a honest (if a bit biased) review of this game
(note this is based off my first playthrough where i didnt find the dog transformation until after i got dragon and i only played hard mode a higher intelligence or lower difficulty could likely change a lot about what i have to say here)
starting off ill put it bluntly this game is the definition of the ""when you're trying to goon but the lore is too damn interesting"" the lore is genuinely good enough to where i completed a hard mode run just to see what the story did and the story is just that good
the early game difficulty is pretty much just ""this is a rpg role playing game what am i role playing the victim?!"" because they deal way more damage since you dont have any comeback mechanics built in and since all rounder means dodging and crits are off the table early game is INSANELY brutal like until i had both the rabbit and a decent amount of equipment once you arent dying after fighting one bat the combat reaches peak fun until you start oneshotting everything which granted is decently long there are some unique enemies but with hiow difficult those areas are to reach and how little hp you have its VERY likely you'll end up capable of killing them quickly with a larger squad and not get to notice their attack once you start one shotting enemies on the regular you'd basically be looking for bossfights and tough foes
however there are 3 real difficulty speed bumps (atleast with my crazy ahh run) 1st was with the ealy game (before rabbit) second was fii's second phase (unironically had to grind to level 20 with a lot of healing items prepared just to not die and had to retry from a further save later (her punishment attack was more dangerous then her ult) ). and the true final boss (not because he was killing me but because he just had waaaayy to much hp and a innumity to dot ( ults with gauarnteed crits on a level 30 transformation with several buffs and hitting the enemy with phantasmagoria barely moved the needle )
now here is likely where my run deviated but i through just blindly running through a cave managed to get a ""fuwa family plush"" giving you +700 hp this was a bit after i got the wolf transformation (which was the 4th transformation under my belt) and basically nullified getting one shot by enemies and most bosses
anyways i managed to mostly progress normally but because i never got dog and squirrel for a long time i couldnt do anything with their powers but beyond that i got transformations in a mostly normal order until eventually getting access to some heat reducing stuff from certain quests (slime one) and going to the desert without a proper plan youll die in 5 seconds but if you hold a LOT of healing foods and juices you can likely last long enough to find the tf that gave you fire recistance after later getting the sheep i ended up buying some awria fields to get a lot more resistances to heat before entering the volcano
laslty before getting into bigger spoilers certain early game transformations were REALLY hard to find (dog and squirrel respectively) giving their locations the sparkles like you did with others would atleast make it look more menacing
(SPOILER WARNING at this point spoilers become too big to ignore)
and despite being HORRIBLY underprepared for the heat (400 heat recistance from slime jacket and that was about it) i managed to rush the transformation and became innume to fire
this basically felt like a deus ex machina (for balance reasons i understand the other extreme climate tf making you innume but dragon felt a bit too cheap , no boss fight not even escaping with xia you just exit the facility and tada your now innume to heat effects. not even a shred of tension idk if my advice is good but instead of making nana innume to heat the second she gets dragon give her a lot more recistance and make it so you only become innume afterwards )
MOST of the hints that i bought were VERY good (i admit i tried to google shi but that didnt give me any advice however the hint seller sold info about where to go)
and the characters are all likeable and each fit their abilities to a tee (rabbit is out of her league but easy to access lima is funny but awkward fii makes you wonder what she is doing when she isnt crushing balls in a hydraulic press during phase 2 the elf already has done everything with the first hero and thus gets annoyed at the same kind of mistakes he wouldve (likely) made being repeated by another the mermaid (i didnt unlock her until after she became obsolete so im not so sure about her) and xia is the definition of been there done that she somehow knows everything thats important (some things make sense like the golden egg others dont like the random code)
the small things like luca haggling a merchant for a cheaper artifact and xia stopping you from being scammed are the little things that deepen the characters and make them feel more then just --glorified meat shield-- extra party members same goes with some of nanas dialouge
the story sails pretty smoothly in most cases WITH one exception that being the developer sign of saing that the lab is ""really dark"" and its like people died here and experimentation sure body horror could be a issue but that is NOT some """"mega devestating thing that requires a trigger warning"""" as a matter of fact id say that the ICE VILLAGE ark (snow leopard quest) was far more dark then the secret lab (i did warn for spoilers already but you get indoctrinated into a cult and either get drunk before getting robbed or fight them off before being robbed ) and those guys are forgiven
beyond that the lore constantly reels you in with the next story beat rewards with knowledge about the past and makes you ask ""what dd the previous hero do"" and ""am i truly compared to the greatest hero of all?"" while pointing you just enough in a direction to where you can make a guess what to do and what might happen and nana isnt flat either she can and will roast certain people)
the world fragments are kinda annoying but the only bad part was geninely the coins quest guy blocking the doohickey
the final boss is 3 different characters from my experience nuetral final boss feels off because nana isnt there but thats whatever because you're supposed to have everything and not just half of it good final boss fase one is really fun you genuinely beat up the guy whose behind some of the more evil stuff of the lore but phase 2 is just too danm tanky with no dot applicable and some turns you just waiting for you to get certian abilities or phantasmagoria back and the boss himeslf isnt that dangerous his damage is one single hit sure that single hit COULD oneshot basically everyone but with withstand lethal hit and everyone having a level in regen (hp) you basically turn it into a button mashing minigame where thedifference is between completing the fight within 1 hour or 3 hours i (felt) overleveld as shi btw and i still just waited for him to die from boredom more then from me this is not helped by the fact that the DEMON KING HELD IMPRISONED BY THE GOD LUFFILIA HERSELF only has the same moves as every other demon you fight for a passive (also battle 3 fits the best for any final boss)
phase 1 was genuinely a good time but fase 2 just feels blander then tap water
laslty the game feels a little bit too grindy for some quests (particularly the elemental energy quests)
my rating i dont do ratings but my recomendation 8/10 just make sure to remind yourself that this game is still highly suggestive
