About two hours in so far and quite enjoying it. I only dabbled with the S. Famicom version waaaaaaay back briefly, but have played and enjoyed SO2+3, but this is my first proper play of SO1.
I think what I'm enjoying most is how quickly it moves. To compare, DQ11 kind of threw me off given how much it felt like it was wasting time over-emphasizing or embellishing plot elements for little justification. The opening mountain climbing ceremony was chock full of excessive gamesplaining, the castle trip and mystery, and so on with every step of the journey. There is a lot to appreciate in DQ11, but it also felt like a drag simultaneously when it came to narration. It's been an issue in many jRPG's as of late.
I'm reminded how quaint, simple, but effective 16-bit jRPG's could be with this. The storytelling isn't deep and is riddled with logical pitfalls, but it moves. You get your objective and go. Problem arises and you are immediately tasked with sussing out a solution, not emphasizing the problem and its roots too deeply.
Getting off that high horse though, the game is fine. Combat is mashtastic and probably the least compelling reason to play this. It feels like I recall Star Ocean 2 playing, but in two hours there has been zero need to do anything beyond mash attack and trade blows. Skills aren't additive or helpful to utilize beyond your simple 3-hit combo by any stretch, so until a boss or a real threat emerges to truly prove an actual combat engine exists, its by far the weakest link. Hoping it turns around.
But I like the Star Trek-inspired mashup of evolved sci-fi species helping out some lesser fantasy-inspired planet solve a larger threat. It's simple, it gives justification for magic and swords and caves and monsters while also having spaceships and lasers in the same game. I'm enjoying this.
I think what I'm enjoying most is how quickly it moves. To compare, DQ11 kind of threw me off given how much it felt like it was wasting time over-emphasizing or embellishing plot elements for little justification. The opening mountain climbing ceremony was chock full of excessive gamesplaining, the castle trip and mystery, and so on with every step of the journey. There is a lot to appreciate in DQ11, but it also felt like a drag simultaneously when it came to narration. It's been an issue in many jRPG's as of late.
I'm reminded how quaint, simple, but effective 16-bit jRPG's could be with this. The storytelling isn't deep and is riddled with logical pitfalls, but it moves. You get your objective and go. Problem arises and you are immediately tasked with sussing out a solution, not emphasizing the problem and its roots too deeply.
Getting off that high horse though, the game is fine. Combat is mashtastic and probably the least compelling reason to play this. It feels like I recall Star Ocean 2 playing, but in two hours there has been zero need to do anything beyond mash attack and trade blows. Skills aren't additive or helpful to utilize beyond your simple 3-hit combo by any stretch, so until a boss or a real threat emerges to truly prove an actual combat engine exists, its by far the weakest link. Hoping it turns around.
But I like the Star Trek-inspired mashup of evolved sci-fi species helping out some lesser fantasy-inspired planet solve a larger threat. It's simple, it gives justification for magic and swords and caves and monsters while also having spaceships and lasers in the same game. I'm enjoying this.