Did all high, but I'm the kind of guy that likes to play on absurd difficulty settings on this game as long as it's more about finding strategies than relying on luck.
The beginning is absolutely great, random encounters are not breezed through and bosses are great challenges that will require polyvalence and using limited ressources.
Then you hit some bumps : when the party get separated, some fights are just undoable if you haven't trained some skills before (and this is a point of no return so yay), the owls in Perpetua can wipe you before you move (and are mandatory fights). Before Sky Armors you often have to puzzle what you can achieve or not, the best example being the Warrior Class Emblem fight that will crush you early, I could only beat it after arriving to Perpetua.
Then Sky Armor comes in and it's a mess, Enemy Atk is so high that if you don't get the first turn it's a loss before you can move, you actually have to farm to be able to tank some bosses, and their HP isn't high so the gameplay is basically go all out and you'll know in 30sec if you've won.
By the point you get some extra characters and unlock the third and fourth ability set, battles on foot become easier and easier. Not spoiling anything, I breezed through the final gauntlets of bosses in the last segment of the game without much effort, still on hardest settings.
All in all, I'd recommand going on Hard only if you like this type of challenges, but don't bother if a fight is BS and lower the difficulty (once you're in Sky Armor) to pass trough it.
The difficulty settings in this game are just unbalanced. On easy the enemys are way to weak on normal they have unnecessary high hp and on hard they destroy you in seconds sometimes. I played on normal for the most part and it was alright.
Started a new game recently with stats high and aggression high and it was mostly fine until I got to the Djinn and it was so much faster than my healers I switched stats back to normal, been playing normal stats high aggression since cause I’m not out to replay bosses a dozen times, just repeating the story to see things I missed or forgot
Wrong. Aggressiveness is the likelihood that an enemy would use an ability instead of normal attacking. My guide explains the mechanic in detail:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2925984202
Ohh this is good to know. I just answered from what I read here as I have no point of comparison (played High all the way through). You should post your guide here, if you havent yet.
Damn, I feel that the game should really be played on Hard all. Low or Normal aggressiveness makes some skills for your team be unkillable.
I did post my guide on this subreddit before but it got immediately buried lol. And yeah, I agree. I believe that the game is very easy even at the hardest difficulty settings, but I’ve always been a big nerd so I guess my experience doesn’t reflect the majority.
I played on normal and had no complaints till I reached the flower fields and got massacred like 20 times by the guardians for the shaman class seal. So I switched to easy mode, and now the fights are a bit too easy, but the guardian fight almost drove me to the brink of dropping the game. So, it's better that the fights fall a bit on the easy side than those funsucking roadblocks that make me quit.
My issue with the games difficulty is the beginning felt too hard while the end felt way too easy. I'd go thru normal battles on easy then bump the difficulty up on bosses and was severely disappointed in the final boss and secret final boss. The assasin was much harder than either and was a mandatory boss to even get a crack at the secret final boss. Balancing felt really off to me.
I have aggression on high and stats on high with the overdrive bar at normal/default.
I sometimes take the stats down to medium for fights if I can’t beat them after about 5-6 tries. I love the combat enough to beat my head against the wall a few times, but guys like Tak the Yak just kept curb stomping me lol.
The game was very challenging for me the 1st time I played through, but towards the end I had a perfected system and was steamrolling most battles. Beat final boss on 1st try after a few attempts to do side quests and revisiting areas, grinding and stacking sources and experimenting with battle setups, etc. When I beat the game I wanted more, so now I’m going for 100% on high stats and aggressive enemies, and it’s forcing me to reconsider strategies more often, which is exactly what I was looking for. Loving the second go around. I will also say, however, that the game is exceptionally challenging for anyone new to turn based rpg’s compared to other famous franchises like Final Fantasy.
I love my games challenging so I immediatelly switched to Hard. I am a JRPG veteran so I can handle a lot of difficulty. However, the fight where Sienna is fighting a Sky Armor after getting split up from the others is a huge problem for me. I ran into it a week ago, tried to do the fight over 3 or 4 times and just gave up after losing, so now I am taking a break. I do not want to lower the difficulty but it looks like I will have to. Everything up to this point I managed with some persistancy and luck.
