Doing the lord's work

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Blissful beast

Start Doing Studies

They're calling it "beast mode"

I'm not gonna lie it was past 2am and because you changed your icon I got you confused with someone else 🙏

Ooooooh that's a Bad Engine to use if you want to make a game that looks good and has good lighting 😔

The only other turn-based game that has hit me this hard and this consistently with its basic combat option flow is Steamworld Quest. I really hope I get to see the day where this level of fundamentals becomes the norm for turn-based combat

I've always respected the Airship Syndicate RPGs for how they incorporate basic actions into the core resource loop but I've never seen an RPG that feels like it's built entirely around the idea that doing normal attacks should be both fun and hype the way Grandia III does

Timeline ATB combat where the basic "Attack" command is split into lights and heavies, where lights delay enemies during hitstun and heavies can knock them out of their moves while they're winding up, which party members can follow up on with air combos if you can line things up properly

Like how the most popular depiction of a fairy tale involves a knight saving a princess from a dragon, despite the vast majority of fairy tales Not Being That - the fabrication circulates so much that it functionally rewrites history, and reshapes society's idea of what a fairy tale is

The easy assumption to make here is that the difference between these games is that one comes from a time where innovation was how you made your mark, while the other comes from a time that commodifies the hazy memory of nostalgia, but tbh I think there's a cyclical element at play, too

Case in point, MP drought is actually really compelling in a game like Look Outside, but only because resource management is such a central force of that game and running low is what drives you to explore and take risks. But without that level of support, it can pretty easily feel suffocating!

Not to mention games that forego MP-style resources entirely, like Grand Knights History using a shared AP bar that partially refills each round, or Endless Frontier EXCEED and Ar Nosurge having attack limits that reset each round, or Darkest Dungeon 2's mix of free use, cooldowns, and limited use

Breath of Fire 4 and Mana Khemia letting characters regen mana when tagged out, Wild Arms starting FP at 0 and letting you earn it light fighting game meter, Ar Tonelico rapidly emptying and regenerating MP within a fight, Brave Story granting BP when attacking (with a consecutive attack multiplier)

As a game designer, it always pays to stay up-to-date on the recent trends - but even moreso, you're going to pick up more tools than you know what to do with when you do your history homework, so don't slack off on it!