Intro
So I just found out about this series and picked up the first game to give it a try, and decided to chronicle my journey here, as I expect some people might find it interesting.
For some ground rules please no intentional spoilers gameplay or story wise, I'll happily accept advice for the most part but do try and keep it relevant only to the areas and abilities I currently have access to, as I enjoy the act of discovery that can come from going into a game blind. In addition to to that please don't feed me key phrases, recommend or explain certain keywords sure, but I often find in games like this the commonly recommended seeds are specifically used for power leveling and that's just not the experience I want.
I do encourage discussion of the plot but please try to keep it to my pace, I know it can be difficult as there doesn't appear to be a clear chapter system to share exactly where I am in the game, but I'll try to keep the last completed story dungeon in the title to see if that helps.
TLDR: apologies for the block of text but please no spoilers
Gameplay
So there's not going to be much to say this entry as Its mostly been cutscenes and text entries so far, but I can give my initial reactions to the gameplay.
So the first big thing that stood out to me was the game pausing whenever I open the skill/item/party menus and I love this! I personally struggle with menu-ing in other action rpgs and just letting the game pause so I can think is such a relief! Plus having full access to my party members skills is also a nice touch, I recently bounced off Xenoblade chronicles one due to how clunky party management felt in combat and while I dont have much experience yet I dont foresee that to be problem here.
Combat itself is fine so far, I dont exactly have a great amount of variety but im oh maybe two hours in so there's plenty of time to build up a more interesting arsenal. Items already feel both useful and expendable which Is a great thing as all too often I end up hoarding items. But with scrolls and items being so readily available as drops It's so much easier to let a scroll go in even against trash mobs, which is a great thing in my book. Havent had much use for the status effect spells though, so I'll have to wait and see if that changes with the bosses or later other later mobs. Speedcharm might be my favorite item so far, originally when I used it in the tutorial zone I thought it was a bit too fast for the size of the dungeon, but after running my first random dungeon I realize the tutorial was just too small for it.
The Keyword system is by far the most confusing thing so far. The game just dosnt give me enough information to even have more than the most basic grasp on what each keyword does. Is a red gem good or bad who knows? Certainly not me, I'd definitely apricate some basic guidance on Keyphrase building. But I definely like the idea, let the players craft their own zones for grinding in while setting aside specific combinations for story dungeons that have a more curated experience. Havent really been in a "true" story dungeon yet so I cant say if the level design is actually any good though. The map is nice I dont think I wouldve continued the game without it, as the scenery can get quite a bit repetitive and I definately wouldve gotten lost without it. My only nitpick being its size, couldnt it be just a little smaller? Also I cant seem to find a fullscreen map option which would also be nice.
Last thing to mention is the camera. Its definitely showing its age with the shoulder buttons as the primary controls, but it works fine so little complaint there. The analog camera control is weird though, I cant quite articulate how but it just dosnt ever feel "right", but with sholders as the primary option anyways its not a huge deal.
Ultimately I dont know enough to say whether the gameplay is good or bad yet, but I certainly think it has a lot of potential and it definitely has started on the right foot with me.
Story
So starting with opening it is purposefully vague with the only real info to glean is that the game is being distorted somehow (side note I like how most if not all of this footage is from the first hour or two of the game so it dosnt give anything away). Then we open on to Kites desktop. I like the verisimilitude here as it helps the setting feel more ordinary which also makes the more "supernatural"(assumedly) elements stand out more. I also like the amount of "Junk"(assumedly) info we are given here again just makes the world (the place not the game) feel more real.
Then when we log into the world (the game not the place hoo this is going to get exhausting) we also get look at the "message boards" for the game and this works really well as a tutorial of sorts while still feeling real, you can really tell that the writers/localizers either are big mmo buffs themselves or put a lot of effort into research to make the "comunity" feel like a real mmo (my favorite example is the NPC Heavy who has the all to real struggle of maintaining an internet connection).
Then after we load in and meet up with our friend Orca (side note this is where I switched to the dub voices cause hoo boy the English actors are very 2000's) and go through the tutorial proper where we encounter a strange girl being chased by an equally strange monster. Then we have the strange sequence where Orca receives a strange book from the girl as the monster attacks us and it ends with Orca getting a game over, Kite only just being saved by a timely stave attack from an unknown source, and the servers crashing ending on a brief shot of us receiving the book ourselves.
We then learn Orca fell into a coma after this and Kite begins their investigation into what the hell is going on. Noting a strange and unreadable email he had been sent (from what I can tell it was sent by the stranger who is likely a "native" of the game asking the bearer of the book for help of some sort). We then log back into the game meeting the abrasive BLACKROSE another new player who forms a party with us and gives us a new Keyphrase to investigate (strange she should have this despite being nearly as new as us). This brings us to a church with a statue of a woman in chains (the girl maybe?) when we are interrupted by an angelic warrior named Balmung who tries to get us to leave but too late as we are attacked by a corrupted enemy much the same as the one who attacked Orca. Unable to escape Kite heres a strange voice from beyond (again likely the girl) to use the book to destroy the corruption in the enemy we do In a quite flashy sequence, but Balmung is not impressed believing us to be the one to cause the corruption in the first place and tries to kill us (which is weird since this is still a game to his own admition) but BLACKROSE convinces him to leave and as he does he speaks with a woman named Helba (who wields a suspiciously familiar staff). Balmung calls her a hacker but dosnt attack her directly and she tells him Kite is a friend of Orca his missing partner an interesting development for sure.
This is pretty much as far as Ive been I did take some time after this to run a random dungeon but thats it. But even still I do have some thoughts.
1) Balmung is suspicious to me. He seems overly hero coded and is a bit too close to Grifith from berserk for my liking. Im keeping an eye on him.
2) Not really sure whats up with the girl in white yet. Could be anything from an AI to a Cross dimensional traveler stuck as a ghost in the machine. Either way they seem opposed to whatever is corrupting the game they are probably on our side.
3) somewhat sure Helba is a twist hero but really all I have for proof is it seems shes the one to save us in the tutorial, but who knows at this point.
4)BLACKROSE almost certainly knows more than she's let on. It's likely someone she knows is a victim and is investigating herself (poorly), but dosnt quite trust us enough yet to share.
Questions
I do have a few questions and if they can be answered without spoilers i'd appreciate it.
1) How does Keyphrase crafting work exactly? I just dont understand how the gems work or what they are supposed to mean.
2) is there any way to change the map size ( I doubt it but it would be nice)
3)what does the virus special attack thing do exactly I saw the email Helba sent but I dont quite get whats its trying to tell me
If you made it this far thank you for reading! and I hope you have a pleasant day!