folios and synergy are terrible

[Rocket]

Q. What do you get if you cross a synergy with a folio?
A. You get a bloated, confusing, convoluted mess!

I don't know, maybe there's players who love it? I have adhd. I struggle with things that are overwhelming. I'm fine with 99% of games, then comes along something like this or like Doom Eternal. It's just completely unnecessary. Remake had an excellent combat system, so does FFXVI and FFXV. What happened here? While we had the option of automatically allocating weapon upgrades in the previous one, now we have folios! which has no automatic option... but you know what? I don't want them, AT ALL. I ignored them at first and was enjoying the game. Then I noticed there was stat increases in the folio, so I had to activate the synergy thing to get to it. Then i fought quetzacoatl and I felt like crap, trying to understand how to actually activate the synergy thing and eventually getting it and quetzacoatle just died and i felt completely deflated, like that was no fun whatsoever. I don't feel like I made any sensible decisions about what strategy to use in that fight, what ability to best take advantage of the enemy weakness, etc. all of this complicated synergy just feels like it takes away from any strategy I might employ and just relies on spamming literally any ability to get the super powerful move that will kill anything. That's not fun. That's not a chalenge, that's just convoluted and boring. I went right back to that foli machine and reset all of that and now i'm fighting quetzacoatl again and now I feel so much better. I see he is weak to ice, so I'm gonna use a bit of ice magic and also pay attention to his stagger meter and watch it's movement and actually take part in the battle itself.

Q. What do you get if you opt to use the convoluted mess of a system...
A. You get what you f***g deserve!!

[E-Commerce Meatualization Inc]

i don't mind it, i always thought it was super cool to do super powerful summons/spells/limits in the original and i don't feel like that's out of place here. if it doesn't fit your preferred play style don't use it.

[Xengre]

Synergies are cool.

Folios are kind of poorly done with powerful no MP costing abilities (these are very useful actually, and not because they have no MP cost) and other abilities that feel like they should be free (synergy), but because most of the nodes are extremely low stat modifiers aside from a few more powerful flat stat increases. It makes them feel almost pointless to care about individual nodes, most of the time.

Synergies are like another type of limit break acting as an incentive for not neglecting your party members with the caveat you can't just exploit them indefinitely due to their increasing Synergy bar cost the more you use them in a fight. They're not powerful enough to just obliterate bosses, either, but they're fairly decent. You can use them for specific boss pressure mechanics or to nuke a boss when properly prepared like when it is staggered and you got it at 50% health then nuke it with two character's limit breaks and the synergy combo and you could just end the fight there because you were prepared, staggered it, and then let loose (maybe even after boosting the dmg modifier further on the stagger bonus).

Synergy abilities are also cool because they add new mechanics between different character party compositions and outside the normal design while helping each other build ATB, too.

The system isn't bad just because you chose to totally ignore it, not learn it at all, then try it on a boss and not something easier and expect to get perfect results immediately. I think your expectations aren't exactly realistic here. Further, it sounds like your main issue is you just aren't used to using it and it distracts you.

[sora's 青かった星]

I don't enjoy synergies personally. They aren't as reliable to use and by the time I can use them against mobs it usually would have been faster to blast an enemy with several elemental spell they're weak against to pressure them and then finish them off. And I switch between different character parings in my party so there is even less reason to learn the synergies. The only time they matter is in the long fights, and then I resent having to use them.

[E-Commerce Meatualization Inc]

I've only really been using synergies agains bossos or minibosses for the most part.

[Pixie]

I much preferred the system from the first game. the folios system is utter garbage. synergies can be good though.

[Xengre]

Originally posted by E-Commerce Meatualization Inc:

I've only really been using synergies agains bossos or minibosses for the most part.

Same, don't use them at all on normal mobs. Do use the no MP abilities a ton against normal mobs, though.

[Rocket]

Originally posted by Xengre:

The system isn't bad just because you chose to totally ignore it, not learn it at all, then try it on a boss and not something easier and expect to get perfect results immediately. I think your expectations aren't exactly realistic here. Further, it sounds like your main issue is you just aren't used to using it and it distracts you.

