North America Gets a Project X Zone 2 Demo on 26th January

I just hope they've fixed the stale combat system and incredibly grind heavy levels.

The first one was pretty fun, I'll probably pick this up at some point. It's a basic tactical SRPG with crazy button tap combo mechanics and beautiful 2D animations.

@DarkKirby Do you normally enjoy SRPG games like Fire Emblem, Shining, Final Fantasy tactics, XCOM, Codename S.T.E.A.M., and Tactics Ogre?

Otherwise, you probably won't like these games no matter what.

@DarkKirby
Grind heavy levels? There was grinding?

Stale combat? Were we playing the same game? Teamups with altering partners and bonuses, trying for crit after crit, whether to go for damage or fill up your guage! It wasn't too deep as far as tactic games go, but it was fun!

I'll be getting this game soley for X's inclusion. Maybe one day, capcom will put him in a real fighting game

@khaosklub @Action51
The basic combat system in Project X Zone 1 basically doesn't change or evolve from the beginning of the game until the end, and most levels were just an army of enemies that were incredibly time consuming to grind though to win.

The selling point of the game was the character interactions, not the "riveting" combat system. The story wasn't very engaging either, seeing as your party had essentially no control of where they were going and spent almost the entire time wandering randomly from one location to the next.

@DarkKirby
Oh, okay, grinding as in levels were tedious with too many enemies that took too much time.

I dunno, I enjoyed it... but are SRPG games supposed to switch things up in the course of the game?

Shoot, most games have the same basic combat system from beginning to end, don't they?

@khaosklub

I didn't hate Project X Zone 1, don't misunderstand, what it did well, accurate character portrayals and character interactions, it did AMAZING, but I would like the problems fixed.

Most (good) games add new mechanics and new challenges over the course of the game to keep the game interesting. Getting new moves or abilities, and facing new enemies that you don't deal with identically to the rest, with those new moves or abilities, are examples of how many games choose to do this. How you approach enemies in Project X Zone 1 is essentially the same no matter what the enemy is, and the combat system never really becomes more complex than when you started.

While many games are a practice in hiding the repetition, Project X Zone 1 didn't do a very good job of hiding it at all, and emphasized it if anything. I think if they even just cut the number of enemies per level in 1/2, it would help.

That'll be a nice birthday present!

@DarkKirby
Oh, just didn't understand your criticisms.

Yeah, there were a lot of enemies, but you did get new characters with different abilities, and later different attacks. It was challenging to try to time those crits together with all the attacks and such.

I mean, I usually get bored of strategy games like these, but I completed pxz1.

Cutting enemy numbers though would probably be better though, agreed

Wait, no mention that Europe is getting the same demo on the 21st? Guuuuys.

The first one was more an action RPG than a SRPG. It was all about perfect timing to juggle into critical. Loved the great work on sprites and the fantastic soundtrack in the first one so I don't need a demo to get convinced to buy this one

I'll buy for sure, but I hope that they fix the bland interactions between characters and add some decent plot. New combat system, with nice skills, itens that are more than just descriptions and I don't know...make the game better in general

Lots of positives comments on here; Good.

I played the demo of the first one and didn't know what the heck was going on. And I've played many tactical RPGs. I think it was the unknown characters mixed with being tossed into some random level without any idea why I was there etc.

Now that I'm interested in the second one, I may go ahead and revisit the 1st just so I can complete my collection.
I always knew I'd have to give it another shot but I just never got around to it. I'm pretty excited about this mashup though, seems like it should be supported to continue!

Definitely liked the first one, so will be getting the second one at some point

Also, the fighting engine that was used in the first Project [Cross] Zone is a variant of the same juggle-action fighting as found in the Super Robot Wars OG Saga: Endless Frontier (which I also have a copy of). I find it a good system for everyone to get into — it's easy for players who are not good at action games and just want to mash buttons, yet very strategic in the pooling and proper use of the resource points and items collected. The engine has the right amount of balance to it, but I do hope that [Cross] Zone 2 tweaks it for better balance between the action and strategy.