There are no random enemy encounters. I'll say it again, there are NO random enemy encounters! I see a treasure chest and want to go grab it? I know I can get there without having to battle six more baddies I may or may not defeat. The enemies float around the screen with a set path - you can openly ignore every battle but the boss battles should you choose to do so. Or, if you know the enemies are tough, but you just want to see what else is in the area before you go back to an easier area, you can do so. It's absolutely refreshing.
Then there's the female lead. Not only is she pretty, she's smart and capable, and honestly could fight through the complete game without the help of anyone else, if she so chose. She's pretty clueless about the whole political atmosphere that makes up the entire game, so it's pretty neat to see her learning everything at the same time the player is, too. You feel the same level of injustice and surprise that she does. I also liked the fact that she's a little hard-headed, albeit kind to most everyone, and she takes the whooooole game to finally forgive someone who's been helping her since the beginning, all because of a small (?) slight.
The game instruction isn't forced like most RPGs. In a quick "hey, come to my tavern and I'll show you some moves" demonstration, you learn everything you need to about walking around, talking to people and, most importantly, the different types of treasure chests scattered throughout the world. Most RPGs just assume you'll know, and the ones that don't draaaaag explanations out, but not so with Skyborn.
The story line is extremely engaging, and I found myself excited for the next time something would be revealed and the characters would discuss it. I must say, I did find it a little offensive that your brother tries to sell you as a wife to the rich guy at the very beginning of the story, but hey, you spend the rest of the game in constant repartee with the handsome rich guy as battle partner, so all is not lost.
The best thing in the world, however, is the "bonus experience" sparkles you can find sprinkled in the oddest places. They are placed there specifically for people who enjoy exploring maps. They even state this specifically. For anyone who has ever played a multi-player RPG with me, you understand that this element fits me perfectly. I like to go to every single corner of a map. I like to walk into every door. I will spend hours walking back and forth across a screen to make sure I've seen everything, and this game is giving me extra levels for doing so. How awesome is that?
Now, onto the not-so-cool stuff.
First of all, I did not understand the weapon creating at all. There was, in actuality, very little ore you could mine yourself (as someone who explored every part of every map, I'd know), so every time I went to create something, I found myself pausing and thinking "is this really worth it?" In the end, no, it wasn't. I had so much gold, it was ridiculous. And you can't make anything better than what you can buy...so that certainly confused me. It seemed like an unnecessary element to the game. Perhaps it was thrown in there because the heroine is a mechanic/creator/inventor-type person?
You could only hold a limit of 20 for each item, which could get more than a little annoying since, later in the game, it became extremely necessary for me to use the resurrection items during fights. You couldn't get to the cities at all during most sections of the game, so if you ran out...you were out, and you'd have to hope you find a nodule that gave everyone full life before long.
At one point, you find a little "earthbound"-elf-girl to join your party and she's...unfortunately pretty useless. You can't even upgrade her weapon until MUCH later in the game (and then, only through the very special treasure chests), so her hits are very weak compared to your other characters and her special abilities are completely lackluster in battle. If she wasn't so adorable, I'd probably ragequit the game just because of her existence. It's a chore to keep the girl alive.
There is also no map. I mean, of course, one you can pull up to see where you are and where you've been. For the most part, this wasn't too bad, but there were a few areas where I walked in circles trying to figure out if I had been there yet or not, and whenever I was in town, it was so difficult to find where the vendors were or where I needed to go to progress the story. This caused more than one headache because, as much as I love exploring, I hate not repeating my steps on the constant.
The last matter I have an issue with is perhaps my own fault. It was stated clearly that I was on the last leg of the game, and I wouldn't be able to turn back if I continued on, so I needed to make sure I had everything. I, having battled every baddie and explored every experience sparkle, was pretty confident and plowed on ahead. I was doing great until the last boss. Clearly I did not have the proper equipment level needed, and after losing horribly quite a few times, I closed the game in frustration and anger. There is no way for me to go back and modify my gear to be more helpful, because I only had the one save file. There is literally no option for me to beat the boss as I currently stand (he can, and does, one-shot 3 of my characters every time he attacks - no amount of life-giving branch-things will keep my characters in the game, and even those are dwindling with the amount of times I've attempted to beat him). My only option is to start over again.
On the one hand, this idea fills me with dread. I hate playing these types of games over again. Nothing new happens. You fight the same people, your characters say the same things, you're on one set path with absolutely no deviation. Why would anyone want to play that over again? But on the other hand, I really want to beat this game. Almost more badly than I want to gather all the Pokémon in the world. It's almost a compulsion because I like the story and the characters so much. So I really can't decide what choice is better for me at the moment. I might have to convince my husband that he needs to play the game, just so I can jump in at the last part and see what happens. Or, one of you could play it and record the last parts just for me ~_^
Until next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment