The end was looking a bit dire - like I'd need to grind a lot in order to take down the final baddy. Fortunately(?) I was able to "cheese it" a little - I realized that I had an item that healed everybody and that if I spam used it, I'd be able to save all the magic points I really needed for the protection spells...and so, YAY!
Looking at my shelf, it seems like I've played the Zenithia trilogy (IV, V, and VI) which are apparently the better ones. That's good. As I've mentioned before, these are some of the more enjoyable JRPGs I've played. Weirdly, I've completely lost track of when they released originally. In my mind they're all SNES era games (they're not) and this last one definitely had 3D graphics and such...
One of the things I've enjoyed the most is how the game plays against convention rarely. But it does so in moments that really help heighten the novelty/experience. So, there are a few cut-scene moments that go "3D"...one notable one is a giant monster that awakens and walks towards Monstroferrato - you kill it to get a key. It was a cool moment that really played well into the "this monster is huge".
Played some more yesterday - we've escaped prison, wandered in the woods for a bit, and now repaired an elderly couple's old pickup truck and are escaping in it.
At this point I'm really curious to know how long the game is - my wife isn't too comfortable with the controls (especially the camera control)...so we'll see how much patience she has.
I guess my best description for the experience of playing this is sweaty hands and holding my breath. Heh!
I've definitely "difficulty-cycled" out. I COULD continue - but it would take a lot of time to practice and such and....the game is intense enough as it is, so I'm not sure I'm up for that experience?
I took a better look at my "pile o' shame" and decided that I'm not THAT interested in playing some more. Mostly, I was starting to get a bit tired of having to move around the levels without wanting to use all the arrows and nonsense. Also, there's a bit of pack-ratting (I kept feeling like I had to search inside everything in order to get currency to buy stuff). I'll probably read some stuff online to see how the story ends up resolving. But, the game is fine, no major complaints (other than the above) - but I realized I should probably play more stuff instead of plodding through this one.
HOWEVER, in all I played I was pleasantly surprised by the major changes/things that happened between missions and such...so maybe I'm missing out on some incredible twist and reveal? I guess I'll read about it...
