I'm going to describe the battle system because I always find it to be the worst part of these Compile Heart/IF games. It is so not the case with this game, the battle system is actually fun. Note I am only 6 hours into the game, there is sure to be more to find. Also worth noting I did not play the second game in the series, only the first so I can't be sure how much the second improved the poor gameplay from the first.

I find it hard to get an idea of how these games actually play before I play them, so consider this a PSA or something. Now, let's go!

It's a turn based affair and in battle you have full control of your character's movement within a circle who's size is determined by your characters MOV stat. You have a cube in front of your character that represents your attack range and moving it into an enemy (or two if you finesse it) allows you to attack it.

It's not just a simple attack though. You can set up your (mercifully simple compared to the first game) combos outside of battle. These combos contain three kinds of attacks types: Rush, Power, and Break.

Rush hits many times but has lowered damage and guard damage. Rush seems to be used for filling up your Drive Gauge faster.

Power does what you'd think, it hits hard but typically only once and has moderate guard damage.

Break hits vary in combo length, deal low damage but high guard damage.

You customize three attacks for each type that you choose to use in battle. A 3x3 grid with each type moving across horizontally (i.e Rush takes the top row, Power the second, and break the third). As you preform an attack in battle it moves to the right of the grid opening up the next attack in the column. Each type of move requires CP to equip and the limited amount (at least at the point I am in) makes you have to "specialize" each character.

For example I removed the third and fourth hits for rush on Neptune and replaced all of the power hits with a more powerful, more CP consuming skill making Neptune a damage dealer instead of a guage filler or guard breaker. You could of course, set your best break skills by sacrifing the two others making a character who will guard break an enemy which would then let your other characters wail on the enemy for maximum damage.

It seems to be a pretty versatile setup that allows for strategy.

Also, this is only the 'attack' option. There are still many more systems going on, like the above mentioned Drive Guage which will let you lengthen combos as the bar fills up with more powerful attacks that don't neccesarly represent the Rush, Power and Break motif. SP skills which function like skills or magic would in any other RPG; healing, powerful but costly attacks, buffs, etc. A freely entered transformed mode that used 20% of your SP to enter the state but buffs your stats considerably. EXE Drive skills which expend the drive guage for a (presumably, I don't have any of these skills yet) high damage attack.

This game also has it's own version of FOEs that roam the lands. I get the idea that they are not supposed to be battled until a much higher level than when you first see them since the first one I encountered was a 15ft talldragon that I stayed the hell away from. Fortunately they do not actively pursue you on the map.

You're crazy.

Weird how the turn order thing reminds me of Wild Arms too.

Seems quite a lot like the systems in the second game, but a little more refined and indepth.

I avoided the first game because I heard the combat was awful. Played the 2nd game and the plot and skits were pretty terrible and uninteresting.

opefully you don't mind me asking a couple of things? - How are you enjoying the plot/characters so far? Are they reusing environments and enemies yet at the point where you've gotten to? 2 had multiple areas that looked exactly the same, and it really put me off. Any quests/shares stuff?

Sounds like it plays pretty much the same as the second game, which is fine by me.

My copy just arrived as I was typing that. We're done here.

Yes to the quests and shares stuff. Not sure how the shares will play into it. Hopefully it's not like the first game of locking out events until a certain amount of shares are passed to each land.

Characters are pretty fun so far. It's very anime. Neptune is a really great self-described dork though. It has a lot of game references and puns and the fourth wall is broken a lot. I guess it'll depend on your tastes on how you deal with it. I got a big smile on my face when Neptune leveled up and sang the iconic Final Fantasy victory fanfare, but I groaned when she asked someone "why so serious?".

Plot is... fine. Neptune has gone back in time and to another dimension before all of the lands were formed. Only Planeptune has been charted so the other goddess aren't there yet. There is an anti-CPU faction trying to eliminate the CPUs before they rise.

It's more about the characters than the plot imo and I'm enjoying the characters so far.

I'm not far enough to have seen any recycled enemies but there is an enemy in one of the screen shots I used above that has a different name but the same look as an enemy I've already seen so I assume there will be liberal reuse.

That's crazy. The movement thing reminds me of Breath of Fire V's combat, which I loved.

My copy still hasn't arrived. sadface.

Yep, you're crazy.

When this whole genre devolves into panty shots and awful battle systems, I'll blame you.

(I guess my unashamed love of the Ar Tonelico games makes me a giant hypocrite, but the two worst games I've ever tried to play were Compile Heart games.)

You are crazy.

@superwristbands: In 2 the shares allowed you to recruit certain characters, and some endings were dependent on them too.

