I have to say, if I didn't have an unlimited membership on another site, I would never have been able to review this game as I'd never have bought it at full price...or even discounted unless it was a $2.99 game. As others have stated, the grammar, punctuation and other issues dealing with the language difference are EXTREME. However I seem to have an inner copy editor that is constantly on the job, so I was able to muddle through while still understanding what they were TRYING to say. I can't imagine it would cost THAT much to hire a native English speaker to go over this stuff before release. I'd be happy to offer my services if anyone's interested!
Aside from the poor grasp of the language though, there are places in the story that don't match at all...bit of a spoiler alert here...A major example has to do with Bishop just after they capture Mikayla at the beginning. He's ordering a soldier to have her executed immediately, yet he NEVER planned for her to be killed. It makes no sense at all. Later, a character who isn't supposed to know of Bishop's plan to use Mikayla questions him about having Mikayla executed. Once again, oops!
As for the game itself, I was initially happy with the game in general, and especially with the easy access to areas you had already been through. I'm one of those folks who likes to level up my characters before heading into unknown territory. HOWEVER, the more I played, the more I found myself frustrated with certain things. For instance, the HIGH miss ratio of the characters when using a physical attack is outlandish, especially with certain "fiends". I've had many times when two characters missed the same fiend back to back as many as three times in a row, which causes the battle to continue twice or even three times longer than if I'd used a magic spell. Another issue I have deals with the spells. While Myra's and Verzus' spells improve markedly as their levels increase, Ambrose's start out fair and end up being pitiful as the level of fiend increases. For instance, later in the game Myra's weakest attack that only requires 7 MP can easily take out a fiend while it takes a spell from Ambrose that requires 30 MP to barely take out the same fiend! As Ambrose levels up, the spells added for him are virtually NEVER helpful, only having three actual attack spells, despite the fact that he ends up with the most spells available. His three attack spells cost (in order of strength) 7, 30 & 50 MP each. Toward the very end, meaning the highest level fiends, the only attack spell of his that does any good is the 50 MP spell, which decreases his total MP in just a handful of attacks! All of the others are "boost" spells (though they insist on saying it "busts") that I NEVER see any real use for. Once you've gotten past the first few levels of fiends, the 7 MP spell actually does less damage than he could do with his weapon in a physical attack! Myra and Verzus both get GREAT attack spells while Ambrose, who ALWAYS has the first attack, can't do diddly aside from set up a fiend for another attack from someone else. Reinhardt is only a bit better when it comes to the spell department, though his attack spells are also higher MP despite the fact that he is among the lowest when it comes to MP available. Frankly, compared to games like Aveyond, these characters have ridiculously low MP available which means using serious amounts of replenishing items or have battles drag on forever and a day with all the missed physical attacks. The one positive regarding Ambrose would be his "paralyze" spell. It comes in VERY handy in "boss" type battles and only costs 8 MP! It may take more than one try sometimes, but it is worth the effort since the enemy can't attack, typically, for the rest of the battle. (It is one of only two spells in the whole game that can actually miss...Verzus has an attack spell that misses more often than not, but that's why it's called "Lucky Shot".)
Another complaint I have has to do with the "seeds" found or earned throughout the game. Instead of putting lots of them, I'd sure rather they have been fewer in number with a higher increase for each one. For instance, your average seed adds only 2-5 for whatever it is supposed to be boosting. Say, you find an MP seed. It adds 5 MP to the character you use it on. HP is the only one with a higher increase at 20, yet that's not much better. The gazzilion and one items you come across that, while worn, boost DEX, INT or whatever are mostly annoying...I sell more than I keep. (This is more a personal taste issue, I suppose, but I get really fed up with finding who has the lowest DEX or whatever. Since the Aveyond series introduced me to my love of RPGs, that is probably why I don't care for all these seemingly nonsensical "skills" you have to keep track of. All I really care about is attack, defense...not broken down by PDEF AND MDEF either...HP and MP. Why must they make it so bloody complicated? It's a GAME not rocket science!)
My last complaint deals with the relics you collect throughout the game. It actually seems like a great idea and could have truly added to the overall game, yet they managed to mess this up as well! Despite the fact that I've finished the game multiple times, I've yet to find the "mask" relic. (I keep playing in hopes that I'll FINALLY find this darn thing!) You come across the first relic spot that requires the mask the very first time you go out into a battle area, so it seems like it would be somewhere early in the game. Despite this, I've tried everything I can to no avail. I've done internet searches; even begged for help on this very site and others...NOTHING! If anyone out there has found it, they're keeping it a secret. I've found EVERY OTHER RELIC in the game except this one. Another relic (though I can't recall which it is at the moment) is in such an obscure place that I'm sure many didn't find it either. (You enter a cave that is all by itself out on an island only to be faced with an empty room. I wondered if there might be a hidden doorway or some such thing, so I began circling the room. I would take one step, turn to face the wall and click the space bar...over and over and over...until I had completely circled the entire cave. Suddenly I was on the fight screen with no warning. When I'd finally beaten the fiend, I was awarded the relic. The next time I played, it still took a while, even knowing where I was when the battle started before, as the spot had changed just enough to make me circle around a while longer!)
This is just a personal thing, yet I've got to say the ending left me highly disappointed. (Okay, I'm a sucker for a happy ending!) This ending just left us hanging in many ways. Maybe there is a part two in the works...who knows?
One of the "selling points" in the description on the site I'm playing it from was that you get to "play Myra and 10 other characters" yet this isn't as big a deal as they make it sound. It sounds, to me at least, like you'll get all kinds of new characters with different kinds of attacks, but really you only get repeats of the same characters with the same attacks over and over again.
The main reason I kept playing was to take down the "main" bad guy...I can't stand a bigot of any kind, and when you get down to it, that's all he really is. A bigot who hates witches. If it weren't for my stuborn streak, I'd have uninstalled the game early on...as it was, I'd had it downloaded for several months before I'd even bothered to make it to the halfway point. (I finished the last in the Aveyond "Orb" series in one day!)
I discovered MANY years ago that computer games are a great distraction from the constant pain I suffer due to several health problems, so I play ALL kinds of games. Typically, if I don't like one, I just go uninstall and move on...yet I felt compelled to submit my MANY complaints with this game. (I suppose the optimist in me hopes the right person will somehow see this, and their future releases may benefit from even one thing I've said. One can always hope! After all, without hope, we are lost.)
Sadly but Sincerely,
Kitty-Cat-Momma
AKA
Mistie
by over_cloud9 » Sun Sep 19, 2010 7:52 pm 
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