How "hard" is the game?

[Texus]

I'm not sure if I'm really interessted in the game itself, but it looks like the one that I saw with game one or something like that once and I think I liked the dynamic fighting style.

I also know the characters because of that one 3DS game.

Well now I want to know how hard I have to image the game being, because of the hard tag.

What would you compare the game to?

[Jess the Mess]

I can't think of a game to compare it to, but it is definitely a difficult game. One of the biggest hurdles is fully understanding the combat mechanics, and has a laundry list of tutorials dedicated to it. It appears really complicated, but once you get the hang of it, it's not really that complicated. That being said there are lots of difficulty spikes. Some sections can take many tries. The combat is interesting with many nuances, but it's definitely not the type of game where you just pick it up and understand it without a lot of trial and error, and tutorials. So, make of it what you will. If you're unsure of a very demanding game, I'd wait for some kind of sale.

[Texus]

I think I'm going to watch a video to see the combat and if it's what interessted me really much a few years ago then I will get it, I don't exactly hate hard games, but if they are hard they better also have a good story and stuff that motivates you know?

In my memorie one or two guys where fighting some kind of fat kid and a maschine or something. Maybe that was from this game or not.

Thank you, that will help me already a bit.

[Jess the Mess]

The story is... Vague. It's not that the story is bad, it's just that it's presented in a poor way. It feels nonexistent for awhile, with the main focus on the three main characters and their adventures. You don't really get much of an idea of the main bad or greater plot until halfway through, which is a long time. However the characters are actually really good, and if the story isn't enough for you, the interactions between the characters is a grea tmotivation. I rarely skip the cutscenes even on subsequent playthroughs, because the characters are veyr likeable. Even Zephyr, who is unlikeable at first, has a great character progression that eventual makes you like him.

Your memory of guys fighting a fat kid in a machine sems to be from a different game, unless my memory is just that faded. There are three protagonists, and it's a JRPG like game, and it's pseudo turn based. Hard to describe briefly, tbh. It's interesting and neat once you get it down, but all the different nuances and figuring out the importance of each mechanic and how to use them is where a lot of the difficulty comes from. I definitely agree with watching a video to see if it's your cup of tea.

[dragonsyn]

I could see the 'fat kid and a machine' being a thing. They had the fat gangsters and then those mechanical walking things in the first dungeon, if I remember correctly.

[Texus]

Originally posted by dragonsyn:

I could see the 'fat kid and a machine' being a thing. They had the fat gangsters and then those mechanical walking things in the first dungeon, if I remember correctly.

Hhhmm anything close to what I described could be it. I think that bossfight or another scene that I had scene on that day happened on something that looked like an unfinished bulding.

I wanted to desribe the area of the boss fight first but let me ask you instead, did that boss fight happened on the open air or somewhere inside?

I decited to get two games for now and this probably later, but it would be still interessting to see if I found the right game.

[Silent Warrior]

Difficult, sure, but that's only until you learn the combat mechanics. (Which is not to say that the game is ever trivial...) These mechanics are, as others have suggested, complicated. They can also involve some pretty precise timing, while still technically being a turn-based game. (Did anyone say that this game is weird? Because it's REALLY weird.) It's not difficult in the Atlus-hard kind of way, but if you mess up? BIGLY OUCH TIME! On the flip side, you can often turn the tide back in a similarly drastic way, depending on how bad the situation is, if you play your cards right.
Strategy tips are only of any use for the preparation - setting up your equipment, customisation, accessories. There's NO WAY to give a reliable turn-by-turn guide.
This is a grindy game if you want to get everything to 100% - one bonus dungeon only available on your second playthrough at the same difficulty, max level is 300... and three or four difficulty modes to experience the game at, but keep in mind that your levels only carry over if you start a New Game + at the same difficulty. Any other difficulty, and you start from level 1. And don't even get me started on the Arena! The good thing about the Arena, though, is that your progress carries over to the New Game +. Otherwise, that bit rivals Final Fantasy X Celestial Weapons for grindy tedium...

