Discussion JRPG folks, what are you getting in 2022/23?

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meh
Dec 21, 2018
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I played some Harvestella too, past that second town.
And.... meh.
The side stories are frankly uninteresting, the main story isn't bad, if slow and not super surprising.

But it's gameplay wise that it's not very good, the farming is incredibly barebones and more boring than anything since it's just a minute every ingame morning to make food for adventuring... and adventuring is really, REALLY stiff combat (mage being close to unplayable, I tried it on a boss, it's just not viable without your teammates taking aggro) in fairly boring levels... they show you some nice design in cut scenes, it's not unlike Xenoblade 1 and then... you see that the gameplay is just a long corridor with side rooms to unlock with crafted items and you can't explore any of the interesting vistas.

I like that you get multiple classes at once and that you can switch on the fly with a CD, but the game being hilariously easy and farming giving you mountains of broken healing items with no CD isn't helping the bland and simple combat in bland zones only to reach bland story beats in bland towns (it's not ugly, just 90% empty... and pointless really, especially with the daylight timer ticking).

Honestly, it feels like a 3DS game.
And if you're looking for something with RPG elements as well as life sim on the side, there's plenty of better options like Fantasy Life or Last Oasis. And those were not 60€.
 
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Cacher

Cacher

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Jun 3, 2020
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The side stories are frankly uninteresting
I can't disagree with this enough. I have only played a few of them (just reached day 17 of Spring) but I am having a great time playing through these side stories. The side story chain involving the three kids in the starting town is wholesome, and that haunted well side story also makes me laugh. The writing is genuine, smart and surprising. Also some NPC dialogues change when one stage of the side story chain is cleared.

I sincerely believe that the best evidence of good writing is that players are able to recite the names of NPCs. And the writers, honestly, nailed it.

Thanks for the impressions, btw. I hope more people can talk about what they are playing in this thread.
 
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Cacher

Cacher

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Jun 3, 2020
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Re: Harvestella

The dungeon in Chapter 3B (ABC three route, no specific sequence)... That vibe and vocal music is straight out of Nier Replicant.