squareamp

So I picked up the prologue chapter for the game, which is actually turning out to be fairly lengthy.

I’ve logged about four hours, and it’s pretty darn good so far. Much of the gameplay is, as expected, ripped almost entirely from the original FFIV (read: turn-based, ATB driven combat). However, there are a couple of new wrinkles that have an impact. The first are “Bands”; co-op attacks by two or more party members. You acquire some bands automatically as the story progresses, but the vast majority are there for you to discover on your own by combining different actions from each member of the desired band. For example, combining “Attack” with Cecil and “White Magic” with Rosa will activate the “Holy Blade” attack. Most offensive bands do more damage to a particular enemy type, so it maintains an element of strategy. Another addition is the effect of moon phases, which shift after a period of time or whenever your party sleeps. Each of the four phases significantly powers up one of the four primary attributes (physical attack, white/black magic, and techs) and weakens another.

As story goes, the plot is pretty intriguing so far, if a little nonsensical occasionally. While you do control the old guard characters like Cecil and Rosa on occasion, the majority of the game is played as Ceodore, Cecil’s son. He’s a pretty solid character all around, though he tends toward the melodramtic.

One other thing worth noting is that this game gets hard in a hurry. At my point, I’m already having to level grind to keep standard mobs from slicing off nearly half of my HP every time they attack.

But anyway, I’m interested to keep exploring the story to see what surprises Square has in store. Definitely worth the download so far.