Normal or Hard difficulty?

[Killing_Killing]

Not sure which one to pick for first time playing, but I don't want to change it after I've picked it or have to look up guides and strategies, is Normal too easy or is there enough challenge?

[Jupiter3927]

Normal is the way the game was meant to be played.
It's great for learning how the game works and doesn't force you to do certain strategies on certain enemies.
It should give a decent challenge without being too easy.

Epic difficulty is the other way the game was meant to be played.
This one is unforgiving but lets you unlock certain achievements.
Your party will die a lot in this one...

You can change the difficulty whenever you want outside of battle if the game is too easy or too hard for you.
I recommend trying the first few battles on normal difficulty to see how the game works before deciding which difficulty you want to play the rest of the game on.

[MaxBlue001]

I think is also depend how much game knowkedge and experience you have persoally. If this is one of the first RPG you are playing and you don't know much about RPG, probably start at Normal difficulty. If you have some experience at RPG and believe you can understand the mechanics fast enough, you can try hard difficulty. If you already have lot of experience (especially if you played EBF3 or EBF4 before), you can consider epic difficulty (which have certain achievements only availible at this difficulty. Those are used to unlock more areas with more equipment.

If you feel confident, you can also check the cheats and handicaps menu to further customise the dificulty (like adding a time limit per turn, increasing enemies resistances, ...). Be aware that most cheats will disable obtaining any achievements.

Finally, you are the one who is going to play the game, with your playstyle, your priorities. When starting playing a new game, players are usually experimenting, and figuring out how the gameplay feel to the player. Some will find the game too easy, some will find it too hard, despite having the same settings. You can stick to your original decision if you want a challenge, but there is no shame or penalty at changing the difficulty to suit your needs. It's not always easy to balance the difficulty for everyone.

Also note for hard and epic difficulty: at mid/late game, some chracters will likely "die" (or get KO'ed). This doesn't necessarly mean your team is too weak. It just mean you need a strong healer and a good strategy to get back into the fight. There are few battles where players dying is inevitable.

[Bobucles]

Normal: Hit enemies until they die.
Hard: Pay attention to enemy strengths and weaknesses, and try different things every now and then.
Epic: Abuse everything at your disposal, or perish.

[Killing_Killing]

Alright, I see; so I'm playing on Normal and have been switching to Epic for the bosses so far and they seem doable at the moment after a few tries; It's not clear to me who exactly is a boss and who isn't, I'd like to not miss achievements if I can help it... I know the cyclops before the ice caves was a boss, but was Anna also a boss? or Natalie? Is the big robot protecting the castle entrance a boss? Not sure how to tell

I've heard you can fight most of them again later in the game but also that there are a couple of one-time encounters

[Kupo Games]

Originally posted by Killing_Killing:

I've heard you can fight most of them again later in the game but also that there are a couple of one-time encounters

The missable achievements are all fairly early in the game, about 2 hours in. And a couple of the achievements require playing a new save file for a few hours anyway. Achievements also persist between save files, so don't feel pressured to not miss anything.

[Killing_Killing]

Originally posted by Kupo Games:

The missable achievements are all fairly early in the game, about 2 hours in. And a couple of the achievements require playing a new save file for a few hours anyway. Achievements also persist between save files, so don't feel pressured to not miss anything.

I see, thanks

Now go make EBF 6, 7 and 8 please

[Jupiter3927]

I believe I saw a grave for people asking about Epic Battle Fantasy 6 somewhere...

[MaxBlue001]

Originally posted by Killing_Killing:

Alright, I see; so I'm playing on Normal and have been switching to Epic for the bosses so far and they seem doable at the moment after a few tries; It's not clear to me who exactly is a boss and who isn't, I'd like to not miss achievements if I can help it... I know the cyclops before the ice caves was a boss, but was Anna also a boss? or Natalie? Is the big robot protecting the castle entrance a boss? Not sure how to tell

I've heard you can fight most of them again later in the game but also that there are a couple of one-time encounters

Usually, it's unique important enemies that are in your way. There are a few forced checkpoints with lot of enemies / mini boss, like the "big robot protecting the castle". Reminder that unlike other RPG games, you can flee a fight, even against a boss. (with very few exceptions). It can be usefull when meeting a new enemy, to scan it, flee, then check if it look like a very strong enemy or not. Also paying attention to the story (and the dialogue from your members) can help you determine when you are going to fight a boss.

FYI, there is an achievement for beating Anna in Epic difficulty, which is the only boss achievement that isn't at the end of the region (unlike Lance, who is at the end of the castle area). Neither NoLegs or Natalie have such achievements. Speaking of Lance, like the ahievement mention, you will face him 3 times: the 1st while ambusher outside of the castle (only un-winnable fight), the 2nd inside the castle, slightly after finding where Natz is trapped, and the last one blocking the castle's main exit after rescuing Natz (note: some roads will be blocked when you rescue Natz, until you beat Lance).

Also, all party members fights have a secret victory condition (which are achievements). Those can be done in any difficulty.

[Killing_Killing]

Yeah I was able to beat Anna and Lance 3rd encounter on Epic but the difficulty has been ramping up quick and it's kind of burning through my consumables; somebody said that past the Anna and Lance encounters you can get the achievements by doing like a boss rush type event later on (except the final boss I think), so is it fine if I beat them on Normal the first time around?

And what about optional encounters like Neon Valhalla? That one may actually be impossible to kill even on Normal with my current setup, are there achievements for those as well?

[Jupiter3927]

Every boss and bonus boss has an achievement for defeating them on epic difficulty.
Bonus bosses are considerably more difficult than regular bosses.

There is a boss rush unlocked in the final area.
There is also a bonus boss rush, a miniboss rush, and a foe rush so no enemy is missable.

The missable achievements are on beating your party members into submission.
(A couple of them are pretty easy if you know how to do it...)

[Serathis]

Originally posted by Killing_Killing:

Originally posted by Kupo Games:

The missable achievements are all fairly early in the game, about 2 hours in. And a couple of the achievements require playing a new save file for a few hours anyway. Achievements also persist between save files, so don't feel pressured to not miss anything.

I see, thanks

Now go make EBF 6, 7 and 8 please

Considering how long EBF 5 took, a sequel is not going to happen :(

[Moogal™]

Originally posted by Serathis:

Originally posted by Killing_Killing:

I see, thanks

Now go make EBF 6, 7 and 8 please

Considering how long EBF 5 took, a sequel is not going to happen :(

I guess im off (after finishing 5) to go back and finish 4 (which i never did even tho i got far) and later 1, 2 and 3 too. Great games.