My opinion is that the switch's battery life is holding it back from being a proper mobile console.
Do you have the original or the revised model?
Original. I feel like I get maybe 2 hours of battery life out of it. It reminds me of the game gear except it has a functional role as a regular console.
It's lack of mobility is further enhanced by the joycons. I can only play games using the pro controller right now because of joycon drift.
I'm kind of there with the battery life but luckily it uses USB-C for it's charging and I have a million of those cables around various places in my house and car so I don't have to worry too much about it draining quickly.
I'm kind of there with the battery life but luckily it uses USB-C for it's charging and I have a million of those cables around various places in my house and car so I don't have to worry too much about it draining quickly.
Yeah let's see, if the Switch was a Game Gear and took 6 AA batteries...well I can get 48 of those Amazon Basics for $15 which works out to about 16 hours of gaming, so a dollar per hour.
I'm kind of there with the battery life but luckily it uses USB-C for it's charging and I have a million of those cables around various places in my house and car so I don't have to worry too much about it draining quickly.
Which is why it works ok as a "play this on the couch" type device, but isn't an effective portable console for me.
I worked out that my Switch is more portable if I'm wearing cargo shorts and take the joycons off. Joycons in one cargo pocket, console in the other. With a glass screen protector on it, it seems to work out okay.
Still definitely not as portable as just grabbing my 3DS or something. And while it's valid to say that's not as portable as grabbing, say, a GBA SP, I think the form factor of the Switch definitely crossed a line into territory that, being old, I associate more with the Atari Lynx or Game Gear; too big for a traditional pocket (although the Switch is admittedly much slimmer), and really demands a carrying case. All Nintendo's older portables/handhelds remained on the other side of that line, even the original brick Game Boy.
hoo boy gamegear flashbacks. Playing sitting on the floor right beside the electric outlet cause the wire was short and i didn't have money to burn on a million AAs.
My opinion is that the switch's battery life is holding it back from being a proper mobile console.
Do you have the original or the revised model?
Original. I feel like I get maybe 2 hours of battery life out of it. It reminds me of the game gear except it has a functional role as a regular console.
It's lack of mobility is further enhanced by the joycons. I can only play games using the pro controller right now because of joycon drift.
It seems like some people have a hardline stance that the battery has to last x hours and the device has to fit in y pocket size in order to be a 'true' portable. Not sure what sorts of scenarios go into that, camping in a tent with no electricity? Walking somewhere without a free hand to hold a bag, etc. And those are extremely valid points for your individual needs!
For me, it's perfect. My hardline on portability is nonstop playing from couch to shitter to backyard office. I am very much embracing my Dadness, and have huge pocketed cargo shorts. I just have 10' USB cables in my office, livingroom and bedroom, for use by my phone, tablet, and switch. I take it places, friends houses and such, never dipped below 50%. Though, likely never played more than 2 hours in those sessions either.
Your points are very valid for you, and likely a great deal of others! But I think you're assuming that you represent the majority of Switch owners, or the majority of people who know what they're talking about due to a lifelong video game relationship.
I'm kind of there with the battery life but luckily it uses USB-C for it's charging and I have a million of those cables around various places in my house and car so I don't have to worry too much about it draining quickly.
Which is why it works ok as a "play this on the couch" type device, but isn't an effective portable console for me.
The deeper I get into adulthood the less the "portable" line is blurred. Like how often am I away from my car or house/electricity for more than a few hours that I'm spending staring at a video game console? Almost never at this point. It has a better battery life than my phone oddly enough. If I load up a game on my phone I probably get an hour until it gets to 20% battery.
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Handsome CostanzaAsk me about 8bitdoRIP Iwata-sanRegistered Userregular
Late to the whole Blue Ocean thing, but it's arguable that Switch brought at least some of that audience back. Animal Crossing has become a bonafide cultural phenomenon, though granted the Covid lockdown may have helped.
The whole Blue Ocean thing is so hard to parse. It went all in for Wii, vanished for Wii U, and then came back at least partially for Switch. Meanwhile smartphones cut into the audience for the 3DS but hasn't effected the semi-portable Switch.
In other words, the market's weird, yo.
