World of JRPGs

Didn't finish any JRPGs this month (again!). I'd actually been going at a decent rate the past few years, finishing around 9-10 JRPGs in a year, but I don't think I'm hitting that mark again. In October I got sucked into Hades 2, which is probably going to be my personal game of the year.

Right now I'm playing Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, having a good time overall and settling into a very familiar old rhythm with it. Playing through on Tactician difficulty, I just finished Chapter 2. I've been frustrated by it here and there, but I did want a challenge on replay #15 or whatever the hell it is for me at this point. A couple of minor changes caught me off guard, like how the best/worst zodiac compatibility works now. That's going to force me to rethink my Riovanes Castle strategy.

Speaking of which, I can't believe they omitted the in-battle zodiac reference chart. At first I thought they'd color coded, which seemed like a great addition...until I realized it was just cosmetic. Overall, the UIs are very thin compared to the earlier versions. You used to be able to hit SELECT and get info on literally every single part of the UI, and that's all gone now. I was pretty surprised by this considering how it looked in early screenshots. Looks pretty, but functionally, it's a big downgrade.

That said, there are good additions. The revamped poaching system is a nice QoL upgrade. The way job info is presented now should be great to help out new players. However, the voice acting is the standout: it is phenomenal. It's a step up from Tactics Ogre Reborn, which was already largely good; I think Creative Studio 3 might have the best dubbing team in the business right now. Ramza, Agrias, Milleuda, and Folmarv have been great so far. It's funny, a long time ago I used to think Chapter 1 was on the weak side, but it hit so damn hard this time. That part of the story is just a fantastic stretch of the game now, wire to wire.