This game has things to like. The core systems are actually fun, but there are so many truly baffling game design choices, that it feels like the developers didn't [i]want[/i] me to enjoy the game. Or maybe the team was just fighting during the entire development process.
The main thing comes down to one core contradiction; this is an open world game, with a time limit. I thought the open world was actually fun, I liked exploring and doing all the side quests. However, the whole time, there is a timer ticking down for an exam, the completion of which marks the end of the game.
Don't get me wrong, it's not a short timer. But by the second half of the game, I had to rush through each area. I didn't get to do the open world exploration stuff, I didn't get to engage with 80% of the game's content, because I had to make it to this one location or I'd lose the game.
I just don't understand why you'd make a game about exploring, and then prohibit the player from exploring. I wanted to explore what the game had to offer, so why not let me? It was just a frustrating experience
There's some other things too... Like how you have to upgrade recipes by crafting them over and over, and lots of quests require lots of one specific item, but crafting multiple of one thing is a tedious process. You also have to repeat the same recipes over and over to unlock more recipes... all of which, by the way, takes up [i]lots[/i] of in-game time. No duplication like the last game.
And how, unlike in the previous entry, characters must be in your party to see their story, but also unlike the previous entry, they don't level with you. So have fun grinding if you want to see any of that.
Also Firis' sister is really weird and kinda creepy, but you're stuck with her the whole game. [i]shudder[/i]
My whole issue with the timer is solved in the post-game, in which there is apparently lots of additional content, and no timer. But when you finish the exam, you're teleported right back to the starting area, and to play the post-game story, you need to make your way back to the city you just spent [i]the last 20 hours getting to.[/i] And no, there is no fast travel; you unlock that by completing said quest on the other side of the world.
Also, I don't want to backtrack and do all of the stuff I had to go out of my way to ignore; I wanted to do it organically. The game actively discouraged backtracking up to this point. Like, literally, the first time I tried to backtrack to fight a boss I was previously too weak to beat, it played a cutscene warning me and saying that I can use the minimap if I'm lost.. And now you do want me to backtrack?
You can fast travel within zones, but it's still very tedious. It sapped the last of my spirit, and I uninstalled the game. There's a good game in here somewhere, but I don't think we'll ever see it.
