Ok, this is gonna be a messy post.
I need to talk about the balancing, or relative lack thereof.
I consider doing a second run, because game is cool, but am at a point where I'm not sure what would be the point given how the game balancing works, no matter which difficulty I'd choose.
I mean I would definitely try different characters, different comps, doing stuff in different order, etc.
But the game is just way too "imbalanced" as it is. And I'm not sure it could be fixed with some minor stat updates or adding different difficulty settings.
Let me explain.
First off, let me get this straight, this is not an "tHe GaEm iS tOo eAsY" or "tHe GaEm iS tOo hArD" post. That's not my point, game difficulties mostly serve their purpose, even if not everyone will be satisfied.
No, there are multiple fundamental issues in how the game works, in how the battles are deeply asymetrical despite superficial symmetries.
And it all ends up in a pretty unsatsfying difficulty, no matter which setting you choose.
I won't list all the specific stuff, being able to choose which squads fights (even at zero stamina as long as they're in range!), being able to see the perfect forecast (!), being able to spend items and/or valor points, all while the enemy only uses some rather basic formations, composed of basic AI setups (items, conditions), only having the advantage of spamming units, powers, and having "super squads" which are only "super" in that they have bloated stats which pretty much means nothing if you have a goodenough setup.
Sure you have some limitations, like item usage limit, valor usage limit, not being able to use a valor power when engaging (all while being able to use "unlimited" items ... ahem), but most of the time, even if you need to manage multiple BS at once, you always feel in great control, and that's not a satisfying feeling in a strategy game. You rarely have to truly adapt once you know what you're doing. And I'm not talking about kwnowing the map. I'm talking having good teams which can curbstomp 99% of the enemy squads.
It's really telling when the main increase in difficulty from higher tiers does not come so much from higher stat or better composed enemies, but from item usage limits, items which are already in limited supply in any given game in the first place (between money and shop inventories), giving the feeling of a redundant limitation, even if needed.
Honestly, as much as I enjoy this game, the balancing really feels ducttaped together when you start digging into it. And that's pretty disappointing.
It utlimately kinda works at a superficial level, but feels like some major changes would be needed to improve it to satisfying levels, like removing the forecast as a potential example, but then again that would bring some major issues with the whole point of tweaking your squads before battle, and would often be more tedious than fun, trying to see what happens and retrying afterwards, meh.
Honestly I'm not sure how they could improve the balancing without some major rework on how the battles play out (such as having much more symetrical battles) and that's a bummer.
I think the game works very well enough as an RPG with strategy elements (despite the lackluster story), but kinda fails as a strategy game.
Oh well, I probably need to think about it a bit more.
I had a great time with it as some weird form of FFT successor where you break up the game to the point of shattering it to pieces with broken squads, but ultimately probably won't remember it as a masterpiece.
Have fun Era, it's a good game, just really messed up in some important aspects, methinks.
