Alright so Episode 2 of XABY is finally up. It is a little bit later this time because our sound producer had some real work which he had to do since we sure as hell aren’t paying him.

You can download it directly from here

Most of my TGS impressions are there so I am not going to write them up here. However I do have a very quick story I wanted to share. As the show came to a close I noticed a few of my buddies had some awesome Ryu ga Gotoku 3 posters which I wanted to get my hands on. Without any real prospect of finding one I took off back to the Sega booth to ask around. Of course everyone I asked said they had all been given out, which left me a bit disappointed. Just as I caught my breath and prepared to return to my friends empty-handed I noticed a line forming near me. As I circled around to get a better look, I realized it was people waiting in line to speak with the producer of the Ryu ga Gotoku series, Toshihiro Nagoshi. There were only a few people lining up so I just slipped in the back. He was caught up in a conversation with a beautiful woman which took the better part of 10 minutes before taking pictures with the people in front of me. It came to my turn and I told him how much I love his games and how excited I was for the third in the series. He was nice enough but didn’t seem to interested in talking to me or the people in front of me. Can’t really blame him considering who we followed after.

I was recently invited to join a podcast by Nayan Ramachandran of HDRL fame. It is basically myself, Nayan, Eric Koziel from Book of Revenant, Segata Sanshiro from Neogaf, and Arne Meyer from Naughty dog wasting time talking about what games we are playing and other topics which are related to the gaming industry. This is the first edition of what is planned to be a bi-weekly podcast. It ended up going quite a bit better than we expected, and I have to say I am looking forward to the next one. This first one is a little bit on the long side but please take a listen and leave any comments you would like.

This is the official site for the podcast or you can just download directly from here.

XABY RADIO EP 1

Alright well it has been quite a while since the last update because of my recent move to Osaka. It has been a busy period of settling in plus starting work at new schools in the Osaka area. I finally feel like I am settled in so I figured it would be a good time to update the blog.

I just wanted to give some quick impressions on Level 5s new Soccer RPG, Inazuma Eleven. It was a complete impulse buy as I had not really followed it since the first couple of trailers but I am really happy that I picked it up now. I have put about 10 hours into the game so far and it is quite a bit better than I expected.

The story and setting are just cookie cutter sports anime fare, but a part of me has always found this style at least a little charming so it is hard to hold it against the game. I am also extremely impressed at how they managed to mesh this setting together with what is basically a traditional RPG. Nothing feels out of place even though it is quite different when compared to other RPGs.

It still keeps the standard random battle system, but the battles are actually just 4 on 4 soccer matches with no rules. They are extremely painless and can be ended fairly quickly once you get the hang of the controls. Boss battles actually take the form of a full on 11 man soccer match, which are the highlights of the game. Things can get extremely hectic mainly because of the number of special abilities that get thrown around. The abilities basically come in 4 different types; they consist of shooting, dribbling, blocking, and goalkeeping moves. All have ridiculous over-the-top anime cinematics which are fairly entertaining. There seems to be quite a wide variety even this early in the game also, so you don’t get tired of watching the same thing.

The controls are pretty simple, although it can be overwhelming if you try to micro-manage too much. You draw lines from your characters in the direction you want them to run to. You can draw a zig-zag or a wavy line and they will follow it to the tee. If you have the ball, tapping anywhere on screen will kick it there, so you tap in front of a teammate to pass or tap a spot on the goal to shoot. You can also tap on your character which will preform a juke type move. If an opposing player is close when you do this it will stun them. If you characters runs into an opposing player then it will prompt you with choices. The choices range from various special abilities or normal juke/slide moves. If you tap on the goal for a shot then you are also prompted with the choice of normal kicks or special abilities.

The controls work really well and become second nature pretty fast. There are also a couple of factors that help to smooth things out a bit. Teammates will automatically run for the ball if you lead them with your passes. You can also do direct shots, which are basically assists. If you pass the ball to a teammate in front of the goal and tap on the goal for a shot as soon as he receives the ball you are given this opportunity. It basically just allows you to use a heading technique or another faster kick instead of the normal shots. Very useful move. Another helpful tactic is a little icon on the top right that allows you to stop time and input commands for your entire team if you want. You can use it once every 10 seconds or so. A very good idea that helps to cut down on the hectic nature of the game.

Overall I am very happy with the game, and plan to finish it before I move onto any other DS games. A very fun and original take on the normal JRPG formula.

