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Bugs/QoL/Economy/Combat Balance [3.2 up to rescuing Ganer encounter in Evrai]

 Compared to 3.0, this continues to be a much more polished experience – Thank you for all the fun! Natural level progression = 30, with some individual characters reaching 40, and 80. Most of the Bugs/QoL are pretty minor, with some suggestions for combat balance as players make their way towards Evrai.

People & Places (NPCs, Vendors, Zones):

• Township: Brick Carpenter Township village – Recruited Items and Armor tenants do not function/activate in their shops.
• Capitan: Shelves in back of Capitan’s Log Cabin are inaccessible.
  • Brick Carpenter does not provide text in explaining what he offers, compared to other carpenters.
• SimaFort: Barrel at Campsite dock (to Simafort), is inaccessible.
• Tunlan: Accessing Radiant Shaman in Tunlan still requires a weird walk-through-walls invisible maze.
• Namanda: Passage at back of Namanda cave (right of bells) is inaccessible. This could be a nice opportunity to expand his quest with monster encounters. 
• Cotland: Claris’ sprite is mini at Cotland* introduction, compared to Taiga and party sprites
• Windia: In contrast, King of Windia is king-sized in his king-sized bed.

• Cooking: Some cooked consumables cannot be used outside of battle (like stat boosts).
  
• Character duplicates: Cut scenes where characters are involved (Bosch vs Trout, Jean cooking in the kitchen) can create character duplicates if character is also in party. What if they left party for particular sequences?
  
• Camping: Intimate camp scenes (Lin/Nina) will swap Ryu with whomever is in character slot 1. I got Rand in first scene with Lin.
  • Is Ryu meant to be polyamorous? The game would seem to incentivise you to romance both Lin/Nina if you were worried about their respective character events (Taiga and Windia). Both companions seem to lay it on pretty fast with Ryu if you spam the camp event. What if these character camp items were consumable, or had story-progress checks to spread out these subplots overtime. Is treating either/both of them as ‘sisters’ enough to achieve positive outcomes in their respective quests? (Great Bird & Taiga)
•  Cross party of dialogue: dialogues needs a condition check for ‘order of appearance’. Sten’s first dialogue to Lin is a heartfelt apology... later on I got the dialogue where the argument ensues that explains the reason for the apology.
  • Rand to Aspara is a bit emersion breaking. Rand’s unprompted adoration and affirmation of Aspara seems out of character for him, and characters’ overall relationship with one another at that point in the adventure.

Combat/Character stats  

DIFFICULTY PROGRESSION: Following initial difficulty jump at Joker’s Lair, mob progression is far more reasonable thereafter (provided you use all of what’s available to you -i.e. Ryu equipped with Fire Shaman). Level progression by end of Capitan sequence was 20. FANTASTIC CHANGE from 3.1 (where I had easily reached Lvl. 40). I really liked the mobs underwater at SimaFort – the bubble mechanic with the puffer fish was a great ‘time waster’ in a timed-sequence. Clever!

•  SLEEP STATUS DEBUFF: If party is put to sleep, they do not wake up if not targeted by enemy. This happened in Nimfu fight (condition stays at 1 turn while Nimfu spammed Buffs). Eventually awoke upon hit with ‘death’ spell. Condition should wear off naturally.
• MANIPULATING BATTLE TURN ORDER: If selecting ‘MEMORY’ option for character turns, a turn spent using ‘GUARD’ ought not have the menu cursor default back to ‘ATTACK on the subsequent turn. Leaving it on ‘GUARD’ speeds up movement through party turns when waiting for Aspara to learn Lore, or get to a slower character’s turn (where Katt/Nina has three turns in a row). Alternatively, adjust Aspara’s ability pool to include an ‘OBSERVE’ command would help to alleviate this.