The combat is crazy fun, though, if you're fine with the over-the-top silliness of it all. The story doesn't seem to be understood by anyone, but that could be a result from the pacing - the few story events we get (the game has surprisingly few and short cutscenes for a JRPG) are spread so far apart due to all the grinding and sidequesting any "real gamer" ;-) needs to do in between...

Fair warning about the music: They hired two composers, and Motoi Sakuraba was given complete freedom in composing the combat tunes. The other guy (?), who composed the music used in the cutscenes and on the splash screen, needs no content advisory.

[FreeWilly]

It's not too difficult. The hardest part is learning how to play the game. After that you're good to go.

I played the game on Hard and Advanced back in the PS3 days, and both were easier than my first playthrough on Normal.

[Problem Solver]

It's not to hard. There's an arena you can use to help level up your characters. Got to chapter 15 on ps3 version before my console broke down. Picked it up for the ps4 now and currently in chapter 9. Characters go up to level 300 each.

[Texus]

Would you play it with a controller or keyboard?

I also saw some topics about performance problems or stuff like that, is whatever needs to be fixed already fixed?

[Jess the Mess]

Originally posted by SegaSega2:

Would you play it with a controller or keyboard?

I also saw some topics about performance problems or stuff like that, is whatever needs to be fixed already fixed?

I play with controller. The way the game is structured it shouldn't make too much of a difference. For me the latest patch seems to have fixed the performance issues, though some are still reporting it, so it's hard to say.

[Silent Warrior]

I play with a controller, but I also first played it on the PS3. FWIW, I think the keyboard mappings are good enough that they at least won't be a hindrance - but a controller might feel better. (NB: Two pairs of shoulder buttons, or eight buttons in total, is a bare minimum. If you have two or three more, you can access every menu and function in the game without touching your keyboard.)

[Algester]

the game is "hard" as you would expect its a tri-ace game at least it isnt as hard as P3 back on the PS2 god that was hard... seriously try to play a game with a party setup with 3 stupid AIs where you can't even spec them in what they should prioritize meaning by the very first battle the PC must be a jack of all stats and a master of all ohh come on... at least it may not be as hard as a certain alice soft space game where the game is 100% RNG

basically the game requires heavy amounts of grinding and speccing out the characters the way a meta should more or less stick
basically a meta goes Vashyron = Pistol, Zephy = SMG, Leane/Leanbell = Pistol/SMG her hidden specs are leaning towards pistols but also benefits SMGs because later parts of the game scratch damage does wonders especially when you start dual wielding on some of the characters

[Jess the Mess]

Originally posted by Algester:

the game is "hard" as you would expect its a tri-ace game at least it isnt as hard as P3 back on the PS2 god that was hard... seriously try to play a game with a party setup with 3 stupid AIs where you can't even spec them in what they should prioritize meaning by the very first battle the PC must be a jack of all stats and a master of all ohh come on... at least it may not be as hard as a certain alice soft space game where the game is 100% RNG

basically the game requires heavy amounts of grinding and speccing out the characters the way a meta should more or less stick
basically a meta goes Vashyron = Pistol, Zephy = SMG, Leane/Leanbell = Pistol/SMG her hidden specs are leaning towards pistols but also benefits SMGs because later parts of the game scratch damage does wonders especially when you start dual wielding on some of the characters

Grinding and following the meta of the characters isn't that important. It's only hard because the combat system is difficult to get a hold of at first, and the game likes to throw random spikes of difficulty. Grinding becomes necessary at some points, but I wouldn't really call it heavy. Most encounters are easy to overcome just by having a good strategy, regardless of gear and level. Also what weapons each character has doesn't make any real difference, as getting high scratch damage and gauge break is the most important part to combat.

[ar2games]

The fat kid might be Pater, google him and see if it´s him.

[Texus]

That's exactly the guy thank you, that was the game that I wanted a few years ago :) Now I just wait till I hear that it doesn't has many bugs anymore. Two other games already take my whole money for now.