You could argue the Switch is doing more poorly than it appears because it's a combined console.
At one time we had Wii doing incredibly well + DS doing incredibly well and now we only have Switch doing incredibly well.
You could divide up the Switch's sales arbitrarily and say some percentage of them are sold to people who would've bought Nintendo's next home console and another percentage of them are people who would've bought Nintendo's next portable. The Switch isn't selling like the Wii, it's selling like Wii+DS but only doing Wii numbers.
I'm betting this is completely acceptable to them because of the savings on development costs, and the ability to get more titles to both types of users.
It was Iwata's vision to combine the home console and handheld markets, they're just following it. IMO a tad bit too quickly. I'm pretty sure Iwata himself would have seen the need for at least one more dedicated handheld before actually combining them.
Edit: BTW where the hell is the English translation of that Iwata-san book at? They announced one like a year ago (after threatening to shut down fan translations) but there hasn't been a peep about it since.
It would have been extremely disappointing to have a console that switches to portable and also have a portable console. The switch is so amazing because it can be played both ways. I would be so angry if another system was siphoning games from it.
The problem is that the Switch is neither a very good portable or a very good home console. It does both things sort of ok, but it's nature as a hybrid means it can't really go all out in either area. There is still room for an actual portable that can play smaller games as well as have some functionality with the Switch. This is what I mean by they are not quite there yet. They are not in a place where they can make something as portable as a 3DS or DS Lite and still have enough power to create a satisfying home experience. It's great that you like to play your switch lite and switch in handheld, I do too, but let's be honest with ourselves. It's barely a step up from the WiiU gamepad and if you want to take it anywhere with you you have to put it in a special case and carry a backpack full of accessories along with. That's not a truly portable experience.
i don't know how much of that is a market fact and how much is personal feeling. There is a difference.
It's my personal feeling that happens to be backed by data and facts. Just like how I've been right about this entire gen from before it even started, despite being constantly disagreed with. Just like how people disagreed with me about Nintendo even wanting to combine the two way back when, even though Iwata was still alive and was telling anyone who would listen that that was the direction he was taking the company.
Late to the whole Blue Ocean thing, but it's arguable that Switch brought at least some of that audience back. Animal Crossing has become a bonafide cultural phenomenon, though granted the Covid lockdown may have helped.
The whole Blue Ocean thing is so hard to parse. It went all in for Wii, vanished for Wii U, and then came back at least partially for Switch. Meanwhile smartphones cut into the audience for the 3DS but hasn't effected the semi-portable Switch.
In other words, the market's weird, yo.
You could argue the Switch is doing more poorly than it appears because it's a combined console.
At one time we had Wii doing incredibly well + DS doing incredibly well and now we only have Switch doing incredibly well.
You could divide up the Switch's sales arbitrarily and say some percentage of them are sold to people who would've bought Nintendo's next home console and another percentage of them are people who would've bought Nintendo's next portable. The Switch isn't selling like the Wii, it's selling like Wii+DS but only doing Wii numbers.
I'm betting this is completely acceptable to them because of the savings on development costs, and the ability to get more titles to both types of users.
It was Iwata's vision to combine the home console and handheld markets, they're just following it. IMO a tad bit too quickly. I'm pretty sure Iwata himself would have seen the need for at least one more dedicated handheld before actually combining them.
Edit: BTW where the hell is the English translation of that Iwata-san book at? They announced one like a year ago (after threatening to shut down fan translations) but there hasn't been a peep about it since.
It would have been extremely disappointing to have a console that switches to portable and also have a portable console. The switch is so amazing because it can be played both ways. I would be so angry if another system was siphoning games from it.
The problem is that the Switch is neither a very good portable or a very good home console. It does both things sort of ok, but it's nature as a hybrid means it can't really go all out in either area. There is still room for an actual portable that can play smaller games as well as have some functionality with the Switch. This is what I mean by they are not quite there yet. They are not in a place where they can make something as portable as a 3DS or DS Lite and still have enough power to create a satisfying home experience. It's great that you like to play your switch lite and switch in handheld, I do too, but let's be honest with ourselves. It's barely a step up from the WiiU gamepad and if you want to take it anywhere with you you have to put it in a special case and carry a backpack full of accessories along with. That's not a truly portable experience.
i don't know how much of that is a market fact and how much is personal feeling. There is a difference.
