LogFAQs > #935006213

First things first, the music <3

Immediately when the music first started and it threw the name of the orchestra in corner (Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, I think?) my heart went oh HELL yes, partially because I heard some great horn melodies right away and I played French horn in band so I was just like yes, love, goosebumps, etc.

Beyond that my first impression of the game was the whole aesthetic was like blending what I previously understood to be JRPGs with the same sense of childhood wonder and pure delight that I associate with my early memories of Disney movies. That was a very cool and welcome mix that I don't know why I never sought out before. FF games I've played (7 and 10) have a heavier, darker feel whereas this was just like bright happy colorful chipper save the princess save the world time. Awesome.

Next thing that stands out in my mind is I'm so satisfied with all the little peripheral options. Setting voice acted dialogues to autoscroll is a fantastic thing that I've often wished existed in games but this is the first time I've seen it. Extremely welcome. I set the voices to Japanese because it just seemed cooler. Oh and I named my hero Daniel for no real reason. It just struck me in the moment as a strong yet basic name. Then finding out mom is named Amber I was like OK this worked out.

It's important that you know I sat on the 3D/2D selection screen for at least 5 minutes. I've never even conceived of such an option existing, and it was so surprising. I was very torn.

That said, I have now climbed the Tor a whopping three times because the communication about being able to freely swap between 3D and 2D is very misleading to be honest! I started in 3D and played until I got to the first church. Then I figured I would try out 2D and see how I feel about it. My expectation was that the game would just load me right back to where I was except in 2D. Nope. Back to the start. Well, that's fine, I thought. I'll just breeze through the intro again. So I do that and reach the church and say OK now I will switch back to 3D. Well guess what. Back to the beginning again. Wtf? Even though I have already completed the first section in 3D I guess I didn't reach the invisible secret story checkpoint marker and thus I actually haven't done anything at all yet. The good news is I have an extra couple levels, I guess.

I totally dig the 2D, by the way. I just ultimately wanted to do 3D because it seems like the transition isn't a perfect 1:1 and some quality of life features are just simply not present in the 2D. Though I can definitely see myself doing a full 2D playthrough in the future, maybe.

Basically, running around villages and breaking barrels and jars is more fun in 2D mode, but the overall immersion is better in 3D.

I was in Cobblestone for 3x longer than one should be, so when I finally got out into the overworld and heard that music I was PUMPED (or should I say pepped) UP and ready for adventure. Yay horse.

Hm I haven't even talked about the story yet. More of that later.