Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark (FF Tactics clone from indie dev)

[Skinypupy]

I should probably start with a disclaimer that Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions is in my top 3 games of all time. To me, it's the best tactical strategy game ever created.

With that out of the way, I picked up Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark for Switch on Friday after seeing the overwhelmingly positive reviews it has received on Steam. I was expecting something that was fun, but that fell short of the greatness that is FF Tactics. So imagine my surprise when Fell Seal is every bit as good as FFT...and might actually even be better.

If you've played any tactical JRPG (FF Tactics, Tactics Ogre, Vandal Hearts, Stella Deus, Rainbow Moon, etc.), this will feel immediately familiar. It looks and plays exactly the same. It even has a very similar job system and progression system to FFT. There's a few tweaks that I really like, such as inactive characters receiving AP (what you use to buy skills for each job) after each battle, having a defined skill tree for each class, and having a table that shows exactly what stats will increase when you level up with specific classes. Everything about the game is incredibly easy to understand, especially for tactics veterans. It's like they took any minor quibbles we had about previous games, and somehow managed to smooth over every single rough edge.

The artwork is old-school charming, the soundtrack is fantastic, and the story has been very good (although not quite as good as FFT, so far). I'm honestly astounded that this was created by only a couple folks.

My only real gripe is that you can't rotate the battlefield, which ocasionally makes enemies who are standing behind walls difficult to see. I'd also really like it if there was an option to make the text bigger in handheld mode, but that's pretty minor.

I came in expecting a cheap imitation, but have been wildly impressed by this complete package. If you've ever enjoyed a tactics game before, absolutely do not miss this one. It's been brilliant so far (about 9 hours in).

[Baroquen]

Good to hear. I have this one sitting in my backlog. I love those tactic type games anyway. So with all of the positive buzz, I'll have to bump it up the playlist.

[Skinypupy]

One other thing. For anyone who might be on the fence because the artwork doesn't look quite up to par (this was my main concern), I'd say not to worry. It doesn't look like much at first glance, but the game looks really good when you're playing and the rock-solid gameplay more than makes up for any graphical issues.

Plus, there's a ton of customization in how characters look, which actually ends up being a very fun part of the game.

[Paingod]

Between this and other titles for the Switch, it looks more and more like it's getting close to time to acquire one. I have a FFT save on my old Nintendo DS with 149 hours on it that I pick up periodically and play a few fights on before putting it down.

Here's a question for the ages - Will the Switch's battery survive as well as my Nintendo DS has? The thing is 14 or 15 years old and still runs for many hours between charges.

[Isgrimnur]

Ask us in a decade.

[Scraper]

Between this and other titles for the Switch, it looks more and more like it's getting close to time to acquire one. I have a FFT save on my old Nintendo DS with 149 hours on it that I pick up periodically and play a few fights on before putting it down.

Here's a question for the ages - Will the Switch's battery survive as well as my Nintendo DS has? The thing is 14 or 15 years old and still runs for many hours between charges.

If you buy a switch in the red box it will get roughly double the amount of play time out of one charge over the old models. Reports are that the battery is the same as the old version and that Nintendo is possibly using a smaller CPU (same speed but smaller nm) that requires less power.

I know that doesn't answer your question about 10 years from now, but less power consumption can't be a bad thing for a battery's life span.

[Tao]

Saw this on Steam a few days ago and it immediately went on my wish list. Going to wait a bit and see if it pops up on sale but very interested. I am likewise a huge FFT fan, many, many hours in that game.

[Sudy]

Funny, I was on the brink of purchasing this when it was on sale on Steam the other day. I'd had it on my wishlist for a while, but hadn't seriously considered buying it because I believe it was still in early access the last time I looked.

Ultimately, I decided to wait as I don't have a lot of spare cash right now. That and, coincidentally, I watched a brief review and didn't care as much for the art style when I saw it animated.

But FFT is also one of my all-time favourite games. Even though I never actually beat it, I sunk hours and hours into grinding classes over several playthroughs. Interestingly, it was actually my first FF game. I rented it from Blockbuster not long after buying a secondhand Playstation and didn't really know what it was. As it turned out, even though I had been hoping for a traditional RPG, the tactical gameplay was right up my alley.

I always kept my eye out for games in this genre, but ultimately didn't wind up playing too many as I left console gaming behind. But I do remember really, really enjoying Vandal Hearts II, and Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis on GBA. Also have fond memories of Front Mission 3 but I don't think I got too far into it. I did buy the first Disgaea (the same day I bought Galactic Civilizations, as I recall), but found it intimidatingly deep and the sillier anime-style plot didn't appeal to me as much. I do eye the series on Steam every time it goes on sale, though.

[morlac]

Like SkinnyPup I am a FFT freak. I have owned 7 or 8 versions of it on 4 or 5 different platforms going back to when it launched on PS1 (still have it!). Basically, if it is available on a platform that I play on, I buy it.

