Alvertin

An incredible remake of a flawed game. Classes, skills, even maps are all remade and changed from the original release. Battles feel dramatic due to the mechanics of the game. Force Boost grants powerful unique buffs for each class, making each character feel like a superhero for three turns. Force Break is a one use per excursion super attack that allows you to inflict blows with extremely powerful effects. However, on the opposite end, enemies hit incredibly hard, requiring you to think of your party synergy to its fullest and pushing every mechanic you can to its limits. This is especially true in boss fights where you need to manage your resources effectively instead of burning out quickly. The classes from the original game were rebalanced and given more skills that allows a lot more variety in party building. Classes left without a niche in 2 were given a second chance in Untold 2. The classes play in a more dynamic manner, where instead of focusing mainly on one or two attack skills, a variety of them is needed to succeed. Dungeons are standard Etrian fare, with a focus on avoiding boss-like enemies on the map known as FOE in order to advance. Of course, players can always opt to attack them as well and reap great rewards. If I had to complain, it'd be about the tutorials. Despite the game being difficult on Expert, they still feel the constant need to explain every little dungeon gimmick such as how enemies on the map move. Though handled much better than in Untold, there's still an amount of RNG handled in the Grimoire system which can be frustrating. Despite these flaws, it's hard not to recommend this game.

I really wish the games were good. I don't leave this review out of spite, but because I love the series. For the positives, I like some of the new designs. On top of that, most Pokemon get additional moves, giving them more variety in combat. Besides that, it's a Pokemon game with serious added flaws. Though it was a trend set in earlier games, the new games are more linear and less secret filled than ever. Dungeons are more akin to hallways instead labyrinths with branching paths and abundant secrets. There are very few routes in the game, and the ones that exist are mostly short and lack complexity. The wild area feels half baked and unfinished. After the short main campaign, all that's left for you is a short side story and a Battle Tower. Besides that, you're entirely reliant on playing online for content. As a gimmick, Dynamax against other players is frustrating and poorly balanced. One wrong move and you're down two or even three mons. This is especially devastating in 3v3 matches, it feels even more poorly balanced than the previous battle gimmicks, Mega Evolution and Z-moves. It's painful to see the series hit this low. I wanted this to be good, but wading through the major flaws to get to the small nuggets of good simply isn't worth it. The games aren't irredeemable, but it's really hard to recommend it when it drops the ball so hard.