Right, the star-ranking system. Another mechanic the game just drops on you and doesn't properly explain. Otherwise, I get what you are saying, but where I start to push back is player "motivation." You can certainly play Final Fantasy XIII at a faster pace, but the game does not provide incentives for you to do so. Sure, I could air-juggle monsters into oblivion, but I could also just slop through every battle with one commando and three medics. When the game does not make sloppy play nonviable, it does not encourage you to play it the "right way."
That just means they needed to do another pass on the communication with the player. You do get incentivized when you realize you can 2 cycle bosses. The mechanics used properly (Which again, they unfortunately don't fully teach until a DLC in the second game) make it feel like a completely different experience to the clumsy first time through. You get ranking and stars after each battle, which effect your rewards as well. Like with Sonic, speed is it's own reward.
It's sort of like the Style Ranking in Devil May Cry games. They (usually) don't effect gameplay in any way, but you get better rewards out of it and the game gives you better rankings. It also just feels good to be able to be in sync with the battle system and just obliterating challenging enemies in a few turns.
The hidden mechanics that made a difference for me:
1) Paradigm Refresh!!
Every 13th second if you switch paradigms your ATB bar is jammed up to full, so if you just finished an attack and then switch you instantly get another attack. It is so strong that it basically doubles your output. Part of the strategy to maximizing this is putting one or two doubles on your paradigm deck so you can keep pushing Ravager stagger building out or Commando damage. Also keep in mind that your meter normally fills while you're doing a Paradigm Shift, so using the first (full length per battle) shift after using your first bar is recommended. You basically want to shift as often as "breathing" and you'll be able to press an advantage.
2) Stagger Combo!
Once you get a monster into a stagger, you need to keep building up the number before the bar drains to multiply your damage as high as 10x for 999.0 Stagger Combo. You can no longer maintain stagger, instead you want to use abilities which build Combo fast. This is where Eidolons really come in handy. They're very good at getting Combo maxed out and then you have to make sure to use the Vehicle Mode with enough bar left to get a full 10x damage bonus off of it.
3) Buffs & Debuffs Matter. ALOT.
You also want to make sure to have buffs and debuffs on, as they actually are incredibly powerful, unlike most jrpgs, and you can use them on bosses, again unlike most jrpgs. You also want to figure out how stuff like Army of One actually works. You can do damage with it but it's really useful for capitalizing on a stagger state, though each character's special attack has it's own use. Army of One is good in the Staggered phase, and if you switch to Commando as it's starting you can add the Commando Damage Buff to all it's attacks. Quake can also help alot.
4) Auto-Attack is a tool and Attack should primarily be used to set up a Repeat command.
Basically Auto-Attack is good for throwing out something generic quickly since there is no wait command. This is good on your first turn or when you have a full meter and haven't figured out a good rhythm for the enemy type yet. You really only have about 5 or so attacks with elemental differences between the main ones, and then your special move, but you're not really going to be playing this like a normal FF game, your magic is there to make an enemy weak to normal attacks. Additionally, Libra abilities will make your Auto-Attack AND your allies pick better moves based on actual enemy weaknesses and vulnerabilities. It's one tool in your set, and it's every bit as important as the Attack/Repeat, Techniques, and Items menu items. Think of it like Dante's pistols. It's something good to throw out quick, but you don't want to rely on it or you won't really see much gains in Stagger or Combo building.
5) You really don't need to fight every monster.
The hallway is criticized for being a linear design in a JRPG but it has some more to it. You have level caps per chapter and bosses give you a ton of EXP, so why fight every enemy? When you know what you're doing (reasons 1-4 here) you can beat any boss by just weapon upgrades, accessory upgrades, and good tactics alone (It's a good idea to check a guide on the most efficient way to build weapons so you don't waste your materials and multipliers while building your gear up). Other than when they're guarding a chest, you can usually just sneak by using the radar or a shroud (These are hard to come by but are useful). I have alot of fun with the dodges in the first 10 chapters of the game because there's alot of nuance to pulling them off. It keeps the pace up when you're only fighting necessary battles or enemies that you've got the jump on intentionally, rather than doing the normal RPG thing of clearing out a floor before moving on.
The game's incredibly fast paced and has alot of depth to it that come from smart play and fast reactions and planning. It has a ton of depth and while they don't really tell you that stuff properly (at least until a later game) the existence of this stuff is why there are people like me who absolutely love the combat. It's there and when you read up on it you can get a ton out of this game. It's a style of combat that exists nowhere else and it's a shame because I'd love to see more games build off of this combat engine.
I joke that it's the DMC of turn based JRPG's but really it's not TOO dissimilar. (Think about watching Brad struggle through DMC1 and then Pat from 2BF blitz through it with high rankings effortlessly.) This game actually has a level of mastery that really turns it into a full on better experience and it's a shame they don't do enough to force players to learn what they're doing wrong. There's so much there and it took me 7 years to give the game another shot, but I'm glad I did and I'm glad I learned what I was doing when I did. It is probably the most fun I've had in a JRPG and sadly it's a type of twitch reaction fun I can't really replicate in menu based JRPG's outside of this specific sub-series.
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