Love this 100% before review angle (subscribed). Just picked this up on download from Nintendo for under £25 currently on sale, which seemed like a reasonable price considering your pros & cons. Keep up the good work 👍🏻
You've become my favorite review channel, at least when deciding if I will get a game or not, due to how in-depth you are. Too many reviewers seem not to finish a game and talk about the end game (if there is one), or nuances about the difficulty (or lack thereof). It's become more important than ever for me not to preorder anything or get anything at launch, so that fits well with waiting for you to 100% something and then checking out your review. I know you don't review all releases, but I greatly appreciate the ones you do! Great review here - thank you!
@@speero Haha. I hear that. I 100% games pretty rarely now. Has a little to do with time, another game coming out I want to play, difficulty of going back to the first game, as well as occasionally just losing interest mid-way through something.
Well because he is not a journalist that has many games to cover. He is independent hence he has more time to go in depth. its not the big game journalists fault.
Im not exactly a fan of online achievements. One example of a game that did them right was Mass Effect 3. Every online achievement had two ways to unlock it, one online and one offline.
Not necessarily, depends really, most of what I cover is primarily single player so if there are online achievements they usually aren't bad. Issue tends to be how long you can get those achievements as the servers arent up forever. Most new games have realized people hate that type of thing in primarily single player games though so they tend to be very tame.
I think this kinda like baby first SRPG? Which is perfectly fine for me! Since I'm not that familiar with the genre myself, though I played some JRPGs.
I would love for them to make an anime styled rts with deeper mechanics akin to age of empires. It doesn't need to be 200 units, but a sizeable army would could command with each general would be cool
Preordered AND got the Platinum trophy several days later! Wish it had MORE challenge missions and a better/fulfilled story ending... Otherwise, it’s 9/10. LOVE it!
Games being too easy is a big turn off for me. Games don't need to be brutal, "souls like", difficulty. But requiring thought, equipment optimization, skill optimization, is only required on games that are difficult. To me those aspects make it more fun.
Glad i didn't buy this day one(unlike triangle strategy, which was a great game and a good challenge). I'm sure there'll be updates soon with the difficulty spike
Hei, you said in your video that there are a lot of good real time strategy like this game and I wonder if you could name a few ? I mostly know turn based ones but for me it was a shocker seeing diofield being real time with pause . Would like some examples so I can find reviews (if you did then awesome) if not I'll probably find a YT reviewing them or some gameplay. Thanks !
@@Fir3Soul probably worth mentioning I misread your original comment, these are turn based games. They are trpgs like diofield though which is what I was referring to in the video. The rtwp aspect of is a bit rarer, and you have to go back to like the Growlanser series to see.
I was actually surprised how much I like the characters and the story. I could understand though, that some people might not, most likely because of the characters monotones/accents.. but after while it didn't bother me, because I genuinely wanted to know what was going on. And some really messed up stuff happens, the Characters reasons for doing what they do, the interactions between them, main character is a bad ass, ect. I liked it. Different strokes I guess. I don't fully agree with alot of the opinions here. But. At the same time, I can respect the fact that you do see potential in it and not just saying ,ohh it's a bad game. I can respect that.
I don't know it this is worldwide, but Square Enix games are MAD overpriced here in Brazil. No, I'll not pay 1/3 of a monthly minimum wage for your games while I can pay a LOT less in better games with slighly lower graphics or 2/3 for other AAA games.
I feel for you. I really hope you guys are able to keep your Democracy over there. Any leader who threatens to stay in office after they lose is a scary thing. Even though we kicked out the "would be" dictator in the U.S, these people never go away quietly.
@@SeanUCF yeah, that's a pretty fucked up situation. I'm not even very left leaning, I'm more of a centrist, but his speeches against state institutions and sabotage of the electoral system, not even speaking of the huge ammoubt of military he put in office (doubling their earnings) is really scary. Oh well, elections next sunday, time will tell. Ty mate.
Great, in depth review - thanks! This game interests me, but not quite enough to put in the time or money for it. So I love finding a detailed review like this that gives me enough info to feel like I know what the game is all about. It’s enough to scratch the itch for me and move on to other games. Thanks again!
Awesome review! The price tag is the sticking point here for me. While the graphics are fancier than most indies there isn't enough game play to backup the asking price. Overpriced does seem to be a trend with Square Enix in that past decade or so. it's a shame because it;s not the games are bad, but just not worth the asking price for me personally. As you said in the review, there are just so many choices for quality games in this style at lower price points.
Man I couldn't imagine having to 100% a game even after you've lost interest, and just aren't really into it anymore. Not saying that's necessarily the case here, but it has to come up from time to time. Props to you good sir! 👊
This seems like Square Enix first(?) venture to Western-type CRPG, similar to Baldur's gate, Icewind dale, or Pillars of Eternity, with jrpg art style and story. The price is lil high, but will definitely get it on sale. Hopefully, Square Enix will produce more of this fusion type CRPG-JRPG games in the future.
No. It's not a CRPG at all. It's a TRPG like Tactics Ogre or Fire Emblem. Biggest issue with the game is the unlikable main cast, bland story, and the lack of depth or strategy in the battle system and mission design. If you want a CRPG-style game with JRPG aesthetics Growlanser is much closer to what you're looking for and it's honestly more strategic than Diofield.
@@sunset261 Well in a way, all of them is a TRPG, even Growlanser. Tactics Ogre is turn-based and they move in tiles, and I think the same way with Fire Emblem. The games I mentioned are old-school western crpg with no tiles and has Real Time with Pause mechanics, and you usually limited to 4 to 6 characters to control, like Baldur's gate, Icewind dale, or Pillars of Eternity. So I think that is much closer comparison than Tactics Ogre or Fire Emblem.
