Karifean
is a Level 30 Priest
Witch of Theatergoing

I actually like FFXIII, not trying to rag on it. I really like the paradigm system and the type of strategy and control it gives you over the combat. But yeah when I get to Pulse and I can't defeat those box accordion things and I'm maxed out, well.... then I get sad

But it's different when a game is balanced to accomodate a level cap. Bravely Default is an example of a game that wasn't easily winnable even at level 99 and maxed jobs. It really boils down to how well the battle system is executed, and if closing off higher levels is the game's way of balancing things and keeping players on edge, then I'm sorry, it's pretty broken in my eyes. I felt frustrated because the game did not let me go at my own pace at all, which is pretty criminal for an RPG. Forgive me, but there is no way I will call a game that gives me one way to play it strategic. But that's just my two cents I'm not gonna go decrying that the whole world is wrong for liking it and how can't people see that my opinion is the correct one *wink wink*

Preventing grinding is no bueno for people like me who are bad at games and can only pass them by being OP

I was eavesdropping

Hi

For me it's completely bad because it takes away the last bit of freedom that could have been offered, as everything else is a hallway. I did not enjoy the battle system, and I didn't have a problem with it, so because of that, boss battles were simply long and boring. Not to mention when I finally reached Gran Pulse, I would have been happy to grind to my heart's content. But sadly, I did not have that option. Limiting that is never a good idea.

Compare that to how Dragon Quest VI handles overgrinding. Characters level up normally at all times, but in order to rank up in their vocation (job), they need to battle enemies at a level that is no lower than a certain cap. Many areas have level caps so you can't just go and master all vocations from the beginning. And this works much better because you still feel like you're making progress, even if you can't max out everything right off the bat.

I just hate how constrained FFXIII is. This wouldn't have been as bad if the story was good - hell, look at Xenosaga which is almost as linear but at least that has an excellent plot to keep me involved. FFXIII is just failuire after failure after failure.

Oh, I do intend to try it someday, make no mistake

I can already say it gets prompts for ambition as its so big.

As for Danganronpa - I agree that it's in the pure entertainment category. It's just that at some point I took a different approach to games than I had in the past. And games that are pure entertainment and not much story depth but do it so well (though I'd argue Dr is still a pretty interesting commentary on depression and stuff like that, and it gets even more interesting in the sequel) are now pretty much equal to games that shake me up story-wise due to the fact that I've accepted it as a different medium with a different set of tools. Heck, that's probably what let me fall in love with the Dragon Quest series to the extent that I have.

Sure, go ahead

I feel I should reiterate though, just to be safe I don't intend to bash AA because I like Danganronpa better - it's more like, through the comparison to DG, I kinda hope I can explain better why AA doesn't work for me so much, since not only is DG a similar concept, but it's also my favorite VN so far

Ist ja nicht so, als könnte man diverse Dinge und Gedankengänge nicht nachvollziehen, es ignoriert halt aber alles was wichtig ist.

Ha, ha, ha. Schon das Neueste im Thread gelesen?

I didn't mean the quirk as in they are more 3-dimensional. That's not really it. I meant from a meta perspective - I think the quirks are executed in a more interesting way. It's different when you use a quick stereotype to create a connection with one of 15 characters, more than half of which will be murdered before you know it, while AA for me doesn't go far beyond the cliches with its characters throughout three games even though they all live. Sure, there's character development, but ironically, I had a much greater connection with the Danganronpa final six after one game than with the AA cast after three games, and that's probably the whole thing just suspends my disbelief better. This is a completely ridiculous situation with kids that are not meant to be written as actual lawyers or anything, for example. In that way, for me, Danganronpa is simply much better than the sum of its parts, while with AA I just like some parts.