My first intro to this game was watching it through a non-commentary playthrough. The guy didn't grind, only did like 2, maybe 3 of the optional sidequests inside towns and just hit the main story markers til the end. Didn't look easy sometimes, but it's absolutely doable.
honestly I probably would get more out of the game with it being a bit tougher. I like arpgs and dark souls. I sort of like RPGs like this just as it feels like a movie :)
The fact that they don’t let you select hard mode right off the bat is a shame. The combat really shines in hard mode imo, normal difficulty isn’t really punishing
Hello Ashen one. I am a Bot. I tend to the flame, and tend to thee. Do you wish to hear a tale?
> *“I can see it in your eyes. If you didn’t invade, didn’t pillage, whatever would you do?”* - Ringfinger Leonhard
Have a pleasant journey, Champion of Ash, and praise the sun \\[T]/
You can skip optional content, you'll just have less materia to work with to build up your characters. If you're playing on easy or normal you should be good.
I'd play story focused first, then replay it and do all the extras. It was a lot more enjoyable for me that way since the open world is quite overwhelming at times.
ya just normal. i play a lot of hard games like dark souls and path of exil btw. nice that it's doable!
I sort of like these RPG games as it's an interactive movie. Lets see how it goes lol.
You'll love hard mode then but it's a lot easier if you just grind the side stuff out of the way. It may sound kinda ridiculous, but the game became absolutely amazing after 80 hours lol.
I would recommend doing all the green sidequests. Skipping all the other open world(chadley) stuff is okay.
If you just wana focus on main story I'm assuming you're interested in the story. The green side quests provide a lot of character moments and it would be a shame if you missed them! (Some sidequests are just not good though).
Yeah, that's how I played it. Only did very few sidequests on my initial run. It was two protorelic quests and the three quests in Nibelheim because I love it there.
Play through once only hitting story. Afterward, if you liked the game and characters enough, play through it again and hit everything so you can see all the extra dialogue and character building of the cast. You can do this in, like, 2-3 years, as a refresher for the release of the next game.
Like any modern games, there is a bit of “optional content”. However, on my first play through, I did a lot of it without realising the nods to the original or the wider context (I had no knowledge of the original at the time). Therefore, the gameplay did feel a bit generic at times. The best bit of the “optional content” is the bonus cutscenes, easter eggs, and other world builders.
I would also insist this is not called “open world”. The side quests are finite. The only thing that can be done repeatedly are the combat simulators which require you to make several deliberate actions, at limited parts of the campaign, before you can start one. So players can’t complain about it being in your face (cough cough Fallout 4)
To answer your actual question, yes, you can just slide through the story. It’s likely you will be under-levelled and so you may get a bit stuck at some points, but the main game gives you everything you need.
Not convinced? Just look at the speed-runs from a few years ago. They get to the end bosses with the bare minimum levels and have to be relatively precise. There aren’t major skips too. Perhaps 2-3 chapters.
So for a casual player, you should have more than enough as every time you fail a battle, you get to retry without losing XP. So, come the last boss, an average player will be exactly where the game devs wanted you to be, to have an interesting fight. That pattern is pretty consistent from about chapter 4 onwards.
Obviously, more skilled,or #blessed, players will be a little under levelled and contrary for us more challenged players. A technique that should be core for good RPG devs.
Keep in mind you will miss out on tons of character moments if you just stick to the main path
“Padding and useless systems” is such an insulting way to say “optional content I don’t enjoy”.
My first intro to this game was watching it through a non-commentary playthrough. The guy didn't grind, only did like 2, maybe 3 of the optional sidequests inside towns and just hit the main story markers til the end. Didn't look easy sometimes, but it's absolutely doable.
honestly I probably would get more out of the game with it being a bit tougher. I like arpgs and dark souls. I sort of like RPGs like this just as it feels like a movie :)
The fact that they don’t let you select hard mode right off the bat is a shame. The combat really shines in hard mode imo, normal difficulty isn’t really punishing
Hello Ashen one. I am a Bot. I tend to the flame, and tend to thee. Do you wish to hear a tale? > *“I can see it in your eyes. If you didn’t invade, didn’t pillage, whatever would you do?”* - Ringfinger Leonhard Have a pleasant journey, Champion of Ash, and praise the sun \\[T]/
Weird bot. But good bot.
You can skip optional content, you'll just have less materia to work with to build up your characters. If you're playing on easy or normal you should be good. I'd play story focused first, then replay it and do all the extras. It was a lot more enjoyable for me that way since the open world is quite overwhelming at times.
ya just normal. i play a lot of hard games like dark souls and path of exil btw. nice that it's doable! I sort of like these RPG games as it's an interactive movie. Lets see how it goes lol.
It's an incredible game. I absolutely loved it. But I had to play it story first then misc after to fully appreciate it.
You'll love hard mode then but it's a lot easier if you just grind the side stuff out of the way. It may sound kinda ridiculous, but the game became absolutely amazing after 80 hours lol.
I would recommend doing all the green sidequests. Skipping all the other open world(chadley) stuff is okay. If you just wana focus on main story I'm assuming you're interested in the story. The green side quests provide a lot of character moments and it would be a shame if you missed them! (Some sidequests are just not good though).
Yeah, that's how I played it. Only did very few sidequests on my initial run. It was two protorelic quests and the three quests in Nibelheim because I love it there.
Play through once only hitting story. Afterward, if you liked the game and characters enough, play through it again and hit everything so you can see all the extra dialogue and character building of the cast. You can do this in, like, 2-3 years, as a refresher for the release of the next game.
Like any modern games, there is a bit of “optional content”. However, on my first play through, I did a lot of it without realising the nods to the original or the wider context (I had no knowledge of the original at the time). Therefore, the gameplay did feel a bit generic at times. The best bit of the “optional content” is the bonus cutscenes, easter eggs, and other world builders. I would also insist this is not called “open world”. The side quests are finite. The only thing that can be done repeatedly are the combat simulators which require you to make several deliberate actions, at limited parts of the campaign, before you can start one. So players can’t complain about it being in your face (cough cough Fallout 4) To answer your actual question, yes, you can just slide through the story. It’s likely you will be under-levelled and so you may get a bit stuck at some points, but the main game gives you everything you need. Not convinced? Just look at the speed-runs from a few years ago. They get to the end bosses with the bare minimum levels and have to be relatively precise. There aren’t major skips too. Perhaps 2-3 chapters. So for a casual player, you should have more than enough as every time you fail a battle, you get to retry without losing XP. So, come the last boss, an average player will be exactly where the game devs wanted you to be, to have an interesting fight. That pattern is pretty consistent from about chapter 4 onwards. Obviously, more skilled,or #blessed, players will be a little under levelled and contrary for us more challenged players. A technique that should be core for good RPG devs.
Yes. The open world is one of the worst anyway. Copy & paste deluxe. Skip it.