Hi

I know this is an old game now, have just picked it up for the 3DS. I have read that its a massive game 100+ hours. Do you have any advice for new player, it seems like a huge investment of time and want to get the most out of it.

I've only played about half an hour and the battle system is confusing the hell out of me at the moment. I can't seem to workout whats going on. I get I've only just started but haven't played and game with similar mechanics.

Any tips or advice would be great.

Thanks

Mac

Surprised this never received any replies considering it's "the greatest JRPG of last generation." I just beat the 3DS version myself and also had some trouble getting into it. The game relies much more on MMO concepts than FF12 ever did, and you just don't get a good feel for the combat until you have a good selection of arts going.

I also didn't like having to rely on party members to do their job without a way to set tactics/gambits or swap characters mid-battle. But as you learn more arts, it all falls into place. It also helps to read the Arts Guide on GameFAQs so you have an idea what these characters should even be used for (though there are short descriptions in-game as well).

Other than that, the biggest tip I could possibly give is to not burn yourself out. After Bionis' Leg, I ignored all quests except for the ones that would complete during my initial run of an area, spent no time making gems because gem management is a huge pain in the ass, ignored Colony 6 completely, never traded to a single NPC and forgot that was even a mechanic, didn't do any Heart-to-Hearts because I never met the requirements anyway, never got people's secret skilltrees, and didn't go hunting for advanced skillbooks. Just a tight 60-hour playthrough, and I think the game was better for it.

All in all, a solid 8.5 kinda game I'd say. Pretty much what I always expected of it. I guess I can see why some would call it the greatest JRPG of last generation, but that says more about the JRPGs of last gen than this game.

Anyway, glad to have finished this in time for Xenoblade 2.

Hi @axersia:

Thanks for replying, I'll definitely check out the art guild I'm using them but really haven't got much of an idea of what they are really doing.

So far I'm about 18 hours in lvl 24 and just reached Colony 6. I have done almost all the quests in colony 9/Bionis leg couldn't believe how many there are, reminds me a bit of borderlands quests (not a bad thing IMO). So far I've really been enjoying it, the fact that a massive 3D JRPG is running on the 3DS is a amazing would love to see it in modern engine. I spent a bit of time grinding so feel a bit OP and I think if you do all the side quests that would happen anyway. All in all I'm having a great time with the game so far, I with you its a solid 8'ish game.

I will try and cut back on the side quests, but can't help myself (never leave a quest behind).

Thanks again

This game was not an easy find for me. I had to go through two vendors before getting a disk that worked. But once jumping in the game was acting like shit and I could not for the life of me beat the first damn boss no matter how many runs and combos and things I performed. The music and travel was alright to sit back and vegetate to but damn, you can only run in circles for so long before you start wanting to jump off the highest cliff imaginable. I am not an mmo enthusiast and I have it down that this game is modeled right after mmo's in and around what is and has happened in Japan. If it weren't for the game forcibly taking the reigns away as if to chastise the player for getting too powerful all at once, this could be a cool darned game based on a somewhat engaging story and somewhat interesting characters.

For me there was a dungeon towards the late game that game me SO much shit, can't remember the name but it was a blue cave area and I had to grind for ages to beat it. That being said I didn't do all the side stuff on that playthrough so with all that you could be cool by the time you get there, but that was a major spike in difficulty / enemy level last time I played it. Been playing it on 3DS but haven't gotten that far, finished it on wii a ways back.