is this game challenging at all or braindead easy?

[Scott Pilgrim]

i'm worried because it reminds me of atelier games but those were way too easy. was hoping this game poses more of a fun challenge perhaps?

[Korelis]

Chapter 1 (which is the longest chapter, out of 7 total) has a decent level of difficulty and a nice progression, with a few optional bosses that you might not be able to beat by the time you finish the chapter (unless you grind a lot).

Unfortunately, as soon as you get to chapter 2, the difficulty drops like a rock. The normal enemies you fight everywhere are even weaker than the ones you were just fighting at the end of chapter 1, you no longer have a large variety of optional bosses to challenge you, and you almost immediately get much stronger items. And the difficulty will stay trivial for nearly the entire game after that. You'll find some tougher optional bosses again towards the end of the game, but there's a good chance they'll mostly still be easy by the time you reach them. You can expect at least a bit of challenge from one particular optional boss (Nightmare) and maybe from the final boss, and that's about it.

There are ways to maintain a bit of challenge, if you intentionally limit yourself. The game will be harder if you avoid using swords and just stick to staves, if you focus on magic over strength, and if you avoid stat-boosting items (it might be best to just never use them at all, but if you do you should at the very least avoid re-killing enemies that drop them, since you can get a ton even without really grinding). It still won't be an especially challenging game though.

[BerserkerXeno]

I agree with the guy above, you can get strong enough to the point that the game is easy, there's even optional super bosses you can fight

But you can increase the challenge by limiting what you do, like not training as much, basically, make strict limitations.

[EwoDarkWolf]

I think if you just play the story, it might be more challenging, but otherwise, it's going to be super easy. Even Nightmare wasn't that hard once I figured out how useful defend was and I got the bird that gives you extra turns. It took a little while, but not too difficult.

But I think that's an inherent problem with turn based games, though maybe a bit more with this one. The battles are only as tough as the enemies levels are higher than you. I think this game is better played as an interactive story, otherwise, it'll probably get boring fast.

[ButtStorm]

Atelier games very very much vary in difficulty. Ryza series are cakewalk for instance, played lulua on hard and got arse kicked a plenty.

In this game, on [hard] you will be naturally one-shotted by bosses, and the need to use the actions proper will certainly be on spot. meaning, you didn't had mana to cast mana shield and defend on charge attack or stacked enough stun to interrupt - die! that stays from first chapter to last altho later on perks grant you tools to mitigate lethal damage even so you have wide room for error.

but death isn't punishing in this game, you can just retry the fight, so if you're able to kill using your gear and it was just a strategic problem - you're fine! and your consumables are not wasted if you lost the fight.
you can also grind enough to kill optional bosses and boost yourself a plenty (alike in atelier)

haven't tried [very hard] or [normal], and so far i see [hard] difficulty is just perrrrfect for first run. [very hard] should be a real grind game to compare

[Gingilica]

Very Hard can get quite difficult. Got whooped a couple of times at some bosses and right now i`m stuck in Ch3 at a trial. I guess i need to go back and get some farming done.

[Shrub]

Originally posted by Gingilica:

Very Hard can get quite difficult. Got whooped a couple of times at some bosses and right now i`m stuck in Ch3 at a trial. I guess i need to go back and get some farming done.

This thread baited me because this has been my experience.

VH mode has me grinding to keep up. I'm using pets and items to their fullest. Yet not even the life staff can save me from bosses once they begin winding up their finishers. It becomes a fun puzzle of "how do I kill this boss fast enough without also dying in the process?"

I tried not to consume stat boosting items in the beginning, but I hunt them down now. I also drain the shop of stat-boosting items when I have the gold. Barely keeps me afloat lol.

[EwoDarkWolf]

Originally posted by Shrub:

Originally posted by Gingilica:

Very Hard can get quite difficult. Got whooped a couple of times at some bosses and right now i`m stuck in Ch3 at a trial. I guess i need to go back and get some farming done.

This thread baited me because this has been my experience.

VH mode has me grinding to keep up. I'm using pets and items to their fullest. Yet not even the life staff can save me from bosses once they begin winding up their finishers. It becomes a fun puzzle of "how do I kill this boss fast enough without also dying in the process?"

I tried not to consume stat boosting items in the beginning, but I hunt them down now. I also drain the shop of stat-boosting items when I have the gold. Barely keeps me afloat lol.

I played on the max difficulty (I don't know if they added a difficulty after) and just did the one for speed mostly, and occasionally strength or health if I started dying too fast, and it became insanely easy. I can get 2-3 attacks before they can even get one. But I also explored and tried to do everything before proceeding.

[Gingilica]

Originally posted by EwoDarkWolf:

Originally posted by Shrub:

I played on the max difficulty (I don't know if they added a difficulty after) and just did the one for speed mostly, and occasionally strength or health if I started dying too fast, and it became insanely easy. I can get 2-3 attacks before they can even get one. But I also explored and tried to do everything before proceeding.

There's been a patch in February 2024 that added Hard, VH difficulty and NG+. On VH potions have a reduced effect, last less turns and on top of that enemies are stronger, got extra hp, changed attack patterns and some bosses received new attacks. Patch notes on the game's page.

[dc1354]

It is definitely on the easier side. But part of the game is that the stat progression is largely pegged to the crafting system. So, it is also kind of up to you how strong you get. If you ignore it, yeah it will be hard. But if you're having a tough go of it, you can farm materials for stat boosting potions for a while and make yourself as strong as you want.