First time and progression

[doominator10]

Just wondering what is the expected progression for the game? Just did the archery contest while after running around a bunch on expert mode and I'm now at lvl 10. Couldn't do nearly any of the side quests since my kids couldn't survive vs the lvl ~15 pirates, the mimic in the tower, the wasps, or the lvl 25 orcs (which I think is appropriate). I'm just wondering is this expected?

Is it planned that my character simply will not be strong enough to do this area until later in the story or I get more party members, or am I expected to grind up to lvl 15+ in this area? I actually really like the idea that because my characters ARE basically kids (16+), they shouldn't be able to easily handle professional smugglers, wasps that even full adventurers can't deal with, etc. However that means that I should just be focusing on the story until I'm ready instead of grinding the foxes for another 40 hides.

Or there is a way at this point where if I properly allocated all my points, upgraded to tier II gear somehow, and played like a god I can win vs them despite it and I just need to git gud, in which case I'd love to see some in-game indicator of expected progress.

For reference I unlocked the Aloria / Castle Orchads Quarry / Seramai / Springs warps.
On the enhanced edition beta on expert because of course I am. I saw the warning the expert will require grinding and skills which I'm fine with, just want to know some progression indicators.

[PixyFreakingStix]

Yep, you're meant to revisit these areas when you're stronger!

In the legacy version of the game, there were little orbs you could interact with that would tell you the expected level and party size for zones and dungeons. I removed them because many people thought they were too hand-holdy, but I wonder if that was actually true.

Do you (or does anyone else) think this is an issue that ought to be resolved? Or were you more just throwing the question out there because it seemed like an unusual way to set up the game? It's definitely intentional, but I'd agree it's unusual. I like the idea of bumping into things you can access early on, but can't actually handle until later. But you're right that some games might just expect you to grind, and Ara Fell doesn't.

[doominator10]

I personally like the idea that when you first venture out into the world in an rpg and you're just some plucky kid with a bow / knife / sword / etc, that you shouldn't be able to handle literally everything the world throws at you. That's how I thought it always 'should' have been, but sadly it is unusual and I had confusion here because of it.

This type of design would be more common in something like an open world rpg, where while you 'can' go near anywhere there are clearly defined regions where---------- actually no. Even in those games the enemies in the starting area are meant to be killed, even with a minor bit of grinding. The only game I can think of (I'm sure there are more) off the top of my head where you 'can' just wander into a place you have no business in right from the beginning with little to no warning is Dark Souls I. The graveyard. Enemies don't even have levels in that game. Just as a new player, you see a black pit of skeletons who all kinda 1 shot you and you swiftly decide 'nope, fk off I'm out.'

I'm digressing. I like the idea. I think more classical rpgs should have done this idea. However it's not standard and (I can almost guarantee) you'll likely have people who actually do try to grind out those foxes until they're strong enough to take on the bandits at the very least, probably because lvl 15 bandits aren't THAT far away from you being lvl 6-10 when you find them. Unlike the lvl 25 orcs where it's obviously clear that that's a nope zone, or the wasps where you try once and realize that 5v2 when all of the 5 can 1 shot you isn't going to work any time soon.

Oh right, that type of backtracking to clear old obstacles is more conventional in metroidvanias, where going back with a new upgrade to open the red door is half the appeal.

I don't like the idea of the random orbs giving recommended level / party info, because that does sound gamey and hand-holdy. Except maybe on story mode difficulty. A smoother way could be to have the boy say something like, "I'm not sure we're ready to take on these smugglers yet." Or maybe before you fight the bandit boss, you have to fight 3 lvl 15 minions who are doing a standard anime "you want to talk to the boss you haf to go through us first bratz!" Get yourself wrecked. "Come back when you've grown up kids!" Or something to that effect.

Anyways, I think what triggered me on this point was the line "we have time to explore" right before the contest. So explore I did. In most other games I've been raised on, that's the cue to do literally every sidequest possible before going onto the main story. I think it's also weird that main girl can use her ultimate and her holy arrow before the mine / contest. I pretty much nuked the pet thief with mark + ultimate for ~600 as the first time I've used the skill. The ring (precious) gives her the powers as at this point, but I was under the impression she didn't know how to use them until later. However I can stretch some disbelief with using the holy arrow in combat if the boy (Adrian was his name I knew I'd remember eventually) is too busy during combat to properly notice that girl was acting differently when she was shooting arrows, like he did during the tournament. She does say that she thought she was feeling weird all day but just ignored it due to it being a crazy day.
...
That last bit really went on a tangent there, but I'm glad I thought of it while I did.
For reference, I'm happily slaying lvl ~11 zombies and gazer demons now and thus the curve makes sense again.

[PixyFreakingStix]

Thanks for your thoughts! Very much appreciated! Yeah, "we have time to explore" was only meant to make the player not feel like it was urgent to get to the archery contest ASAP. That's one thing that bothered me in... say, a game like Skyrim, where you have this big world to explore but the first thing that happens is some townie is like YOU HAVE TO GET TO THE JARL AND WARN HIM.

Morrowind, one of my favorite games, didn't do that.

>I think it's also weird that main girl can use her ultimate and her holy arrow before the mine / contest.

Aha, this is definitely a bug...