Am I the only one that feels like the combat is incredibly clunky in this game?

[Cyclone722]

The flying things are annoying, but the only thing I've had trouble with so far is that the music isn't working for me.

[lostsomething]

The biggest problem I've been having is just being sure you get the attack you want. In particular, the way the game uses tapped directions + attack is a bit weird, in most games that do this say forward+attack will always get you the same thing - here though it only counts taps and anything that isn't a tap seems to be ignored and will give you the default standing-still attack instead.

The problem comes when you're trying to attack rapidly, if you miss the beats of your attack by even a little bit your taps start getting effectively ignored and start throwing out the default slash when you really don't want to be. It can be slightly annoying (I was going for the forward+attack move) to the extremely annoying (I was trying for the "do the move that has you turn around and hit the guy behind you and now he's punching me in the back while I keep swinging at the air).

When you get it down the game becomes a lot faster paced and more interesting but this behavior really gives the game a much bigger learning curve than it ought to have. I really don't see any reason for treating taps so differently than holds.

[Exodee]

To all the people having trouble, try turning on auto-blocking in the options and don't run when enemies are near. Your character will automatically block anything that's blockable as long as you're walking normally / standing still.

After I found that out most encounters became a lot more manageable. Just approach them slowly, block their first attack and then counterattack with a combo you're comfortable with.
I do agree that the whole "tapping multiple keys at the same time and with precise timing" thing makes pulling off a good combo quite a bit harder than need be though. Means you've got to be real patient with your inputs, which can be tough when there's tons of stuff going on in a fight.

Also, if you're outnumbered while playing as a caster, try using debuff spells like Sana's sleeping gas. That way you can easily pick them off one by one. You can even re-apply the spell while they're still knocked out to keep them out of the fight forever. (well, until your MP runs out that is...)

[neonie]

If you know you are going to be out numbered, a good strategy is to use Stellas Chaser spell while they are off screen to thin out their numbers before you jump into a fight. About two or three chasers will usually clear out a good chunk of enemies.

[tech7]

I really like the combat system, when you have a little experience it plays very fluid and it punishes Button mashing. Great.


But I'm suprised about the comments regarding gamepad issues. I started to play it on my xbox360 pad. However, I switched very fast to my keybord an cause it is easier for me to execute the various moves on it.

[neonie]

I feel incredibly off playing games on a keyboard. It feels super weird and unnatural to me.

When I have a controller, I feel immersed and it becomes like another part of my body. With a key board it's like "gotta type commands into a thing...great."

[Naryoril]

well, i use an arcade stick as controller. they are perfect for beat'em up style commands. and because the stick of an arcade stick is not analog and thus is mapped to the XBox digipad i can't use it. but i'm just using xpadder to solve the issue.
though i couldn't play much due to the crashes.