Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark

I really whanted to like this game. To combat is enjoyable, the class/subclass sistem is fun to discover and the customizable party is allwyas a plus for me. The characters are ok and the story is bland, it serve the purpouse of putting you in several combat situations. However, the RNG is very infuriating and the grinding you need to farm xp/lvl up your classes/characters it is what killed it for me. Every time one character dies, it gets an injury. This injury stacks if he dies again withou healing. Each stack of injury gives penalty to the stats, damage, etc and the only way to heal is for him to not participate in a combat scenario. So either you need to go to low lvl maps to grind in order to heal your injuder characters, or have a gigant roster of characters so you can rotate in each mission, but if you have a gigant roster of characters you still need to grind anyway to get money, equipments and lvl up the charctares/classes so they can be of any use. Anyway, fun game with to many mechanincs for you to waste a lot of time. More than I cared to invest in the game.

Rather than a "classic SRPG", it corresponds to a "modern tactics/strategy RPG". It's a highly rated game, but I recommend watching the review video to see if it suits your taste. Characteristic - Even in areas where you have progressed through the story, you can resume battles with the Patrol command. Even if you skip a treasure chest or special item, you can come back and try again. - Characters except for one main character die in battle and become Injury and their stats are reduced. It's up to you whether you want to try again so that all characters don't die, foster a backup character, or turn off the difficulty setting. - Each character has a separate "character level" and "class level". Character level determines stats, and class level determines available skills. If the level of the main character increases, you can recruit a high character level colleague in town, but the class level is still 1. - During the battle, you can know the enemy's turn order, enemy's skill, equipment, and movement range. Pros - You can finely adjust the difficulty level. Not only when you start the game, but you can also modify the options during the game. - The conditions for changing jobs are different for each job, but all characters can change jobs to any job. Also, you can learn all skills for each job. If the player wants, he can make all the characters the way he wants through multiple battles. - The character's job change and equipment change are free and there are no penalties. If you lose the battle, you can reload and try a different combination. Cons - Depending on your training goals and training direction, battles may become repetitive and boring. - The value of each character is so low, and it is not recommended for those who have a lot of affection for the character. - You cannot save during combat. If something else happens, keep it as it is, or fight only when you definitely have plenty of free time.

Highly recommended for turn based gamers. Pros - Amazing customization/build - Great story - Controller support was 100% spot on and worked flawlessly. - Game plays great on OSX. Cons - Music can be a bit repetitive - Minor balance issues with certain classes much more powerful then others. Notes Completed the game on veteran in 72 hours. I think it would take about 150 hours to get a 100% full clear/all achievements. I wrote this review with no compensation, in hopes other Turn Based gamers get to enjoy this title as much as I did.

A must have for any tactical RPG fan. Cons: A serviceable story, but predictable. Hand-painted maps mean that battles take place on a static plane. Some of the generated character cosmetic options look silly. Certain ability descriptions are misleading. Pros: Beautiful sprites and maps. Top notch tactical combat. Deep character progression. Inspired stage secrets requiring a combination of user ingenuity and character build mechanics to find the solutions to them all. Challenging encounters for players who don't like to overgrind. Bzaro. The pros outweigh the cons considerably, so I stand by my 5 star rating.

So, if you grew up playing games like Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, or Tactics Ogre, you'll be right at home with this game! That said, this game takes the themes of strategy and class development into new realms of depth. Considering that there are 20 base classes available (some need to be unlocked), and then more as the game progresses or you buy the DLC, there's over 30 classes eventually. And, personally, I don't know what your party's ultimate roster limits are... because I never reached it. With both monsters (I had the Missions and Monsters DLC) and people I had well over 15 in my party and I didn't receive any notice that I had reached my limit. You can only take (most battles) up to 6 party members into battle. Sometimes less is required, and on rarer occasions more. Managing your entire party can become burdensome if you're not careful. It can be overwhelming. But, if you love customizing then you'll love every second of figuring out which classes any character uses, which skills they should wield, and which items fit them best. The story-line was not something to write home about, to be honest. But, it still provided fun and some twists and turns that I wasn't expecting. So, overall I'd say it's as great as many other game's stories. But, you're not really playing this game for the whole story... You're playing it for the tactical battles, which are phenomenal. For those unfamiliar with this style of game it it turn based, based on every character's speed level. It constantly cycles through all characters on the field, and you select what each character does as their turn falls on them. There are numerous abilities that allow you to manipulate the field in many ways... slowing/poisoning/blinding/bleeding/putting enemies to sleep... Healing/boosting strength or speed/defending other party members. A myriad of magic attacks from summoning to elemental, and numerous skills from stealing to trapping. So worth your money. Get it!