@@chrismanahan1533 But the thing is CRPGS have way more than just battle encounters whereas for TRPGS the battle missions are the entire game. Diofield is like Fire Emblem just real time and also not as good. the combat is maybe similar to BG but that's where the comparisons end.
it's funny how, over 20 years ago, Bioware got its Bioware thing going because of how they took inspiration from Final Fantasy games to make Baldur's Gate 2 (i.e. romances, companion banter) and now Square Enix released a title that's pretty much an Infinity Engine game
Mortismal stated it several times but I have to state it again. I am no tactical genius by any means but this game on hard was beyond easy. Laughably easy, frustratingly easy. I went out of my way to handicap myself and make it as hard as possible and I never had any issues at all. Typically difficulty is not all that important to me as long as the game is fun however requiring me to use no tactics in your tactics game really ruined the experience for me personally.
I'm playing through the game on Hard right now, currently on chapter 3, and I agree with all of your points. I really wish that the game was more challenging and gave the enemies more tools/power for the player to have to account for. If they iterate on this formula it could absolutely be one of the most engaging SRPG/TRPG systems.
I've never mentioned it before, but your channel is completely underrated. I'm so fed up with RUclipsrs who form their opinions based on other videos and only invest an hour or so in a game. Your videos are super structured, the editing is great, the voice is pleasantly fast and the game scenes directly from the game match the chapter. Your videos have often been a buy or non-buy argument for me and at least with the purchases, it was always the case. thanks for your work
I preferred that it's a shorter because the combat got repetitive. They could've done more with positional puzzles, or splitting the party up, or mechanically complex multiphase bosses. Instead the system revolves around large aoe, assassinate resets, and backstab critical strikes. As it is there was only a handful of times on hard where I had to actually use tactics besides deathballing across the map. I do want to see more of this, but they need to explore their toolbox more to convince me to get DLC or a sequel.
less long range attack, more range to the enemy detection + movement speed, and it'd be more satisfying i guess. otherwise this just feels like ragnarok online wizard / archer grinding session lmao
Mortismal this game got free update with new content and Very Hard mode if you are interested to try. I'm still too early to say much so far I have had fun.
Yeah the game was way too easy. Which I personally didn't mind since it ended up making this a "cozy" game to platinum over the weekend, but it also causes all sorts of other issues and actively makes some systems and abilities completely useless. Overall, I did have fun, but yeah wait for a sale or borrow it from a friend! Lack of Mission Objective Variety: Almost every mission has the objective to wipe out all enemy units. Even the escort objective missions essentially boiled down to wiping out all enemies. There are around two missions where you are tasked with defeating the boss specifically (though to do so you'll wipe out almost every enemy unit anyways). Similarly there are only two lose objectives: Don't get wiped out, and don't let a caravan/barricade get destroyed. They really needed to add more variety. Some ideas: Survive increasingly spawning waves of enemies while a timer counts down, Sneak into an area to assassinate a boss without being detected, Escape an area under heavy time constraint, etc. Lack of of Party Member Restrictions / Incentive to Mix Up Party: The game only restricts which party members you can take in maybe two missions. Otherwise you can take whoever you want for any mission once they've joined your group. Since XP is only earned by up to 8 participating characters, you'll generally end up with a core group of characters that are much higher level than the characters you leave behind in the base. Coupled with how easy the game is, I finished the game without using some of the characters in a battle even once. When I finished the game, I had characters who were 20 levels behind others, and I didn't end up using entire character archetypes (Never needed a healer, archers, or cavalier -- both tank and magicker dropped off in the second half as well). It would have been interesting if they forced us to choose how to split the company to travel to different parts of diofield for extended missions. That way you would be heavily punished by not having a well-rounded company with everyone relatively levelled. I think the companion party member system ended up doing more harm that good. Why bring a dedicated healer when you can just partner with one? Same with archers and stun shot. Some characters are basically relegated to equipment status. Lack of Enemy Variety: Other than boss monsters, there were probably only 6-7 types of enemies in the entire game. Enemies needed to be harder. By default, they have no resistances or unique skills. Some suggestions: Enemy tanks that are immune to damage from the front, magickers that can have an anti-missile field around them, enemies that are immune to stun, enemies that explode on death, etc. Basically with the lackluster enemies in this game, your strategy is always to DPS them down, sidestep telegraphs or stun them. Same formula every single time. Skill Balance: I finished game by basically one-shotting most enemies. The method changed as the game progressed, but it felt like there was always something overpowered at some stage of the game. Some stand-outs: Assassinate: The obvious one. Extremely powerful and extremely low EP cost. Can be used to wipe out entire groups enemies instantly. My early game was basically spamming assassinate. Usage dropped off later one when I only used it to clean-up stray enemies after my nuke. Bahamut: Extremely powerful early game. Totally trivializes the final leg of missions since you can just nuke everything repeatedly. Very good until the second half of the game where other skills take over, and you'll be using your TP to summon Goldhorne instead to refill everyone's EP. Wings of the Storm: Completely broken. Huge range and pulls all enemies to one spot instantly. Enemies don't have resistance to this. Combined with the next skill, completely trivializes the end game missions. Headshot: Somehow a sniper shot is a giant shotgun cone that obliterates entire groups of enemies. Using both sniper characters equipped with the accessories that increase crit chance and damage when at 100% HP, they were just clearing groups instantly. I skipped using maybe 75% of the skills in the game. I ignored the both sides of the magicker skill tree. The bow-side of the Sharpshooter tree. The Lance-side of the cavalier tree, and the Sword and Shield portion of the Soldier tree. For summons, I upgraded Bahamut and Goldhorne completely and never (not even once) used any of the other summons. I only upgraded weapons for my four main characters and didn't need to research anything for anyone else.