I think you do have a point, I may have been able to learn it if I put some work in, but to be honest I resent doing so, for something that feels like it undermines materia, bit conceptually and mechanically. I mean there's the story which rests on the fact magic comes from the life stream via materia, and shinra distil materia to do all this sort of stuff. There is the original materia system of slotting into your weapon, improving your mataeria, using combinations, all to improve your battle proficiency. It has felt to me, from the offset, that these systems are giving alternate mechanisms to fight that do not really use materia or mp (mako) , it just feels wrong. The whole point of materia, magic and mp, is a strategic management system, and us why ether exists. We have mechanisms to rest and replenish mp, and to craft items like ether, but that is undermined if each character has a free elemental ability.

[Katitoff]

Originally posted by E-Commerce Meatualization Inc:

I've only really been using synergies agains bossos or minibosses for the most part.

Well, if a fight lasts on average 10-15 seconds, not much of a point otherwise.
Tho RB abilities are good for Aerith for her ATB and she is a hard hitter too.

[Melodia]

The OP should watch a speedrun if they think Synergies are that bad.

[Sevrojin]

people must have the iq of a gnat if they think the folio system is hard or confusing
same comment applies to synergies


also 99% of the stuff in the game is seemingly geared towards hardmode. nothing in combat is all that necessary on normal. also spam the crap out of items because you cant use any of them on hard

[catsniffer9000]

I *think* what SE is going for is something like FF10's node system thingy, but yeah, it's just another bloat busywork system in my opinion.
It should really just have the aggressive/defensive/balanced auto setting from Remake.

[ｃｏｏｌｄｏｗｎ]

If you don't understand how to build synergy using abilities, and when to time them, it can seem random. Especially when you purposefully avoid it.

Here's a simple way to put it:
1. Build ATB to use abilities that give you synergy, you can tell by it having the ▯* symbol on it. Do this for the two characters which are a part of the synergy.
2. If it's a stagger time plus effect, build the synergy, save it for when the enemy gets staggered, use it first, then use big moves like limit breaks or spells.
3. If it builds limit level it doesn't matter much when this is timed. Just make sure it doesn't miss
4. If it's infinite mp, use it when you're in a pinch. To able to take advantage of the mp, cast heals, status, or spells that target weakness to get back on your feet.

So, you do have to plan around how to build synergy, but it's really to your own benefit. If battles seem frustrating or tactless it's probably bc you're basically slamming your head against the wall.

Ignoring the folios means you miss the synergy skills too, you can't reflect projectiles with cloud, can't jump in the air with tifa, can't take advantage of pressure if you don't have atb, etc.

Synergies can be powerful, but they're not THAT powerful. Nowhere near "win buttons". It's just there to help you in certain situations.

Generally for most fights you just want to be looking at the stagger bar. Assess is your best friend here. Then just build your game plan on top of that.

[Daniel]

This is my personal issue with this game, it’s like they were like: “ok, now we got the combat all set up, let’s add some mechanics and stuff for no reason at all other than to artificially bloat the combat”.

Synergy skills and abilities bloat, weird gimmicks to pressure enemies and what not in combat that basically begs on its knees: let me be simple.

[Arma]

Originally posted by Daniel:

This is my personal issue with this game, it’s like they were like: “ok, now we got the combat all set up, let’s add some mechanics and stuff for no reason at all other than to artificially bloat the combat”.

Synergy skills and abilities bloat, weird gimmicks to pressure enemies and what not in combat that basically begs on its knees: let me be simple.

One of the biggest issues I feel with games these days especially in Rebirth is that if they just didn't add anything new you KNOW people would whine and complain about the fact there is nothing new to learn. You can go through the entire game without needing to do Synergy skills unless you're trying to do everything 100%.

It's with a lot of things. If there was no card tournament on the ship you know people would complain that it was boring ect.

They have to add new things to keep people learning. If they made a carbon copy of FF7 just with updated graphics ect people who hate on it for the fact they didn't add anything new in.

It's a lose-lose situation.

[Sevrojin]

Originally posted by Rocket:

Originally posted by Sevrojin:

people must have the iq of a gnat if they think the folio system is hard or confusing
same comment applies to synergies

I have ADHD. it's a learning disability, you should learn about it.
people with learning disabilities often have high intelligence but with heavy weaknesses.
my measured iq is in the top 5th percentile. Just because I find certain things overwhelming, does not mean you are better than me.

isnt adhd one of those commonly misdiagnosed fake malady like anxiety.

either way i dont care how smart you are if you find it overwhelming play something else? or you know put that galaxy brain to use not on video games