I have been meaning to do another small translation for practice, and finally found something interesting to work on. So in line with the previous Berwick Saga piece I am putting up my amateur take on the Persona 4 prologue located in the game manual.

Prologue

After his parents leave town on business, our Hero is forced to move into the small country town of Inaba. Upon his arrival, the town is beset by a series of mysterious murder cases. Corpses with no identifiable cause of death are found one after the other, hanging from buildings or TV antennas…Numerous strange “shadows” steadily creep up on the quiet country town.

A rumor spreads throughout town; at zero hour on a rainy day it is possible to see the Lost Channel. This Lost Channel will supposedly reveal your “soulmate”, but at what cost…?

A shroud falls over the town, in the form of a dark and dense fog.
Almost as if the path to the future has been shut, the town is trapped by the fog.

People suddenly disappear, only to be found as corpses later. Who will be the next to disappear? And where exactly is the culprit…?

In order to uncover the identity of the mysterious murderer, our Hero and his partners have opened up the door to another world. The key to this door is the power lying dormant deep within all of their minds…their other self; Their very own “Persona”.

Persona > > > > Awakening

Facing their true self in this other world, your partners awaken their hidden talents as “Persona Users”. At the same time this marks the end of their peaceful everyday lives. It also means the beginning of a year filled with adversities as they scramble to solve the mystery.

Persona Users

For any average person the ego that they try to suppress is in fact another self which lurks in the depths of their consciousness. A Persona User describes someone who is able to tame this other self and turn it into usable “Power”. Each Persona User has their on particular persona, and our Hero is no different. However, as a Persona User our Hero still has a special power he is still keeping to himself.

The original japanese selection is available below.

両親の都合で田舎町の稲羽市に引っ越すことになった主人公。越してくるなり、町で奇怪な殺人事件が起こり始める。テレビのアンテナや建物にぶら下がった状態で次々と見つかる、死因不明の変死体。。。平穏な田舎町に忍び寄る、得体の知れない”影”数々。

午前零時、雨の夜に見られるというマヨナカテレビの噂。そこには自分の”運命の相手”が映るという話だったか、しかし。。。
町全体を覆いだす、濃い霧ーーー。

まるで未来への道を閉ざすかのように、まちは霧に閉ざされる。
突如失踪し、死体となって発見される人々。次に行方不明になるのは、誰なのか。そして、犯人はどこに。。

主人公とその仲間たちは、正体不明の殺人犯の謎を追ううちに異世界への扉を開いてしまう。その扉の鍵とは、心の力。。。もう一人の自分。”ペルソナ”ーーー。

ペルソナ＞＞＞覚醒

異世界で真の自分と向き合い、仲間たちは”ペルソナ使い”としての素質を開花させてゆく。ーーーそれは、同時に、平穏な日常の終わり。謎の事件の解明を目指す波乱に満ちた一年の始まりを意味していた。

ペルソナ使い

人は誰しも抑圧された自我＝もう一人の自分を心の奥底に潜ませているが、ペルソナ使いとは、そのもう一人の自分を飼いならし、”力”として使いこな せる者のことを指す。ペルソナ使いにそれぞれ固有のペルソナがあり、それは主人公とて、例外ではない。しかし、ペルソナ使いとして、主人公だけは特殊な力 を秘めている。

Well after thinking about it for a while, I decided against doing reviews on this site. I was planning on doing a review of Valkyria Chronicles as my first one, but instead I will just do a detailed post about what I believe the game did right as far as the SRPG genre is concerned. In a genre that has been plagued with a lack of substantial innovation, Valkyria Chronicles stands out as a fine example of a new idea which was perfectly executed.

As a longtime fan of the SRPG genre, I always have my ears open for new titles that try to implement new and interesting ideas into the genre. The problem comes with the fact that this doesn’t happen nearly as often as it should. The majority of the games are still stuck using the same basic gameplay principles that have become staples of the genre. The most common of these are terrain advantages and weapon circles. Even if you look at one of the leading series in the genre, Fire Emblem, a good 90% of the strategy in the game revolves around these two systems. In fact the only notable addition in the newer games is the ability for heavier characters to push lighter characters one space over. Looking at this it’s pretty obvious to conclude that they are stuck in a deep muddy rut, and instead of putting something under the back tires to actually move forward they are happy just spinning their tires deeper and deeper.

