It's rough around the edges and clearly akaimato's first game, but a lot of the sauce in Demons Roots is in it and worth a play for sure. It's crazy how much he had planned out even back then. It's the Black Souls 1 to Demons Roots' Black Souls 2 if that makes sense.
If it's close to the quality of the sequel it will be worth the time.
I'm not sure if it's in the official Steam versions (still can't believe they're actually on Steam), but the old DLSite versions had a README with a guide on how to get all endings for both games. For the most part it's straight forward with the only ending being convoluted to get is the true end in BS1 and Ending G in BS2. The true ending of BS2 is fortunately in it's own area as it was DLC.
Is it the case where it's enough to get the true ending for the first game, or all the endings are worth playing?
You don't need to do every single individual girl ending for BS1 unless you like them I guess, but you absolutely should aim for Endings C and D. Those set you up immediately for Black Souls 2.
I probably would agree with most of this but there's nothing that could take away the reveal in Demons Roots in the book country on my first playthrough. That shit was peak fiction. I also think akaimato really outdid himself with the way Diana was introduced in DR. Having it be a hard cut POV switch was such a good call and I thought it'd be the best the game would get until you get on the path to the good ending.
My hot take is that I think RPGM games really don't take advantage of the combat aspect as much as they should. I never really felt mechanically pressed playing Demons Roots or King Exit and the closest I got to really getting in deep and loving the mechanics was LISA intentionally and Black Souls II unintentionally. LISA's combo moves for Brad that change based on the situation is a great idea and BS2's DLC3 is made for the player to push the gameplay engine to the limits with menu exploits and what not and I really like it.
I heard great things about Bravely Default 1 and Bravely Second but Bravely Default 2 is boring as sin. I didn't even get to the end of the first dungeon before dropping it, it's so fucking boring. I still got BD1 anyway because I've been waiting for that game to coem to PC ever since I heard it was getting a remaster, hopefully I like it more than BD2.
It's a limitations, but I appreciate those games for being more experimental. Stuff like character deaths is basically extinct in modern jrpgs. Still, King Exit had some fun changes in the formula.
I liked 1, which has a lot of cool ideas and fun character building. 2 is ass though.
One of the games I wish I could play from the start as a new experience.
Bravely Default 1 is an okay game that is held back by the Gimmicks and Balance.
Is the gameplay still glorified Rock Paper Scissors?
yep,
Yeah but now if you know their patterns, you can autoclick the button and fill it in.
Oh boy, you gonna love the Passionlip and karna fights
BD1 is good. It has a reputation for padding but most of it is inconsequential and can be skipped.
It's not just that, it's also a massive mood shift that wipes away every dark aspect of the plot for the most reddit shit possible conclusion. It's like the devs were afraid of a backlash so every interesting point gets sanded down.
Yeah, I will agree that the darker tone of Act 2 was an awsome direction, and while i don't mind the more lighter mood of Act 3, I perfer Act 2 in terms of story and tone. I mainly like Act 3 for how much stuff there is to do compared the the other two Acts.