LogFAQs > #882953248

I finished up FFVIII the other day, spending a week watching a ton of anime. In the meantime, this popped into my mailbox from Gamefly. I read up on it, finding out it was made by the guys who made Ys (great sign) and Trails of Cold Steel (a series people seem to really like, but I never got into). Anyway, not knowing this, all I thought was, “Persona knock off.” Turns out I am liking it despite the crazy similarities. I think I’m going to stick with it. I’m only through the first dungeon, so I don’t have much to say just yet.

Good points so far
Action combat – I’m happy it follows the Ys engine. The last thing I need right now is more turn based stuff, since I’ve spent the last few months doing that constantly. It’s a nice breezy change to just mindlessly bash enemies.

The mystery girl, the childhood friend, the tomboy martial arts girl: ahh, familiarity. Can’t complain though. That’s par for the course for these things. I do like they have biographies for many of the other students. Makes NPCs actually interesting, which is something most games tend to ignore.

THE FAST TRAVEL BUTTON!
No game like this should be without it. It’s on the Vita, and you shouldn’t be wasting too much time wandering around if you got a place to go. The hub even tells you where people are located, so the guesswork is taken out.

Maybe it’s because I’m used to static cameras, but the way they frame cutscenes in a kind of “top/down meets isometric angle” sort of way is nice, compared to being straight on view. They even pull this trick when talking to teachers. Nice little add-on there.

Bad stuff
The bad thing right now is the camera during battles. I think it is tied to the start button (at least that is what the menu said anyway). I tend to get lost locking on enemies, and the boss was frustrating when I got turned around. Maybe it was initial gameplay nuance, and I’ll figure it out eventually.

The story is also nothing special. Spooky alternate dimension, enemies other people can’t see or fight, high schoolers with special weapons fighting them at night while doing social stuff after school. The calendar mechanic…gee, that’s original. There's no dub option, which kinda sucks. It's better to have a game translated in English than not localized at all, but local actors would have been nice. It was kind of funny seeing a cutscene with a Japanese actor reading English for a line or two. I guess that is a charming tradeoff.

But whatever. I’m sure this game is decent enough that while it won’t reach Persona level, I hope it isn’t garbage. Falcom usually makes good shit.
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"Misguided mortals, you'll burn with me! Spirit of man cannot be freed!" - Black Sabbath, When Death Calls