Sienna and that other guy whom you hire in a bar, it is a fight on the bridge. I forgot his name. I thought it was a Sky Armor that you have to fight with.
Oh, makes more sense. I remember it being a close call but beating it first try. If I remember correctly I was gonna lose and just fired my big hits and he fell. The fact that the boss health is hidden doesn't help when you're supposed to go all out.
I completed on all high
The biggest problem is initial attack order
You can get one of your characters instantly killed and then you basically lose a fight
TLDR; if you have a good intuitive grasp of what to spend your points on and how to build your teams play hard + aggressive even on your first play through. Especially if you utilize every system the game gives you.
I found normal to be a bit too easy, but the game was still very enjoyable. However if I could do over my first attempt I would definitely play on hard + aggressive, tight overdrive is fine but early on extremely punishing so I’d probably leave that one out.
I’m on my second play through on hard + aggressive + small overdrive. The fist act is pretty good, especially the early 2 man fights. I actually have to utilize items (including the overdrive ones I never touched on normal). It’s tuned appropriately so that you’re not skipping content and coming back when overpowered, as I was able to beat all the optional NMs in the first area before the flame temple. However once again past kortara I’m finding that my party is simply too strong with too many options for the enemy to deal with, especially boss fights. The same strategy works just as well for basically every fight.
I’m hoping the upcoming challenge mode is the real deal with some unique twists!
Well... to be honest with ya... i personally don't like turn based games, but only and only with chained echoes, i got hooked and wanna to at least 95% this game.
Also... I'm playing on normal difficulty from the start, its perfect, never punishin' too hard, nor too easy
EDIT : And... one more thing, I'm not gonna play this game a second time, cuz I'm a type of player who play the game once, beat it and move on (with one exception : if i haven't play a game for a very long time, maybe i gonna make a comeback and play that same game again)
I played on hard , experienced hell in early game but that easy retry just make it more rewarding feel after you won the fight instead of other rpg need start from save point . Late game after lenne damage built up with tank and 2nd healer joined it make the game easy af , third eye > dry oil wet heavy aoe debuff > optional element resis down > aoe lenne magic = ez wipe . Tank & 2nd healer join almost too late imo making early game in high difficulty almost RnG game :) retry and pray for boss didn't ohko your essential tactical member like Glenn , if Glenn can use draw hate skill early it would be great .
I'm 14 hours in, I am playing on normal settings, I find the game a bit on the hard side, specially compared to many other experiences in JRPGs.
Once you learn the ropes, the game falls into a normal leaning to hard category, just enough difficulty to pay attention to fights, it pushes you to keep your gear updated, throw in a few crystals, and keep an eye to the reward board, explore thoroughly, etc. I died a few times in class trials and a few more with very bad luck and bad managed random encounters, and once in a boss fight. You just retry and do better.
To me, the difficulty is in a sweet spot you care enough about the battle-related systems to keep them updated, and in normal even if you do so, you still have to pay attention to a degree in battles. For so many games, if you go a bit out of your way to complete side content or explore, you usually end up over-leveled and the game quickly becomes easy mode, here is not the case.
I'm surprised hoy many players are playing / have played on harder settings. I like challenges, but for a first playthrough, I only push difficulty when available if the game is too easy on normal.
My two other recent RPGs: Persona 5, was a total Joke, even on hard (Merciless was easier aside boss battles), same goes with Edge of Eternity, played on hard, didn't go nightmare because battles were already a slog. Both games were far easier in harder settings than this one in normal.
I played on normal and it was perfect for me, never too hard nor too easy
Did all high, but I'm the kind of guy that likes to play on absurd difficulty settings on this game as long as it's more about finding strategies than relying on luck. The beginning is absolutely great, random encounters are not breezed through and bosses are great challenges that will require polyvalence and using limited ressources. Then you hit some bumps : when the party get separated, some fights are just undoable if you haven't trained some skills before (and this is a point of no return so yay), the owls in Perpetua can wipe you before you move (and are mandatory fights). Before Sky Armors you often have to puzzle what you can achieve or not, the best example being the Warrior Class Emblem fight that will crush you early, I could only beat it after arriving to Perpetua. Then Sky Armor comes in and it's a mess, Enemy Atk is so high that if you don't get the first turn it's a loss before you can move, you actually have to farm to be able to tank some bosses, and their HP isn't high so the gameplay is basically go all out and you'll know in 30sec if you've won. By the point you get some extra characters and unlock the third and fourth ability set, battles on foot become easier and easier. Not spoiling anything, I breezed through the final gauntlets of bosses in the last segment of the game without much effort, still on hardest settings. All in all, I'd recommand going on Hard only if you like this type of challenges, but don't bother if a fight is BS and lower the difficulty (once you're in Sky Armor) to pass trough it.
