Anyone else hate the star / battle rating system?

[WickedRequiem]

It kind of forces you to play a certain style (offensive) as opposed to more balanced / defensive style.

I admit I'm only at the end of Chapter 11 (beaten Chpt11 boss) and Mission 1~30, but it seems like the rating system is forcing me to make offensie heavy combinations for high risk high return style play.

[talgaby]

Not necessarily. In my second play through I favoured a SAB/SYN starter deck to buff the party with offensive and defensive spells, and in the meantime weaken the enemies. This surprisingly made the battles go faster.
But in the sense that the battle system tries to make you think to maximise DPS, you are right. Although frankly I cannot recall any Final Fantasy where cautious tactics were favoured. Or, well, ever used.

[WickedRequiem]

Oh, I use Sab/Syn as well for the opener. What I stopped using is the sentinel role for the most part.

[talgaby]

SEN is only needed when you know there is large damage incoming. Think of it as a Guard command: you rarely use that either unless you know in advance that something nasty is going to happen.

[Seraphic/8X]

Etro yes. I wouldn't mind it if only the boss battles had the ratings.. or if it were a feature you could turn off/on in options. But I'd get so pissed if I could never achieve 5 stars in every fight. Like I was playing the game wrong.. y'know?

[JoJo]

Nobodys forcing you to do anything dude, just relax and enjoy if you want to play like that.

[Void Cat]

The only way to play is hyper aggro.

[KupoMogKupo]

What the OP described is exactly why I like the rating system. I have a very aggressive play style.

[Tenacity]

Originally posted by Dungeon-sama:

Nobodys forcing you to do anything dude, just relax and enjoy if you want to play like that.

You need high ratings to restore your TP.

[luggage]

The time determined for an average battle length is based on your three chars Strength + Magic totals. So you do have some flexibility in weapon and accessory choices to change this time length.

If you are up against a monster that is resistant to physical, equip weapons with high magic and low strength, and use your Ravs mainly in battle. If you are in the end-game area, and have maxxed your crystal trees, and if the enemy is a weaker one, consider using Tier 1 or Tier 2 weapons rather than your ultimate weapon.

Similarly, change accessories that boost your str/mag for others that assist you in battle, especially Hermes Sandals.

One of the later missions drops an accessory that gives you more time in battles.

Regarding raising TP, there are a couple of accessories that boost your TP gaining abilities.

[Seraphita]

The rating system is rather fun. It shows you that being full attack power is not always the right way to play. Too much power and you will be bound by time to kill fast sometimes at near impossible times. Balance yourself right, use the right job changes, beat enemies with style.

Otherwise, the rating system is not forced on you unless you want to clear the game 100%.

[pre-eminence]

Originally posted by Serah Is Love:

What the OP described is exactly why I like the rating system. I have a very aggressive play style.

^^ This is pretty much how I feel, I quite enjoy the star ratings.

One quick question for anyone here, as i can't remember from my xbox playthrough -

Is there any one of a kind items that you can only get by 5 starring a boss/cie'th mission fight? I will not likely go for the item achievment as its a grind maybe too far for me (only maybe lol) I just don't like missing one of a kind treasure in rpgs ;)

[tiornys]

Originally posted by OwainTheGod:

Is there any one of a kind items that you can only get by 5 starring a boss/cie'th mission fight? I will not likely go for the item achievment as its a grind maybe too far for me (only maybe lol) I just don't like missing one of a kind treasure in rpgs ;)

No. There's a trophy for scoring 5 stars on all missions, and otherwise battle ratings only matter for random (non-unique) drops and for TP recovery.

[pre-eminence]

Originally posted by tiornys:

Originally posted by OwainTheGod:

Is there any one of a kind items that you can only get by 5 starring a boss/cie'th mission fight? I will not likely go for the item achievment as its a grind maybe too far for me (only maybe lol) I just don't like missing one of a kind treasure in rpgs ;)

No. There's a trophy for scoring 5 stars on all missions, and otherwise battle ratings only matter for random (non-unique) drops and for TP recovery.

thanks ;)

[jong]

Seeing that I got 5 stars on the final cieth mission (64) on the first try without having to redo it again, I think it is a pretty good system as you actually feel you deserved the 5 star rating after careful planning and paradigm setups. The only one I hated was the gigantaur mission for 5 stars as I was just relying on the instant chain to appear during a chapter 11 run of it. I do hate the final material farming aspect of the game though as that took me a good 20+ hours to farm the final materials needed for treasure hunter. I was just really unlucky getting dark matter and trapehedron even with 5 star ratings and catalogs equiped /: . I had to resort to easy mode after I fought over 20+ turtles without a single rare item drop and ended up dismantling nirvana/buying the dark matter.

[tm0Lif3]

I actually hate the 5 star rating battle. I kind of hate being narrowed down to use specific paradigms and strategies to achieve 5 star. It means play the way what the developer intended you to play. You have no freedom to choose the playstyle (paradigms) if you choose differently and you end up 0 star.