As my first foray into this game franchise, I went in blind with no preconceived notions of what it would be like. I bought the game on a whim when it was on sale for a greatly reduced price, and was in the mood for a single-player RPG, and so I began the tale. My first impressions of the game were pretty negative. I initially felt that the game was unbalanced in its gear progression system. However, looking back, I feel that much of my concern was largely the result of being unfamiliar with this particular style of gameplay. I am a stranger to tactical grid-based RPGs, with Trails in the Sky being my first, with the exception of some random minigames in MMOs. Being an experienced gaming veteran though, I started out on hard mode. I think some of the initial imbalance was also due to the mode. The gameplay really picks up as you go through the game and unlock more abilities. As a tactical game, you need access to those ablities to be able to adapt and deal with the randomized elements of the battle system. However, at the start you don't have access to enough tools, making the fights significantly harder and more frustrating. By the end; however, the fights were almost too easy, even on hard mode. Overall, I think the gameplay could have benefitted from some tuning with regards to its difficulty pacing, but was otherwise quite entertaining. I can't compare it to other games with similar battle systems though, so take that with a grain of salt. Story-wise, the game does an excellent job of keeping you hooked. And the story wasn't all that predictable at times. I think if I continue the series, I will probably find it more predictable as I get used to the habits of the writers. Being a Japanese-exclusive game for a long time (according to my post-play research), the game is very clearly anime-inspired. And with that, it brings both the good and the bad. The dialogue and character interactions are actually quite good, but at times you'll see common anime tropes pop up. So if you're familiar with those tropes, you'll find a lot of predictability in them. I mentioned that the game keeps you hooked. It does this by chaining together high-tension events. There are almost never any periods of genuine down time. You can, of course, delay the continuation of the main story in order to pursue side quests. However, as soon as one tense situation ends, another tends to miraculous walk through the door behind you (often quite literally). My biggest complaint with this game, and the reason I have given it only 3 stars as opposed to 4, is actually about the way the game is marketed. My expectation from a single-player RPG of this nature is that it will be a full game. Or if not, it will at least have the duration of a full game. Since I purchased the game on a whim, I was under the impression that the game was standalone, rather than essentially one chapter in a series. This was my mistake for not having done any research. However, the actual gameplay duration also left much to be desired. I finished the game in roughly 20 hours of actual play time. That includes doing the majority of the side quests. That is pathetically short for this sort of game, and is only made worse by how the duration compares to cost. Especially when considering whether to purchase the sequels (which are likely of similar duration), is it really worth paying the price of a full game three separate times to buy the three chapters that make up the full game?