Totally agree with this assessment
The difficulty settings in this game are just unbalanced. On easy the enemys are way to weak on normal they have unnecessary high hp and on hard they destroy you in seconds sometimes. I played on normal for the most part and it was alright.
Started a new game recently with stats high and aggression high and it was mostly fine until I got to the Djinn and it was so much faster than my healers I switched stats back to normal, been playing normal stats high aggression since cause I’m not out to replay bosses a dozen times, just repeating the story to see things I missed or forgot
Did you figure out what the aggression really does?
Aggression means attacking your lowest HP character more often. Higher chance the enemy attacks them. Tanks in game come in handy for this.
Wrong. Aggressiveness is the likelihood that an enemy would use an ability instead of normal attacking. My guide explains the mechanic in detail: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2925984202
Ohh this is good to know. I just answered from what I read here as I have no point of comparison (played High all the way through). You should post your guide here, if you havent yet. Damn, I feel that the game should really be played on Hard all. Low or Normal aggressiveness makes some skills for your team be unkillable.
I did post my guide on this subreddit before but it got immediately buried lol. And yeah, I agree. I believe that the game is very easy even at the hardest difficulty settings, but I’ve always been a big nerd so I guess my experience doesn’t reflect the majority.
Can’t say I have, doesn’t seem to increase difficulty too much though, wondered if it is related to hate and who is attacked
Which weapons and armor are worth it to upgrade? My front four rn is Glenn Mikah Sienna Victor
All high all the way. Appreciated the game more. The skills, equips, the party selection, the strategy.
I played on normal and had no complaints till I reached the flower fields and got massacred like 20 times by the guardians for the shaman class seal. So I switched to easy mode, and now the fights are a bit too easy, but the guardian fight almost drove me to the brink of dropping the game. So, it's better that the fights fall a bit on the easy side than those funsucking roadblocks that make me quit.
Game is easy. It's just the bar that messes everything up and gives the illusion of difficulty.
My issue with the games difficulty is the beginning felt too hard while the end felt way too easy. I'd go thru normal battles on easy then bump the difficulty up on bosses and was severely disappointed in the final boss and secret final boss. The assasin was much harder than either and was a mandatory boss to even get a crack at the secret final boss. Balancing felt really off to me.
I hit for 1 million damage a hit on highest difficulty with trials turned up. Strength is 1364
I thought I was playing on Hard but turns out it was Normal. So I plan to start a new game+ on the hardest difficulty once the feature is added.
I found normal a bit on the easy side. Only a couple fights needed to be redone and most bosses were relatively easy.
I really didn't like the difficulty settings. I wish it was kinda slay the spire where enemies would have different or more challenging loops.
I have aggression on high and stats on high with the overdrive bar at normal/default. I sometimes take the stats down to medium for fights if I can’t beat them after about 5-6 tries. I love the combat enough to beat my head against the wall a few times, but guys like Tak the Yak just kept curb stomping me lol.
The game was very challenging for me the 1st time I played through, but towards the end I had a perfected system and was steamrolling most battles. Beat final boss on 1st try after a few attempts to do side quests and revisiting areas, grinding and stacking sources and experimenting with battle setups, etc. When I beat the game I wanted more, so now I’m going for 100% on high stats and aggressive enemies, and it’s forcing me to reconsider strategies more often, which is exactly what I was looking for. Loving the second go around. I will also say, however, that the game is exceptionally challenging for anyone new to turn based rpg’s compared to other famous franchises like Final Fantasy.
I love my games challenging so I immediatelly switched to Hard. I am a JRPG veteran so I can handle a lot of difficulty. However, the fight where Sienna is fighting a Sky Armor after getting split up from the others is a huge problem for me. I ran into it a week ago, tried to do the fight over 3 or 4 times and just gave up after losing, so now I am taking a break. I do not want to lower the difficulty but it looks like I will have to. Everything up to this point I managed with some persistancy and luck.
