One of many first issues I level out in my opinions of franchise-based video games is whether or not you should know the supply materials to play. With FAIRY TAIL 2, that’ll seemingly be the case. This JRPG from Gust and KOEI TECMO is unapologetically aimed squarely at followers of the anime and manga…and perhaps the sport deserves some credit score for that.
After all, FAIRY TAIL 2 can be the sequel to 2020’s FAIRY TAIL, making it much more complicated for these hopping in at this level. That’s to not say newcomers can’t overcome the confusion to have enjoyable with the sport, simply that the builders don’t spend an excessive amount of time up entrance catching you up on issues…and perhaps the sport deserves some credit score for that.
FAIRY TAIL 2 facilities across the authentic story’s climax: the Alvarez Empire Arc. This implies a complete collection price of characters are made obtainable on the very starting. They get fast introductions, and you may all the time converse to them to study a bit extra. The precise plot, nevertheless, is extra interested by shoving you into fight. The primary main battles come rapidly, forcing you to absorb lots of particular person character skills immediately. It was fairly a while earlier than I felt I used to be actually working with an optimized occasion.
UI help is hit-or-miss on offering help. Throughout battle, you’re informed whether or not your assignable assaults will hit an enemy’s weak spot. Nice. When within the character setup screens, nevertheless, you’re pressured to only know what the varied aspect icons imply. Not nice. This will make the gameplay a bit tougher than it must be merely since you haven’t outfitted a celebration member to the most effective of his/her skills. I might randomly swap characters into battles simply hoping to see the weak spot icon.
Fight itself, nevertheless, is fairly simple to know. The gimmick is that you simply principally use commonplace and magic assaults to chain collectively combos that may whittle away on the enemies’ break gauge. When you’ve damaged that down, you may exploit their weaknesses or unleash hyperlink assaults for main injury.
It’s fairly easy when combating only one or two enemies (bosses excluded, after all), however could be difficult when going up in opposition to a half dozen or extra. There’s loads of time between battles, nevertheless, to get better and optimize for the following assault…no random encounters.
You management only one character in fight, with two others being well-handled by AI. You’ll be able to swap them round at any level, and likewise pull in out of your reserves. This turns into a key strategic aspect, as some characters are higher at depleting the enemies’ break gauge, some could be referred to as in to heal your fighters, and so on. Attending to know who’s finest at what and upgrading their abilities accordingly actually makes FAIRY TAIL 2 extra to play. As a result of the story regularly shuffles who’s obtainable to you, nevertheless, you received’t fall into selecting only one group.
As you purchase and make the most of extra characters, you’ll get entry to many alternative abilities. These could be assigned to the X, A, and B buttons, with further abilities being accessed by way of the identical buttons whereas holding down R. Extra highly effective abilities require extra Motion Gauge factors to make use of, so you may’t depend on them always. There’s additionally a cooldown after chaining your fight strikes, leaving you susceptible to enemy assaults (Atelier Ryza followers will really feel fairly comfy right here). You’ll be able to guard, however I discovered it fairly tough to inform precisely when to try this through the chaos of battle. The entire system is fairly slick, however I relied extra on simply mashing my method by way of fight than on a mastery of well-timed assaults and correct character configuration. If that sounds boring to you, remember to attempt one of many sport’s larger problem ranges.
These battles happen throughout a large open panorama that’s slowly opened up as you progress. Boundaries block entry till you’ve gotten the correct character or capacity to clear them, partitions are initially too excessive bounce, that form of factor. The sport map does an important job of highlighting which areas could be accessed, however it’s not available when transferring, and it’s gradual to drag up while you wish to see it.
Talking of gradual, FAIRY TAIL 2 depends closely on the Fairy Tail Diary tales informed round campfires to offer character exposition. These could be form of lengthy, however usually fairly comical or endearing. I’m undecided in the event that they’re extra suited to followers of the anime or these of us who simply don’t know who’s who, however I discovered them to be a pleasant respite when pushing in direction of a location purpose.
And actually, I’d reasonably these conversations come by way of standalone segments than as textual content snippets displayed whereas exploring, making them too simple to only ignore.
Visually, FAIRY TAIL 2 has that trendy cartoony look we’ve seen in lots of JRPGs as of late. I dig it, because it permits the varied characters to essentially stand out and retains the fight vigorous and straightforward to observe. The general design may be very vibrant and comfortable, which fits the story and the characters. Melodrama? Certain, there’s some, however don’t anticipate something too heavy right here. The story, fight, and visuals are all fairly breezy.
On this explicit occasion, that’s a energy and a weak spot. FAIRY TAIL 2 is simple to choose up and play. It’s not a protracted sport as JRPGs go (albeit with loads of DLC to increase the enjoyable…and character wardrobes), and it’s additionally not fully satisfying; I labored by way of it with out ever actually feeling absolutely concerned. That seemingly wouldn’t be the case if I knew extra in regards to the Kingdom of Fiore earlier than becoming a member of the Guild, so I really feel extra comfy recommending this sport primarily to FAIRY TAIL followers. To anybody else, simply view it as a lark and you should still be cool with it.