Enough with talking about the past though. I came here with the purpose of detailing all the things that Valkyria Chronicles manages to do right. As far as SRPGs are concerned it is one of the freshest offerings I have played in a very long time. One of my main problems with the genre is that they haven’t done a very good job moving into the 3D era. Any of the series that have made this transition have only did it aesthetically with practically no real implementation as far as gameplay. How Valkyria Chronicles approaches this is by giving you a 2D map view that any SRPG fan would feel comfortable with. Once a unit is selected the game zooms in on the character, giving you full control in a 3D field. The character is now under your control, allowing you to move freely until your ability points are spent for that round. Once you are in position next is the aiming phase in which the action stops and gives you a chance to attack the enemy. It works like the majority of previous SRPG games in most areas, except that the action is carried out by you in a full 3D field.

Valkyria Chronicles is one of the few games that actually managed to capture the idea of a SRPG inside of a 3D world. You can actually look up and see the snipers on a rooftop above you, or jump back when you turn a corner to see a tank waiting in ambush. It is just common sense that these kinds of details in a 3D engine would help to increase immersion, but it does not stop at just that. The game takes on a different feel when you are actually running up to an enemy, stopping and taking aim, then firing a volley at their head. It also adds some strategy in this respect because you have different areas to aim at with different advantages and drawbacks. Shooting at the upper body or head will result in more damage but there is always a chance the enemy will go prone to dodge the attack. On the other hand you will get less damage from shooting at their lower half, but are guaranteed to hit. Small details like this help to add more variety to each individual encounter.

There are a lot of new exciting things to do as far as strategy thanks to the 3D world. There are actually alleys and openings between buildings which if used effectively allow you to flank the enemy’s position. Instead of having a sprite in an normal SRPG standing at the entrance to a base so no one can get in to destroy your troops, Valkyria allows you to hide troops from the enemy’s view behind walls. I really believe this adds a lot more believability to the “Fog of War” aspect that is a standard in most SRPGs. Instead of being based on a certain distance you can see, it is more about line of sight. Climbing a sniping tower for example will give you the positions of any enemy you can see in the distance. On top of this, good positioning will make sure that they fire at anyone who crosses their line of sight. The fact that action happens even when you are not actively attacking or being attacked really speeds up the game’s flow.

The next aspect that stood out to me was the way the game handles a character’s death. The game does have permanent death which might scare some of the more casual SRPG fans off, but you can rest easy. The implementation is nowhere near as brutal as other series with this feature, namely Fire Emblem and the Tear Ring Saga. Once a character loses all of his/her HP they will collapse on the battlefield, and will stay on the ground wounded for a limited number of turns or until an enemy approaches them. If you move one of your own characters up before either of these happen they will call in a medic to rush them back to your base. Also nice is that if you give them one turn to heal then you are able to call them back out into the field during the same battle. One other detail which I found useful is the fact that you can use your tanks to recover characters also, in case they collapsed in a dangerous area.

Now that I have mentioned the tanks, I just need to put it out there that I love them so much in this game. The game does a great job emphasizing the importance of the tank as more than just pure firepower. For most of the missions it is extremely important to use it as your shield against enemy counter attacks. Although it might sound redundant to repeat this again, it’s another example of the possibilities opened up by a full 3D SRPG.

Earlier I mentioned the “Fog of War” feature that is used to usually add challenge to most SRPG games, limiting your field of view as a result of nighttime or other battlefield conditions. One of the problems I always felt was the fact that it was mostly just giving you a disadvantage, with the AI still able to detect your movements and ambush accordingly. However in Valkyria Chronicles it factors in on both sides, as the enemy will be totally clueless if you manage to hide from their sight. Not only this, but the game also gives you another option around halfway through that relates directly to this topic. In preparation for a particular mission you are given a smoke bomb to use with your main tank, the Edelweiss. By using this smoke bomb you are able to cover your troops’ advancement, protect them from heavy fire, etc. It really adds a lot of potential to the game if you use it correctly. I managed to defeat a couple of bosses very handily with strategic use of the smoke bombs. The game basically gives you the ability to use something that was previously an extremely annoying factor in SRPGs wherever and whenever you want against the AI. It was very much a refreshing change in this respect.

