[quote="MSG Commander" post=6314]I was (and still am) intrigued by the story. I like how the main character narrates parts of the story - I think that's a nice change of pace from the 15 minutes of dialogue between 12 different characters every time you reach a new location in Exe Create games (ok I exaggerate, but some times it gets annoying!)
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At least they have 12 different characters :silly:
Actually, my main problem with this story is that not having 12 different characters is not a joke. Astral Frontier has a very... focused story. There are protagonists and a
few key figures like Brainix. Everyone else might as well be replaced by lamps. It goes to the point where time passes only for protagonists, is measured only by their main story progress, and nothing else ever happens or matters. No, seriously. Here are some choice examples:
1) During the main plot, you need to revive the 4th party member, and for that you need batteries. Said batteries are found in the machine named "Mother", and the 4th party member is necessary, so you're forced by Mother to scrap her and take the batteries. The problem? Mother happens to be the source of the all-female El. As in, El can't reproduce among themselves, so Mother has to create all new El. By scrapping her, our heroes just, oh,
doomed the entire race to extinction. A minor slight, surely, which is why it goes
completely unmentioned by both heroes and NPC. Who'd notice, right? :whistle:
2) That NPC thing, period. Nothing any NPC says
ever changes. Ever. A year passed between parts of the game, with environment stabilized for the time? Who cares! The Mother got busted? Never heard of it!
Yes, constant scenes where we spend 15 minutes on random conversations can be annoying. But they have a purpose: to establish that the world is alive, that protagonists aren't the only things there and things happen outside of them. That, and character establishment/development. Astral Frontier takes the opposite approach: the protagonists are pretty much the world itself, everything is centered on them and all else doesn't matter. It's different, sure, but that does not make it better.
[quote="MSG Commander" post=6314]I also liked the few puzzles - the bit of math and the tiles that constantly change direction.[/quote]
The movement reversal tiles aren't really a puzzle. They're a gimmick, and a pretty annoying one. You still have to walk the same paths, it's just that you'll sometimes have to hold up instead of down to go down, and that you'll be frequently sent going in the opposite direction.
[quote="MSG Commander" post=6314]For those who've finished the game, did you find that you liked it any better once you got to the end? Or are there still too many problems to make it feel really enjoyable? (Or, do you think I'm being too nitpicky?) I think the story will end well, but I fear that might be this game's only redeeming quality.[/quote]
Gameplay doesn't get any better. Story decides to go with out-of-absolutely-nowhere, almost fantasy-like
dramatic plot twists. Whether it's better or not is a matter of preference, I suppose.
