I’m not sure I even made it 1/10 of the way. I want to like the game but there was just nothing compelling me to continue or to pick it back up. The combat was especially disappointing. They captured the monotony of an rpg button masher without the ability to just zone out or multitask while playing. Also seems way to reliant on the moonerang.
Master of Orion I loved I and II. The third apparently bombed and reboots have failed.
Sim City I mean the real Sim city as Maxis would have made it. Not a cash grab, not a mobile game, not a “city painter” where any simulation takes a back seat to decorating with DLC assets.
Super Mario RPG no those other, spiritual successors do not count. They are fine games on their own but not the same.
Lost in Blue not the fanciest games, but I enjoyed them. There are plenty of modern games in the genre, but I haven’t found one that quite fits…
Locomotion was the official “spiritual” sequel, but I remember that game being horribly disappointing.
I liked Gensin Impact for the first few years, but last time I played it, that game was the worst example of this.
Teleport to location. Chat with npc for 5 minutes. Teleport to next location. Chat with another npc rehashing the first conversation for 5 minutes. Quick fight with trivial enemies. Teleport back to first npc Chat about random crap, slow walk to another npc, rehash the earlier conversation again, walk back to starting location, receive the most basic of rewards.
The game is 90% dialog of which very little is relevant or meaningful and none can be skipped. There is an auto advance option for conversations, but so many meaningless dialog prompts (with options are always the same semanticly) that it doesn’t work.
Of course this is all by design as the real goal is to sell you characters, not play a game.
I’ve been enjoying the game and seem to be close to the end. I actually like that it is not overly complicated. Makes it easier to pick up for an hour or two and just play.
My problem is the inconsistencies. At times it acts like it wants to be a deeper game and at times it is just mindless action. Feels like they cut a lot of planned content and just smoothed it over. For example, both unique weapons and armor can be upgraded with materials you find and purchase, but only weapons allow upgrading the unique stat itself, and its only a single choice between two options. It seems almost pointless. They should have just dropped that system entirely or expanded it to be more meaningful.
Late in the game are two choices that feel meaningful and appear to influence the map and story. Great, except, where was this for the entire first half of the game? So many choices just seem to be for flavor that when one actually has consequences it is jarring.
Then there is stealth. The game has a stealth mechanic and skills to buff stealth attacks. However, the moment you attack from stealth, every enemy in range is aggro’d to your location and stealth is no longer possible. Stealth is effectively just a first hit damage bonus. Again, it seems like they planned to make stealth a thing, then either cut it or could not make it work, but left parts of it in the game.
Illusions… The game has several, fairly trivial elemental obstacles. Most can be dealt with in several ways. Tangled vines can be burned with fire skills, certain throwables, or a companion ability. Same for electric switches, freezable bars (to shatter them), etc. All except illusions. Those can only be cleared by a specific companion ability, which means late in the game you are either forced to use that companion or give up on anything behind illusions. There is even a spot in the throwables UI that looks like it could be for an extra item type, but I’ve yet to find something to fill it. Maybe in the last area…
Overall I do like the game, but no way is it worth $70.