ICOVOC'S PROFILE

I really agree with this review. (Though the story is good enough I'd bump it up to 4.5, plus Dhel is just the most interesting protagonist ever.) I'm playing I Miss the Sunrise right now, and gameplay wise almost all the problems are fixed--in particular the battles move a lot faster and the stat/menu problems are gone. The Deltree awesomeness continues.

This is a great review. I'd say it's easily one of the most in-depth on RMN (especially with the discussion in the comments). Awesome of you to take the time to look at the game so closely.

...I agree that the game was hard, but it was kind of refreshing how every boss battle was like a brick to the face. The brilliant thing is it's balanced so well that in order to win, you need to change your strategy in key ways (usually, yeah, by manipulating status effects, which commercial games tend not even to allow on bosses). It's nice how Ronove makes you think and really understand the system in order to win the fights, rather than just cheaply stacking the boss' stats against you so you had to grind.

I mean, what really caught me was the story and the art and how brilliantly done things were in general, but I thought the battles were on the same level of quality as the rest of the game--meaning, really high.