You are now my go to reviewer for video games! Not only do you 100% them; but you take your time and upload constantly! Don’t know how you do it, but thank you!
I'm on chapter 7 myself(the finale)my thoughts as followed: 1. Very pretty game 2.The story has so far been kinda nothing 3.The game is far too easy been playing it through on hard has been a cakewalk. 4.NG+ isn't really NG+ since it doesn't scale so it doesn't actually remedy the difficulty 5. As a massive FF XII fan the designs appeal to me. 6. Good battle system hope it shows up in something better
@@zipperman6045 well that saves me some money. Thank you. [Edit] That isn't exactly fair of me. I really like a lot of what else I am hearing. I might grab it on sale.
Good video, straight to the point which I like; a lot of reviews start with involved explanations of the game's systems which I typically don't need to know in order to gauge general interest. Subbed.
Thanks for the honest review. This is probably my biggest let down game of the year. Love the concept but not trying to spend $60 for 20hrs of easy mode. Something is off at Square based on their last few releases. It feels like they've had some IPs that they gave up on and decided to sell them to us anyways to cash in.
Square Enix seems a bit too proud to conform to typical pc game prices. Even the remakes of their old games are really high priced relative to similarly classic remakes from other companies.
This game is $40 for region 3 release. Im loving it so far, the story reminds me of suikoden & game of thrones. I agree the concept is pretty good but they kinda need to explore more combat depth especially from second half of the game, i hope they continue to make games like this, it probably could transform into mainline FF-tactics
Feels like SE threw a die with this game, making a great game but in some places doing the bare minimum Then if the game does well, they will fund a much larger and ambitious sequel WHich I hope it does as the game is really awesome! Oh! And you got a sub! Great review!
I am in Chapter 6. So far its enjoyable. Your Review pretty much sums it up. But this Game could have been much more with proper care. I hope it sells well enough to varant a proper sequel. But in general i would wait for a sale.
This genre should stay turn based. A small indie team just came out with an SRPG called "Lost Eidolons". Smaller budget, smaller team, and far superior to this game by a major company. Leave action for action games, RTS games should stay RTS, and SRPGs should stay turn based. When you try and bend these genres, you end up with a mess like this. Thanks for another great review.
I love everything about the proggression system. Bad luck the gameplay is just "use assassination 24/7 and move your characters (just kidding, u dont even need to move them, just use assassination"). I was about to buy the game and saw a full walkthrough. Its just the same skills from hour 5 to hour 25 of the game. Assassination and a sorcerer skill who is a wall of fireballs. Just that 24/7 to enemies who were just moving to you and autoattacking in low waves.
Triangle Strategy was SO good it made me crave more TRPG goodness, but part of what made it good is being consistently challenging throughout (on Hard mode at least). Which is saying something compared to past Square TRPGs that have started out hard then got stupid easy as your party became OP… Point is, had my eye on this but being so short and easy makes it a pass, so thanks for the useful review saving my time and money. So, will you be trying Triangle Strategy when it come to PC soon? I highly recommend it
If you want another SRPG in the vein of Triangle Strategy, I'd recommend checking out Telepath Tactics Liberated. It has some significant overlap in mechanics, and is quite challenging on the highest difficulties.
@@sinisterdesign thanks for the tip, I’ll give it a look! It feels like so many TRPGs focus a bit too much on party building instead of actual tactics for my tastes, following in the footsteps of FFT and Ogre Battle, which usually leads to the game being super easy in the last half as your powerful team synergies make actual battle tactics unnecessary. It’s rare to find one that focuses more heavily on the actual tactics part and thus maintains challenge all the way through!
The game play is fun but it's just so weird playing a strategy RPG fire emblem like and the main cast of characters are all just lame. Andrias is cold and pompous while constantly having an unknown scheme. Fred is one dimensional and full of bloodlust. And it never is clear at least to me whether Fred is faking being leviantia shaythim or not??? Isca is the most likeable as he has a heart but understands duty. But??? Waltaquinn is unilaterally bloodlusty and crazy and seems like a love interest but also smelled like a defector way too early???? Idk?? I like the game but it's just odd??
I was excited for this game until I played the demo. It practically has no strategy. It plays like that Chronicle of the Sword mini game from Soul Calibur 3. I just got me Tactics Ogre Reborn & Symphony of War instead
I happen to be lucky enough to find this game recently for the PS4. I was at the local JB Hi-Fi, and they had all these games for the console on clearance. For $35AU I was able to snap five PS4 games, including this one, each game between $1 and $10. I think this game was between $7-10AU, but I knew I made a good choice when getting it.
heya @mortisimal great review! Did you ever do an update after they patched the difficulty? I wonder if that now fixes the lack of difficulty problem. Would love to hear your thoughts on it! (as I am considering buying the game)
SE has a nasty habit of using other I.Ps to try stuff out before fixing them and using them in mainline titles. Examples: ths mana series has been shafted multiple times because of this. The biggest one so far was the DS Mana RTS which tanked and failed miserably. Then SE releases the FF12 RTS spin off that improves on everything the Mana game did wrong. I can see this type of game being done again as an FF title. Especially since it might as well have been one already. if they wanted to try it out for an FF tactics like game. After fixing what people didn't like out this one.
Actual not only the fighting system is not as new as they claim. Also the story concept is kind of stolen from Valkyria Chronicles^^ Nothing against the game. This doesn't mean the game is bad. But Square Enix doesn't invented a new wheel here^^
Finished the games 2 day ago, all I gotta say I feel so unsatisfied with the games! I don't feel the characters, the story is super wierd the facing I mean, the art is goerges same with Combat if u looking for story I definitely cannot recommend this games but, if u.just want to play for the combat/tactical rpg yes go buy the games...for me personally I still feel unsatisfied with the games specially the ending..but I love the combat so love the games for me...
