Re: SC
Sorry for the long absence. My dumb ass picked Hard Mode, and that kinda completely killed my drive to play. See, Hard Mode is just a major pain in the ass. Every encounter took forever, every boss was a nightmare, and it was just a major slog to get through. The game blatantly wasn't designed around it, so certain encounters (like the HP healing bosses) were just... lol. So I decided to restart despite being two chapters into the game. My bad, I was feeling myself. Anyway, here's my chapter 1 and 2 experience.
Chapter 1 + 2
Being forced to say goodbye to Anelace
sucked, but Agate more than made up for it. Why? Because
Agate is so so so good in SC. I loved Schera, but I also extra love the idea of Estelle teaming up with someone who she barely spent time with in FC, and boy did that pay off in dividends. Agate is just really, really good. He plays off exceptionally well with Estelle, with her character development allowing her to stand head to head with Agate as an equal instead of the rowdy junior Bracer she was in FC. I could honestly write an entire update about how much I love their dynamic, but suffice it to say, it's extremely good. Really, the decision between choosing Agate and Schera is a total no brainer; Agate has a strong dynamic with one character (Tita), and ties with many of the people of Ruan and Zeiss.
Plotwise, Ruan and Zeiss were good. The conflicts were a step down from FC, but revisiting all the places you've been to was nice. Talking to people you've helped was basically its own reward (Estelle's reaction to the Strega guy was gold), and the various little moments where the characters reminisce about the past were fantastic. The boss conflicts were.... ehhhh. The actual confrontations with the enforcer's were good (though i'm not the biggest fan of Bleublanc, lol) but the boss fights were a disappointment. Ruan's in particular, had you fighting
, and it's just so... over the top and dull. Zeiss's was a bit better, but still a bit forced. I'm sure this will keep happening, though hopefully there will be a payoff when you actually get to kick some enforcer ass. Aside from that, and the very painful backtracking, i'm having a great time with SC. Worldbuilding and writing are still top class, the music is better and the game still handles its characters with immense grace and skill.
Ruan > Zeiss so far (because i'm biased; Ruan is probably my favorite "town" in the series)
So that's about it. See you around in the next update.