DUNGEON ENCOUNTERS

More control and customization of the leveling up process than just "oh, they leveled, some HP, PP, whatever, I get what I get and I guess I like it".

The combat is actually fun, which if it wasn't this game wouldn't hold up.

In short, this game has a nice art style and the combat mechanics feel well done despite the grinding required to sustain multiple party members at the appropriate level of gear, but the game at large doesn't have any really strong hooks.

The difficulty thus far has curved out super nice I have had a few close calls where i almost wiped including one narrow getaway with one party member alive and to me that is the perfect balance for a JRPG where you are riding that fine line between dominance and having that creeping fear in the back of your mind that one wrong move could spell disaster for your entire squad.

The game mechanics, such as they are, work in a focused and cohesive manner, the character and monster designs are great, the writing, as little of it as there is, is creative and interesting, and Nobuo Uematsu’s soundtrack is on-point as always, this time with Rock & Roll rearrangements of classical songs.

Deeper character customization (classes, party synergies, etc.) and more complex exploration and puzzles (for example, requiring multiple parties in different areas of the dungeon to take actions), or even just different biomes requiring very different tactics to deal with could have added a lot to this game.