Thanks for the reply, I guess I just have to accept I'll probably never enjoy these games. I had heard from fans that two was just bad in terms of characters/skits but it seems like I might just dislike the overall premise of the characters. The game just seemed to hit you over the head with their quirks constantly and really ran them into the ground like "Hey look at these anime archetypes, Neptune is dumb and talks funny with memes, Vert is a fujoshi, Uni is Tsundere, etc, isn't that funny?" I guess it's still like that?

Also since you've played a bit more, any recycled bosses? Mk2 had me fighting Underling as an area boss about 6 times.

Even as someone pretty into anime and weird Japanese things Mk2 is one of the few games I've actually regretted buying. People say Victory is the good parts of 1(Characters) and 2 (Battle System) combined though, so I'm still curious.

@petiew: From what I understand of shares, it seems they are only required for some events and end of chapter rankings. They are not dependent on endings (thank god).

As for the characters being archetypes, they are still very much that. While Uni doesn't seem to be in this game much, Noire is still a tsundere, I had to look up what fujoshi meant but Vert is probably still the same. The Vert of the 'other' dimension hasn't had much time on screen where I am at in the game but she hasn't been defined by her love of boys love or even had it mentioned at all (unlike the short intro for the original Vert). Neptune is as Neptune is, she talks with game references mixed in, some work, some are just straight up "here is a thing that is said in games" which can really depend on how much one likes the reference material I think, though I think Neptune is still a great character especially because of the way she talks.

I've played some more, and I'm sorry to say that monster and dungeon resue is hard up in this game. I fought two of the 'special' FOEs in two different areas right after one another and they were the exact same model. It was really dumb, especially because one was named "Main Character Ricky" and was just a big robot (though that could be a reference I am not getting). Thought it was gonna be some anime hero dude and I was disappointed. Though dungeon reuse is the worse of the two in my opinion, just kind of depressing to have the characters have this big (relative to how far I am in the game anyway) plot point of escaping from jail only to have their escape dungeon be the same cave I've been in twice before.

Other than that I do enjoy the characters and the battle system is great (I'm sure you can imagine since it sounds to be pretty similar to the second game) but I'm sure most of what I said will probably keep you away from the game, that's just how it is :p

I know exactly what you mean dude! I, at least, like these anime games but their combat systems tend to be lacking somewhat or substantially. This one actually has a competent battle system, hell it's far better than competent. It doesn't do anything revolutionary or innovative but I actually really enjoy it.

Also, I am with you on Ar Tonelico (the first one). I liked that game, liked it's world and it's battle system and it's music. I didn't play the second but I did play the third. Wish I hadn't. Only thing it kept that made me like the first game was the music. Also it's rather unfortunate that the exact thing you said about devolving into panty shots and awful battle systems is what happened to Ar Tonelico III. Such potential wasted :(

The battle system in Victory would genuinely be engaging and interesting if status ailments, elemental attacks and your stats really mattered and if they committed to making guard break meaningful outside of boss fights. And made better bosses. And better enemies in general. And if they didn't give you an OP party member right away.

The ideas are good (because they are mostly sourced from other games) but CH seems so determined to make the game easy to play that none of the systems really matter, beyond breaking a boss' guard and then hitting him with Iris Heart's OP exe move.

Compile Heart have come a long way since their first few games, even since the beginning of this franchise, and I really think that if they had more time and money they could turn out an old-school Jrpg which is fun to play today and has broad appeal. As a fan of the Hyperdimension Neptunia series I am willing to slog through repeated areas and recycled assets if it means getting another game in this franchise - I can see why that might be a massive turn-off if you aren't invested in the franchise though.

you cray

@superwristbands: You should track down a copy of AT2. It's bigger and better than the first one, but not a total fan-servicey train wreck like the third one.

@rebgav: I like a B-tier JRPGs as much as anybody, so I should really like these games. Hopefully CH can get better, but after my experience with Cross Edge and the first Neptunia game, plus the Agarest demo and what I've heard about Mugen Souls, I don't think their games are for me.

@oldenglishc: That's fair, it's pretty clear why those early games would kill any interest in their other stuff. I haven't played Mugen Souls so I can't speak to that one but it didn't seem well-received either.

In other news, I just found an economy-breaking money exploit in the game so... now I have 99 of whatever the hell I want. Huh. Victory just managed to get more ridiculous.

I just found out about that one. No way they missed that when they were making the game, had to be intentional. It funded my battle against the Gargoyle so that was nice.

Now is as good a time as any I suppose. I managed to find it for an acceptable price online (new, iirc) and bought it. Now I'm kinda bummed I didn't get the first run package though. The other two games came in some nice boxes.