Original vs ADF

[Tanegashima]

What's the difference in the story and gameplay?
Brief or detailed explanations,either are preferable.

[Katty Nat]

ADF has a branch half-way through that leads to two new routes, making it already twice the game.

[きょすけ]

Originally posted by Animefreak:

What's the difference in the story and gameplay?
Brief or detailed explanations,either are preferable.

ADF over Original:

- Fairize (a transformation like command) for Fang (the main character) is completely redone for ADF;

- The OST is slightly different;

- The engine is updated to DX11;

- The story branches for a total of 3 routes, each one having an exclusive ending tied to party members, while the original had only 2 endings and one route;

- Some new skills given to some characters;

- Added a "dash" feature, so that you can run throughout any dungeon very quickly;

- Added a break guard system: each enemy has an additional bar which when emptied staggers them and the damage recived from skills and magic is MUCH MORE;

- Added a break part feature: some monsters have breackable parts which grants additional rewards;

- Some DLC from the Original game are added as unlockables in-game on ADF (like the swimsuit outfits);

- ADF let you choose what you want to be carried over on NG+ even party members, other than levels, items and so on; of course this is a mattere of personal choice.

This should cover the most salient things regarding the differences between the two games, hope it helps.

[Elucidator]

The original has no bugs, glitches, none that I can confirm. Advent Dark Force has a bunch of them. Most are noticable with AMD GPUs, reasons unknown, but tiny things, such as the Fairies spoiling what is going to happen next before it actually happened (their events are misplaced xd).
example: The fairies comment on how well they found it that Fang managed to convince Ethol to join his party, even though you haven't been to Bui Valley yet.
Or other events taking place prematurely, even though they should be accessable a dungeon later instead.

The battle system is similar in operation but different in execution. The guard break system is not an addition to the original system, it's part of a whole new system. The status for example too have different meanings. 100 vitality was a lot in the original. In this game it doesn't count as good. Mobs have a lot less weaknesses. Triggering an Avalanche Attack is more difficult, not luck based like in the original. Just naming examples.
The ost is pretty much completely different, though they did use 'some' of the songs from the original. Most have been completely replaced, remixed, redone.

Game play wise, you'll notice, the map system and encountering of mobs, these are basically the same, except that ADF has prop breaks, similar to Neptunia V2's system. You can destroy props and sometimes get rewards from those, but they're pretty limited.
There are a few dungeons different. ADV has a few extra. Due to this they also changed the order of the dungeons a bit.
ADF also has Dash, which allows you to traverse a bit faster through a dungeon. (I am not going to exaggerate, it's not that much faster. I also recommend jumping instead for status boosts through achievements.)
Shaders, everything looks a bit higher of quality. That is if you do not count the bloom glitches and weird other graphical bugs that sometimes happen.

ADF is more difficult.
No matter what setting you play on, due to the differences in the battle system, the game is more difficult. It requires you to rely more on your skills instead of normal attacks. It also requires you to play more tactical and use items more often, which wasn't really nessecary in the original. xd
Also, the character's skills are different.
For example, Hara/Bahus cannot use Clock Up (a skill that speeds up a character for x turns) or Clock Down (a skill that slows down the opponent). In my opinion, this was the most overpowered set of magic skill in the game. xd
Fang gained backtrack.

ADF has difficulties you can choose from. Normal is probably harder than the original game. Hard is doable on first run, but they made sure you have a 'hard time'. xd
No need to grind as much as people may make you think, but you do need to understand the system. On hard, you will sometimes get 1 hit KOs from regular mobs, always, but you can still beat the boss when you're on the right level. (example: level 33 mobs, your party is about level 35.)

Edit: as mentioned in the post above. There are multiple 'routes', which change the game a bit in ADF. The original only had one 'route' and could end differently. There is some what of a differences in the story. ADF is more serious, The original was more Neptune styled in story. They also added some more background thought and such. It's fun to do both of these games in my opinion and look at the differences yourself. (Goddess route vs Original I mean)

[きょすけ]

Originally posted by Elucidator:

but tiny things, such as the Fairies spoiling what is going to happen next before it actually happened (their events are misplaced xd).
example: The fairies comment on how well they found it that Fang managed to convince Ethol to join his party, even though you haven't been to Bui Valley yet.
Or other events taking place prematurely, even though they should be accessable a dungeon later instead.

I never experienced something like this, no one single time, even though I played ng+ many times :/ .

Hara/Bahus cannot use Clock Up (a skill that speeds up a character for x turns) or Clock Down (a skill that slows down the opponent). In my opinion, this was the most overpowered skill in the game. xd
Fang already had little skills, but he has less skills too.

Which skills did Fang lose? I only recall Haru loosing the clock one, but Fang should have gained at least which I don't recall right now.