It's my personal feeling that happens to be backed by data and facts. Just like how I've been right about this entire gen from before it even started, despite being constantly disagreed with. Just like how people disagreed with me about Nintendo even wanting to combine the two way back when, even though Iwata was still alive and was telling anyone who would listen that that was the direction he was taking the company.
Just out of curiosity, what specific data and facts?
Yeah, I mean last I saw, the Switch was selling like hotcakes. It's _still_ hard to find an OG Switch up around here. We tried to get one for a friend's birthday and "from scalpers for a ridiculous markup" was literally our only option, and I was treated as naive for hoping it wasn't.
EDIT: Shoot, just looking at the Wikipedia page for million-selling game consoles, the Switch is above the Xbox One and Super Nintendo, and just below the OG NES. In _lifetime sales._ It's a little over half the sales of the PS4, despite the PS4 having a 4-year head start.
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Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
Mario in a clown outfit with full makeup is terrifying.
I never understood why people were afraid of clowns until now.
Whenever I could, I used the Wii U as a portable console that I couldn't take out of the room. I'm very grateful to have the Switch as it currently is, and if the tech isn't fully there yet that just means that when it is there, it'll be even better.
Whenever I could, I used the Wii U as a portable console that I couldn't take out of the room. I'm very grateful to have the Switch as it currently is, and if the tech isn't fully there yet that just means that when it is there, it'll be even better.
That's true, it takes first steps to show enough widespread interest to get the later steps that make it better.
I still attribute VR to the leaps and bounds in motion control research all prompted by the Wii.
After buying Spongebob mostly for myself but also because my nieces love spongebob and wanted to play it i can safely say the 5/10 review score is a lie and this game is actually pretty popping.
The 3DS line's battery life was barely any better than the launch Switch at a minimum of 3 hours, assuming you have the 3D effect always on as intended. Both 2DS models slimmed their battery to achieve about the same in 2D mode. Even with the new Mariko chip that vastly boosted battery time in the V2, they sized the portable-only Lite's battery to a bit above that 3 hours mark. Nintendo's been working under the assumption for a while that 3 hours is around the acceptable line for portables. At least ones with integrated rechargable batteries anyway. It wasn't really the uptime that killed say the nomad, lynx, or game gear, it was the culture of disposable batteries supporting them at the time.
After buying Spongebob mostly for myself but also because my nieces love spongebob and wanted to play it i can safely say the 5/10 review score is a lie and this game is actually pretty popping.
Do the controls get in the way? I was thinking it might be one of my next purchases since I love 3D platfomers but a lot of the reviews said the unmappable weird controls really bugged them - something about the jump/attack placement.
I never had any issue with the controls but that also might be bias on my part because i'm super used to these types of controls
It's the Final fantasy 15 "I want to pick up an item but pick up and jump are the same key so i'm jumping in place ten times while i try to pick up the item" thing you get used to it.
The switch gets enough battery life to play on the bus to and from work for a few days without docking to recharge so it passes my requirments there.
My commute is roughly two hours and ten minutes. Running Fire Emblem and keeping the system in suspend during the day I'd average 54%-ish charge walking through my door at the end of my day. I had a four hour flight in May, ran Streets of Rage 4 the entire flight and had 37% remaining. In short, my launch Switch does exactly what my 3DS and DS did before it - gaming away from home.
Steam: Litany || PSN: Litany- || Nintendo Network ID: Litany
Whenever I could, I used the Wii U as a portable console that I couldn't take out of the room. I'm very grateful to have the Switch as it currently is, and if the tech isn't fully there yet that just means that when it is there, it'll be even better.
That's true, it takes first steps to show enough widespread interest to get the later steps that make it better.
I still attribute VR to the leaps and bounds in motion control research all prompted by the Wii.
The motion control craze+phones driving screen miniaturization tech
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Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
edited June 2020
Well, time to mod my Wii U. Wish me luck on not brickin.
Too lazy to buy a Wii U pro controller so gonna use some homebrew to hook up my switch pro one.