This game is the best "clone" of it I have ever played. Maybe to close in some ways but it's got enough system quirks and customization to differentiate imo. It really is fantastic and very impressive for what I think was basically a 2 person (husband/wife) dev team. Very much a passion project and it shows. There's even a demo on their website for pc if your not sure: https://www.fellseal.com/.

[Skinypupy]

Like SkinnyPup I am a FFT freak. I have owned 7 or 8 versions of it on 4 or 5 different platforms going back to when it launched on PS1 (still have it!). Basically, if it is available on a platform that I play on, I buy it.

You got me beat. I bought FFT when it originally came out on PS1. It was actually my first FF game after VII, and I was expecting the same...and I hated it. Sold it back almost immediately. Picked it up again after I read more and adjusted my expectations, and fell in love with it the second time. I then grabbed the WotL version for PSP, iPad, and I think I got it on PS3 as well. So I'm only at 5. (BTW, I saw an original PS1 version selling on Ebay for $2,500! )

Fell Seal continues to impress. The main characters have access to all the regular jobs, but also receive a story-specific job that is unique to that character. Those jobs have been a blast, and add a ton of variety to how the game plays.

[morlac]

Funny enough, I also originally bounced off and traded my first copy in. Your not too far behind me just grab it on Android.

I really love the injury mechanic in Fall Seal. Having to rest characters that get knocked out of a fight adds an additional layer to roster building. Forces you to not take the most optimal roster every fight and make concessions along the way. This also forces you to use and develop different strategies for those less than optimal parties. Really good stuff.

[Paingod]

just grab it on Android.

Wait, what? There's a version of FFT for the Android?

I don't normally play games on my phone, but that sounds like it might replace my old Nintendo DS and make it more readily available when I'm waiting to get my tires changed or something.

[morlac]

They put that shit on everything.

[Scraper]

just grab it on Android.

Wait, what? There's a version of FFT for the Android?

I don't normally play games on my phone, but that sounds like it might replace my old Nintendo DS and make it more readily available when I'm waiting to get my tires changed or something.

You guys are killing me. I didn't know it was on Android. I now own FFT on at least 5 systems that I can think of off the top of my head.

[Sudy]

Yeah... now I'm playing it again because of this thread. I forgot how much you have to grind, at least early on... it's still fun though. Brings back such memories. Maybe I'll actually beat it this time and see the end of the story?

The re-translation is really giving me Mandela Effect moments, though... Argath? Tietra? Corpse Brigade? Most of the changes are neutral or for the better. But I remember the characters and plot just well enough to know when something is amiss, but not quite what.

[morlac]

HAHA, sorry


When your done with that go pick up Fall Seal.

[Skinypupy]

When your done with that go pick up Fall Seal.

Fell Seal, too.

Pro tip: Purchasing all the abilities for a class gives you a nice stat bump. I had been bouncing around quite a bit when I unlocked new classes, but think I'm going to start focusing on finishing out one class before jumping to another now that almost everything is unlocked.

[Fishbelly]

Has anyone played this on the Ps4? The game is currently on sale and I was considering picking it up.

But if gameplay is clunky w/ a controller, I'd prefer to wait until it goes on sale on Steam.

[morlac]

I play it with a controller on the pc. No issues, seems designed for it.

[Skinypupy]

Playing with controller on Switch. Zero issues.

[Fishbelly]

I play it with a controller on the pc. No issues, seems designed for it.

Thanks, I will check it out.

[Skinypupy]

I had a 90 minute boss battle last night. It was a crazy fight, with three separate bosses that would throw in adds every 2-3 rounds.

It was incredibly satisfying when it was finished. My only gripe was that it didn't give me any more rewards than a typical battle did...just a couple hundred skill points. Was hoping for something more substantial for that much effort. Oh well.

[Tao]

On sale on Steam for 50% off right now.

[Tao]

Picked this up on sale last week. I have about 20 hours in to the game and I think I am about half way through, I am making my way toward the 3rd Temple. I am curious what difficulty folks are playing on?

I set it to Veteran and left the defaults and up until about hour 19 I was very much enjoying the game. Fights were challenging and required thought and strategy but I had not had any party wipes. I did have the occasional party member get knocked out from time to time but it was easily remedied by a quick patrol battle.

Now I have suddenly hit a wall. I can barely scratch enemy mobs, and they are practically one-shotting my characters. The story fight I am currently attempting has a

Spoiler:

Gunner

that killed off 3 of my casters in 4 rounds. I tried doing some patrols to grind some AP points, last attempt I had a character get hit for 215 damage in a single hit and those stupid casters that ride the Jelly Fish are using tier 1 AOE spells that are hitting for 64-75 a shot, two rounds and I have lost a party member or two. Oh and they have godly defense so only magic works against them. I really do not want to turn down the difficulty but I need to find a way to get over this hump. I remember in the FFT type games there was usually an uber-class or two you could grind for (Ninja) that would tip the balance but so far none of the classes I have unlocked appear to have that sort of power.