Anyone else get the collectors box and have the character stands for the board game be all scratched or milky and not anywhere near as clear as they advertise? I know there’s always discrepancy between what is shown and what you get but Jesus my Iscarion in particular is absolutely not visible and looks like someone poured milk into the portrait before placing plastic over it.. the backs seem to not be covered properly either
Its all good except it is wayy too monotone and while the artstyle is good, there is not enough color variety, it’s drab. At least show different armor sets on the characters. Every character js also monotone. With greater variety of character and art, and higher difficulty it could be a great game.
Game isn't even a challenge, Ai has full and predictable patterns. Nothing in this game is even harder, which is a shame. Cos games are meant to be challenging, which this has none of.
This seems more like a point and click and less like a controller game... is that true? How is the game with just a controller and not a mouse / keyboard?
Am I the one who’s bothered that the dude on horseback moves hella slow lol. Anyway SE tends to put their AA titles on Game Pass at some point so I’ll wait for that.
This game was soooooo easy even on hard mode, no real strategy thinking needed, and when i got the headshot ability i could basically one shote entire packs lol, even the final was sooooooo easy. Good story though
Great review! I'd love to know the tactical RPGs you mentioned as just as good as this but cheaper, since I love the genre and am looking for more games
@@MortismalGaming Thank you for the review, I enjoyed your review of soulstice too. I have a question that is a little off topic, but have you played valkyrie elysium and if you have are you eventually going to do a full review of valkyrie?
i love the crpg review, but happy you're starting to branch out to jrpgs too. maybe start reviewing trails in the sky/trails from zero/ trails of cold steel games too?
Well that is refreshing reviewing a game after its completion, that right there really does set you apart from every one else, man I really admire that, I really like this games art style and music design, I kinda knew it wouldn't completely blow me away in awesomeness, but still an enjoyable run for short bursts of play when you don't have alot of time, work n family soaks up most of my time, but I found myself enjoying this alot on my switch, my boss really isn't much of a gamer but he likes this, were always seem to be talking about the game after work, I wouldn't be surprised he ends up buying a switch just for this game by the end of the week, cheers heaps for the review on this, I've played the demo, liked it and I'm looking forward to picking this up next week, take care till the next one, catchya 😎👍
I didn't know what to make of this one, thanks for the excellent review Mort! I'm going to take a hard pass on this title for now, but hopefully they can make improvements for a future game as you've suggested.
I feel like learning to use the magic with renuable jade would be easier and better for the long term than just using up the finite resource with the magic that destroys it. Hmm...almost like a commentary on the modern world.
After 10 minutes of watching your review I've seen the Assassinate animation so often that I'm giving the game a hard pass when looking at the price tag.
You communicates your criticisms in a very good way and not like a troll. You gained a subscriber
Love this 100% before review angle (subscribed). Just picked this up on download from Nintendo for under £25 currently on sale, which seemed like a reasonable price considering your pros & cons.
Keep up the good work 👍🏻
You've become my favorite review channel, at least when deciding if I will get a game or not, due to how in-depth you are. Too many reviewers seem not to finish a game and talk about the end game (if there is one), or nuances about the difficulty (or lack thereof). It's become more important than ever for me not to preorder anything or get anything at launch, so that fits well with waiting for you to 100% something and then checking out your review. I know you don't review all releases, but I greatly appreciate the ones you do! Great review here - thank you!
Same, meanwhile I'm over here never 100%ing any game ever.
@@speero Haha. I hear that. I 100% games pretty rarely now. Has a little to do with time, another game coming out I want to play, difficulty of going back to the first game, as well as occasionally just losing interest mid-way through something.
What he said all the way.
Yup, I've bought and enjoyed a few games because of his review.
Well because he is not a journalist that has many games to cover. He is independent hence he has more time to go in depth. its not the big game journalists fault.
thorough and explicit. i really appreciate the effort put forth here
If there was online achievements to any new title you wanted to 100%, would that immediately turn you off to playing it?
Im not exactly a fan of online achievements. One example of a game that did them right was Mass Effect 3. Every online achievement had two ways to unlock it, one online and one offline.
Anything online achievements automatically means I will not 100%.
Also achievements for preorder/Kickstarter are dirty pool.
That one in elder scrolls online where you literally have to be the best ranked player in the world. That would suck for sure
Not necessarily, depends really, most of what I cover is primarily single player so if there are online achievements they usually aren't bad. Issue tends to be how long you can get those achievements as the servers arent up forever. Most new games have realized people hate that type of thing in primarily single player games though so they tend to be very tame.
I think this kinda like baby first SRPG? Which is perfectly fine for me! Since I'm not that familiar with the genre myself, though I played some JRPGs.
Im so into Diofield that I bought both PS5 and switch version and have been playing on both
I would love for them to make an anime styled rts with deeper mechanics akin to age of empires. It doesn't need to be 200 units, but a sizeable army would could command with each general would be cool
Preordered AND got the Platinum trophy several days later! Wish it had MORE challenge missions and a better/fulfilled story ending... Otherwise, it’s 9/10. LOVE it!
Games being too easy is a big turn off for me. Games don't need to be brutal, "souls like", difficulty. But requiring thought, equipment optimization, skill optimization, is only required on games that are difficult. To me those aspects make it more fun.
Glad i didn't buy this day one(unlike triangle strategy, which was a great game and a good challenge). I'm sure there'll be updates soon with the difficulty spike
I played the demo I believe on hard and slaughtered everyone. Game is pretty cool. Ima pick it up once it hits $19.99
Hei, you said in your video that there are a lot of good real time strategy like this game and I wonder if you could name a few ? I mostly know turn based ones but for me it was a shocker seeing diofield being real time with pause . Would like some examples so I can find reviews (if you did then awesome) if not I'll probably find a YT reviewing them or some gameplay. Thanks !
