Arcadian Atlas
Has anyone heard of this? This is one of the only games that comes close to being in the style of FFT (aside from simply being turn based tactical) that I think has some potential. There isn't much in the way of full gameplay or testing footage, but from what has been shown it looks like a solid contender for checking a lot of boxes that I think most (if not all in some form) TRPGs since FFT have.
Sorry for derailing, but this seems like the most approriate place of discussion for it.
Now for some thoughts on the game that this thread is actually for, haha. I bought it a night or two ago for $30 because I wanted to support the studio regardless if I ended up sinking into it or not. I think they really, really nailed the gameplay and minor details that make this obvious that it's a true spiritual successor/influence of Tactics. The way combat flows, the menu and unit formation, the world map, visiting towns, and even the way dialogue and cut scenes play out are in many ways almost identical to FFT. I think the gameplay is extremely solid and overall this has struck me as an extremely polished and well thought out game from the bottom up in that regard. A lot of times, especially when people make games as an ode to another legendary game, they deliver on some nostalgic points or in any number of ways, but tend to end up a little messy and shallow or with numerous other failings because I think it's hard to create a game you don't have a full vision for from scratch. I like the fact that everything is streamlined and optimized for a modern console and a modern player mentaity. Navigating the game and world is intuitive and sensible, menus are smooth, and if you've played Tactics you pretty much know exactly what's going on from the beginning. They did a good job of updating the feeling of it without holding onto old designs that are silly to keep simply because that's how they were in the genre's peak. I think the spells and classes are cool as well, and I like the idea of being able to customize my unit completely such as changing their name and outfits, etc. I do wish there were a bit different options when it comes to customization, but that's not a big deal.
I feel like such a crotchety old man, though. I really don't think I can get into it despite all the good things I had to say about it above. I just cannot stand the art direction and character design. The writing obviously isn't mind blowing top tier shit either, but I can totally look past that as it seems passable enough where I'm at and haven't gotten far enough along to really judge more. I don't care for the giant text boxes and playful looking font and bright colors of everything, it throws me out of trying to take it seriously. The animations and spell effects combined with the sound effects seem extremely, extremely underwhelming to me. This is by far my biggest issue with the game besides the art, I mean like damn is that shit boring (so far). Just casting a simple spell like Fire or seeing some badass shit from a Holy Knight that takes control of your screen and has this dope ass short cinematic effect for a sword skill in Tactics was something I didn't realize how much I appreciate. Most everything I've done in this game so far feels...empty, for lack of a better word. No real satisfying feeling from hitting someone, or casting spells, or even killing someone. That death scream that's notorious in FFT was honestly a really powerful sound byte! It's a really weird combination of things for me, because while I think the game is good and the gameplay is well designed, I don't really enjoy it and I'm not sure why because I want nothing more than a game like this. One other thing I noticed while I was playing (the first battle, actually) is that you also can't rotate the map in this game? Atleast not on console apparently. An enemy ran into an alleyway that was obstructed by the rest of the building and I had no way of rotating my camera angle to see where he was or what was going on at all. It took me like five minutes to figure out I could actually move back there and that he didn't disappear in a buggy glitch or a cinematic 'escape'. With everything else they designed so well, that seems like a massive oversight, dude! I can't imagine playing through a TRPG in its entirety and never being able to swing the camera around and see shit.
TLDR; Overall seems like a fantastic game with thoroughly well implemented design choices, but not really enjoyable so far because I'm a ridiculously picky, over expectant, rabid piece of shit FFT fanboy who can't get past dumb minor shit in any other game in the genre. I'm getting fucking old and stubborn, guys.
Not FFT/10