(default gamepad is cool/comfortable for playing on the small screen but feels abit awkward for TV games)
I command Sega to remake Skies of Arcadia on Switch, PC and whatever else.
Ah, Skies of Arcadia, the game that somehow managed to quench my thirst for a Quest 64 sequel. Maybe it was the camera angle?
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Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
edited June 2020
I think I'd really like to see the next mainline Mario game introduce multiple characters and playstyles as the next gimmick.
Some stars that are only obtainable by certain characters with certain abilities like Peach (bring back the floaty magic), Toad (pull items out of the ground or chuck enemies at each other) or Luigi, etc.
Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark is on massive sale (-66%) on eShop. I have heard it scratches the Final Fantasy Tactics itch, so I picked it up and will be trying it out.
Once you look past the art style (which is fine!), it is, in fact, exactly what you want from a FFT game. I'm a big fan.
Followup on this: I have played through the first few battles now. This really feels like some rando said "man, Final Fantasy Tactics was fun. I should make my own FFT". The gameplay is nearly identical. There are a few quality of life improvements here and there. The art style is different; the backgrounds are beautiful, the character portraits are beautiful, you can customize the full appearance of all of your characters (or you can lock them to wearing the Hat and/or Clothes of the class they are).
I'm playing in handheld mode. The fonts and iconography are pretty small, I could see that being a problem for some folks. There's something about the look of the character sprites that bothers me a little, I'm not sure how to explain it - almost like there's a little too much of a sharp edge around all of the (many!) pieces that compose a character. I wonder if that might look better on a big screen.
The intro story made me cringe. I've made it to one major-ish plot point in the game proper, and that also hurt me. I really like the first three party members, though, and they get just the right amount of time to talk, so that's a positive.
Overall, I liked FFT, I expect I will enjoy my time with Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark.
Thanks for the heads up on that sale. I’ve almost bought that a couple times, but didn’t love the art style enough to pull the trigger. At $10 tho... Yup
I command Sega to remake Skies of Arcadia on Switch, PC and whatever else.
Skies of Arcadia is the game that sort of cured me of my item hoarder tendencies. Because I always had Aika put a Delta Shield during boss fights, so I couldn't use healing magic, so I had to use items.
So it made me al little more willing to use healing items in order games as well. But only the weakest ones. When I really have to.
The Walmart near my house is changing the entire layout of the store and they tore down the electronics game cases and dumped all the old switch games that were lining the bottom of the case that nobody wanted to buy because nobody could bloody see the damn things onto the 20 dollar "Please don't just put these in your pocket and walk off" Rack
Needless to say i now own Owlboy
Edit - I should clarify that i did not steal anything and bought Owlboy with money.
For the prices Sydney Hunter and Elliot Quest are both really great values. I've spent all night on Sydney Hunter and it's tough but fair, and feels almost like a suped up C64 game to me.
Edit: I should say for the prices I paid - Sydney was $1.99, Elliot was $.09. At full price they're a bit harder of a sell.
Fell Seal is an infuriating game. No thought is given to providing a reasonable challenge or balance at all, enemies and their jobs are completely randomly generated so sometimes you get put up against insane odds. Since I was annoyed at this earlier I set the game to be a little bit easier, gave enemies 10% less stats, and it's not enough.
They put me up against a team with like 3 healers/buffers/debuffers, they immediately buffed themselves with all kinds of effects and then used an area of affect attack on my team that made 3 people berserk at once, who all killed each other, even as the enemy healed whatever I had done to them. I couldn't heal the berserk because I had already used my two remedy items to cure mute on my caster and weaken/cripple on another party member. I'm not far enough in the game that there is any kind of berserk immunity item. I finally got the fight down to 2v2, then they revived one of their party members who made one of my final 2 berserk again, who attacked the other remaining party member as they killed her. It's 1v3 right now and the enemies have somehow gotten themselves all raised to full health. I want to just hit the home button and kill this game but battles feel like they take so long to get through too.
This was a party of equal level to me, a "normal" challenge. And yeah, my party makeup is a little bit suboptimal because I'm still in the process of learning new jobs and trying things out. Several people with jobs half-mastered with only a few skills. But I still brought a well-rounded group, a few melee, one ranged, a dedicated caster, a few mixed classes.
