I've had a ton of distractions but I've been able to clock over 4 and a half solid hours. I've skipped a lot of cutscenes so as to not ruin the story. I'd just like to say that I'll be buying this game but it's not anywhere near top priority for me. I do plan to obtain it by summer though.
Gameplay -
The gameplay had some interesting mechanics too it. At the time I stopped playing, Lightning had a basic slash attack, a circular spin move, and a projectile move that I believe was ice. My ATB guage had 3 slots [2 at the beginning of the game]. The Slash and Ice both took 1 slot while the circular spin took 2. There were 4 option on the main menu during a battle. The first seemed to be some sort of "Attack Recommendation". It would automatically make a chain for me and I just select my opponent. The second allowed me to select which moves I want in the chain and their order. Most of the time, a combo of 3 basic slashes would get the job done. When enemies were near each other [like atleast 3] I would throw in the spin as it hit enemies within the area followed by a slash, or just the spin so as to only use 2/3rd's of my guage and once the attack is complete my guage would refill quicker since I only had to wait for 2. Snow also had the same basic setup only his area attack that took up two slots was a grenade.
There's also a job class system called Optimas. I'm not sure what all of the Optima's are but the ones available to me when I was done playing were:
Lightning - Attacker (Physical Offense), Blaster (Magic Offense)
Snow - Attack, Blaster, Defender (Defense, not only did he take very little damage, but it also seemed like most attacks were directed towards him. Snow also has nearly double the HP of some of my other characters which may have something to do with him having this optima. While in this Optima, i didn't notice any attack but instead a few defensive abilities. The first was basically "raise guard". Which seems to be the reason why he took such little damage. It only last a few 5 or so seconds but you can use it 3 times in succession thanks to 3 ATB slots i have with Snow. The second... I have no idea what it does... Just noticed he turns red. Perhaps a defense stat enhancement.)
Uhh... pink haired girl... Vanille I think - Healer (Obvious), Blaster
Black Guy - Blaster
Hope - Blaster (I think), Healer, Enhancer (support such as raising party attack, defense, etc.)
The first option in the main menu allowed you to set a list of Optimas to switch throw with one being a default. In a party of Lightening, Snow and Vanille, my Default Optima was Attacker, Attacker, Healer. (Respectively)
Second: Attacker, Defender, Healer.
Third: Attacker, Attacker, Blaster.
During any part of a Battle sequence you can change Optimas on the fly. Simply tap L1 and select from the list you made and the characters perform a less than 2 second pose. Done. The system works well but from what I played, there really wasn't much use for it for me. Pure offense [attackers and blasters] from all 3 characters got the job done pretty much all the time. With the rank system shown at the end of each fight, you're pretty much encouraged to end fights quickly. Once the fight's done, your charactes are fully healed. Next battle, same thing. In the majority of special fights [sub/mid bosses or of slightly lower rank] Snow's Defender Optima just made things slower. Once you have one character healing the other two can just go all out offense and you have no worries. In fact the most strategic thing I have done the entire game so far is to start of in pure offense and when someone's health is around 40%, switch Optimas so there's a healer. Stay there for a few seconds. Every one's fully healed, then go straight back to pure offense.
The first 4 hours of this game are EXTREMELY easy. I've NEVER used the shop and I honestly used 5 potions TOPS. The ease mainly comes from the fact that after each fight, your characters fully heal. When ever I had a Healer in my party, there was really no challenge. I don't see anything that resembles an MP guage and my healer was able to heal me as much as she/he pleased. Seems that the only thing stopping Vanille was her ATB limit of 3.
The Linear Complaint -
For a while I've been thinking that it was a strong exaggeration but the complaint is 100% true. The first hour of the game is a straight line... The following 3 were pretty much the same. A few turns here or there but just for a certain item in a corner. This may sound harsh, but I constantly find this game more linear than a Devil May Cry [kept reminding me of the DMC format] title. In fact, imagine a DMC with no back tracking, and puzzles are replaced with cutscenes, and you run into enemies about just as frequently, if not MORE. I felt compelled to kill every enemy I saw, other wise I would just be walking towards the next cutscene. There's zero exploration. I've yet to run into a single NPC to talk to [a little more on that further down in the presentation section]. All my shopping is done at save points... although shopping's something i've yet to do. I've been finding weapons and more items than I need just playing the game.
