Post by Optimal Megatron on Jun 18, 2020 11:09:04 GMT -5
So, having gotten into this a bit, a few bullet points
- The story is kind of disjointed early on. Apparently this is a leftover of the original implementation for Episodes 1-3 where you'd go out on a random expedition and find a datalog somewhere that gave you a cutscene. The thing is, you'd only be able to find one log per expedition, which padded things out quite a bit. Also, certain things were mutually exclusive, requiring you to use the "Causality Matrix" or whatever they call it to go back and pick different decisions to see different paths. However, this was considered overly complex and so now you can just go to the quest desk and see the cutscenes before it puts you in a mission if you were going to see one (like a boss battle with Vol Dragon early on). However, the cutscenes do kinda seem out of context since you're just seeing them one after the other. There's a plot there but it's really kinda boring seeing eight to ten cutscenes between actually playing the game, so I haven't gotten as far as I could.
- The gameplay, however, is really fun. You pick your main class and around level 20 get access to a subclass. The subclass is just one of the other main classes with a percentage of its stats added onto your main class, as well as access to things from it. Hunter/Force, for instance, can cast techniques, while Hunter/Ranger could use Photon Arts for rifles if they get one of the rifles that's class-independent. Similarly, my Gunner is level 40 and thus unlocked double jump, but Ranger is only 30. However, as Ranger/Gunner I get access to double jump because the subclass has it. As you level, you get skill points for your various classes (any character can be any class, switched at the class counter on the ship), but some things on the skill trees (+Dex, +Ranged Power) are universal across classes, while others only apply when you have that class equipped. Mixing things from your sub-classes gives you a bit of variety, with Hunter/Fighter being more heavily melee DPS, Hunter/Force being melee with support spell options, Hunter/Ranger giving some ranged options, etc. Also, your subclass gets a percentage of your XP, so it's a nice way to level up lower classes so you don't have to wade through early level hell.
- Urgent missions are really, really fun. They've unlocked several tiers, which seem to be tied into parts of the main story, but.... see above about how far I've gotten into them. Thankfully, they don't seem to be really big on spoilers, aside from "oh, surprise. You'll fight Dark Falz." There's generally two types. One is an area map where you clear lots of fodder enemies, while the second is a major confrontation, usually with a repeatable quest against lesser enemies before a final showdown (For instance, Dark Falz sends various chunks of himself to fight that you can fight repeatedly, and then when enough are beaten, you get the final fight against his main body). These also give LOTS of drops and XP, and really helped level up, especially since it gives level recommendations, but gear can definitely help you punch above your weight (and they're 12 person instances, so a full team generally will kill the boss even if you're not doing optimal damage)
- Mags are generally recommended to be kept "pure" by only boosting a single stat (Melee Power, Ranged Power, Tech power) depending on what you want. Unfortunately, this is where Sega's double dipping, as you only get one mag for free. You can roll 3 characters to get one focused for each mainstat, or apparently $9 in the cash shop is enough to buy two more mags if you want to do everything on one character. Whatever your mag's focus is will speed up getting your weapons of choice that are reliant on that stat, but it's not crippling to have a Mag not focused on that, at least at around level 40 which is where most of my classes are. The cap is apparently 75, and there's lots of theorycrafting out there, but I'm not in a rush just yet.
- The story is kind of disjointed early on. Apparently this is a leftover of the original implementation for Episodes 1-3 where you'd go out on a random expedition and find a datalog somewhere that gave you a cutscene. The thing is, you'd only be able to find one log per expedition, which padded things out quite a bit. Also, certain things were mutually exclusive, requiring you to use the "Causality Matrix" or whatever they call it to go back and pick different decisions to see different paths. However, this was considered overly complex and so now you can just go to the quest desk and see the cutscenes before it puts you in a mission if you were going to see one (like a boss battle with Vol Dragon early on). However, the cutscenes do kinda seem out of context since you're just seeing them one after the other. There's a plot there but it's really kinda boring seeing eight to ten cutscenes between actually playing the game, so I haven't gotten as far as I could.
- The gameplay, however, is really fun. You pick your main class and around level 20 get access to a subclass. The subclass is just one of the other main classes with a percentage of its stats added onto your main class, as well as access to things from it. Hunter/Force, for instance, can cast techniques, while Hunter/Ranger could use Photon Arts for rifles if they get one of the rifles that's class-independent. Similarly, my Gunner is level 40 and thus unlocked double jump, but Ranger is only 30. However, as Ranger/Gunner I get access to double jump because the subclass has it. As you level, you get skill points for your various classes (any character can be any class, switched at the class counter on the ship), but some things on the skill trees (+Dex, +Ranged Power) are universal across classes, while others only apply when you have that class equipped. Mixing things from your sub-classes gives you a bit of variety, with Hunter/Fighter being more heavily melee DPS, Hunter/Force being melee with support spell options, Hunter/Ranger giving some ranged options, etc. Also, your subclass gets a percentage of your XP, so it's a nice way to level up lower classes so you don't have to wade through early level hell.
- Urgent missions are really, really fun. They've unlocked several tiers, which seem to be tied into parts of the main story, but.... see above about how far I've gotten into them. Thankfully, they don't seem to be really big on spoilers, aside from "oh, surprise. You'll fight Dark Falz." There's generally two types. One is an area map where you clear lots of fodder enemies, while the second is a major confrontation, usually with a repeatable quest against lesser enemies before a final showdown (For instance, Dark Falz sends various chunks of himself to fight that you can fight repeatedly, and then when enough are beaten, you get the final fight against his main body). These also give LOTS of drops and XP, and really helped level up, especially since it gives level recommendations, but gear can definitely help you punch above your weight (and they're 12 person instances, so a full team generally will kill the boss even if you're not doing optimal damage)
- Mags are generally recommended to be kept "pure" by only boosting a single stat (Melee Power, Ranged Power, Tech power) depending on what you want. Unfortunately, this is where Sega's double dipping, as you only get one mag for free. You can roll 3 characters to get one focused for each mainstat, or apparently $9 in the cash shop is enough to buy two more mags if you want to do everything on one character. Whatever your mag's focus is will speed up getting your weapons of choice that are reliant on that stat, but it's not crippling to have a Mag not focused on that, at least at around level 40 which is where most of my classes are. The cap is apparently 75, and there's lots of theorycrafting out there, but I'm not in a rush just yet.