I don't know. The game is just poorly balanced. I played all three FFTs and countless other games like this, Fire Emblems, Shining Force, and few games fare this badly just in the normal course of play.
Yikes. It sounds like the enemy actually had more healing resources than you did there. That's terrible game design right there. If you've only got two shots of status clearing the game shouldn't be allowed to throw that kind of mass status at you (which sounds like the main problem you ran into - enemies have better debuffs than you have healing?).
Fell Seal is an infuriating game. No thought is given to providing a reasonable challenge or balance at all, enemies and their jobs are completely randomly generated so sometimes you get put up against insane odds. Since I was annoyed at this earlier I set the game to be a little bit easier, gave enemies 10% less stats, and it's not enough.
They put me up against a team with like 3 healers/buffers/debuffers, they immediately buffed themselves with all kinds of effects and then used an area of affect attack on my team that made 3 people berserk at once, who all killed each other, even as the enemy healed whatever I had done to them. I couldn't heal the berserk because I had already used my two remedy items to cure mute on my caster and weaken/cripple on another party member. I'm not far enough in the game that there is any kind of berserk immunity item. I finally got the fight down to 2v2, then they revived one of their party members who made one of my final 2 berserk again, who attacked the other remaining party member as they killed her. It's 1v3 right now and the enemies have somehow gotten themselves all raised to full health. I want to just hit the home button and kill this game but battles feel like they take so long to get through too.
This was a party of equal level to me, a "normal" challenge. And yeah, my party makeup is a little bit suboptimal because I'm still in the process of learning new jobs and trying things out. Several people with jobs half-mastered with only a few skills. But I still brought a well-rounded group, a few melee, one ranged, a dedicated caster, a few mixed classes.
I don't know. The game is just poorly balanced. I played all three FFTs and countless other games like this, Fire Emblems, Shining Force, and few games fare this badly just in the normal course of play.
There's way too much enemy healing.
I've only made it through four or five battles so far, and I've already had one fight where 2/6 enemies could AOE heal, and it was a slog (and I lost on the first try, because I was both very sloppy and split someone off to go get a treasure chest way too early). I'll keep an eye on that to see if I agree with the complaint. On my rematch, I made a point of killing the healers first, which made it a pretty brisk fight.
I do like that there are a smorgasbord of difficulty-tuning options, which you can tweak whenever you want. I think I saw one that was "enemies don't revive fallen enemies as often" which could be helpful...
I haven't gotten to status-spam enemies yet, but I did notice that pretty much every character starts with an ability that cures a slew of status ailments from an ally (I haven't checked whether Berserk or Mute is among them, but Poison definitely is and that's been helpful already). I've already unlocked at least two other classes that have status cures at range or in an area, very early in their skill tree, one of them with some healing stapled on. So I feel like I have the tools available to deal with status hell when it arrives.
Yikes. It sounds like the enemy actually had more healing resources than you did there. That's terrible game design right there. If you've only got two shots of status clearing the game shouldn't be allowed to throw that kind of mass status at you (which sounds like the main problem you ran into - enemies have better debuffs than you have healing?).
Just as there are lots of classes that can heal, there are lots of classes that can cure debuffs too, and it's true I didn't have the right mix of classes to be able to deal with that. But with what I encountered, would one character with status healing have even been enough? What if I brought one fully dedicated healer along, and they got caught in the berserk AOE? Do I have to bring two, three? "Spread out your team more" is a lesson, but that also makes applying your own buffs and healing more difficult too.
Technically enemies have infinite healing resources, as stated earlier the MP system is to start with nothing and regen 10 MP per turn. If you have one enemy who can cast heals and another who can keep everyone topped off with the renew HP regen effect, there's nothing stopping them from doing it constantly. You can turn down how often they have the ability to revive, and turn off their items like potions, but not heal spells.
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Original. I feel like I get maybe 2 hours of battery life out of it. It reminds me of the game gear except it has a functional role as a regular console.
It's lack of mobility is further enhanced by the joycons. I can only play games using the pro controller right now because of joycon drift.
Yeah let's see, if the Switch was a Game Gear and took 6 AA batteries...well I can get 48 of those Amazon Basics for $15 which works out to about 16 hours of gaming, so a dollar per hour.