• ASPARA: Is there a way to view Aspara’s Lore abilities from menu screen? A sort of indication of how many are available in total (or available by region/beastiary?)
  • Also, is there a ‘cap’ on # of LORES Aspara can learn? Aspara got hit with some Lores in battle and there was a message prompt that indicated she has learned it, but they do not appear in LORE for use in subsequent battles: eg. Kuwadora’s Devil ___ ability, OwlFruit boss’ AOE Fire attack. I hope this is a bug, and that all LORES can be learnt.   
• LIN: Her special character quest (Woren Graveyard) triggers a battle with Ifreet. For this fight, there is no battle field transition and the fight plays out with a fuzzed out zone background (showing both party members’ in-battle sprites, and out of battle sprites).
• MIXIE: joins at player level (alongside Jean), but has significantly less XP requirements to her level progression (reminiscent of BOFI Nina/Deis). She reached Level 80 by Evrai, compared to Ryu’s Lvl. 30.
• NINA: could benefit from some extra AOE abilities prior to Kirin? Nothing overpowered, but something to help contribute in non-boss fights.  In BoFII, she joined with AOE Thunder, and then learned S.Boom (lvl. 14?) and then Flame (lvl. 20?). It would be nice to see a smooth progression of elemental spells across single, random, and AOE targets.
• RAND: Formula for minor heal – is it based on the recipient’s stat? Not sure, but its very ineffectual and relatively expensive, given Rand’s natural MP pool. I would recommend a BUFF.
• STEN: Currently no encounters/interactions in the Thieves Tomb quest (Sten) aside from the final encounter. Floor tiles present an interesting opportunity, ghost Turbos are ethereal and don’t trigger an encounter. This is on ‘modern encounters setting’.

 Special Character quests provide some characters (Mixie, Jean, Aspara) with huge XP gains that break progression balance (lv 26 à 36). Others (Rand/Lin) don’t have this boost. The quests are short, so in Aspara’s case, one boss fight = 10Lvl gains for her. 

• That said, was nice to use Mixie’s HEX ability to effect for this fight.
  • It would be nice for some prompt/condition check to have Lin/Sten/Aspara in active party for their character event battle. You can see how character bosses are ‘designed’ around their focus character.
  • If individual characters were to keep 100% of XP gained in their battles, then they should fight them SOLO. Nice reason to invest in all characters’ growth and playstyle.

 Economics/Loot/Equipment progression

• WELL  UNDERNEATH CAPITAN: ant denizens dropped Great Swords like candy, selling for a cool 2,500 each. I had about 8 of these and I think there’s need for further tweaks to the LOOT and overall economic progression.
  
• GEAR: Due to the way Crests/Crystals/Gems/Runes work, I stopped participating in armor/weapon upgrades beyond initial character recruitment (500z tier). Given final tier weapons all cost 5,000z and have a focus towards ‘added effects’, it seemed that upgrading/changing strategies was “optional” rather than “essential”. Early access to Dragon Shrine Island and Prima Market seemed a little early and akin to a ‘debug menu mode’ where I could have access to the whole game’s item resources. I’m not sure whether this is the intent, or if the scaling will change in future patches.
  
• LOOT: Some relic rewards are seemingly overpowered for the time you get them (Sable Eye, Sten’s Gauntlet) and may encourage less party build diversity.
  • Example, I equipped Nina with the relic obtained after the whale dungeon. It doesn’t ‘speed’ her up relative to allies, but it seemingly gives her another 3-4 actions per combat round. Wicked for rinse and repeat unloading spells. It seems like game progression kind of demands this – but I suppose a good question is: is it the blade that makes the warrior, or the warrior that makes the blade?
    
• CONSUMABLES: For Mana potions, a 5pt recovery seems a bit low for tier-1 consumable. Why not 10 or 20pts, in theme with Acorns/Wisdom Seeds.

Balance

TWEAKING RYU'S DRAGON TRASNFORMATION MECHANICS:

• BUG - Ryu enters battle with his Dragon Breath attack (instead of standard Attack) if he wins the previous battle in dragon form. To fix, you have to Dragon transform again, and then ‘Revert’.
  