WH40k Chaos Gate Daemonhunters, Troubleshooter Abandoned Children, Expeditions Rome, Shadowrun Trilogy, Lost Eidolons is releasing in a week or so
@@MortismalGaming thank you ! ❤️
@@Fir3Soul probably worth mentioning I misread your original comment, these are turn based games. They are trpgs like diofield though which is what I was referring to in the video. The rtwp aspect of is a bit rarer, and you have to go back to like the Growlanser series to see.
@@MortismalGaming oh okay sure thing and no worries 🙏, it's rare someone even answers my comments 😂
Why this game has NG+ while it doesn't need it and Valkyrie Elysium really needed it (hard mode, S ranks, prof grinds...) it's so lame.
Respect man. You have the patience of a saint to do all these reviews after 100%.
I was actually surprised how much I like the characters and the story. I could understand though, that some people might not, most likely because of the characters monotones/accents.. but after while it didn't bother me, because I genuinely wanted to know what was going on. And some really messed up stuff happens, the Characters reasons for doing what they do, the interactions between them, main character is a bad ass, ect. I liked it. Different strokes I guess.
I don't fully agree with alot of the opinions here. But. At the same time, I can respect the fact that you do see potential in it and not just saying ,ohh it's a bad game. I can respect that.
Some of those attack animations are amazing. Wouldn't mind seeing a FFT spin-off with this style and a bigger budget.
Omg yes, DioField has it's issues but I liked the combat and mechanics.
I don't know it this is worldwide, but Square Enix games are MAD overpriced here in Brazil. No, I'll not pay 1/3 of a monthly minimum wage for your games while I can pay a LOT less in better games with slighly lower graphics or 2/3 for other AAA games.
I feel for you. I really hope you guys are able to keep your Democracy over there. Any leader who threatens to stay in office after they lose is a scary thing. Even though we kicked out the "would be" dictator in the U.S, these people never go away quietly.
@@SeanUCF yeah, that's a pretty fucked up situation. I'm not even very left leaning, I'm more of a centrist, but his speeches against state institutions and sabotage of the electoral system, not even speaking of the huge ammoubt of military he put in office (doubling their earnings) is really scary. Oh well, elections next sunday, time will tell. Ty mate.
Fitgirl is best girl. There's no financial loss for Square when you wouldn't have bought the game anyway.
@@-Monad- there's loss opportunity if people WOULD buy it cheaper and extra copies cost NOTHING in digital goods.
Great, in depth review - thanks! This game interests me, but not quite enough to put in the time or money for it. So I love finding a detailed review like this that gives me enough info to feel like I know what the game is all about. It’s enough to scratch the itch for me and move on to other games. Thanks again!
take_a_look_at_pillars_of_eternity_2_deadfire!
Awesome review! The price tag is the sticking point here for me. While the graphics are fancier than most indies there isn't enough game play to backup the asking price. Overpriced does seem to be a trend with Square Enix in that past decade or so. it's a shame because it;s not the games are bad, but just not worth the asking price for me personally. As you said in the review, there are just so many choices for quality games in this style at lower price points.
Man I couldn't imagine having to 100% a game even after you've lost interest, and just aren't really into it anymore. Not saying that's necessarily the case here, but it has to come up from time to time. Props to you good sir! 👊
This game has lots of potential. Hope to see a Diofield chronicles 2 or DLC which brings it further.
Some extra story would be nice to tie up loose ends, but all I really want is an insane difficulty mode.
This seems like Square Enix first(?) venture to Western-type CRPG, similar to Baldur's gate, Icewind dale, or Pillars of Eternity, with jrpg art style and story. The price is lil high, but will definitely get it on sale. Hopefully, Square Enix will produce more of this fusion type CRPG-JRPG games in the future.
No. It's not a CRPG at all. It's a TRPG like Tactics Ogre or Fire Emblem. Biggest issue with the game is the unlikable main cast, bland story, and the lack of depth or strategy in the battle system and mission design. If you want a CRPG-style game with JRPG aesthetics Growlanser is much closer to what you're looking for and it's honestly more strategic than Diofield.
@@sunset261 Well in a way, all of them is a TRPG, even Growlanser. Tactics Ogre is turn-based and they move in tiles, and I think the same way with Fire Emblem. The games I mentioned are old-school western crpg with no tiles and has Real Time with Pause mechanics, and you usually limited to 4 to 6 characters to control, like Baldur's gate, Icewind dale, or Pillars of Eternity. So I think that is much closer comparison than Tactics Ogre or Fire Emblem.
@@chrismanahan1533 But the thing is CRPGS have way more than just battle encounters whereas for TRPGS the battle missions are the entire game. Diofield is like Fire Emblem just real time and also not as good. the combat is maybe similar to BG but that's where the comparisons end.
it's funny how, over 20 years ago, Bioware got its Bioware thing going because of how they took inspiration from Final Fantasy games to make Baldur's Gate 2 (i.e. romances, companion banter)
and now Square Enix released a title that's pretty much an Infinity Engine game
@@leonard9624 most of those where after baldurs gate
Mortismal stated it several times but I have to state it again.
I am no tactical genius by any means but this game on hard was beyond easy. Laughably easy, frustratingly easy. I went out of my way to handicap myself and make it as hard as possible and I never had any issues at all.
Typically difficulty is not all that important to me as long as the game is fun however requiring me to use no tactics in your tactics game really ruined the experience for me personally.
I'm playing through the game on Hard right now, currently on chapter 3, and I agree with all of your points. I really wish that the game was more challenging and gave the enemies more tools/power for the player to have to account for. If they iterate on this formula it could absolutely be one of the most engaging SRPG/TRPG systems.
