I was planning on commenting months ago, but w/e. I usually prefer my immersion in the role of a guy experiencing being dominated, but this game is better than most providing that experience.
The wait for the payoff events ARE worth the grindy start for me, but surely not for others.
I like the combat... but I... like combat, probably more than most. Successfully analyzing opponents and strategizing which moves to make to counteract their moves while working towards victory makes the victory sweet. That being said, the "tournament" format means constantly having to strategize even in the easy opening rounds to endure.
The time-based railroading events through Greg's hospitalization gives the player the idea that there's limited time and a failed attempt at the Streets of Rage can have long-term game-fucking consequences... that everything you've done in good faith was a waste of time. This is reinforced by
On that note, avoiding combat until you know you're damn good and ready for a proper "hero" run results in
continuity errors in the Akari and Handsome Mask stories. Player needs to be railroaded into a loss to trigger the scenes that make it all make sense. "My favorite potion vendor? Who tf is THAT? Greg?" I suggest meeting Xici on Sunday morning being followed by a sunday evening check for that trigger that forces her to lose composure and go to the Streets of Rage alone and get that loss. Being humbled in such a way tends to result in restored Composure. No extra sexy content or time frame for completionists to want to get (in fact, it could result in missing out on that Sunday Greg Training bonus and wasting the lack of fatigue, which adds an instance of strategizing that high-efficiency players will be happy to replay or load yesterday's save in order to avoid)... just getting that trigger out of the way for continuity's sake. I mean... meeting Xici IS triggering right? lol
A little extra Monday morning priority-setting would also help. It's clear that a Game Over happens if money drops to zero. A bit of foreshadowing on
THAT particular Game over... not fair play...especially if you've been saving up money specifically to buy everything available at Lucio's curio cabinet in one visit for efficiency's sake and see it as an opportunuty to strike while the iron's hot,knowing that money is fairly easy to come by. ME? No... that wouldn't ever happen to ME! I don't make mistakes. I totally didn't do THAT. That's why I'm completely not bitter about not having enough replay in memory to undo such a bad decision(in hindsight) and avoid that Game Over whatsoever.
I mean...the game DOES play more laid-back and sandboxy than it presents itself. You can fuck up and fuck around and be inefficient a lot more than the urgency of the stated stakes and goals suggest. This is nice to know, but contributes to the somewhat considerable grind necessary to progress. Finding the right balance for the players' demographics is a tough call for the Great Creator.
I like the normal difficulty setting, but the combat is
challenging on this setting. Maybe a setting with some HP regeneration between rounds would make it more appealing for people who aren't fans but still want to get some sense of accomplishment for getting through it. Normal is more like Normal for players who want to be challenged by gameplay and puzzles, but the RNG can make it frustrating for players who play more for the entertainment of playing. These are both normal types of players, but with distinct motives.
Biggest combat tip: learn your enemy behaviors to know when somebody like a Bruiser or a boss is going to drop a high-damage attack. This allows you to concentrate attracks and multi-attack abilities to make sure you hit JUST ENOUGH TIMES to stun that bastard and make them lose that attack turn. That high-damage attack will be lost with the turn and not simply delayed until the next turn.