Shantae and the Pirate's Curse - Just beat up the self-styled best filler boss of all time! Fun game, has a few flaws but generally it's a good, light-hearted romp. Playing them close together I can't help compare it to Shovel Knight, and while SK has several advantages in game design which I will get into when I write a larger post for the game, Shantae obviously wins big in anything related to writing.
Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies - Up to the final case!
Final Fantasy Dimensions - Fin.
Game was around 55 hours, finished at Level 71.
As I said early on in the playthrough in this space, it's a FF5-like, and you have to try to screw those up in my eyes. As such, FFD did not disappoint; I got what I hoped for out of it. There are enough differences between FFD and FF5 (as well as Bravely Default, Blue Dragon, etc.) to merit note, but on average if you like one you should like the other.
What the game does well:
-Most obviously, it has a fan job system. Each character has 12 jobs to play around with (though there are 17 total; the 12 one gets depends on which path the character is from), which is certainly adequate for such a game (it's less than FF5/Bravely Default, though Blue Dragon got away with fewer). Skillsets and passives can be ported over between jobs: there are 2-4 skill slots available (more as the job you're currently in levels up), with typically skillsets and particularly powerful passives costing 2 slots, and weaker passsives and simple job commands costing 1. It offers more flexibility than FF5 did, as such, though not hugely more. Unlike FF5, though like almost every other game that has used a job system, it does not automatically upgrade your stats for equipping a magic skillset, so if you want to get the most out of certain skillsets (such as white magic's invaluable healing), you really need to stay in a small number of jobs. It's a bit limiting but fortunately the game gives you enough options with party composition that you can get by (e.g. you can either go with one mind-twinked white mage healer or have multiple weaker healers in the form of Dragoons, Dancers, Red Mages, or various others carrying white magic off weaker stats). I know some FF5 fans bemoan the fact that the game eschewed FF5's high level of skillset portability, but there is probably a reason most games do it, and I don't think the game lacks for valid options, so eh.
-Class balance is actually pretty respectable. In both FF5 and Blue Dragon, attack magic was generally far too powerful for enemies to handle, while Bravely Default had the overcentralising Dark Knight. If FFD has anything like that, I didn't find it. Physical damage generally offers more DPS (due to magic having charging times), while magic offers more options and better multitarget. Speed vs. damage vs. durability are real tradeoffs between many classes, status is very useful without feeling overpowered (because fully immune enemies very much do exist). So not only are there many viable options, but there are many which feel valid as well, and that's a nice feeling.
-One great idea FFD has is the use of temps to show off new jobs. In most chapters, you get a temp character, locked in one job (but at a fairly high level of it), which gives you a good sense of what the job can do and what abilities it will learn. That way, you know what you're getting into when jump into it at Job Level 1 instead of going in blind, or needing to resort to a FAQ. It's a pretty organic solution, the only real downside that of course it means you can kinda predict how a temp will join and leave like clockwork. (This supposed downside would matter if FFD had a plot worth caring about.)
-Enemy design is relatively strong. Randoms are durable enough and with varied enough defensive properties to reward learning them and determining the unique optimal way to cut them down, which is not a given in the genre by any means. On offence/skillsets the randoms are generally a bit less individually memorable, although there are certainly some standouts (red/blue dragons for instance). Bosses are generally quite fun affairs: they're reasonably fast and durable and have enough tricks to keep things interesting; they rarely have completely overwhelming offence but it often feels like you have to keep on top of them or be overwhelmed. I had some scattered resets throughout the game, though rarely too many. I thought the game maintained its challenge better than FF5 or Bravely Default did, certainly, but full disclosure that I did not get Dualcast, may affect things some.
-While the music certainly isn't outstanding, it's pretty good. I liked most of the battle themes. Most of the rest of the soundtrack is largely just there, but never grates. I have less good overall things to say about the graphics, but the enemy sprites are pretty good and the animations are decent (and never too long, always nice).
What the game does less well:
-Overall I think the game's decision to go with two parties is a net negative. Early on, when their list of jobs is identical, you just feel like you're retreading all the same decisions in the job system (often picking up most of the same equipment as the corresponding chapters progress) which is lame. Later each path gets different jobs, which keeps things more interesting, but still means you have to put on hold the development of your party in order to develop the other, and it can be a bit jarring. While it becomes less of a negative, it never really becomes a positive. I'm obviously not opposed to perspective-switching games in general — Suikoden 3 and Fire Emblem 10 are two of my all-time favourites — but in their main payoff is typically narrative, allowing more interesting stories to be told, or perhaps that they allow you to really sink your teeth into developing a larger cast of characters gameplaywise. Neither really applies to Final Fantasy Dimensions; its writing sucks (and it doesn't make particularly good use of the split perspective) and building 8 characters proves not particularly more compelling than building 4-5, especially with how boring most of them are.
-The game has a love affair with plot fights (I think there are about a dozen?). It's stupid and wastes your time. On the note of things that are stupid and waste your time, the game badly needed sceneskip; it feels like FFX in that major boss fights are not easy, and often have a reasonably lengthy cutscene before them. This is a bad recipe. Fortunately you can deal with the latter by doing something else while mashing the touchscreen, but still.
-I've touched on this enough times, but let's repeat it here: Final Fantasy Dimensions' plot and writing are shit. Most of the characters are tired, overused tropes (the game has two mains and they're somehow both members of two of the most annoying JRPG main tropes, the idiot lead and the silent, kinda-emo one). The game has a large villain cast but they're transparently just used for cool boss fights and are all boring and blend together. There's too much anime goofiness. Even series like Tales, Grandia, and Xenosaga with their bad plots usually manage to at least have one or two compelling characters or bring up some interesting philosophical points; this game really doesn't manage even that. There are glimmers of potential here and there, like Matoya and Gawain are kinda interesting if I squint, but they're temporary. The only thing which saves the writing at all is the fourth-wall-shattering Alba (and to a lesser extent her lovable douche of a brother), but she's pure comic relief and thanks to the game's weak translation/script even she falls flat at times.
-Graphically the game isn't impressive and generally it looks relatively low-budget. Not that big a deal, but it is what it is. The game is still good enough to be absolutely worth its pricetag, but I can understand the presentation being a bit of a turnoff.
-Touchscreen controls are obviously sub-optimum. I really wish the fixed D-pad was on the right instead of the left; I had some problems with the floating one (which I did end up using) but didn't want to adjust to the left-handed one. And if I held the iPad in the wrong way the game would interpret my holding hand brushing the screen as a confirm. Sometimes at rather bad times. It's not game-breaking but yeah I'd have preferred to see this on the 3DS.
Still it's a pretty fun game, will certainly replay at some point to kick that class system around some more. Pacing could be better in variety of ways (the one place FF5 convincingly beats out its imitator) and it's certainly not an all-time great, but I got what I was looking for out of it. Definitely enjoyable. 7/10, could be 8 if I feel generous upon further reflection.
