Bravely Default - Neverending grinding, plus general discussion

[lestatdark]

RolStoppable said:

lestatdark said:

I see. Personally, I think EO IV downgraded some aspects in relation to EO III, especially in the skill tree department. I didn't quite like the simplification of it all, it leaves you very little room for character customization, as the trees are very limited in useful skills per class. Also, while EO III sea exploration had an actual meaning to it, EO IV world map is mostly an after thought with very little interest in it's exploration. 

Going back to BD, I get why Chapter 5 - 8 felt the way it does for you. So far, Chapter 5 kinda makes sense, but I don't see how it could drag for more 3 chapters of the same thing. A shame, the game is really good and cohesive until chapter 5.

Eh, most of the skills that were removed or limited in EO IV were a waste in EO III, and due to the lower caps for many skills, you can actually build more flexible characters in EO IV. In the previous three games you poured ten points each into a handful of skills and that was it, otherwise you would have never had a really powerful character.

You sure about the sea map in EO III being better? You had only a limited amount of steps you could take before being sent back to the harbor. Meanwhile, you can go as you please in EO IV and unlock new labyrinths. So I feel the opposite is the case, EO III's sea was an afterthought while EO IV's world map is integrated into the overall experience. This also shows when you play the games; in EO III you can basically ignore the sea as you don't have to go there even once to finish the story.

The same happens to EO IV skills. They're borderline useless unless you pour the maximum amount of points in them, just like in any other EO. The Nightblade class suffers from this heavily, as their status effects, even when subbed to Arcanist are almost non-stickable on end-game/post-game enemies unless you max the specific skill and support you want to max. Which reminds me, there were even fewer synergies between classes than in EOIII.

What I mean in afterthought is that the sea map actually had a story of it's own, it was basically it's own quest. The step-limiter was a pain, but that actually made sense in the context of the exploration (and it wasn't detrimental at all once you reached the highest level of food available). The world map on EOIV only exists to connect the dungeons, nothing more. There's very little action going on in it in the main game, only having a bit more when you get into post-game with the Dragons.