You see, for me this is doesn't ring true. If anything the system is either over-simplified or needlessly over-complicated to me, and never in the middle. Half the time, my paradigm shifts seem to effect my battle strategy by LUCK rather than skill or strategy... it amounts to much "switching from one to the next" until you find one that works.. then use it for every single enemy of that type. Worse, it seems like sometimes these sets are inconsistent, probably due to the individual stats of some characters. For example, assigning one team member as a ravager and one as a medic doesn't always seem to be as effective as assigning the first as a medic and the second as a ravager even if their skill sets are near identical. Then of course, some of the skill sets come off as wholly useless.. I still have not found a satisfactory role for the "synergist" or "saboteurs" except in the off-hand boss battle. Most battles seem more than winnable by setting everyone else to either ravager or Commando roles with someone playing medic, shifting that medic to a ravager or commando as the situation fits for those extra little oomph to get the stagger going. Still, i never can escape the feeling that I can fight and WIN every altercation by using the simple pattern of "Everyone attack >> Use potion >> Everyone attack >> Use potion >> Repeat until victory."Grampy_bone said:
But then the difficulty level ramps up considerably (and arbitrarily) at some points when players should be learning the battle system. In the olden days of yore, we would have simply grinded the area until we were powerful enough to squish the enemies around you. Of course since every area consists of a pretty straight corridor funneling you towards the next plot-revealing cinematic, there's little opportunity for this at all in the early majority of the game. So it means essentially travelling down a tunnel, fighting wave after wave of similar enemies that either respond well to your established strategy or don't, encouraging light experimentation and discouraging heavy experimentation once you've found what amounts to the ONE working strategy to progress you through the game.
If I had to bet on it, I'd say that about the time gamers who are either new to FF or not die hard JPGers will be quitting the game and looking for something else to satisfy their RPG needs is around the time you get to the Vile Peaks (chapter 4). The fights here turn inexplicably frantic and again success at time feels more like luck than skill. It's either that, or you realize just how sucky everyone but the main characters prominently featured in every promotional video really are.
Edit: another thing that has been bothering me... yes I understand that linearity is a give or take situation for some, but I've also noticed there are no 'towns' to explore, no cities, no side-quests, no mini-games, no talking to people... all hallmarks of an RPG. There is no 'role-playing' going on here other than being shoe-horned into the role of 'button presser' to move the story forward. I always welcomed finding new towns and cities in RPGS, meeting it's inhabitants and having a look around, getting tidbits of trivia and possibly useful (or less depending) information from the local color. In this game it's just one string of action-battles after another, split up by frequent cut-scenes. All of the parts you normally would have experienced by running around town and annoying it's commoners have been replaced with a datalog.. essentially you have to quite out of the action to read what amounts to the footnotes of dialogue you WOULD have gotten from the townsfolk if the game had allowed you. This might be the straw breaking the backs of camels for some players as it really does make the game seem more like a slow hack and slash than a fast-paced RPG.