I've never mentioned it before, but your channel is completely underrated. I'm so fed up with RUclipsrs who form their opinions based on other videos and only invest an hour or so in a game. Your videos are super structured, the editing is great, the voice is pleasantly fast and the game scenes directly from the game match the chapter.
Your videos have often been a buy or non-buy argument for me and at least with the purchases, it was always the case. thanks for your work
I preferred that it's a shorter because the combat got repetitive. They could've done more with positional puzzles, or splitting the party up, or mechanically complex multiphase bosses. Instead the system revolves around large aoe, assassinate resets, and backstab critical strikes. As it is there was only a handful of times on hard where I had to actually use tactics besides deathballing across the map. I do want to see more of this, but they need to explore their toolbox more to convince me to get DLC or a sequel.
less long range attack, more range to the enemy detection + movement speed, and it'd be more satisfying i guess.
otherwise this just feels like ragnarok online wizard / archer grinding session lmao
Mortismal this game got free update with new content and Very Hard mode if you are interested to try. I'm still too early to say much so far I have had fun.
Yeah the game was way too easy. Which I personally didn't mind since it ended up making this a "cozy" game to platinum over the weekend, but it also causes all sorts of other issues and actively makes some systems and abilities completely useless. Overall, I did have fun, but yeah wait for a sale or borrow it from a friend!
Lack of Mission Objective Variety:
Almost every mission has the objective to wipe out all enemy units. Even the escort objective missions essentially boiled down to wiping out all enemies. There are around two missions where you are tasked with defeating the boss specifically (though to do so you'll wipe out almost every enemy unit anyways). Similarly there are only two lose objectives: Don't get wiped out, and don't let a caravan/barricade get destroyed. They really needed to add more variety. Some ideas: Survive increasingly spawning waves of enemies while a timer counts down, Sneak into an area to assassinate a boss without being detected, Escape an area under heavy time constraint, etc.
Lack of of Party Member Restrictions / Incentive to Mix Up Party:
The game only restricts which party members you can take in maybe two missions. Otherwise you can take whoever you want for any mission once they've joined your group. Since XP is only earned by up to 8 participating characters, you'll generally end up with a core group of characters that are much higher level than the characters you leave behind in the base. Coupled with how easy the game is, I finished the game without using some of the characters in a battle even once. When I finished the game, I had characters who were 20 levels behind others, and I didn't end up using entire character archetypes (Never needed a healer, archers, or cavalier -- both tank and magicker dropped off in the second half as well). It would have been interesting if they forced us to choose how to split the company to travel to different parts of diofield for extended missions. That way you would be heavily punished by not having a well-rounded company with everyone relatively levelled. I think the companion party member system ended up doing more harm that good. Why bring a dedicated healer when you can just partner with one? Same with archers and stun shot. Some characters are basically relegated to equipment status.
Lack of Enemy Variety:
Other than boss monsters, there were probably only 6-7 types of enemies in the entire game. Enemies needed to be harder. By default, they have no resistances or unique skills. Some suggestions: Enemy tanks that are immune to damage from the front, magickers that can have an anti-missile field around them, enemies that are immune to stun, enemies that explode on death, etc. Basically with the lackluster enemies in this game, your strategy is always to DPS them down, sidestep telegraphs or stun them. Same formula every single time.
Skill Balance:
I finished game by basically one-shotting most enemies. The method changed as the game progressed, but it felt like there was always something overpowered at some stage of the game. Some stand-outs:
Assassinate: The obvious one. Extremely powerful and extremely low EP cost. Can be used to wipe out entire groups enemies instantly. My early game was basically spamming assassinate. Usage dropped off later one when I only used it to clean-up stray enemies after my nuke.
Bahamut: Extremely powerful early game. Totally trivializes the final leg of missions since you can just nuke everything repeatedly. Very good until the second half of the game where other skills take over, and you'll be using your TP to summon Goldhorne instead to refill everyone's EP.
Wings of the Storm: Completely broken. Huge range and pulls all enemies to one spot instantly. Enemies don't have resistance to this. Combined with the next skill, completely trivializes the end game missions.
Headshot: Somehow a sniper shot is a giant shotgun cone that obliterates entire groups of enemies. Using both sniper characters equipped with the accessories that increase crit chance and damage when at 100% HP, they were just clearing groups instantly.
I skipped using maybe 75% of the skills in the game. I ignored the both sides of the magicker skill tree. The bow-side of the Sharpshooter tree. The Lance-side of the cavalier tree, and the Sword and Shield portion of the Soldier tree. For summons, I upgraded Bahamut and Goldhorne completely and never (not even once) used any of the other summons. I only upgraded weapons for my four main characters and didn't need to research anything for anyone else.
Reviewing a game after actually playing it completely!? That alone was enough to get me to subscribe.
Where is "May you wander in wisdom" from? Lord of the Rings? Pathfinder? The bible?
I believe he said it was from a character in Pathfinder, though it could have been DO2. One of those for sure.
Jahan from DOS2
Sounds like fe3h without any choices with slick animations to keep you playing... love your review style, new go to for pre-buy research. Subscribed
You are now my go to reviewer for video games! Not only do you 100% them; but you take your time and upload constantly! Don’t know how you do it, but thank you!
I thought it’s a bit of a challenge for me. Probably because I’m new to these types of games. I like the game though.
I'm on chapter 7 myself(the finale)my thoughts as followed:
1. Very pretty game
2.The story has so far been kinda nothing
3.The game is far too easy been playing it through on hard has been a cakewalk.