• Have you thought about the possibility of Ryu’s dragon transformation being a ‘new character’ with ‘separate HP/MP/CP’ stats  (as per BOFIII mechandics)? Currently, it is a sprite change, which I assume also offers a direct boost to wider ATK/MAG stats. Swaping to a new/separate character stat set (based on Ryu stats(+%) could result in a couple gameplay strategies:
  • A critical-condition Ryu might transform to a dragon as a sort of ‘second wind/desperation attack’. I remember BoFIII building around this, and it could be a strategic way to delay jumping into dragon form at the start of combat, wearing down boss encounter with Ranger skillset first, transforming when boss barrages become too much.
  •  Death in dragon form would trigger ‘Revert’ back to human, rather than death for Ryu. This would also parallel BOFIII mechanics.
  • Since Ryu is only half-dragon, what if ‘Revert’ sends him to critical-HP status? This would demonstate the taxing nature of the transformation, and perhaps there’s a cool down where he cannot immediately transform again. Helps to keep the Ranger skillset relevant throughout the game.
• In response to the above, what if GUTS restored Ryu’s HP at critical, and charged the next transformation opportunity? This would be a key first-response following Revert, limit impacts on wider party MP/consummable item use, and slow down Dragon Spaming. Currently, dragon transformations are free, and I guess it adds more gravity/weight and strategy to Light/Dark transformation, compared to a low-MP cost, free use Dragon model of BOFI.

• I previously suggested Ryu cannot use item/consumables in Dragon form. Maybe conventional healing does not work on Dragons and Ryu needs an inn (not camping) or special item (Ambrosia) to heal his dragon form - as was the case in BOFIV. This would also add importance/priority to any siphon abilities to heal as a Dark Dragon, and maybe ‘Wind Dragon’ abilities offers a REGEN for his Light Dragon path. It also presses us, the player, to invest skills in wider Dragon ability skill-set (backups/plan Bs) if their main option gets eliminated.
  • YUA: Perhaps Yua has a ability that only BUFFs/Heals a Dragon.
  • BOSCH: As a loyal Dog, perhaps hunter Bosch can toss a Dragon a bone (hunting spoils) for HP recovery? 
    •  this would add greater emphasis to hunting/fishing.
  • DEIS: Maybe Dies has some of that Endless energy to channel to Dragon Ryu’s HP pool?

·      Suddenly, these characters become important to Dragon-based Ryu builds, and work for a range of party compositions.

• Tier 2 Dragon skill tree: Dragon Breaths (AOE) seem underpowered, compared to other character options. Fully boosted Fire Dragon, 2nd Tier transformation, for instance, is underwhelming compared to Ryu attacking with x3 strike & fire elemental.
  • I suppose that’s a consequence of my build? I avoided skill tree abilities that rose SPECIAL at the expense of melee ATTACK. If some of the trade-offs I mentioned above are integrated, there would be less need to have a zero-sum game build across Ryu’s Ranger vs Dragon skill trees. It would also help emphasis to the player that both Ranger and Dragon skills are required to build to manage the full range of combat situations.

BOSS FIGHTS:  Recommend that autosaves only trigger when entering new zones, not in advance of boss battles.

• Kuwadora:
  • Autosaved with a sub-obtimal party pre-battle (Ryu, Aspara, Nina and Jean at 50% Health. Kuwardora’s opening move would determine the fight. Lots of do-overs for favourable RNG. Following, I HAD to apply Jean’s Flood spell to Debuff Kuwardora’s ATK, and then boost Ryu’s ATK/DEF with a cooked meal to survive his barrages (Ryu with WrymGuard Cover support move). Wearing Kuwadora down with Bleed and Inflammed/Poison was key (Ryu’s Shock Oil/Aspara’s Lore), and it was a battle of attrition, thanks to RNG & Consummables, rather than a balanced team effort.
  • Mobs leading up to him were fun/balanced, but the autosave pre-battle means I cannot enter menu and plan for boss fight appropriately after defeat (prior save was an hour before).
• Taiga:
  • I like the paralyse move that you coded to Taiga to use on the party (save Ryu). Clever way to make it  ‘same same, but different’ to the original one-on-one encounter. That said, I think Taiga is too tough for a Level 25-30 Ryu. I had to fight off silence, heal, use GUTS, then bring him down via CHOPCHOP. Felt like I cheesed the fight via CHOPCHOP, otherwise this was a wall. Without AUTOSAVE, it would have been easier to plan a proper response (resisting SILENCE, Buffing DEF).
    • I this playthrough, I forgot to do the Tunlan quest, and so perhpas Taiga is a level check against all the optional character quests?
      
