Recently finished the game, here's my thoughts on it:
Its a great game, as expected of Vanillaware. There are some flaws and things that could have been better of course, largely to do with the writing more than anything else, but I highly recommend it to anyone who even slightly enjoys this kind of game.
>Gameplay
Outstandingly fun, though I can't help but wonder if part of it ended up sacrificing story aspects for its incredible freedom to approach the game.
Somehow, exploring the overworld and doing shit like mining and treasure-hunting was actually fun and enjoyable, which I did not expect at all.
The level of customization for combat is shocking for a game like this, though I wish there was a tactics option for Rosalinde and Eltolinde with the number of fairies, because its not like you can predict the exact number of actions they will take if they perform actions such as healings.
The game starts out pretty difficult in the early stages (and at the beginning of each arc with a difficulty spike), but you eventually get so many tools, resources, abilities, and customization/freedom to do things the way you want that it eventually starts getting pretty "easy". Though that's a weird way to put it. I played it on Expert, and I pretty much never lost except once or maybe twice by accident when I wasn't paying attention. Doesn't mean it wasn't difficult mind you, but the game gives you a lot to handle everything. I didn't use 90% of my consumable resources and I cleared the game without issue, though I do have a decent amount of experience with tactical/strategy games at this point. So many fun mechanics and stuff.
The colliseum was a good time. I beat Amalia pretty early on, and I beat Gerard at low-level 30s which was nice. There was so much to find and/or unlock in this game, figuring out and fine-tuning combat was generally a blast, especially with all the items and abilities and whatnot. It is interesting to see how much my squads changed over the course of the game (and how much they didn't too)
>Aesthetics and Presentation
Vanillaware is above reproach. Most of the characters in this game are at least A-tier designs by Vanillaware standards.
However, I do wish they had more S-tier character designs in this game, like what you'd see in Dragon's Crown or Muramasa. You could tell they were constrained by the nature of the game (having to make "standard" characters since you had to control and fight whole damn armies), and maybe the fact that Kamitani wasn't at the head of this game also influenced that. Still, Vanillaware made some incredible stuff as they usually do.
The artwork was beautiful as a whole.
Animations were good, though a lot of attack styles were pretty standard. I wish there was more flash to them, akin to GBA Fire Emblem animations if possible.
>Music
Was good. Could have been better but it was fine. I can't complain from what I remember.
>Plot/Story writing
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