4.NG+ isn't really NG+ since it doesn't scale so it doesn't actually remedy the difficulty
5. As a massive FF XII fan the designs appeal to me.
6. Good battle system hope it shows up in something better
Yeah pretty much what i thought it was going to be after the demo
How is it in regards to open world exploration?
@@Blasted2Oblivion literally none
@@zipperman6045 well that saves me some money. Thank you. [Edit] That isn't exactly fair of me. I really like a lot of what else I am hearing. I might grab it on sale.
I think I’m enjoying this more than you did but I definitely agree with nearly all of this.
Good video, straight to the point which I like; a lot of reviews start with involved explanations of the game's systems which I typically don't need to know in order to gauge general interest. Subbed.
Thanks for the honest review. This is probably my biggest let down game of the year. Love the concept but not trying to spend $60 for 20hrs of easy mode. Something is off at Square based on their last few releases. It feels like they've had some IPs that they gave up on and decided to sell them to us anyways to cash in.
Negative: Way too expensive
Square Enix seems a bit too proud to conform to typical pc game prices. Even the remakes of their old games are really high priced relative to similarly classic remakes from other companies.
This game is $40 for region 3 release. Im loving it so far, the story reminds me of suikoden & game of thrones. I agree the concept is pretty good but they kinda need to explore more combat depth especially from second half of the game, i hope they continue to make games like this, it probably could transform into mainline FF-tactics
I like games like these tbh, huge fan of Divinity and wud love to see more reviews of games that you rank among the best in your opinion - Gr8 video
Feels like SE threw a die with this game, making a great game but in some places doing the bare minimum
Then if the game does well, they will fund a much larger and ambitious sequel
WHich I hope it does as the game is really awesome!
Oh! And you got a sub! Great review!
I am in Chapter 6. So far its enjoyable. Your Review pretty much sums it up. But this Game could have been much more with proper care. I hope it sells well enough to varant a proper sequel.
But in general i would wait for a sale.
Critically underrated channel I can't wait till the day this is the go to rpg channel.
Good review! The difficulty was my main concern so I will likely be picking it up in a sale since Tactics Ogre Reborn comes out in 2 months
This genre should stay turn based. A small indie team just came out with an SRPG called "Lost Eidolons". Smaller budget, smaller team, and far superior to this game by a major company. Leave action for action games, RTS games should stay RTS, and SRPGs should stay turn based. When you try and bend these genres, you end up with a mess like this.
Thanks for another great review.
I love everything about the proggression system. Bad luck the gameplay is just "use assassination 24/7 and move your characters (just kidding, u dont even need to move them, just use assassination"). I was about to buy the game and saw a full walkthrough. Its just the same skills from hour 5 to hour 25 of the game. Assassination and a sorcerer skill who is a wall of fireballs. Just that 24/7 to enemies who were just moving to you and autoattacking in low waves.
Triangle Strategy was SO good it made me crave more TRPG goodness, but part of what made it good is being consistently challenging throughout (on Hard mode at least). Which is saying something compared to past Square TRPGs that have started out hard then got stupid easy as your party became OP… Point is, had my eye on this but being so short and easy makes it a pass, so thanks for the useful review saving my time and money. So, will you be trying Triangle Strategy when it come to PC soon? I highly recommend it
If you want another SRPG in the vein of Triangle Strategy, I'd recommend checking out Telepath Tactics Liberated. It has some significant overlap in mechanics, and is quite challenging on the highest difficulties.
@@sinisterdesign thanks for the tip, I’ll give it a look! It feels like so many TRPGs focus a bit too much on party building instead of actual tactics for my tastes, following in the footsteps of FFT and Ogre Battle, which usually leads to the game being super easy in the last half as your powerful team synergies make actual battle tactics unnecessary. It’s rare to find one that focuses more heavily on the actual tactics part and thus maintains challenge all the way through!
Certainly thinking the level of play of is bc of the new battle system. I wonder if dlc will introduce new strategies
Even on easy, Triangle Strategy still requires a fair bit of thought in the later maps.
The game play is fun but it's just so weird playing a strategy RPG fire emblem like and the main cast of characters are all just lame.
Andrias is cold and pompous while constantly having an unknown scheme.
Fred is one dimensional and full of bloodlust. And it never is clear at least to me whether Fred is faking being leviantia shaythim or not???
Isca is the most likeable as he has a heart but understands duty. But???
Waltaquinn is unilaterally bloodlusty and crazy and seems like a love interest but also smelled like a defector way too early????
Idk?? I like the game but it's just odd??
I was excited for this game until I played the demo. It practically has no strategy. It plays like that Chronicle of the Sword mini game from Soul Calibur 3. I just got me Tactics Ogre Reborn & Symphony of War instead
I happen to be lucky enough to find this game recently for the PS4. I was at the local JB Hi-Fi, and they had all these games for the console on clearance. For $35AU I was able to snap five PS4 games, including this one, each game between $1 and $10. I think this game was between $7-10AU, but I knew I made a good choice when getting it.
free comment.
heya @mortisimal great review!
Did you ever do an update after they patched the difficulty?
I wonder if that now fixes the lack of difficulty problem.
Would love to hear your thoughts on it! (as I am considering buying the game)
I was really put off of this game because it gave me The Order 1886: The SRPG vibes
SE has a nasty habit of using other I.Ps to try stuff out before fixing them and using them in mainline titles.
Examples: ths mana series has been shafted multiple times because of this.
The biggest one so far was the DS Mana RTS which tanked and failed miserably. Then SE releases the FF12 RTS spin off that improves on everything the Mana game did wrong.
I can see this type of game being done again as an FF title. Especially since it might as well have been one already.
if they wanted to try it out for an FF tactics like game. After fixing what people didn't like out this one.
If they released an FF Tactics game using RTWP, I think people would riot 😂
@@sinisterdesign...yeah😂. I'd just like to see another FFT game at this point though.
