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by ArtePiazza
for Nintendo Wii

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Sometime you just want to go out and walk.
You don't need a map. Do you?
  by Jinto Lin

It's fairly balanced overall, but it isn't afraid to kick your ass. It doesn't start out easy, and it's really only level grinding a lot that can make it a bit too easy. But even then, later in the game, the difficulty spikes again and it stays fairly consistently challenging through the end, with enemies that'll put up an actual fight, battles where you need to carefully plan your tactics and directions you attack from, etc. given the time limits in battle and such. Overall, it's definitely far more old school in terms of difficulty than dumbed down like many RPG's in more recent years. It'll provide a sufficient challenge and you'll no doubt lose battles here and there, but so long as you plan ahead, you should do fine on average.

The penalty for dying isn't particularly steep, so they don't make a big deal of it when you do go down in battle. So overall, it's really just balanced in its difficulty - it isn't a cakewalk, but the game won't destroy you either. It's satisfying to get past bosses and further into the game, but isn't hugely frustrating when you die. There's definitely some at-times confusing and challenging bits in regards to the other parts of the game though - some of the side-quests, and in general, acclimating yourself to the world. They don't really coddle you with a convenient map system, so a big part of the initial experience of the game is getting lost in its vast environments - the city domes especially - and spending a lot of time exploring these places and really learning your way around in the world. And with lots to find, the game encourages fully exploring every nook and cranny.

That's something that frustrates a lot of people who'd rather be able to more easily get from point A to point B, but I find it a lot more immersing than most RPG's these days for that, just throwing you into a huge world and leaving you to explore it, as lost as Opoona himself in the world. It's a similar thrill to the exploration in RPG's of old when you wouldn't have an elaborate map system to fall back on and tell you where to be at all times.
 

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