iKotomi
[10] Knight
The third person shooter element imo just replaces the RNG use in traditional srpg's with a different RNG. It's definitely the greatest and weakest point of the game though. The shooter element has a certain immersive quality to it that makes it feel like you're actually in the battlefield rather than controlling chess pieces. But that's one of the key qualities that make srpg's fun imo, the really deliberate control you have allowing you to flawlessly execute a strategy.
All the issues I have with the game are linked to this. First, it's not particularly hard. Because there is such freedom of motion in this game, it's like the difference between trying to write AI for chess, and trying to write AI for go. Because your tank is the only unit that can really "tank" you can't just ramp up the difficulty by increasing the enemy units, as it would probably make the game impossible to manage, except for very specifically designed maps with a lot of cover. Making the enemy units stronger is also not as viable of an option because the game seems to have been designed around you being able to take out enemies in one turn. Because the enemy phase can't be sped up practically, it would also make it that much more painful to watch enemy turns.
The other issue I have is that it rewards fast play. To me, it seems like the point of strategy games isn't to play them fast, but to beat them. I find the fact that in traditional srpg's you pretty much have to play slow and deliberately because a single mistake can kill you is very satisfying, sort of like that feeling after winning a close match by time out in a fighter. The fact that you miss out on experience because you chose to play it safe is sort of obnoxious to me. But I digress, the system works well enough, and you can see it as just an extra challenge.
Though I am curious on whether or not more and stronger enemies would actually amount to an enjoyable challenge. I know in Japan, they released a hard mode dlc, so hopefully that comes by here, since this game definitely would merit a replay because the gameplay itself is just solid fun.
All the issues I have with the game are linked to this. First, it's not particularly hard. Because there is such freedom of motion in this game, it's like the difference between trying to write AI for chess, and trying to write AI for go. Because your tank is the only unit that can really "tank" you can't just ramp up the difficulty by increasing the enemy units, as it would probably make the game impossible to manage, except for very specifically designed maps with a lot of cover. Making the enemy units stronger is also not as viable of an option because the game seems to have been designed around you being able to take out enemies in one turn. Because the enemy phase can't be sped up practically, it would also make it that much more painful to watch enemy turns.
The other issue I have is that it rewards fast play. To me, it seems like the point of strategy games isn't to play them fast, but to beat them. I find the fact that in traditional srpg's you pretty much have to play slow and deliberately because a single mistake can kill you is very satisfying, sort of like that feeling after winning a close match by time out in a fighter. The fact that you miss out on experience because you chose to play it safe is sort of obnoxious to me. But I digress, the system works well enough, and you can see it as just an extra challenge.
Though I am curious on whether or not more and stronger enemies would actually amount to an enjoyable challenge. I know in Japan, they released a hard mode dlc, so hopefully that comes by here, since this game definitely would merit a replay because the gameplay itself is just solid fun.
