Post by Friendly Person :) on Aug 4, 2016 16:07:06 GMT -5
Anybody else check it out? I threw a comment in the shoutbox, but impressions might be larger than 256 characters will allow.
As for my own experience, I'm really neither impressed nor depressed by the demo. Instead I actually feel like I've taken a few steps to the side. To avoid a wall of text, I'ma just bullet-point some thoughts as they come. (TL:DR version at the bottom)
- I really miss the linear battle system. Free-run feels much more loose.
- I'm not a fan of controlling the camera with the right stick. If I need my thumb on the face buttons to attack, I can't really change the camera angle. Considering the new transition system fixes the problem of fights occurring right next to walls (which caused 90% of Zesteria's camera issues), I'm a little confused on why this new system was needed.
- The environments seem pretty spacey. The hoverboard, rather than something to replace the ship/airship (as I'd originally hypothesised), functions more like a glorified sprint. The battle demo area wasn't on-par with Zesteria's fields in terms of size, but nor was it as empty. It didn't have the blobby-feel of Xillia's maps either. It's a huge improvement, but I still don't quite feel like these are pulling me in like the fixed-camera ones did.
- I miss using triangle to open the menu. (I'm mostly joking, I'll adjust)
- The demo is too easy, and I think it reflects poorly on the combat system ATM. I was able to figure out the basics of the combat through experimentation, but at first all I did was mash buttons. Considering the X button defaults to 'auto-select' an arte, I tried fighting a boss doing nothing but mashing X. It worked spectacularly. This is the single biggest hang-up for me. On the one hand, it's just a demo with no way of changing the difficulty. I'm sure I can put it on hard when the main game comes out and be forced to dodge, block, and all the other good stuff. But what really worries me is that with no way of extending the arte tree or soul-gauge, I'm not entirely sure how the combat will evolve over the course of the (supposedly) 40 hour main story. I'm sure this is where the skill system comes in.
- Environment detail is a huge step up from Zestiria. I particularly liked leaping across the ruins in the swamp (why can't there be more of that?) and placing chests on top of the... coral... thingies at the beach. There's stuff to look at under the water, and while not littered with stuff, the environments don't feel empty either. I'll be very curious to see what they do with the next Tales, when they shift fully to the PS4.
- New skit system is interesting. I'm not completely sure how I feel about the shifting 'panels' versus them just staying in a single place, but the characters themselves are more expressive than before. Some of them seem pretty long (though that might just be because I don't understand enough Japanese to have more than a vague clue what's going on), and THANK GOD, THEY NO LONGER HAPPEN EXCLUSIVELY AT SAVE POINTS AND INNS.
- Going back to the combat for a second, YAY, NO MORE ARMITA-BLAHBLAHBLAH! It's nice having 4 characters again! Further, I already liked having mystic artes tied to BG (it gets old seeing only the player character's over and over and over), but now that there's no fusion, I feel like I get to see them more often.
- I wish they'd bumped up the standard walk speed a tick or two. It feels a bit slow.
- There's stuff to find EVERYWHERE thanks to the little orbs. I know some people didn't like the random garbage all over Xillia's maps, but I feel like they gave some incentive to running around the thing (something that Zestiria lacked IMO). So for me this is a plus. Maybe others will feel differently.
I guess I've already blabbed on for a while, so I'll stop myself.
TL:DR - The environments are fairly spacious, with lots of stuff to find and a decent amount to look at. Combat also takes steps in the right direction, but I worry that it might be too simplistic to remain interesting through the course of a 40-80 hour game. I'd say Berseria seems to be paying more attention to the details than the last 3 releases (BUT STILL NO FREAKING ITEM PICTURES), though it's hard to tell from a demo if it'll be able to sit with the games of old.
As for my own experience, I'm really neither impressed nor depressed by the demo. Instead I actually feel like I've taken a few steps to the side. To avoid a wall of text, I'ma just bullet-point some thoughts as they come. (TL:DR version at the bottom)
- I really miss the linear battle system. Free-run feels much more loose.
- I'm not a fan of controlling the camera with the right stick. If I need my thumb on the face buttons to attack, I can't really change the camera angle. Considering the new transition system fixes the problem of fights occurring right next to walls (which caused 90% of Zesteria's camera issues), I'm a little confused on why this new system was needed.
- The environments seem pretty spacey. The hoverboard, rather than something to replace the ship/airship (as I'd originally hypothesised), functions more like a glorified sprint. The battle demo area wasn't on-par with Zesteria's fields in terms of size, but nor was it as empty. It didn't have the blobby-feel of Xillia's maps either. It's a huge improvement, but I still don't quite feel like these are pulling me in like the fixed-camera ones did.
- I miss using triangle to open the menu. (I'm mostly joking, I'll adjust)
- The demo is too easy, and I think it reflects poorly on the combat system ATM. I was able to figure out the basics of the combat through experimentation, but at first all I did was mash buttons. Considering the X button defaults to 'auto-select' an arte, I tried fighting a boss doing nothing but mashing X. It worked spectacularly. This is the single biggest hang-up for me. On the one hand, it's just a demo with no way of changing the difficulty. I'm sure I can put it on hard when the main game comes out and be forced to dodge, block, and all the other good stuff. But what really worries me is that with no way of extending the arte tree or soul-gauge, I'm not entirely sure how the combat will evolve over the course of the (supposedly) 40 hour main story. I'm sure this is where the skill system comes in.
- Environment detail is a huge step up from Zestiria. I particularly liked leaping across the ruins in the swamp (why can't there be more of that?) and placing chests on top of the... coral... thingies at the beach. There's stuff to look at under the water, and while not littered with stuff, the environments don't feel empty either. I'll be very curious to see what they do with the next Tales, when they shift fully to the PS4.
- New skit system is interesting. I'm not completely sure how I feel about the shifting 'panels' versus them just staying in a single place, but the characters themselves are more expressive than before. Some of them seem pretty long (though that might just be because I don't understand enough Japanese to have more than a vague clue what's going on), and THANK GOD, THEY NO LONGER HAPPEN EXCLUSIVELY AT SAVE POINTS AND INNS.
- Going back to the combat for a second, YAY, NO MORE ARMITA-BLAHBLAHBLAH! It's nice having 4 characters again! Further, I already liked having mystic artes tied to BG (it gets old seeing only the player character's over and over and over), but now that there's no fusion, I feel like I get to see them more often.
- I wish they'd bumped up the standard walk speed a tick or two. It feels a bit slow.
- There's stuff to find EVERYWHERE thanks to the little orbs. I know some people didn't like the random garbage all over Xillia's maps, but I feel like they gave some incentive to running around the thing (something that Zestiria lacked IMO). So for me this is a plus. Maybe others will feel differently.
I guess I've already blabbed on for a while, so I'll stop myself.
TL:DR - The environments are fairly spacious, with lots of stuff to find and a decent amount to look at. Combat also takes steps in the right direction, but I worry that it might be too simplistic to remain interesting through the course of a 40-80 hour game. I'd say Berseria seems to be paying more attention to the details than the last 3 releases (BUT STILL NO FREAKING ITEM PICTURES), though it's hard to tell from a demo if it'll be able to sit with the games of old.