ikantolol t1_j23nqpg wrote on December 29, 2022 at 12:36 PM

JRPGs are notorious for this, many says the genre mainly focuses on story as they put less effort on combat but goddamn the thing you have to know is ridiculous.

Final Fantasy 8 is one such case with GF (a.k.a Summons/Eidolons), how you equip it, how you level it up, how it interacts with status, how it interacts with equipped spells, and its magic system that doesn't use mana point but instead act like a perishable items, which depends on how you do things, you can be massively underpowered in the endgame or ridiculously overpowered since Disc 1.

other genre that's notorious with having too many mechanics is the 'Grand Strategy' genre, basically all Paradox games (Hearts of Iron, Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis). You could open several semesters of class just to teach these games' basic mechanics.

nitrobskt t1_j242vry wrote on December 29, 2022 at 2:49 PM

FF8 is my personal favorite final fantasy, and it would be a nightmare to try and explain the junction system to someone who hasn't played it. That said, it is actually really simple once you get it.

nantukoprime t1_j27uqwe wrote on December 30, 2022 at 7:11 AM

I like how FF8 worked that into the story.

You're going to a military academy to learn those principles, as GFs and equipped spells are what turn teens into super soldiers. Downside to GFs is they take up space in long-term memory, so your entire cast can have useful amnesia to critical story points.

The best in game representation of the above systems working would be to play the game so you never level up (Totally possible through use of the GF system and some counterintuitive first couple of hours). Player and monster levels scale 1 to 1, so if you use the GF and spell system well you just feel like a super soldier for all disks.