Which is why it works ok as a "play this on the couch" type device, but isn't an effective portable console for me.
Its not a true portable until you have 5 different versions in various states of working.
Still definitely not as portable as just grabbing my 3DS or something. And while it's valid to say that's not as portable as grabbing, say, a GBA SP, I think the form factor of the Switch definitely crossed a line into territory that, being old, I associate more with the Atari Lynx or Game Gear; too big for a traditional pocket (although the Switch is admittedly much slimmer), and really demands a carrying case. All Nintendo's older portables/handhelds remained on the other side of that line, even the original brick Game Boy.
Steam | XBL
It seems like some people have a hardline stance that the battery has to last x hours and the device has to fit in y pocket size in order to be a 'true' portable. Not sure what sorts of scenarios go into that, camping in a tent with no electricity? Walking somewhere without a free hand to hold a bag, etc. And those are extremely valid points for your individual needs!
For me, it's perfect. My hardline on portability is nonstop playing from couch to shitter to backyard office. I am very much embracing my Dadness, and have huge pocketed cargo shorts. I just have 10' USB cables in my office, livingroom and bedroom, for use by my phone, tablet, and switch. I take it places, friends houses and such, never dipped below 50%. Though, likely never played more than 2 hours in those sessions either.
Your points are very valid for you, and likely a great deal of others! But I think you're assuming that you represent the majority of Switch owners, or the majority of people who know what they're talking about due to a lifelong video game relationship.
The deeper I get into adulthood the less the "portable" line is blurred. Like how often am I away from my car or house/electricity for more than a few hours that I'm spending staring at a video game console? Almost never at this point. It has a better battery life than my phone oddly enough. If I load up a game on my phone I probably get an hour until it gets to 20% battery.
It's my personal feeling that happens to be backed by data and facts. Just like how I've been right about this entire gen from before it even started, despite being constantly disagreed with. Just like how people disagreed with me about Nintendo even wanting to combine the two way back when, even though Iwata was still alive and was telling anyone who would listen that that was the direction he was taking the company.
Resident 8bitdo expert.
Resident hybrid/flap cover expert.
Just out of curiosity, what specific data and facts?
EDIT: Shoot, just looking at the Wikipedia page for million-selling game consoles, the Switch is above the Xbox One and Super Nintendo, and just below the OG NES. In _lifetime sales._ It's a little over half the sales of the PS4, despite the PS4 having a 4-year head start.
I never understood why people were afraid of clowns until now.
That's true, it takes first steps to show enough widespread interest to get the later steps that make it better.
I still attribute VR to the leaps and bounds in motion control research all prompted by the Wii.
There's at least one clown neighbor in Animal Crossing and it's nightmare fuel.
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
Do the controls get in the way? I was thinking it might be one of my next purchases since I love 3D platfomers but a lot of the reviews said the unmappable weird controls really bugged them - something about the jump/attack placement.
It's the Final fantasy 15 "I want to pick up an item but pick up and jump are the same key so i'm jumping in place ten times while i try to pick up the item" thing you get used to it.
My commute is roughly two hours and ten minutes. Running Fire Emblem and keeping the system in suspend during the day I'd average 54%-ish charge walking through my door at the end of my day. I had a four hour flight in May, ran Streets of Rage 4 the entire flight and had 37% remaining. In short, my launch Switch does exactly what my 3DS and DS did before it - gaming away from home.
Imagine my concern.
The motion control craze+phones driving screen miniaturization tech
Too lazy to buy a Wii U pro controller so gonna use some homebrew to hook up my switch pro one.
(default gamepad is cool/comfortable for playing on the small screen but feels abit awkward for TV games)
Ah, Skies of Arcadia, the game that somehow managed to quench my thirst for a Quest 64 sequel. Maybe it was the camera angle?
Some stars that are only obtainable by certain characters with certain abilities like Peach (bring back the floaty magic), Toad (pull items out of the ground or chuck enemies at each other) or Luigi, etc.
