Positives:
- In the beginning of the game, the difficulty is very controlled as the interactive tutorials walks the player through the different areas of combat. With each encounter, something new is introduced and explained to the player.
- While the characters don’t gain traditional “levels”, there is a “level cap” of sorts present in the growth system, the Crystarium. Higher points in an individual character’s growth tree aren’t unlocked until the player has passed a certain point in the game, so this carefully manages overpowering in the characters and helps maintain a steady difficulty stream throughout the game.
- Each new area the player explores brings tougher enemies and in larger groups. This helps the player ease into the higher difficulty areas instead of any one part being too hard or too easy.
- Because of the progression of the game’s difficulty, and the caps on the Crystarium, there are very few steep learning curves during a single playthrough. New mechanics are introduced gradually, and the difficulty is carefully monitored. For example, in certain areas your party will split into groups of two. While there are only two characters in battle, there aren’t any enemy encounters that are too tough for two to handle. Or, during the tutorial the game will introduce you to using the ATB Gauge to stack your commands for battle. The player will practice this for a couple battles, then something new is introduced momentarily.
Negatives:
- The obvious element to note that represents one of the only steep difficulty ramps in the game is when the party first reaches the open world expanse of Gran Pulse. Here, there are multiple areas to explore, and there are plenty of monsters that if encountered by a party that isn’t ready, they will instant-kill the characters in mere moments. There is a certain path that the player should take through this area, but without the help of a guide or walkthrough to point them in the right direction, it’s extremely easy to run into a battle that is simply unbeatable.
- The new sense of exploration that is dropped on the player once they reach Gran Pulse is extremely tempting, given the very controlled and well-paced dungeons of the first half of the game. Finding yourself in a tough situation with extremely hard monsters isn’t very hard.
- The other curve is present in the final areas of the storyline, where for most players there is almost a requirement for at least an hour or two of grinding in order to be in top shape for the dungeons and the final bosses.
- For players that aren’t willing to adopt the skills given to them in order to beat the harder encounters, even after the first 5 hours of the game the gameplay has been quoted as being “too hard”. However, this is why it’s important to learn to strategize in battle, and make good use of the Paradigm Shift system and not rely on button mashing to win battles.
Thoughts:
- Even though it’s easy to die over and over again on Gran Pulse, the game doesn’t make a point to hate the player; the party is always respawned a few yards from where they died, and with not significant after effects (other than shame, maybe). This encourages the desre to try again and master the skills needed to overcome that difficult enemy.
- If there are players who fight every encounter they come across, which is fairly likely, it becomes rather easy to reach the Crystarium caps while in a particular dungeon.
- While the wide-open expanses of Gran Pulse have plenty to do (and plenty to die from), this is the one place that has caused the most people to put down the game for days at a time if they’re not using a guide to help them.
- Grinding is not totally a requirement if the player has been playing the game with the mindset of defeating most of the enemies they come across, so it is avoidable. Grinding is an annoying thing to force a player to do.
Would Likes:
- A clearer cut path through the more open areas of the game (i.e., the Archylte Steppe)
- Perhaps enemies that are too difficult for the player at their current level can be outlined in red, or have a flashing warning icon above their heads.
- No need for grinding (which is in part already solved, but not in full)
- Paradigm suggestions for enemies, given in their bestiary entries. This can give players who are lost a sense of what they can try on that one enemy that’s giving them too much trouble.
Coming Soon: Stereotypes - Video Gamers
