The feel of the game.

[The DanMan]

50 minutes ago, Slumber said:

*snip*

Okay. Guess I really hadn't seen that much, then.

I went into Echoes not aware of all the specifics (with Fates everything had been beaten to death by the time it came westward and I knew exactly what I was getting into) and had flat neutral expectations. It ended up disappointing me in the end, so I guess I've just been venting a bit.

[Baldrick]

2 hours ago, The DanMan said:

Okay. Guess I really hadn't seen that much, then.

I went into Echoes not aware of all the specifics (with Fates everything had been beaten to death by the time it came westward and I knew exactly what I was getting into) and had flat neutral expectations. It ended up disappointing me in the end, so I guess I've just been venting a bit.

Well, it's a remake of a NES game, so if you were expecting a great plot, it was probably inevitable.

But the execution of the first two acts (which is all I've played so far, I don't want to spoil myself any further) is consistently fantastic. In the original Gaiden, Alm being made the leader in part 1 and all the obligatory sea-bandit chapters in part 2 hurt my suspension of disbelief. Echoes handled those plot points with great care, interesting and insightful characterisation, and felt totally natural. I don't know how the rest of the plot is handled, if it stays at that standard it's the best plot in the series (IMHO, at least).

[Stopwatch]

I think it's probably a bad plan to divide the series further than it already has been divided. I have a strong feeling that Nintendo has had a very keen eye on the sales numbers for this series ever since it came back from the brink. To theorize at a conspiracy where there may or may not be one, imagine that Nintendo kept track (which they almost certainly did) which versions of Fates sold more copies and (especially) which version had higher rates of later purchasing the other versions. Doesn't that seem to be a very clean, clear cut way of gauging which 'half' of the fanbase is easier to cater to and deserves more attention? That idea would be compounded with a split franchise.

If someone makes the decision to split the series, it'll be primarily in order to cut corners on one series and focus on making money where there's more money to be made. 

 

And hey, I'd rather not spend as much money as I did when Fates came out. I was fed up enough not to buy the Season Pass for this game as well.

[-Cynthia-]

Quote

Turns out, the guy is evil as fuck. Yuna's first meeting with him involves a bunch of shady shit to fight Sin, and it ends with her and the party getting bad vibes from him. The second meeting has him making weird, creepy comments to everyone, and Yuna finds out he murdered his father. Their third meeting has Yuna getting kidnapped, and Seymour and his body guards try to murder the party, and this whole deal ends with Yuna and the party killing Seymour(He gets better). Yuna then willingly goes to their previously planned wedding which wasn't called off for whatever reason, in hopes that she can Send him... only for him to realize what she's doing because she does it in the dumbest way possible, and she runs away while her party gets taken captive again and set up for execution. This ends with the party killing him again(Again, he gets better). Yuna finally decides "Okay, this guy's not worth the effort, and the whole religion is corrupt and stupid. Let's just leave them alone and continue with what we were doing 15 hours ago."

Your retelling of this is a bit off in the details I think. Yuna and co. kill Seymour at Macalania Temple, but don't have the opportunity to Send him because Guado reinforcements show up. Sin arrives, the group gets split up, and Yuna gets kidnapped and taken to Bevelle. She doesn't actually agree to a deal with Seymour at any point so the Celica parallel seems kinda off. 

 

[Slumber]

23 minutes ago, -Cynthia- said:

 

Ah, you're right. The whole situation from Macalania to Bikanel is weirdly paced, so I forget that Yuna gets kidnapped off-screen twice by both the Al Bhed and the Guado.

 

That said, Yuna still went to Macalania to agree to the wedding proposal, knowing that Seymour'd probably attack them, and that's what leads to the whole mess(Especially since she finds out Seymour is a murderer on the way there and doesn't tell anyone). I'd still say it's sorta comparable to Celica, as they both make deals with shady-ass dudes. Yuna gets more time to think and more meetings with her shady-ass dude than Celica does, and still does pretty comparable things.

Edited May 27, 2017 by Slumber