There are a bunch of issues that made Eternal Sonata not that fun for me to play, but generally the aesthetic is indeed quite good and so is the core battle system. Other issues drain some fun out of the latter though, like low enemy variety, low exp gain, limited access to the combo system and weird positioning that ends up wasting your time. Grinding in this game is the antithesis of fun.
Anyway, I decided to start playing Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Cool stuff, but not at core my kind of game. No complaints really, I've just been used to more handholding games, though I hate to admit it and some OCD tendencies are pestering me to find all secrets. Oh well, as long as I can get through it once that's enough. It shouldn't take too long.
Symphony of the Night would probably be better as a handheld these days.
I can't really sink my teeth into it (I suck at it for whatever reason), but I love the stuff it does do. The Action/RPG elements in a Castlevania game give it great mileage.
And I agree, ES has a ton of faults. I was more bashing its nonsense narrative. In general, I felt too many RPGs focused on "big action" than times to just "sit and chat" and flesh out the story. Tales of Vesperia was great for "low action" (ie; pretty shitty 'major event' cutscenes) but a lot of dialogue that worked to flesh the world and its characters. For the most part though, I had a blast with the battle system -- grinding aside (using items was never something I particularly "got used to" either).
Grim Grimoire, short.
How come every time someone mentions that game I have a desire to go back and play through it again, despite not enjoying it very much?
The pressure, and the desire to overcome hardships amongst some really pretty graphics? And it's short, so there's few problems with a replay taking up much time.
Ocarina of TimeVisited Dampe as an adult... that whole bit is so weird and random; the thing you DO kinda of expect of games of that era I guess.
I'm the Gravekeeper Ghost, let me give you my treasure if you beat me in a race! *connect to fucked up Windmill man because ???*
Oh, um, ok.
The Sacred Meadow's angry charging pigs still give me the heebie-heebies. But I love the Forest Temple. Almost trying to epitomize "becoming an adult" in the game, this dungeon definitely tests the player in a way none of the first three dungeons do.