Battle System

[Taka-kun]

After much exposure to information and videos, as well as positive reception from this (usually very criticizing) forum, I decided to buy TMS#FE (despite abundance of games already but you can never have too many).

One last thing I am not entirely clear is the battle system in this game. As far as I can tell, it's very reminiscent to the Persona games but supposedly it takes cues from the FE series? And there is apparently encouragement for not grinding through the game but I am not sure what is implemented to do so.

[Jose_Darkeye]

I totally forgot that game even existed lol.

Edit : never mind me.

Edited June 18, 2016 by Jose_Darkeye

[nocturnal YL]

After much exposure to information and videos, as well as positive reception from this (usually very criticizing) forum, I decided to buy TMS#FE (despite abundance of games already but you can never have too many).

One last thing I am not entirely clear is the battle system in this game. As far as I can tell, it's very reminiscent to the Persona games but supposedly it takes cues from the FE series? And there is apparently encouragement for not grinding through the game but I am not sure what is implemented to do so.

I don't know anything about ATLUS, but the experience you get do dimish. You're supposed to fight enemies at your level. If they're about 10 levels below you, you'll get very little experience from winning.

I can't say there're many FE elements in the battle system other than the weapon triangle and general effectiveness (bow and wind are generally good against fliers, and there are skills targeted towards armoured, horseback and dragon enemies).

[Avk]

After much exposure to information and videos, as well as positive reception from this (usually very criticizing) forum, I decided to buy TMS#FE (despite abundance of games already but you can never have too many).

One last thing I am not entirely clear is the battle system in this game. As far as I can tell, it's very reminiscent to the Persona games but supposedly it takes cues from the FE series? And there is apparently encouragement for not grinding through the game but I am not sure what is implemented to do so.

I think nocturnal YL already answered this well, but I'll add my own take :

The battle system is much closer to usual Atlus RPGs like SMT or Persona (turn based, aiming at enemies' weaknesses, covering your own). FE elements are more subtle, mainly some FE inspired skills (Horseslayer, Flux, Nosferatu...), the weapon triangle and things like flyers being weak to bow and wind/force spells. It doesn't seem much (and to be fair, I agree to some extent), but most of the players I've seen didn't pay attention to their opponents' affinity (flying mirages, or using swords, or axes) while just paying attention to the look of the enemies could have helped them quite a lot figuring the weaknesses of the enemies when they've encountered them the first time.

For the grinding part, you can always grind but like in most RPGs, the more overleveled you are compared to your enemies, the less effective grinding will become (for EXP). I'm not sure how tedious it is (or not), but I think the grinding will mostly be to acquire some specific components to craft new weapons.

[Taka-kun]

I think nocturnal YL already answered this well, but I'll add my own take :

The battle system is much closer to usual Atlus RPGs like SMT or Persona (turn based, aiming at enemies' weaknesses, covering your own). FE elements are more subtle, mainly some FE inspired skills (Horseslayer, Flux, Nosferatu...), the weapon triangle and things like flyers being weak to bow and wind/force spells. It doesn't seem much (and to be fair, I agree to some extent), but most of the players I've seen didn't pay attention to their opponents' affinity (flying mirages, or using swords, or axes) while just paying attention to the look of the enemies could have helped them quite a lot figuring the weaknesses of the enemies when they've encountered them the first time.

For the grinding part, you can always grind but like in most RPGs, the more overleveled you are compared to your enemies, the less effective grinding will become (for EXP). I'm not sure how tedious it is (or not), but I think the grinding will mostly be to acquire some specific components to craft new weapons.

But is there anything encouraging tactical gameplay rather than just spamming the same attack over and over?

[Avk]

But is there anything encouraging tactical gameplay rather than just spamming the same attack over and over?

I'm not sure what to answer to that, the gameplay invite you to use your skills and change your party accordingly to the opponents you are facing. I don't think there is such a thing as a party composition and routine that will guarantee you victory against all opponents (unless using common sense is counted, but I think this applies to everything).

If you have played some SMT/Persona games, you should expect something similar. Unless you play on Easy difficulty, enemies shouldn't go easy on you, meaning that they can hit you as hard as you can hit them, they can also hit your weaknesses and some of them are able to perform Session just like you can, adding more damage after being struck in a weakness.

However, it isn't as punishing as SMT4, you only lose the character turn if you happen to use an ineffective attack in #FE (unless you hit a repel or drain resistance, in that case, it'll deal damage back to you or heal the enemy), in SMT4, if I remember correctly, you lose 2 turns and you can trigger a Smirk for the enemy (one free turn, and high critical chance bonus for that free turn).

In short, no, spamming the same attack over and over will only work against an opponent it is effective against, but certainly not against everything (unless you use stuff like Almighty skills, but even then, spamming them isn't really a good strategy since they tend to cost a lot of EP, don't trigger Session and are less effective than an equivalent elemental skill). And I didn't even talk about bosses and semi bosses encounters.

I'm sure someone like Nocturnal YL will be able to give a better answer, but I don't think I'm too off the mark.

Edited June 21, 2016 by Avk

[Nintendoentersoft]

If Revelations #FE (why does the title feel so much like something you'd put on twitter?) is like Persona (3 and 4), here's what it will be like. There will be type effectiveness which will paralyze/stun certain enemies, paralyze them all and all your teammates get to join in on an attack that deals damage that is normal effective against everything. Then there are enemies which are resistant, immune, reflect and even absorb (think skills like Water Absorb from Pokemon) damage, so you are definitely encouraged to vary up your move set and try out as many different characters as you can. In addition, like Avk mentioned, there are almighty elements attacks which are also unblockable, but are akin to something like Meteor and Bahamut summons from Final Fantasy 4, costs a lot and is usually not worth it when you can end the battle faster and cheaper other ways. And then there are status moves which are hit and miss on a preference basis. So yes, in a nutshell, the game system inherently has encouragements for tactical play.

[Taka-kun]

For what I can infer, it's similar to the Persona games battle system. I have played Persona 3 and 4 so I am familiar with it but I didn't find it noticeable different from regular rpg gameplay. I had hoped it would do something different but maybe I shouldn't get my hopes up.

[nocturnal YL]

But is there anything encouraging tactical gameplay rather than just spamming the same attack over and over?

Pretty much what Avk and Nintendoentersoft said. I'll add a little personal experience and add that certain bosses, like the Chapter 4 boss and the Chapter 6 first half boss, give little breathing room for mistakes. If you have managed to spam attacks to win up until Chapter 4, you may be a bit surprised by the difficulty spike. Later enemies also start blocking and reflecting attacks, although you can actually take advantage of the enemie's reflects.

[spoiler=Names of bosses]Exceli and Garnef respectively

Post-game grinding, on the other hand, is all about spamming attacks. If you're sufficiently powerful, the Megido series is actually useful for not triggering Sessions and save time, which is good for getting arena prizes. EP at this point isn't a concern at all.