Some New player questions / Steam Deck

[Wolf]

Hello All,

I wish to play this on the Steam Deck despite this version/PC version not being the best. I am fine with that. But I did have more general questions about the game. I purposely tried a lot not to look up so many things about this game because I don't want it spoiled since I always intended playing it.

1) I do understand how well-regarded this game is, that is why I partially like to try it. I am into these RPGs/turn based combat games but not as much as I used to be back in the 90s/early 2000s. Still I can give it a go but in general, how well do you think this game holds up? Tbf, using OOT as an example, I loved that game and is one of my fav games of all time but I acknowledge a lot of that is nostalgia. If I never played it on release and played it for the first time in 2022, I would not be very impressed. Well I think, idk. I just know that I'd like BOTW a lot more. But because this is a more traditional RPG that doesn't rely on graphics (I don't care much about graphics) I feel it would fare better than say OOT.

2a) How linear is this game? I tend to like more open-world freedom in my games. I don't mind if this is more like FF7 where you are stuck in a linear path until after Midgar than the game opens up. That is fine. But straight linear throughout the game 100% is not ideal for me...

2b) Are there side quests?

3a) Kind of going off point 2, but how in-depth/customizable can my party be? Well, first are there many party members available for me to choose from? And I forced to bring certain party members or am I free to choose whoever I want 90% of the time? Do I form bonds with members that I use more often, etc.?

3b) Can I equip/obtain new armor, weapons, items and equip on me and my party. Sorry for this very elementary question, yes it has been a long while since I've done a traditional RPG.

4) How many hours is a single playthough? Doing main quest and side quest (assuming there are side quests). How difficult is the game? Easy or do you really need to focus on party techniques to win battles? I prefer somewhat harder games.

5) Any other interesting features you wish to mention? Any roguelike features as if when a party member dies they die for good kind of thing? No base building/house/hideout you obtain or anything modern like that (I know I doubt it)?

Again, I am not a major (top-down) Turn-based comabt RPG player but def don't mind them. Similar games that I like include: Shining Force II, Fire Emblem Awakening+, more that I can't think of off top of my head.

Thank you

[OSIDE Italian]

some solid questions that I would like to know too

[BodyOrgan]

1. This game is in my running for best RPG of all time, and I didn't first play it till decades after its release. It's the tightly knit story which wins me over.

2a. The game has an over world map like the Final Fantasy series, and you can travel anywhere and do anything you can get to from this map. The map doesn't truly open up till you start completing the main plot though.

2b. Not really, there are things/choices you can do/make which affect which ending you get.

3. You'll have a party of which you can name each member, but you can't really change their stats outside of the few stat capsules (consumable item which gives +1 to whatever that capsule happens to be) you run across during your adventure. You can however equip different items/armor which affect the stats of your characters.

Eventually you'll have more party members than you're allowed to travel with, but most of the time you'll be able to swap them out on the fly with the occasional instance of needing a specific member.

4. It's been a while since I last played, but it's not an excessive amount of hours. You don't really have to grind in this game (unless you straight up didn't use a party member), so from that perspective it isn't too difficult. The main thing will be knowing what weaknesses your enemy has, and having the right party members for the job.

5. The only thing I would note is a lot of the things the story does have been done in one form or another by the various media (books, movies, games, etc....) over the years, so some of the concepts which were novel for the time might not seem like it viewed from the lens of today.