>>3805909 (OP)It's fun but frustrating at the same time. Many of the mechanics are obtuse and poorly explained, and for some mechanics you can go through the entire game without realizing that they exist (like leveling formations), as well as mechanics that are obvious once you notice them but which are never mentioned ingame (like tight formations being vulnerable to AoE damage). The difficulty curve is also pretty retarded, you'll go from easy fights to getting your balls busted at the drop of a hat, and there are a few bosses that will make you go FUCK YOU HOW IS THAT FAIR until you figure out the right tactics. I won't even go into the optional bosses which are ridiculous.
The story is pretty mid but it does have some good moments, and similarly most of the characters are bland but there are a few cool ones (plus the roster is massive so you can pick your favorites). The main character is half-retarded and goes through most of the game not understanding what the fuck is going on. I do dig the character designs but in terms of personality it's more miss than hit. The worldbuilding is decent but visually it's mostly bland as well outside of the cities.
The story/boss fights are where the game really shines, especially once you start getting a feel for the combat mechanics. It looks great (considering its age) and setting up combos and shit to dominate enemies is a lot of fun. Character building is neat as well, it's mostly a passive "the skills you use a lot get stronger" system but you can guide how characters develop and focus on different skill groups, which also influences how characters act in combat. In the orignal PC version there was also a simple hack (literally just change one line in a text file) to let you equip all your units rather than hoping they ask you to give them items. I don't know if that still works in the remastered version though.
The remaster doesn't punish grinding like the original console versions but it's still not a grinding game.