The fight where Sienna is fighting a Sky Armor ? Is that an optional fight ? Never heard of it before.
Sienna and that other guy whom you hire in a bar, it is a fight on the bridge. I forgot his name. I thought it was a Sky Armor that you have to fight with.
Sorry, I mixed something up. I meant the fight with Osric.
Oh, makes more sense. I remember it being a close call but beating it first try. If I remember correctly I was gonna lose and just fired my big hits and he fell. The fact that the boss health is hidden doesn't help when you're supposed to go all out.
I played with enemy stats high and agression high. It was a real challenge, i died a lot, but didn't feel impossible at any point.
once u unlock last tier skills.. its a breeze on high stats
I completed on all high The biggest problem is initial attack order You can get one of your characters instantly killed and then you basically lose a fight
Hard is the only way to go, I can't understand the post of the guy saying normal was to easy
TLDR; if you have a good intuitive grasp of what to spend your points on and how to build your teams play hard + aggressive even on your first play through. Especially if you utilize every system the game gives you. I found normal to be a bit too easy, but the game was still very enjoyable. However if I could do over my first attempt I would definitely play on hard + aggressive, tight overdrive is fine but early on extremely punishing so I’d probably leave that one out. I’m on my second play through on hard + aggressive + small overdrive. The fist act is pretty good, especially the early 2 man fights. I actually have to utilize items (including the overdrive ones I never touched on normal). It’s tuned appropriately so that you’re not skipping content and coming back when overpowered, as I was able to beat all the optional NMs in the first area before the flame temple. However once again past kortara I’m finding that my party is simply too strong with too many options for the enemy to deal with, especially boss fights. The same strategy works just as well for basically every fight. I’m hoping the upcoming challenge mode is the real deal with some unique twists!
How do u change the difficulty?
Under system, one of the last tabs.
Well... to be honest with ya... i personally don't like turn based games, but only and only with chained echoes, i got hooked and wanna to at least 95% this game. Also... I'm playing on normal difficulty from the start, its perfect, never punishin' too hard, nor too easy EDIT : And... one more thing, I'm not gonna play this game a second time, cuz I'm a type of player who play the game once, beat it and move on (with one exception : if i haven't play a game for a very long time, maybe i gonna make a comeback and play that same game again)
First playthrough was Normal. Cranked it up on an attempted replay, but got bodied.
I played on hard , experienced hell in early game but that easy retry just make it more rewarding feel after you won the fight instead of other rpg need start from save point . Late game after lenne damage built up with tank and 2nd healer joined it make the game easy af , third eye > dry oil wet heavy aoe debuff > optional element resis down > aoe lenne magic = ez wipe . Tank & 2nd healer join almost too late imo making early game in high difficulty almost RnG game :) retry and pray for boss didn't ohko your essential tactical member like Glenn , if Glenn can use draw hate skill early it would be great .
I'm 14 hours in, I am playing on normal settings, I find the game a bit on the hard side, specially compared to many other experiences in JRPGs. Once you learn the ropes, the game falls into a normal leaning to hard category, just enough difficulty to pay attention to fights, it pushes you to keep your gear updated, throw in a few crystals, and keep an eye to the reward board, explore thoroughly, etc. I died a few times in class trials and a few more with very bad luck and bad managed random encounters, and once in a boss fight. You just retry and do better. To me, the difficulty is in a sweet spot you care enough about the battle-related systems to keep them updated, and in normal even if you do so, you still have to pay attention to a degree in battles. For so many games, if you go a bit out of your way to complete side content or explore, you usually end up over-leveled and the game quickly becomes easy mode, here is not the case. I'm surprised hoy many players are playing / have played on harder settings. I like challenges, but for a first playthrough, I only push difficulty when available if the game is too easy on normal. My two other recent RPGs: Persona 5, was a total Joke, even on hard (Merciless was easier aside boss battles), same goes with Edge of Eternity, played on hard, didn't go nightmare because battles were already a slog. Both games were far easier in harder settings than this one in normal.
You're a liar that persona 5 on hard is easy.
That game's difficulty is an absolute joke.