  • CHOPCHOP – once I discovered its use, I realised the skill is kind of broken. What if the damage formula was dmg = ATK, to-hit=100% ? Meaning, if Ryu had an attack stat of 80, that’s what it would do, full stop. What I currently think it does is offer defense piercing damage, with full advantage of all the other ATK boosts Ryu currently has (leading to +1,000 damage on hit).
    •  Situational advantages to ATK stat = dmg:
      • 100% accurate (good against high evasion), 100% DEF piecing (will always do dmg=ATK).
      • This would be great against unique encounters at that too fast, too high in PHYS/DEF, but lowHP. We’ve seen this in the series with the integration of BOFII MiniSentry, Inifinity Robots, Giant Island Fly,  BOFIII Eggman/Acorn enemies, or any high EVA/LowHP mage enemy.
• Ganer: BUG - It would seem killing just two of the three magictek eyes is sufficient for releasing Ganer from captivity.

FUTURE STORY EXPANSION SUGGESTIONS: Making more of your large character roster, and expanding the world

PARTY SPLIT: If you integrate Yua, you’ve got a potential secondary party leader... someone with her own mission that needs support/watchful eye.

• In the original game, you spent a good part of the late game trying to track Patty down across her various efforts to build funds for Cotland’s resistance. You also had to track her down to warn her about GATE.
• Could there be a split party event/dungeons where the resistance has a bit of a laundry list of missions that are plot-time sensitive, requiring a split approach to meet the next objective?
  • If you’re playing SOLO Ryu, you could still centre it around a story split between brother and sister, whereby you might elect certain characters to accompany/escort Yua on a dangerous mission or heist.

The following are unsolicited half-baked ideas for either whole or split party quests:

• Maybe one group has to visit and appeal to Guntz to join the resistance effort?

•  Perhaps another group has to make contact with Prima, and discover that St Eva agents are part of the ongoing disruptions to the global trade network? (part of their effort to control flows of information).
• What purpose does Bunyan taking over Coursair have in the story? Does he need help and is there an opportunity to go back into the arena? Maybe someone has defected/escaped from St Eva Church, has information that is required to inflirtate Evrai (code words), but is a bit of a broken soul and must be bested in arena combat.
• I previously mentioned a archeological excavation of Wisdon, supporting Deis, to find an incantation thomb relating to bringing down a magical barrier or grounding/lifting a floating structure.

Latter game, pre-infinity stages:

• Evrai: This dungeon is a good contender for expansion to make a longer gauntlet (since we don’t have Bando as a dungeon, prior). Perhaps a B-Squad joins Claris as part of a two-pronged infiltration of Evrai?
  • Ray: You’ve expanded his dialogue in his Evrai scene, but in doing so, his character seems a little less believeable. I wonder if there could be some expansion to his character and influence in the story?
    • Remembering Jade aided BOFI Ryu with advice on how to infiltrate Scande, what if Ray tries to help Ryu achieve the same, but it otherwise unable to escape his bondage/fate with Evrai?
    • What if Yua confronts him at the conclusion of B-squad quest. Maybe without Ryu to stand up to him with Kaiser, Ray’s power knocks out the party and Ryu’s squad now has a to rescue that whole team?
• Crisis at Gate: Maybe the party needs to split in order to respond to the initial attack on the Dragon/Valerie by Father Hulk at Gate? These demons originally went for Bird, Mina, but what if they terrorised the Kingdoms across the land looking for Yua (who leaves party after rescue at Evrai)?  

These are just a couple of suggestions through which you can compel the player to try out different party compositions, expand story/lore opportunities, and have fun with the character mechanics you’ve built into them all. This would help avoid situations where people might instead of playing through the 2nd half of the game with one party, loaded up with all the best gear, like: Ryu-Nina-Lin-Rand. It also helps us to connect with Patty/Yua and make her feel like a fully realised character, as opposed to a plot device for Ryu’s characterization (as was in the original).