MB3108

I bought this as it was hyped as one of the best Tales games. But I found it soooo boring to play. The initial story set up was good, but it seemed to move at a glacial pace from there. And the dungeons were very basic - fighting enemies and collecting dots from what I remember. There just wasn't anything to make me want to keep playing.

This looks good, and I'm pleased to have another turn based game on the horizon. I've never played the original. But loved DQXI.

It looks like the person playing is only controlling one of the 4 characters during battles. Is this a setting that can be changed, so that you have direct control of the whole party?

Wow that's some terrible casting. Sounds absolutely awful and doesn't fit the game at all. Is there anyway these are just placeholder lines for now? Its so bad it's putting me off even buying the game if I'm honest. Who TF casts a cockney as lead voice for an Onimusha game...?

Never played this series before but I thought the demo was fantastic! So glad to see a glowing review and 100% picking this one up in the next few months.

Well my plan now is to play this one as my first ever Trails game and then take another look at Daybreak 1&2, and hope that the battle system clicks a bit more having played this more streamlined game.

Thanks for a great preview.

I wanted to like Daybreak and the second one, but the combat felt totally convouluted which totally put me off.

Will give this one a go if the combat has been streamlined though.

Who has time to scroll through 88 paragraphs of text?

@rjejr 100% agree that the article format needs streamlining to make it easier to read on a mobile. As it is, this list is littered with so many images, headings, paragraphs of text and hyperlinks that it makes my eyes hurt.

If I may provide some feedback, these lists are very hard to read on a mobile device. There are just so many headings, words and images swamping the screen! A shorter more curated list with just the game name, genre, sale price and hyperlinks to reviews would be much friendlier.

Horribly worded headline 🤔

Tekken 8. The beta was so fun and the game is looking fantastic. I love the look of the new arcade quest mode and glad there's a full story mode as well.

Got the network test downloaded and can't wait to play tomorrow morning 😁

8/10

A solid game with an engaging story and characters. Battle system was a welcome change from FFXV. Excellent graphics and fantastic music and voice acting.

Negatives are that the environments/maps all feel sparse with nothing to do other than battles. I really missed a mini game or just anything "fun". Most side quests are also dull as dishwater.

My overall impression is that this is a good game but although it brings forward some new ideas for the FF series, all ideas have been done before in other games and many of them more effectively. That is what will hold it back from being considered a truly defining game IMO.

Would love to see CVX and Dino Crisis/Dino Crisis 2 remakes next. Done right I think the Dino Crisis remake has the potential to be just as successful as the recent RE ones. People love dinosaurs!

@Mythologue the first side quest is delivering 3 dishes of stew to 3 customers in an inn. The next one is walking 50 steps to collect some wood and deliver it back to the quest giver. I really thought side quests had evolved past such basic filler. It's my biggest disappointment with the game so far, as well as the empty environments and general lack of fun factor.

Been playing all day. Battle system is good but there is little else to do, the world feels very empty. I have been quite bored at times. Hopefully it opens up soon, as I feel all I'm doing ATM is walking to markers on the map and watching cutscenes. Done a couple of sidequests and they were instantly forgettable drivel. There also seems to be nothing to do in the Hideaway other than a shop and a blacksmith?

@ShogunRok just curious about the side quests. Would you say they are all throwaway fetch quest type things, or are some a bit more in depth? Honestly wondering if I should just ignore them as I hate mindless fetch quests and the like. Bit shocked that they haven't improved this aspect of the game after FFXV honestly.

Side quests sound like a missed opportunity and shame about the hiccups in performance, but otherwise I am hyped after reading your review. Thanks!

@Michael2008ish review embargo lifts at 5pm UK time, apparently.

Yeah I have to say than in the context of FFXV getting a 38, a 39 doesn't carry much weight. FFXV was an unfinished trainwreck of a game on launch, chapter 13 in particular was embarrassingly poor and the overall story was paper thin at best.

@Saad_Moonwalker can't remember tbh. They were in a list when I first purchased the game via the store, but I think they may not be downloadable until tomorrow - should only be tiny file sizes though.

Famitsu review is in: 39/40!

@MattBoothDev I got the base digital version for £56 by buying a £50 and a £15 voucher from Shopto for less than the full RRP. Could be a worth a look if you want to pay less for the digital and not bothered by the deluxe bonuses (like me).

@andy24king honestly with all the hype and advertising spend, not to mention courting of the press for the last few months, anything less than 9s and 10s across the board would be disappointing for all involved. We all know SE have crazy unrealistic expectations when it comes to the reception of their games, so I'd bet they'd view any 9s as a failure, too!

@TommyNL it'll depend on your PS5 settings. Try finding FFXVI full game via your library to see if you can initiate the download. That's what I had to do to get it started.

@ErrantRob true, they did say there had a been a year of polish. But they also said there would be no day one patch and look how that turned out 😭

Just finishing up the download now. I was planning to wait til the reviews were in but got swept up in the hype! Still nervous to see how this game will score with critics especially considering SE just recently released the turkey that is Forespoken, and that FFXV was an unfinished mess when it first released. Keeping everything crossed though!