[Katty Nat]

The fairies only spoil if you keep fairies you shouldn't have in an NG+, and they don't spoil in the specific route where you have to keep the fairies.
Certain comments by fairies about plot points are written to be correct at the earliest point you pick them up.

So overall, this isn't an issue.

[Elucidator]

Originally posted by きょすけ:

Which skills did Fang lose? I only recall Haru loosing the clock one, but Fang should have gained at least which I don't recall right now.

I mixed it up. He gained one in ADF which he didn't have in the original. And I apologise for not having the spoiler tag in. I don't feel like looking up every specific detail about the differences in skills and magic and it's not important to answer the topic's question either.
Simply stating that they are different is enough.

Abilities that boost personal skills in a way is another difference. Of course it's not to the player's complete advantage compared to the original, since the whole system is now based on that those abilities are now there too. (rebalanced, if you'd call it that way.)

As for the spoiler events happening, idk why that is. It happens to me at least. As to why I notice is because I sometimes actually check the fairies tab and read the lines they 'say' or check the town areas even though there is no green exclamation mark present and still find an event.

Misplaced events are probably mix ups happening right after taking on a lola story event and then instead of getting a side event after the dungeon run, you get it before you leave about the next day. It's nothing important. Not an issue, it's still a difference I notice.

Originally posted by NattyCat:

The fairies only spoil if you keep fairies you shouldn't have in an NG+, and they don't spoil in the specific route where you have to keep the fairies.

I have found these issues in my very first playthrough, on the goddess route, which is a route based on the original Fairy Fencer's story's route.
The other routes here are a difference between the original and ADF, but subject wise are only globally on topic. I haven't done those yet anyway, so I can't tell if it happens there or not. When I mentioned this bug I was comparing the original game with the goddess route.

Originally posted by NattyCat:

Certain comments by fairies about plot points are written to be correct at the earliest point you pick them up.

This is correct. The very first events are at least correct.

I doubt anyone is going to test play the goddess route all over without carrying over their NG+ stuff anyway. It maybe a bug fixed in NG+ and only happens in a true new game. Maybe it's related to the AMD issues. Maybe it happens or doesn't happen because of DLC. I don't know. It happens to me. I'm mentioning my experience with both of the games here. I'm not trying to spread a lie if that is what you wonder.

Edit: If you really want to test it, A major noticable one is that the fairies speak of Sherman being cruel and evil, before you actually met him all renewed. Again, talking about fairies you 'get' throughout the story on your very first run here. Not DLC fairies,
no new game plus. Of course the player already knows of this change due to intermission events, but Fang, nor his fairies do not.

[Katty Nat]

Maybe I forgot one or two mistimed fairy comments? Interesting.

For what it's worth, I'm one of the people who doesn't carry anything but characters, items (if it didn't delete DLC towels/items and one-time fairy gifts, I'd probably throw items away on NG+), money, playtime, and quest rank (simply because you get the rank-ups instantly and they're all-but-S completed instantly).
One thing I always hated about Nep's NG+ system is keeping everyone too powerful for the game to be anything but a VN at that point.
:P

[Elucidator]

What I don't like is that IF didn't make Trophy (steam achievement) hunting very human friendly. Well, it is human friendly if you decide not to play for a few months after clearing the game three times, but they made it quite the chore to get everything in one save file. xd

I do like compile heart's weird humor though. I don't know if IF had a saying in that. Weird typical anime ecchi jokes and references. According to the makers's jokes, IF is more or less the company that makes these 'way too difficult for a human' chores in a game and decides on the new game plus content. I don't know if that is just a joke or actual though.
Now that I think about it, they actually mentioned it too
Compa mentioning something like that people will stop playing if they make the chores too hard or take too long, and then IF saying something like that it's still do-able and shouldn't be too worried.
(This happened in Hyperdimension Action, I think. xd)

[きょすけ]

Originally posted by Elucidator:

What I don't like is that IF didn't make Trophy (steam achievement) hunting very human friendly. Well, it is human friendly if you decide not to play for a few months after clearing the game three times, but they made it quite the chore to get everything in one save file. xd

I do like compile heart's weird humor though. I don't know if IF had a saying in that. Weird typical anime ecchi jokes and references. According to the makers's jokes, IF is more or less the company that makes these 'way too difficult for a human' chores in a game and decides on the new game plus content. I don't know if that is just a joke or actual though.
Now that I think about it, they actually mentioned it too
Compa mentioning something like that people will stop playing if they make the chores too hard or take too long, and then IF saying something like that it's still do-able and shouldn't be too worried.
(This happened in Hyperdimension Action, I think. xd)

LOL.

Anyway, Well, I agree on the fairy that you shouldn't have on your NG route, they did spoiler you a bit indeed, but then again, not many people know that their dialogs fowllow the story most of the time XD.

[Tanegashima]

Right chaps,thanks for the info,appreciate it.