, check the inventory, and access game options. It's a minor nuissance, but it's a rather weird one.
And I guess now not even professional translators know the difference between it's and its...always terrible to see this kind of error in what is ostensibly a first-class product.
Anyway...the game starts with some heavily scripted sequences that it doesn't progress when you push the required button, and the first hour or so it's very slow-paced and introduces the characters for those not knowing them. I know something about Granblue and found this beginning kinda boring, probably fans will be even more bored.
Mechanics like skills and special attacks are introduced progressively, and overall the combat system feels good but nothing special right now. There are elemental weaknesses to follow the mobile original's system, as well as the usual equipment, items, sidequests, and merchants needed for this kind of game.
Controls work well, evey action is responsive but attacks feel flimsy and without much weight to them: if you've played any of the recent Ys games, the feeling is a bit like those, though Relink has an heavy attack in addition to standard and special. Since Platinum was involved at one point I was expecting a bit more, and having recently replayed Nier Automata, I can say that game's combat feel better.
The game looks beautiful, with textures trying to replicate the original art. Characters are full of details, animations look entirely mocapped, and lipsyinching is great. And there are good hair physics! Oh so many Japanese ignore this big detail, and gives animations a quality boost. So far all dialogues have been voiced, and it's always a pleasure to hear some Japanese VAs and their performances. Just like in the mobile game you can freely change between a male and a female main characters.
Environments are lush and full of detail; the first town has been quite a surprise thanks to its abundance of locations and NPCs going around doing their stuff and offering plenty of flavour text and background voices.
Will play more in the coming days.
Technically, first impressions aren't good: the game starts in a 1920x1080 window, and upon switching to 3840x2160, the game is still windowed, not even borderless. But then again the game runs beautifully at max detail on a 3080ti, and thanks to an SSD loading times are fast, which is a very welcome feature as the game prefers to load smallish chunks: some cutscenes have loading between cuts and even Lyra's diary is behind a load/unload cycle.
On the good side, the game accepts the Switch pad without any extra driver, and buttons are correctly linked to the actions...but there's a catch: button icons are from a X Box pad, and actions follow buttons. For example attack is X, and because X Box pads have letters in the wrong order, the attack action follows the button position on the Switch's pad. It's nothing big, and surely a remapping of controls will solve it...only that the remap control menu only works for keyboard and mouse. Maybe it'll work with an X Box controller, but a quick search shows that the game only shows/officially supports X Box pads, even if the game is on Sony consoles. This is a typical problem with (too) many games, and it's time developers get this right. I mean, Ender Lilies did that years ago even for Switch controllers, I guess Cygames can spare a couple of hours to implement proper controller support.
There's are also some strange choices, like the pause menu which changes based on what's going on. I just defeated the first introductory boss, and the game places you on the road to the first town; I wanted to change the binding to the first special attack, I hit the pause button and a menu with continue/skip/options comes up. I had to wait to get to the town to get the "proper" pause menu where I could change bindings, check the inventory, and access game options. It's a minor nuissance, but it's a rather weird one.
And I guess now not even professional translators know the difference between it's and its...always terrible to see this kind of error in what is ostensibly a first-class product.
Anyway...the game starts with some heavily scripted sequences that it doesn't progress when you push the required button, and the first hour or so it's very slow-paced and introduces the characters for those not knowing them. I know something about Granblue and found this beginning kinda boring, probably fans will be even more bored.
Mechanics like skills and special attacks are introduced progressively, and overall the combat system feels good but nothing special right now. There are elemental weaknesses to follow the mobile original's system, as well as the usual equipment, items, sidequests, and merchants needed for this kind of game.
Controls work well, evey action is responsive but attacks feel flimsy and without much weight to them: if you've played any of the recent Ys games, the feeling is a bit like those, though Relink has an heavy attack in addition to standard and special. Since Platinum was involved at one point I was expecting a bit more, and having recently replayed Nier Automata, I can say that game's combat feel better.
The game looks beautiful, with textures trying to replicate the original art. Characters are full of details, animations look entirely mocapped, and lipsyinching is great. And there are good hair physics! Oh so many Japanese ignore this big detail, and gives animations a quality boost. So far all dialogues have been voiced, and it's always a pleasure to hear some Japanese VAs and their performances. Just like in the mobile game you can freely change between a male and a female main characters.
Environments are lush and full of detail; the first town has been quite a surprise thanks to its abundance of locations and NPCs going around doing their stuff and offering plenty of flavour text and background voices.
Will play more in the coming days.
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