I'm 11 hours in according to my save file, and not much has changed gameplay wise from the 'demo' which is bit disappointing, i was fully expecting more customisation options on getting further into the game similar to Nier:Automata, the game it closely follows in gameplay but it's all given to you at the start of the game for combat skills and so far no different weapon types, just a claymore to swing with limited options, augmented with classic Final Fantasy summons called Eikons in this game. These give 3 extra powers each which can be switched on the fly, a spammable move for Ifrit its a quick step towards the enemy even in the air, then 2 slots for cooldown moves from a choice of 4, 2 locked to start with but generally you want 1 HP damage and 1 stagger damage. I'd suggest against wasting any exp on the locked choices, the middle power is a low cooldown ability but in stagger and damage is completely worthless against tough/boss enemies while your normal cooldowns and general combat moves are more than enough for the normal mobs that come at you.
As stagger damage would suggest the core gameplay is break tough/boss enemies stagger bar then zerg that damage, options for this at the start are limited but gaining the 2nd eikon does vary it up bit. Gaining the Dog is an annoying constant button pressing of the D-pad to get any worth out of it, his main use is the ravage command to throw weak enemies in the air for combos which is fun. Aside from that the major bosses tend to have large cutscenes for QTE's that usually end up in the Kaiju battles which thankfully after the 1st one which is one long glorified 15minute cutscene the rest are more involved that.
Healing is mainly done (so far 11 hours in) via potion bottles limited to carrying 4 normal and 3 Hi, which are usually found 1 or 2 at time after string of fights or leading up to a boss fight. I've yet to die in any fight so far (come close a few times) so no idea how it handles checkpointing and refilling potions. The dog can give weak regen to recover what i would call street fighter like 'red hp' and limit break mode can regen (small amounts) through damaging enemies.
What is key to me for my Final Fantasy game is having equipment and stats, in this game it all means nothing so far, you'll see random stats rise when you level up but it means nothing to combat, the only key one is a bit more HP. No point in upgrading any gear, your just given better equipment after each chapter using a boss material to craft a new blade that'll last maybe 30 minutes. Accessories so far provide only def, and the necklaces meaningless low % increases for cooldown abilities (outside of the crutch powers like auto parry, auto dog for those that want to play an FF game but not an action game).
Music been quite disappointing, outside of the 2 battle themes and couple of boss themes which are excellent, the rest of the field and town tunes all sound like it's been lifted from cutting room floor of Nier rather than a Final fantasy game. Voice acting is very English in the way Dragon quest dubs have been, Clive and Jill are very bland compared to Cid who is easily the best character in the game and quite a unique vocal fry to his voice and gav's quite fun to.
Stories been quite easy to follow (contrary to what i'd heard in the games media headlines) and i'm enjoying the main quest. The sidequest stuff so far has been worthless rewards of tiny exp and gil for the effort of putting up with cringe on the nose stories about racism which are badly voiced. Early game reminds me alot of FF13 railroad experience, so far there been very little freedom so i'm hoping it won't take 40 hours to reach a true open world.
As far a spoilers go for where i am. I've done 2 hrs after coming back from Eastpool Village to see Cid about his plan.
As for the technical stuff, nothing was improved in the day 1 patch, the motion blur is still there and can often been seen in the cutscenes causing a double image outline on characters. While the main combat is faultless, exploration isn't, unstable frame-rate with a blurry mess on turning the camera.
As stagger damage would suggest the core gameplay is break tough/boss enemies stagger bar then zerg that damage, options for this at the start are limited but gaining the 2nd eikon does vary it up bit. Gaining the Dog is an annoying constant button pressing of the D-pad to get any worth out of it, his main use is the ravage command to throw weak enemies in the air for combos which is fun. Aside from that the major bosses tend to have large cutscenes for QTE's that usually end up in the Kaiju battles which thankfully after the 1st one which is one long glorified 15minute cutscene the rest are more involved that.
Healing is mainly done (so far 11 hours in) via potion bottles limited to carrying 4 normal and 3 Hi, which are usually found 1 or 2 at time after string of fights or leading up to a boss fight. I've yet to die in any fight so far (come close a few times) so no idea how it handles checkpointing and refilling potions. The dog can give weak regen to recover what i would call street fighter like 'red hp' and limit break mode can regen (small amounts) through damaging enemies.
What is key to me for my Final Fantasy game is having equipment and stats, in this game it all means nothing so far, you'll see random stats rise when you level up but it means nothing to combat, the only key one is a bit more HP. No point in upgrading any gear, your just given better equipment after each chapter using a boss material to craft a new blade that'll last maybe 30 minutes. Accessories so far provide only def, and the necklaces meaningless low % increases for cooldown abilities (outside of the crutch powers like auto parry, auto dog for those that want to play an FF game but not an action game).
Music been quite disappointing, outside of the 2 battle themes and couple of boss themes which are excellent, the rest of the field and town tunes all sound like it's been lifted from cutting room floor of Nier rather than a Final fantasy game. Voice acting is very English in the way Dragon quest dubs have been, Clive and Jill are very bland compared to Cid who is easily the best character in the game and quite a unique vocal fry to his voice and gav's quite fun to.
Stories been quite easy to follow (contrary to what i'd heard in the games media headlines) and i'm enjoying the main quest. The sidequest stuff so far has been worthless rewards of tiny exp and gil for the effort of putting up with cringe on the nose stories about racism which are badly voiced. Early game reminds me alot of FF13 railroad experience, so far there been very little freedom so i'm hoping it won't take 40 hours to reach a true open world.
As far a spoilers go for where i am. I've done 2 hrs after coming back from Eastpool Village to see Cid about his plan.
As for the technical stuff, nothing was improved in the day 1 patch, the motion blur is still there and can often been seen in the cutscenes causing a double image outline on characters. While the main combat is faultless, exploration isn't, unstable frame-rate with a blurry mess on turning the camera.
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