Actual not only the fighting system is not as new as they claim. Also the story concept is kind of stolen from Valkyria Chronicles^^
Nothing against the game. This doesn't mean the game is bad. But Square Enix doesn't invented a new wheel here^^
Finished the games 2 day ago, all I gotta say I feel so unsatisfied with the games! I don't feel the characters, the story is super wierd the facing I mean, the art is goerges same with Combat if u looking for story I definitely cannot recommend this games but, if u.just want to play for the combat/tactical rpg yes go buy the games...for me personally I still feel unsatisfied with the games specially the ending..but I love the combat so love the games for me...
Solid review! Enjoyed every minute of it. Well thought out, organized, and entertaining throughout!
Anyone else get the collectors box and have the character stands for the board game be all scratched or milky and not anywhere near as clear as they advertise? I know there’s always discrepancy between what is shown and what you get but Jesus my Iscarion in particular is absolutely not visible and looks like someone poured milk into the portrait before placing plastic over it.. the backs seem to not be covered properly either
thanks for an honest review, was really excited for this game but I got buried in XC3, I guess I'll get it when it's on sale!
Its all good except it is wayy too monotone and while the artstyle is good, there is not enough color variety, it’s drab. At least show different armor sets on the characters. Every character js also monotone. With greater variety of character and art, and higher difficulty it could be a great game.
I was on the fence about buying now or on sale, now I have my answer! Thank you!!
Was it just me or was the plot of the game just a adaptation of WW2 with France Being invaded
Game isn't even a challenge, Ai has full and predictable patterns.
Nothing in this game is even harder, which is a shame.
Cos games are meant to be challenging, which this has none of.
This seems more like a point and click and less like a controller game... is that true? How is the game with just a controller and not a mouse / keyboard?
Am I the one who’s bothered that the dude on horseback moves hella slow lol.
Anyway SE tends to put their AA titles on Game Pass at some point so I’ll wait for that.
This channel deserves way more views. Keep up the great videos.🙏🙏
This game was soooooo easy even on hard mode, no real strategy thinking needed, and when i got the headshot ability i could basically one shote entire packs lol, even the final was sooooooo easy. Good story though
The maps are plain. The combat seems like FF7R isometric. It shouldnt have the telegraphs
Thanks for the review. I like the plot. Looking forward to a sequel or dlc
Great review! I'd love to know the tactical RPGs you mentioned as just as good as this but cheaper, since I love the genre and am looking for more games
Off the top of my head, chaos gate daemonhunters and troubleshooter: abandoned children
@@MortismalGaming Thank you for the review, I enjoyed your review of soulstice too. I have a question that is a little off topic, but have you played valkyrie elysium and if you have are you eventually going to do a full review of valkyrie?
I was so hyped for this but all the reviews since release have been unfavourable =( its really dissapointing
Great now that it recently dropped to 19.99 so I got it and hoping to enjoy it even if it isn't perfect.
In 2024, this game is like an arcade version of its genre!😊
Got it on sale for 30 totaly worth that. 60 tho is a bit steep. 40 or even 50 maybe
i love the crpg review, but happy you're starting to branch out to jrpgs too. maybe start reviewing trails in the sky/trails from zero/ trails of cold steel games too?
Yea i like tactical ish games. But this is not for me. I rather stay with old school turn based stuff
after 100% thats impressive I like it and u may provide a unique perspective.
Well that is refreshing reviewing a game after its completion, that right there really does set you apart from every one else, man I really admire that, I really like this games art style and music design, I kinda knew it wouldn't completely blow me away in awesomeness, but still an enjoyable run for short bursts of play when you don't have alot of time, work n family soaks up most of my time, but I found myself enjoying this alot on my switch, my boss really isn't much of a gamer but he likes this, were always seem to be talking about the game after work, I wouldn't be surprised he ends up buying a switch just for this game by the end of the week, cheers heaps for the review on this, I've played the demo, liked it and I'm looking forward to picking this up next week, take care till the next one, catchya 😎👍
i have to know how you get the collecter trophy its the only trophy i cant figure out dose it involve all weapon trees
Excellent! Thank you.
I didn't know what to make of this one, thanks for the excellent review Mort! I'm going to take a hard pass on this title for now, but hopefully they can make improvements for a future game as you've suggested.
It's totally worth it.
I found a copy for the ps4 for 20 bucks is it worth buying ?
Loved your critique of the game and now I’m subbed.
The 60 bucks price deletes this game from my wishlist.
...yeah, that New Game+ thing is weird considering how the game is designed.
Subscribed. Keep up the good work ❤
makes no sense the skills execute while enemies are still paused...no other game does it like that
Any chance of some Nintendo Switch reviews? At least for exclusives, like Mario Rabbids Sparks of Hope, Bayonetta 3, etc?
Probably not, I don't play much in the way of consoles, and I don't have confidence that Nintendo wouldn't sue me for criticizing a game feature.
Game is way too easy. Lackluster challenge kills a game for me.
I feel like learning to use the magic with renuable jade would be easier and better for the long term than just using up the finite resource with the magic that destroys it. Hmm...almost like a commentary on the modern world.
Oh so this is Fern Gully: The Game, got it
Wow, im amazed how fast you get these reviews out.
I would love a Triangle Strategy review after 100%.
Good review again! thanks
After 10 minutes of watching your review I've seen the Assassinate animation so often that I'm giving the game a hard pass when looking at the price tag.
Obviously you havent played the demo...
Love your videos, thanks! Quick question though, you mentioned that there are better games if we like this genre. Could you name a few? Thanks!
Chaos Gate daemonhunters, troubleshooter abandoned children, expeditions rome - off the top of my head
Good I'm trying to get into this type of game. easy is good for me