Well, I ended up talking about the game more than I originally planned and I haven’t even touched on the presentation or graphics. Good thing that there really is nothing to say other than the game is absolutely beautiful. The entire game has a very consistent art style which was beautiful throughout. The environments look great and really come to life with destructible obstacles and small details like manga inspired sound effects. The animation and lighting were also top notch, as I was especially taken back by the beauty of the night missions. All of the cutscenes were well directed and most of them were absolutely breathtaking. As far as presentation, the interface was easy to use and very intuitive. The way the game was broken down into chapters in a book was an interesting way to do things which worked very well. The story was also a pleasant surprise, complete with a couple of twists which I did not see coming at all.

When it comes down to it, this was one of the best and most refreshing SRPGs I have played this generation. There are still tons of other details that I just don’t have time to gush over including a great variation in mission structure, challenging and well thought out boss battles, and a memorable soundtrack to boot. Anyone who considers themself a SRPG fan would be making a big mistake in skipping this one.

Well last weekend the servers for the MGO beta finally shut down, but not before me and my friends destroyed team after team until the wee hours of the morning. It was definitely a great time while it lasted and I will be joining everyone back online once it hits next month.

Now I just want to put up my final impressions, now that I have had time to reflect on various aspects of the beta.  As I said in my last post, I want to spend some time discussing the Sneaking Mission playmode that was added a few days into the beta. For me this was the most exciting thing in the beta because it not only gave us a look at the general idea behind the single player in MGS4 but also gave us a chance to try out Snake and his awesome Octocam!

The idea to throw Snake into the middle of what is basically a Team Deathmatch game is absolute genius. Just adding the extra factor of Snake and Metal Gear Mk2 causing trouble in the middle of a match really made things more exciting. Outside of certain MMOs I can’t really think of a multiplayer game that managed to accomplish having 3 sides within one battle. MGO, however, accomplished this magnificently. With the extra chaos that Snake and his Invisible Buddy can reek the tide of a battle can easily turn against one team. 

The most impressive aspect of this game is how well it puts you into the soldier’s mindset, especially when facing Snake. Although there is still the other team and it is impossible to ignore them, Snake is the real target. He is the primary worry throughout the entire match, even if you don’t see him even once. In fact that usually just makes things more tense. A Snake that you have not seen for an entire match often means it is a good Snake player.  

Another impressive aspect of this Solider mindset is how easy it is to completely forget about Snake when you are in the middle of a chaotic firefight. This is often one of the best times for Snake to strike at any stragglers that might be respawning from the battle or just trying to flank the other team. There have been plenty of times when I would decide to flank the enemy while my friends were fighting an attrition battle. Of course this is the time when I would run into Snake in some dark corridor on my own. 

Chasing afters Snake solo is one of the best examples of the game putting you into the normal soldier’s mindset. No matter how good of a player you are, you are going to be outclassed as far as skill level and abilities go. Snake basically has everything you could have and at the highest level possible. Caution is the name of the game especially if you are facing off against a competent Snake . On the other hand, just like a normal AI guard urgency is just as important because he can easily escape and start fresh. It doesn’t get any more tense than chasing Snake around a corner just to find the room empty. His Octocam is his best weapon if used properly and is so good it can be frightening. I have often ran into this situation and my first reaction is to usually spray the walls and floor with gunfire. It has actually flushed him out a couple of times but is usually just a useless reaction because he somehow circled around behind me or moved on to another target. However, if you some how manage to hunt down and kill Snake, it is hard not to jump for joy. I always celebrate after a Snake kill because he can be such a pain to hunt down.

Talking about how amazing Snake is might make people think he is unbalanced, and yes if you were in a small game with no communication on the other teams this would probably be correct. But being in a full game with 16 people ready to kill you is extremely difficult and tense. Team members are alerted as soon as a comrade goes down thanks to the SOP system. Plus it is not as simple as killing the other teams. As Snake your goal is to knock them out and then collect dogtags by crouching and patting them down. This leaves you completely open for one of the teammates to run in and save the day. Especially if the teams are communicating, unless it’s a good Snake he is probably going to be in trouble.

Really I don’t have any complaints with the game in it’s current state, outside of lobby and server side things. The game really should have a party matchmaking system so that it’s easier to get together with friends. I also don’t really like the idea that you can’t talk to the other team through voice when in the lobby. It seems obvious to have lobby chat open so you can talk with friends who got placed on the opposite team, etc. I also never found an option to just filter servers by gameplay modes/options. I might have just missed it but I doubt it. Should definitely be there because it can sometimes be a pain to wade through all kinds of special rooms for a normal match.