This isn't horrible though. I found the game somewhat enjoyable this way. I skipped most cutscenes so as to not ruin the game for me, but from what I did watch the story seems pretty damn interesting. If it's as good as I hope, I don't think most people will mind the linearity early on in the game. It's made pretty clear that the developers were going for a story driven experience and I think they did well in this department. Still, exploration is a big thing for me and at that I'm a bit disappointed.
The Crystalium System -
I wish I could talk more about this but I really didn't know what I was doing. I was simply maxing out everything I could and noticed I had stat increases. It seemed to offer less freedom than the license board since most of the upgrades followed one straight line. Also, around the time I stopped playing, I noticed that for 3 or 4 of my characters I had bought everything possible. Seemed like I was only getting enhancements to the abilities that I already had. I also noticed that certain characters had more grids than others and the grids were the colors of their optimas [seemed to match what I have listed above on the Optimas, I'm gonna check on that later this morning]. Also, even if 2 characters have the same optimas, characters didn't have an equal amount of available upgrades. Snow's Blaster section [atleast that's what I think it was] was pretty small compared to lightening or Vanille. In the later part of my 4.5 hours, I remember a message about the Crystalium system leveling up so there should be more options there now. I'm going to check on that in a bit. For now though, I'm just gonna say that it definitely doesn't match the freedom players got with the License board in FF12 AT ALL.
Under the Crystallium menu, there's an ability menu but it just shows you everything you've obtained while using the crystallium system and stuff you had from the beginning. Ext: The 3 attacks I mentioned earlier were the only 3 attacks that I saw while playing as lightening because I always kept her in Attacker Optima. Turns out she had 2 other spells i've never even seen before because I never used the Blaster Optima.
Stats -
I'd just like to mention that on the status screen, all that I saw was Physical Offense stat and Magical offense stat. Also HP. I saw no levels, no defense. No speed. It was pretty bear bones. There's mention of what effects your accessory offers and what Optimas the character has. Also time spent playing and money. There's also your CP[Equivalent of LP for the Crystalium system] and your ATB Level [the number of slots in your ATB guage]. In the equip menu, I'm only able to equip a weapon and a single accessory [perhaps this will grow into more accessory slots later on]. No armor.
Presentation -
This is definitely the best aspect of the game so far. Visually, not as detailed as Uncharted 2 or KZ2 but still a very well detailed game.
Character models are fantastic. Enemy variety has been good but not impressive at this point [it's final fantasy though, so i'm sure this will improve the deeper I go]. The draw distance and sense of scale is done perfectly. Camera felt a bit odd, but it's never given me any trouble. Menus and screens were layed in a very simple and easy to understand manner. You had little symbols next to items that helped me figure out stuff like "Who can use this weapon" and "What might be the purpose of this item". There aren't any NPC to walk up and talk to in the traditional way. However walking past charcters [playable ones or not], you here what they usually often say something. Usually not directed to you [atleast I think]. While you're running from point A to point B, you're party members are visible and their out doing their own thing [looking around, running where they want to run] and when you're in a certain proximity of them, you also hear them speak. There's also a sort of chat log at the bottom of the screen.
The only Con I can find in this game on the presentation side is during battle when multiple character are attacking one enemy. The numbers pop up anywhere around the enemy and it's hard to tell who's doing what damage. This only sucks for me because characters usually attack around the same time for me and I wanna know which person moves and not really affective so i can switch their optimas or I myself should use different moves.
EXTENDED: While typing this up I thought I'd just check a few things anyway. Indeed the Crystallium menu did grow and indeed it only matches the optimas characters have avaiable right now. Seems like you don't have the freedom of always deciding exactly what you want your characters to be [like FF12] but for me, I'm ok with the current roles. Appearantly, It's just some sort of second tier of upgrades for my characters and their current optimas. The 3 attacks that I have with Lightening that I mentioned earlier were the only 3 attacks that I saw while playing as her because I always kept her in Attacker Optima. Turns out she had 2 other spells i've never even seen before because I never used the Blaster optima [i'll add this in the proper section].
