Crisp Controls on the Ground
The moment you grab the stick, movement has zero mush. Estelle stops on a dime, turns without lingering pivot animations, and swings her staff the instant you hit the button. A lot of RPGs treat field actions like an afterthought, saddling you with awkward wind-ups and dead zones that make interacting with anything feel like pushing through cold grease. This game does not do that.
Walking through field areas and tagging monsters feels direct. Strike animations connect with a solid crack, and your attack recovery leaves enough room to dodge or reposition before a bad encounter circle catches you off guard. Full English interface options and English voice tracks are included right out of the box, and the audio sync during quick dialogue exchanges never hitches or pulls you out of the rhythm.
Brave Rush Keeps the Pressure High
Combat expands heavily on the first game, and the pacing benefits immediately. Quick Battles now feature the Brave Rush mechanic, letting you link character strikes together in clean sequences. You trigger the link, your partner steps in without weird positional snapping, and the damage registers right as the weapon connects with the hurtbox. There is actual weight behind these hits.
When fights transition into full tactical exchanges, the orbment setup gives you access to Arts without burying you in slow menu delays. Crafts and S-Crafts hit hard, with crisp visual cut-ins that finish quickly rather than eating up half a minute of dead screen time. If you carried over clear data from the 1st Chapter, the bonus items you receive smooth out the early equipment crunch so you can focus straight on the fighting.
Ouroboros and the Road Ahead
The plot picks up right after the coup in Liberl falls apart. Joshua takes off into the night after dropping his past on Estelle, leaving her with his harmonica and an ugly trail to follow. Ouroboros shows up as the primary threat, bringing airships, burning streets, and enough pressure to keep you pushing forward through region after region.
It works because Estelle is grounded and angry enough to keep the dialogue moving. You are not listening to endless vague whining about fate. She wants her partner back, she wants answers, and she takes swings at whatever gets in her path. The tension ramps up cleanly as the Ouroboros members start testing your party across major cities and military checkpoints.
Downtime That Does Not Get in the Way
Outside of the main story path, you get side activities like poker, cooking, and fishing. Fishing uses simple timing prompts that register clean button taps without lag, which makes grabbing upgrade materials tolerable instead of a chore. Cooking menus operate quickly, dumping usable battle snacks straight into your inventory without forced delay screens.
At $59.99 on Steam, you are paying full price for a direct sequel that assumes you care about what happened in the previous game. If you skipped the first entry, some of the emotional payoff falls flat. But on pure execution, the encounter design and snappy input response make this one of the tightest releases Falcom has put together.
Comments 20
BestNewest★ Best comments
quick s craft pacing is nice but i still want a leaderboard for clearing each area. beat my time then talk to me rn
I guess Estelle's really paying the price for a grand adventure. Sorry, couldn't resist. No spoilers but the ending hit me right in the Liberl feels.
does the poker table have some secret lore about Estelle's gambling debts or am i overthinking the side content again
tbh looks fun lol. 60 is a bit much but i got like 30 hours out of the first one so probably worth it
dude the brave rush link attack where you dash through an enemy and they explode into orange numbers is so sick i hit it like 50 times in the first area and kept replaying it honestly cant get enough of that punch
yeah, but it's a secret where she owes the casino's cat a favor. that's canon now. i accept no corrections.
anyone else notice a tiny delay on the s craft cancel? like maybe 2 frames or smth. otherwise combat is solid
@tampa_tyOn the S-Craft cancel: I tested a few times on keyboard and controller, didn't notice any extra delay beyond the normal recovery frames. Might be your input method or a background process.
I appreciate the note about no sluggish pivot animations. That drove me crazy in some other action RPGs, nice knowing the character actually turns when you push the stick.
tbh 60 bucks for a sequel that expects you to know the whole backstory is rough lol. game is fine but the price is the enemy here.
@ciao_ragazziI guess Estelle's really paying the price for a grand adventure. Sorry, couldn't resist. No spoilers but the ending hit me right in the Liberl feels.
does the poker table have some secret lore about Estelle's gambling debts or am i overthinking the side content again
@Rory Pthe poker is just there to soak up your mira and make you feel bad. (like most mini games tbh)
@Rory PDid anyone try the poker enough to see if there's a reward for a specific hand? Sounds like it's pretty barebones compared to the core combat, but I usually get distracted by card games anyway.
@outofpaperagaini got a pair of deuces and the game just smirked at me. no reward. refused to elaborate.
i dunno i mostly just wander around talking to npcs (the poker minigame is kind of a letdown i agree but i just pretend it doesnt exist) no stress either way (just my two cents though)
pro tip for anyone annoyed by long battle animations: the quick S-Craft pacing keeps fights moving way faster this time. helped me a ton.
@flintquick s craft pacing is nice but i still want a leaderboard for clearing each area. beat my time then talk to me rn
@isitoveryeti would respectfully duel you for the fastest clear time but my character keeps stopping to admire the birds in the background. it's a diplomatic incident.
has anyone tried playing through with a focus on defense instead of rushing? i'm curious if the Brave Rush system still feels rewarding when you take it slow.
@bkw92I went full turtle build my first run and Brave Rush still felt punchy because you can time the links with counter hits. Proper satisfying seeing the big numbers pop up after a patient block... That search across Liberl has some proper bittersweet moments too.
@coppercopper that sounds really promising. i'm glad the slower approach still rewards timing. might try a counter-heavy build myself. the combat animations really snap in a satisfying way.
@coppercopper, what party build did you run with the turtle approach? I'm thinking of going heavy on Estelle with guard crafts and a second attacker for Brave Rush timing.