However, there is one aspect of the gameplay that I think could be tweaked and it has to do with the SOP system. At the moment, when using voice chat you just have your name pop up on the left side of the screen with a little mic symbol. Two people can be talking at a time so a lot of times two names will be displayed in that area. Although this is a standard UI feature I don’t see any reason why it couldn’t be worked into the SOP system. The reasoning is that sometimes in urgent situations its hard to know who is saying what. Something as simple as a glow or highlight of a character’s SOP outline would do wonders to show who was talking to you. Basically I think it would just be a nice detail and easily worked into the already existing SOP system. It would be nice to know that the guy yelling out “BEHIND US!!!!!!” is standing right beside you.

Outside of these few nitpicks and the launch problems it was an amazing beta that I had blast being a part of. I really can’t wait for the retail version next month and have even went back and beat MGS3 once already to help with the MGO withdrawals I suffered. Only a little less than a month left and then the return to pure MGO gaming bliss.

Thanks to the Golden Week holiday me and my friends managed to put a significant amount of time into the MGO beta. God this game makes me giggle in happiness over and over. It is one of the freshest multiplayer experiences I have had in a long time. The SOP system when properly utilized is amazing and really adds a lot of incentive to proper teamwork. I am just going to do my normal thing and go over some of the various aspects that have put a smile on my face so far in the beta.

I am really happy with how the skill system is implemented as it is extremely balanced but still has a wide variety of specialization available from the start. As a result it allows for an extremely wide range of play styles. This is one thing that the majority of shooters fall short on. You are usually just limited to variety as far as being a sniper or shotgun user. Or the guy that throws flashbangs, but really outside of a few exceptions shooters are lacking in real character specialization. Luckily for us, the world of Metal Gear really lends itself well to unique play styles.

The skill system is pretty easy to break down, and the beauty is in the various combinations you can do. There are numerous skills to choose from and every skill has three ranks. Often times the third rank will give a special ability, such as the ability to cut enemy throats with Knife mastery or disarm opponents with CQC mastery. They have managed to balance this by making it is impossible to have more than one lvl 3 skill because each separate rank takes up a skill slot. The mastered skills are very powerful but you definitely have the sacrifice to obtain them. A good example is the rank 3 knife mastery which gives you the ability to kill enemies from behind by slitting their throat. In this case however, not only do you need lvl 3 knife mastery but you also need CQC specialization in order to get them in the proper situation. I am currently torn between going with this setup or sticking with my knife mastery and fast movement specialization. The cut throat ability is very cool but it is harder to approach with the knife without fast movement. This is just one example of the cost/benefit system that they have put in place.

Thanks to the great character specialization present me and my other friends who play all have drastically different play styles. I tend to rely on fast movement and my knife, often times laying in wait inside a cardboard box for someone to pass by. One of my other friends just runs in with a submachine gun and auto-lock, strafing the enemy and pumping a steady stream of lead into their chest. The third friend that we play with has started running around with a shotgun. He switches between auto-lock and manual aiming, since manual aiming has the added ability of knocking enemies down. He basically aims to knock them down and then finish them off while they are on the ground. Both of them have the enemy exposure skill so that they can paint targets for the rest of the team. They are pretty standard styles but it is interesting to watch all three of us switch off and see how varied our strategies actually are. I have gone entire rounds without firing off a shot and just assassinating people with the knife. There have been other people online that have specialized completely in setting the porno magazines down in prime areas, which can be a big advantage if used right.

The sound design is another aspect that has continued to impress me the more I play. The grenade and gunshot effects really sound great especially when things get really hectic. I also practically fell off my couch the first time I heard the classic exclamation point sound effect pop up behind me when a teammate discovered snake. The game really works well with full 5.1 surround because of effects like this. Of course there are other great sound effects such as the hilarity resulting from getting trapped by a magazine. It’s hard not to laugh at yourself as your character drools over the magazine.

The graphics are impressive and stay at a steady frame rate no matter how crazy things get. Some of the effects such as the debris filter(not sure how else to name it) when hit by a grenade are just amazing. It basically looks like dirt and dust are blown onto your screen right after a close explosion. It is this level of detail that has always made Metal Gear so special. Even in this beta there are bottles and such all over the place that can be broken, along with all the windows. I had one great shootout where I finished someone off by firing into a rack with bottles, shattering all of them and the enemy’s skull in one spray. One more detail that has saved me many times is the fact that hiding in a cardboard box will save you from stun grenades. I had to use this to my advantage against one particularly grenade happy team.

