All right, after a long hiatus from the game, I returned to it this week to finish Part One before Part Two releases tomorrow (Fri., Aug. 13, 2021). Overall, Part One was quite a nice full RPG adventure. It's ending lingers on a bit, serving as a prologue-like vehicle for Part Two as opposed to a meaningful epilogue for Part One.

As stated before, I thoroughly enjoyed the battle mechanics. The use of trajectories and the Dimengeon helped with pacing. I enjoyed making good progress through a map before battling a larger horde of monsters as opposed to the more traditional randomized battle style. Still, this game is the ultimate love letter to story-driven JRPGs from the past with its own unique art style. So there's a lot of familiar territory in gameplay and story.

In Part One, the side quests helped break up some of the gameplay in a fun way without ever feeling like too much. We'll see how side quests affect Part Two.

For users playing the game with a controller, they never updated the movement. This meant that after the screen would shift perspective, I would have to let go of the analog stick and then return to use it. Otherwise, it would be completely out of sync and take the main character in the wrong direction. Hopefully the update fixes this. Overall, this is not the worst error I've experienced with a "mobile" game and I was able to instinctively adjust how I played on my controller without getting frustrated. I am also just grateful to be able to play a really good JRPG that runs smoothly on MacBook with a controller!

My last thought is that I am somewhat not excited about the length of gameplay in Part Two. It took me just over 25 hours to complete Part One, maxing out my main character and completing all possible side quests and opening all possible treasures chests (I think). I did have a little hiatus since its release (okay, it was a pretty major hiatus), but overall the game is pretty engaging, contains good story and characters, and has a fun gameplay loop. There are some slower moments or sections, but it can be muscled through. Knowing that, supposedly, Part Two can take anywhere between 40 - 60 hours is a HUGE time commitment. Normally, I would be seeing that in terms of investment of money per hour of gameplay, but this is subscription-based. It feels like a "good value" for what you're paying, but games with such a huge time sink are becoming more difficult to consume, at least for me, as an adult who wants to play a large variety of games.

I still want to experience this adventure to the end, so I may try to play on my phone more often for quick little bite-sized progression in order to get some gameplay in every day.

I'd love to hear others' perspective on the game! Let me know your own thoughts and experience!

I know reviews are starting to be posted on the Internet but wanted to update my impressions on here so far. I'm over 11 hours into the game, meaning I'm somewhere between 1/3 or even halfway finished. I did one play session on Apple TV (4K) which is by far the worst way to play this game. The frame rate was really chugging, and it was the only app playing on my device. I'm always open to suggestions if I am just not using my Apple TV properly. The gameplay is smooth as butter on M1 MacBook and iPhone. (Note: the Apple TV app also doesn't have resolution options like the MacBook app does.)

As for gameplay and story, many people have commented on how derivative it is. However, it just feels so right. The pacing for the story flows wonderfully. Some of my favorite (usually Square Enix) JRPGs have long sessions with little to no story or frustrating gameplay. The Dimengeon really helps to vary the pacing without sacrificing battles to collect items and level up the characters. The world still feels engaging even with its tropes and I am invested in the mysteries of the story even though elements feel familiar. Very excited to finish this part. (It's been publicized quite often that what has released is the first half of the game with the second half to be part of an app update later this year.)

I am about 3.5 hours into the game. I am THOROUGHLY enjoying it! I must say that RPG fans looking for a challenge may not be attracted to this game initially (Bravely Default II, perhaps if that's what you want?); however, the gameplay feels so good. Classic Final Fantasy lovers looking for a somewhat easy departure from the series will enjoy the start of this game.

Half of my time with the game was on my iPhone and half on my MacBook with a PS4 controller. The touch controls work, but they are, to me, a little clunky. The tapping to move is annoying and I sometimes release my finger too early during battles. Controller play on my MacBook is smooth as butter and the visuals are stunning. I have not encountered any noticeable dip in visual or audio quality from my MacBook. (I know gaming on Mac is a myth, but let me live my fantasy.)

I can't wait to hear everyone's thoughts on this game. This game was one of the reasons I was excited to have an Apple Arcade subscription! (I will say that I do side with much of the gaming community and hope that this game will experience a wider release eventually.)

Other things to note:

• The music is stunning, but you already knew that.
• Cutscenes often are storybook moments called Memories with heavy reading, artwork, and music. Because there's no voice acting, it's not a bad alternative. The text bubble cliche can get tiresome so it's nice to change it up. However, the Memories got a bit much near the end of my 3.5 hour start.
• The Dimengeon (acquired about 2-3 hours into the game) is cool. Honestly, though, I toggle it on and off to my heart's content whether I feel like I want to progress. The random battle encounter rate isn't too high considering other past RPG titles.