booo you put it too low! lol

@crankystorming

people don't complain bout the battle system because its fantastic

even Edge who hated the game said the battle system is one of the finest in the genre.

Now that you boo at me, I think you may be right.

*sarcastic comment: When could Edge's opinion ever be trusted? They liked Metroid Other M and APB.*

I'm sorry, but the battle system in that game forgoes player interaction entirely in favour of badly-implemented QTEs. At least in Heavy Rain you were garunteed to to progress if you got them right. Also, how is making me choose which order of settings in which the AI contorls the other characters in more involving than, say, letting me control the other characters myself (you know, like every other previous installment)? Pretty much the only thing it does right is giving me the option to continue from the battle I just lost.

Other M was good though....

QTe's...what QTE's?

I don't think you understand the point of this games battle system.....first of all its not really meant to be a turn based game.

Here the main focus of the battles is progression...getting the stagger bar full....being in the correct paradigms for that purpose.....then being in the correct paradigms to destroy the enemy while its in the stagger...later on if  even one wrong paradigm switch was made I lost the battle.

This FF more than any other focussed on teamwork the most....only complimentary combinations of paradigms gave you the best effect in order to get to the stagger mode.....finding out what those complimentary combinations were for different enemies was the fun of the battle system. 

The best thing was each role was important......and when you get the correct combination figured out and stagger the enemy its immensely satisfying.

The battle system didn't forego player interaction....not when you need to choose the correct paradigm's at a whim in the game and figure out an optimal strategy even for regular enemies which can easily kill you (while in past FF's many times simply "attacking" would do the job.....now thats boring to me after playing FF13)

The game just didn't focus on micromanagement because the pace of the battles wouldn't allow you to do that. There was no time to switch characters and select their moves.

Your 1 paragraph description of the battle system does it no justice.

And not just Edge but majority of the reviewers said that

Of course this won't change your opinion, which you have full right to have....but those are the reasons most of us love the battle system.

You talk about the game trys to get me to take time over decisions then about how there is no time to select moves for more than one character. I'm sorry, but that just isn't how a good combat system works. I want to judge for myself when it's a good time for my tank-character to defend my healer while he heals my mage, while getting my thief to grab the new armour. I don't need to go over all those shifting AI and Staggering when I'd rather just work out which character can do what sort of attack best. It has the FF8 problem of making me forget about the individual characters during the combat.

Voice acting was okay.

43. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS)

This was the first of three Castlevania games on the DS, and it was my second Castlevania experience. To be said, this is the game that made me a Castlevania nutter. Level 99, every item collected, every challenge cleared, every room searched for every little secret. Heck, even Julius mode was completed with utmost fervor. There was a time where I would play this until the middle of the night, go to sleep, and wake up just to pick it back up and play some more (hooray for Sleep Mode!). The game is super fun, super challenging (Puppet Master took me a while to take down, to be sure), and always satisfying. Plus, those hand drawn sprite graphics are gorgeous, and the music is fantastic. It's just a fantastic game that will always be remembered with fondness.

There are so many games I keep missing out on! Castlevania should be right up my alley but I keep forgetting about it. I will buy whichever one of the DS ones I see in a shop next time I'm looking (unless there's a new release out), and you can hold me to that.

Yeah, keep a lookout for Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin, and Order of Ecclesia. ^_^

I can't really tell you which one I think is the best yet, as it'll ruin the suspense for this listing lol. But they're all fantastic games.

Heck, I even picked up Aria of Sorrow (GBA) a couple months back for the first time. Popped in the DS and had a blast. These games hold up so awesomely thanks to their beautiful art style, wonderful music, and tried-and-true gameplay.

Your whole reasoning against the battle system goes against its fundamental point....fast pace.

There's no point in continuing this conversation because its like arguing against someone who went into a COD game wanting a VAT's Fallout 3 type combat system.....of course you won't get the latter....its not the aim of the game's combat system, never was. (Its been 9 years since the last turn based FF game....main series)

Your two interventions perfectly explained what I couldn't. Stupid me. Thanks.