Does it get better after Chapter 8?

[All Moist Fey Moose]

First time I've alt-tab to quit game from Task Manager instead of waiting for the Enemy Phase to go thru the tedious motions. I've come to realise the limitations of the (old) console ports, especially those aimed at children. I want to finish the story but having to go through the motions of the increasingly boring missions and cutscenes is putting me right off; I'm just clicking thru the dialogue as fast as possible now.

Are the sequels more of the same or are there some general improvements? Still hope they come to Steam for the fans sake but I guess I'm not the target market anymore - for example I tried Final Fantasy (various) and it's just lost on me. Think I'm getting to old for this LOL

[All Moist Fey Moose]

Ugh. Onto Chapter Nine and to answer my own question, no it doesn't, unfortunately. Wish I could say otherwise, really want to like this game, has so much going for it but...

[Captured Joe]

:/

Apparently the game is more work than fun for you... if so you can just as well give up. Personally I've been playing this game for well over 100 hours and I still like to play it more.
(And no, the main story campaign doesn't last that long, it's about 40 hours or so.)

[All Moist Fey Moose]

Yeah you're right tbh, it's getting to be hard work rather than fun, really really didn't want that to happen 'cos I love the art style, the characters and the whole storyline (cliched and childish as it may seem to non-gamers)... but I think this one is going on the reserves bench. Still a good port though and kudos to Sega for doing it...

[Captured Joe]

You could watch let'splays of the game if you get stuck, I myself learned a lot from PrinceBoo21's letsplay ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxTeoZNAQ6U&list=PLTol0bKgnUHo4cyN3jWrMvwBm5pH01qCN ) while doing my first playthrough.

[Lanzagranadas]

If you don't have patience then this is not a game for you (Nor VC2 and 3 since they require even more patience, especially VC2). Battles will get longer and enemy phases will get longer as well since maps will naturally have more enemy units as you advance through the game.

Also watching Enemy movements will give you much more intel on what's going on in a mission beyond your units sight line so you can plan your next actions better, and will also allow you to get familiar with AI behavior. Skipping that you're just harming yourself.

[All Moist Fey Moose]

Thanks Joe I'll have a look. Nearly gave up after that Giant Tank battle (Bathymos?) which I thought was an abysmal level. I'm finding the tiny maps and limited tactical options very restrictive but I think I was expecting too much after a glorious start, not the games fault but mine tbh

[All Moist Fey Moose]

Lanza, thanks too. Yes, I'm getting a bit impatient with it. Find myself staring at the ceiling, going to make a cup of tea, anything to avoid watching those repetitive animations whenever any character does anything. I think if there was a way to disable these, it'd sure help...

Not getting that involved in the storyline either but still interested in what happens. Maybe best to just read or watch the series on YouTube tbh LOL

[All Moist Fey Moose]

Lanza, thanks too. Yes, I'm getting a bit impatient with it. Find myself staring at the ceiling, going to make a cup of tea, anything to avoid watching those repetitive animations whenever any character does anything. I think if there was a way to disable these, it'd sure help...

Not getting that involved in the storyline either but still interested in what happens. Maybe best to just read or watch the series on YouTube tbh LOL

[SenMithrarin85]

You could fast forward or even skip the enemy phase completely in Fire Emblem Awakening on 3DS, so I kind of get where the OP is coming from since you can't speed up the Enemy Phase in this game.

[All Moist Fey Moose]

Yes that'd make a great deal of difference to people who have less patience or time. Probably could be hacked in quite easily but I've no clue how LOL

[Radosław]

That ain't quite right Lanzagranadas. In VC2 you can change enemy phase speed on faster or instant. Even during game in player's phase. I personally have left it unchange as seeing enemies in real time, hurting themselves by perfectly composed formation of my team gives a lot of satisfaction ^^. Also about 100 hours spent in VC2

[Lanzagranadas]

Waiting for one or two minutes until enemy phase ends in VC is insignificant compared to the huge amount of time you might end up needing in VC2 to grind for credits to level up certain classes and materials to unlock certain weapon branches. That's why I say VC2 requires the most patience out of the three games.

I had to spend a lot of time farming and repeating free missions just to get some of my units reach Elite, including a Fencer Elite and a Heavy Gunner that were needed to beat mid-game "Defending Lanseal" mission, because the game suddenly jumped from "Recommended level: 20" missions to a mission 10 levels above full of artificial Valkyria enemies.

[All Moist Fey Moose]

Yeah it wasn't really the enemy phase that bored me the most, it was the hundreds of little animations that got old fast (amongst other things). I doubt I could've played on PS3 if CD loading times are to be believed - on an SSD it's almost instant and I'm still complaining sheeshe! First World problems eh?

PS Grinding in PC games is one of my least favourite things, it's just work (I remember cutting down trees in Ultima Online and thinking 'WTF am I doing'?), the opposite of fun! So I don't do MMORPGS anymore and avoid stuff with that sort of thing, so thanks for the warning Lanza!

These forums are great, learn a lot from them

[✚ Mariel ✚]

With the incredibly broken RNG gameplay (e.g. lancer and snipers pulling multiple turns and killing your units off permanently/killing your tank) I got to the point where I didn't even try to "play" the game anymore

Put a defense command on Alicia, rush to the enemy base and kill anyone around the flag. Mission Accomplished, continue with the story. If you can do it in under 3 turns you won't have to waste much time on the enemy turns

VC2 is much better as a game since the AI doesnt pull multiple turns anymore (although you can if you are unscrupulous lol)

However, VC2 cast of characters is truly horrendous. They're a bunch of cardboard cutout anime cliches with zero depth in a military high school setting where PE/exams are combat simulations and story missions (battles against real enemies)

I played VC1 because I loved the story and the characters, the battles were just a bothersome obstacle I tried to get past as quickly as possible once I realised how broken the combat was. I'm playing VC2 because the gameplay is everything I wished that VC1 was although on a smaller scale, and because the story is still fairly interesting so far (I skip pretty quickly through the classroom drama and switched off the soul grinding voices)

[All Moist Fey Moose]

I was sort of the opposite tbh, I was surprised at the decent tactical combat (to begin with) expecting it to grow more complex and interesting, something which IMO didn't happen... the story is a bit meh and I'm clicking thru it as fast as possible LOL

I had to Google 'RNG' but if it means Random Number Generator in this case then I think I concur.

BTW I'm on Chapter 10 now and twice I've been shot from across the ravine by a Lancer that killed Edelweiss in one go. How's that supposed to be fun?