The turn bars are in the upper right corner.
Something kept me playing this game, although I'm not sure what it was. Maybe it's just after playing Final Fantasy XI so long, 56 hours just doesn't seem like that much time to devote to a game. I really didn't spend much extra time leveling up.
Each area has enemies that you can see. You can sneak up behind them and swing your sword and when battle begins you get "First Attack." If they hit you while you're resting they get "Surprise Attack." I merely destroyed every enemy and got every chest the first time I went through an area. If I had to pass through an area again (which happens more than one would hope) I would attempt to avoid them.
Once battle has been initiated, after about 6 or 7 seconds of loading, you'll see your characters on the battlefield and the turn bars will begin filling. You get three characters in a
battle and the enemy will have up to 3 as well. As the turn bar reaches the triangles on the meter, your characters will get a chance to attack. The triangles' placement depends on the current relationship to the party leader (Calintz, Reith or sometimes Raul) and the ratio of party members to enemies. If you can get your characters happy by giving them gifts they like, or building trust through conversation they will be able to attack faster. When attacking, three buttons will go around a circle at varying speeds requiring input of a button combination to match that attack's corresponding element. If buttons are hit perfectly it tells you "great" otherwise "good" or "miss." With 3 "greats" in a turn, you add 5% to the trinity drive enabling greater attack power with use once it hits 30%. Miss once and you'll lose all built up trinity drive power and current move. Each fighting style is based on two elements and has from 2-6 moves a character
Though not many there are a few jumping puzzles.
There are numerous combos to perform.
can perform. To do attack number 3 in a battle you must first successfully attack with number 1 and 2.
Targeting in battle is annoying. You hit R2 and L2 to switch the character you are in control of and R1 and L1 to switch the enemy you're targeting. If you just finished attacking one of two enemies and the second one runs up to you, sometimes your character will automatically select the newly approached enemy. You can't move the camera angle without moving a character and there are times where enemies will be off the screen meaning you have to move yourself around to see which one you are going to hit. When you move the turn bar stops filling. All that together creates a minor frustration. It can also be difficult to tell whether or not enemies are in range for abilities that hit multiple targets. Some spells hit an enemy and enemies that are close to it, one or two will hit every enemy on the screen and
some hit the area that are in your large targeting circle. It is often unclear in the middle of battle, forcing you to run around trying to get the targeting correct and in the meantime stopping the turn bar from filling.
This game is even more linear than Final Fantasy X if you can believe it. Each area has branching pathways to other places, but if your party "doesn't need to go there right now" then you can't. You have no access to the overworld map. Sometimes to get to an area it will make you traverse the easy places again, fighting every enemy that you can't avoid for next to nothing experience. Other times you leave on area and you will be warped directly. It makes me miss the early RPG days where if you can survive and/or have the right mode of transportation to get to an area, you can go.
Experience points awarded are relative. There is a
Screenshots can't begin to capture the fluidity of Kratos' style.
This is an airship traveling.
catch-up factor to them, which, because you end up having 9 or 10 party members, is very handy. If Calintz is level 50 and you bring Azel in, who is level 41, he will get 3 or 4 experience bars a fight while Calintz gets 1.
Magna Carta's story is fairly decent. Calintz goes through endless amounts of flashbacks that I am still having a tough time putting all together. Because they present so many unnecessary moments it can be difficult to discern what is important. No character ever really comes out of their stereotypical mold. A few twists near the end though caught me by surprise.
The dialogue quite often doesn't feel real and the voice acting is close to terrible. Characters find it necessary to say something every time they attack or someone in the party attacks. About 3 or 4 clips of dialogue for each character. It gets really old, really quickly.