That is all for the first part of my impressions. I plan to at least one more that goes into detail about the exciting Sneaking Mission mode that was added a few days into the beta. It is a great mode that actually gives a look into how the single player will play in MGS4 thanks to the addition of a playable Snake.

So see you then, and watch out for porn on the floor! 

Yeah I would not normally use a frown face in a title, but it really is fitting.

Sadly, the Metal Gear Online Beta is still running a little behind schedule.

They are currently working on the Japanese servers, while shutting off access to the other regions. The remaining servers are allegedly going live after things are stabilized for Japan. Maintenance is scheduled to end tomorrow around 3PM. 

I made it as far as entering my character name but got dropped after sending the data. Will try again throughout the night, but it doesn’t look promising. There is a hint of good news in the fact that the test will be extended for another five days. It is now set to end on May 11th.

And yes this is being placed under Latest Addictions because I can’t seem to go an hour without trying to connect again. Sounds like an addiction to me. 

Well it has been a bumpy start, but the Metal Gear Online beta test should be up and running soon. I was one of the few lucky enough to get my Konami ID and beta key all sorted out before Konami’s site started to get hammered to the point where it was unusable. 

Now that it is so close I have found myself reading more and more about this little gem that Kojima Productions is putting out. The game(and the beta) will come complete with character and skill customization, allowing you to decide to specialize in abilities ranging from Close Quarters Combat, Sniping, Demolition, Quickness, and other stats.

However the most exciting aspect of the game is the Sons Of the Patriots system which is something that will also be playing an important part in the MGS4 story. It consists of soldiers being injected with nano-machines that allow them to share information with other squad members in real time. Basically what this allows as far as gameplay in MGO is giving you real time information of your teammates location, status, and even what they are aiming or looking at. However, it is not quite as simple as having them show up on a radar, which would not be a big change from other shooters. It actually just shows their outline through walls and obstacles so you can always keep your eyes on the action and your teammates. 

This is really exciting for me, because I find myself easily distracted by radar and depend on it too much. The way that this system will allow the same type of information(and even more) to be displayed without confining it to a tiny square in the corner of a screen has the potential to make teamwork a lot more seamless inside the game.  

Other than this promising system, the game just looks like it is a solid effort by Kojima Productions. It is packed with all of the action and humor that has become a staple of the Metal Gear series. Just taking a look at the image of the personnel launcher should be enough to confirm this.

Barring connection problems I will be jumping on this game as soon as I get off from work today. See you on the other side! 

So I have recently started working my way through Persona 3 FES. I planned to play the original Persona 3 when it first came out but just got sidetracked with other things. However, after hearing about the U.S. Persona 3 FES announcement and Persona 4 unveiling I found my interest reignited. Unfortunately the Persona 4 announcement caused all the used copies of P3 FES in my local stores to disappear within days. After calling around for a few days I found a store willing to have a copy sent from a different store. It took about a week and I was finally able to get my hands on this spectacular RPG after my spring vacation.

Now I am just goddamn addicted. It is always on from the moment I get inside the house. Even when I have other work to do I always figure out a way to get some grinding done or just go through the daily motions inside the game.  

I am really liking how the game handles day to day pacing. The simplicity which which it flows really makes it a pleasure to play. There is a ton of variety in what you can do to pass the in game time plus it appears that new activities and communities are just going to keep popping up.  The dialogue is brilliant and all of the characters are likable so far. The story started off developing slowly, but it has started to pick up finally and every new revelation has me wanting more. The development of all the characters is well done, especially for Junpei who has to be one of my favorite RPG characters in a long time. He oozes personality but not in some weird manufactured way. He is just a really believable character which is rare for most RPGs. Even a lot of the NPCs in the game have better character development than your average RPG fare.

I usually try to avoid grinding as much as possible in RPGs but Tartarus keeps calling me back in this game. This is mainly because find the battle system so enjoyable, primarily because of it’s fast pace. It might be because the last RPG I played was Lost Odyssey which is in direct contrast with it’s slow paced system but P3 FES just feels refreshing in this regard. I was somewhat wary after reading that you could not have direct control over your party members, but the AI has proved itself more than capable so far. This fact plus the addition of strategic commands you can issue really reduce the number of headaches there could have been. The use of AI is one of the main reasons why the battles flow so smoothly. 
 
Now to just wait for this work day to end so I can get back to my passion!