This is one of the best games I've played so far this decade. I got it when it first came out but ended up forgetting to play it for a few long stretches of time. But regardless, I absolutely love this game. The playable characters are some of the most well written and thoughtfully interesting characters I've seen in a contemporary game. It was also so nice, playing a game set in this time period. An excellent turn based RPG with good combat mechanics. And no magic. I would love to see more games like this that do have combat and can take artistic license but also keep things hyper realistic. The end game especially is one of the best I've ever seen. Maybe the best. It's only rivaled by Mass Effect 3, in my opinion, when all three games finally reach their zenith. The choices you make throughout actually feel like they matter. And it doesn't seem like you just get funneled into an option A or B type of an ending, like in the original Life is Strange. I also loved the way strategy and to an extent base building is incorporated into this game as well. The soundtrack is also just incredible. Overall, I loved this game. A cast of characters that includes Cleopatra and Cicero, ugh. I just love this game.
What an interesting game! I really liked the story and presentation a lot. Visually it was great. It did, however, perplex me that a game featuring a main character so unsuited to combat was such a combat oriented game. Almost every sequence of this game is advanced through combat. And the combat mechanics really aren't very good. There is never enough ammo and the controls are pretty jerky. And the combat in a lot of ways doesn't really make sense either. It's just endless repetition of fighting the same villains over and over and over without any real reason to it. But, outside of that, the game is really interesting and compelling. I like how the story doesn't really resolve itself. It's well written and the voice acting is good and the atmosphere is excellent.
This game is so sorely needed and beautiful. I can't lie - the first two Baldur's Gate games are two of my all time favorites. Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2 are also two of my all time favorites. CRPG's are my thing. But man, it's so nice seeing this game and its characters transcend that particular circle of gaming. It's so wonderful seeing people who don't play these kinds of games get this game and absolutely love it. The new characters are as iconic as we've seen in gaming since I don't know how long. Liarra in Mass Effect? This game does have issues. There are times when it's faithful reproduction of D&D gets in its own way. The combat is often too hard. And the way the game depends on rolling is in some ways really wonderful, but in others, without a live DM to navigate what's going on in the game and interacting with actual players, relying on a computer rolling system like this game does gets in the way. The other main critique I have of this game is that the party shouldn't be limited to 4 characters. That does not make a lick of sense. An average D&D game can have a party ranging from 1 to at least 6 characters. I don't understand why games introduce so many playable characters and then limit your party to 4 characters. This isn't the 1990's. And if it were, we probably would have a bigger party limit at 6 characters. That's to say - if the game engine can't handle more than 4 playable characters, something needs to change. There shouldn't be 5 million enemies and 4 playable characters going against them. That doesn't make a lick of sense. Why are Jahira and Wyll and Minsc and company sitting in camp during the endgame? Even if it was for major battles only, a battle like the penultimate FF7 boss fight would be great. Expeditions Rome does this perfectly in it's major story battles. But anyway. This game is a masterpiece. It was so beautiful seeing Jahira and Minsc again. So beautiful. It's like going home. And also moving forward. So beautiful.
Full disclosure, I loved Human Revolution and Mankind Divided. And I've never been much for fantasy settings, even though I love open world RPG's. So for me, this is pretty much the best game ever. I'm in awe. The character creation suite alone is just so perfect. And it has so much of that tabletop open-ness. The dialog isn't super expansive, but still. At least there is choice that effects how the narrative plays out. And it's nice that the way you choose to play the game also effects how the narrative develops. And it's nice that the way you play also effects the way your relationships with other characters develop. As much as I loved the FF7 remake, the sad thing about linear games is that Cloud will always be friends with Barrett and Tifa and Aereith. FF7 is my favorite game of all time, but still, it would be nice to be able to have a little more player choice involved. This game sounds and looks great. The main drawback seems to be how demanding it is, and that it won't even run on the PS4 and Xbox One generation. That is rough. And very unfortunate. I play using an Xbox One controller - and for me that's working really well. But the PC controls should absolutely be remap-able. Hopefully that gets patched up soon. This game to me is next gen personified, and has me absolutely ecstatic about the future of gaming. But it's absolutely valid, all of the outrage expressed over it's inability to run on the previous generation type machines.
Phantom Doctrine has a lot going for it. It's in a similar vein to other "AP" style games like Shadowrun, but is more specefically a strategy game like Battletech or Achthung Cthulhu Tactics. Phantom Doctrine has a character building and leveling system that is a lot like the above mentioned games. I really really love the variety of agents one can create. And the voice acting is done really well. And combining the missions with the more top down base defense part of the game is a cool aspect. It makes the game feel very nuanced and complete. The music is well written and sounds good! I definitely reccomend this game for people who like the more contemporary RPG / Strategy blends, like Battletech or Cthulhu Tactics or Shadowrun.
In short, I like this game a lot. It looks and sounds and plays great. Very addicting. However, the difficulty could be better balanced. At the end of the day, you'll only ever have four mech warriors - and that just isn't fair. There should be the option to have reinforcements, to upgrade your drop ship or whatever so you can deploy more mechs. Most opposing forces will always outnumber you, and they're almost always stronger. The vehicles and turrets and etc etc are almost always ridiculously powerful. This wouldn't all be so bad if you could just have more mechs out there on the field.
So, I really loved this game. The story is decent, the music is really good, but more or less, I loved how simple and straightforward and honest with itself it is. It's basically a love letter to Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy VI and other pre-FF7 titles turn based JRPG's. It doesn't try to innovate or even hide the fact that it's literally that style of game, it really owns it, and I love that. The controls are simple, the battles are really straight forward and fun, the character leveling is fun and easy to manage, And I'm definitely game to play more in this series. It's pretty short, so if you're looking for something way deeper, this might not be your thing. You can basically choose one of six characters to play as your party leader, and then choose two more at any given time to be in your battle party of three. A single play through took me about 8 hours. So if you're really into those older Squaresoft turn based RPG's, this game is perfect for you.