Followup on this: I have played through the first few battles now. This really feels like some rando said "man, Final Fantasy Tactics was fun. I should make my own FFT". The gameplay is nearly identical. There are a few quality of life improvements here and there. The art style is different; the backgrounds are beautiful, the character portraits are beautiful, you can customize the full appearance of all of your characters (or you can lock them to wearing the Hat and/or Clothes of the class they are).
I'm playing in handheld mode. The fonts and iconography are pretty small, I could see that being a problem for some folks. There's something about the look of the character sprites that bothers me a little, I'm not sure how to explain it - almost like there's a little too much of a sharp edge around all of the (many!) pieces that compose a character. I wonder if that might look better on a big screen.
The intro story made me cringe. I've made it to one major-ish plot point in the game proper, and that also hurt me. I really like the first three party members, though, and they get just the right amount of time to talk, so that's a positive.
Overall, I liked FFT, I expect I will enjoy my time with Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark.
Twitch: akThera
Steam: Thera
Skies of Arcadia is the game that sort of cured me of my item hoarder tendencies. Because I always had Aika put a Delta Shield during boss fights, so I couldn't use healing magic, so I had to use items.
So it made me al little more willing to use healing items in order games as well. But only the weakest ones. When I really have to.
Needless to say i now own Owlboy
Edit - I should clarify that i did not steal anything and bought Owlboy with money.
Edit: I should say for the prices I paid - Sydney was $1.99, Elliot was $.09. At full price they're a bit harder of a sell.
They put me up against a team with like 3 healers/buffers/debuffers, they immediately buffed themselves with all kinds of effects and then used an area of affect attack on my team that made 3 people berserk at once, who all killed each other, even as the enemy healed whatever I had done to them. I couldn't heal the berserk because I had already used my two remedy items to cure mute on my caster and weaken/cripple on another party member. I'm not far enough in the game that there is any kind of berserk immunity item. I finally got the fight down to 2v2, then they revived one of their party members who made one of my final 2 berserk again, who attacked the other remaining party member as they killed her. It's 1v3 right now and the enemies have somehow gotten themselves all raised to full health. I want to just hit the home button and kill this game but battles feel like they take so long to get through too.
This was a party of equal level to me, a "normal" challenge. And yeah, my party makeup is a little bit suboptimal because I'm still in the process of learning new jobs and trying things out. Several people with jobs half-mastered with only a few skills. But I still brought a well-rounded group, a few melee, one ranged, a dedicated caster, a few mixed classes.
I don't know. The game is just poorly balanced. I played all three FFTs and countless other games like this, Fire Emblems, Shining Force, and few games fare this badly just in the normal course of play.
There's way too much enemy healing.
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
I've only made it through four or five battles so far, and I've already had one fight where 2/6 enemies could AOE heal, and it was a slog (and I lost on the first try, because I was both very sloppy and split someone off to go get a treasure chest way too early). I'll keep an eye on that to see if I agree with the complaint. On my rematch, I made a point of killing the healers first, which made it a pretty brisk fight.
I do like that there are a smorgasbord of difficulty-tuning options, which you can tweak whenever you want. I think I saw one that was "enemies don't revive fallen enemies as often" which could be helpful...
I haven't gotten to status-spam enemies yet, but I did notice that pretty much every character starts with an ability that cures a slew of status ailments from an ally (I haven't checked whether Berserk or Mute is among them, but Poison definitely is and that's been helpful already). I've already unlocked at least two other classes that have status cures at range or in an area, very early in their skill tree, one of them with some healing stapled on. So I feel like I have the tools available to deal with status hell when it arrives.
Just as there are lots of classes that can heal, there are lots of classes that can cure debuffs too, and it's true I didn't have the right mix of classes to be able to deal with that. But with what I encountered, would one character with status healing have even been enough? What if I brought one fully dedicated healer along, and they got caught in the berserk AOE? Do I have to bring two, three? "Spread out your team more" is a lesson, but that also makes applying your own buffs and healing more difficult too.
Technically enemies have infinite healing resources, as stated earlier the MP system is to start with nothing and regen 10 MP per turn. If you have one enemy who can cast heals and another who can keep everyone topped off with the renew HP regen effect, there's nothing stopping them from doing it constantly. You can turn down how often they have the ability to revive, and turn off their items like potions, but not heal spells.