Who out there is playing this? I've put over 10 hours into the Game Pass version and I'm having a lot of fun.

To avoid spoiler territory, I'll just say that currently I talked to a rhyming individual to get a bit of a ferry ride. There was something I had to collect and they were my ticket to that location.

I'm really enjoying the combat. It's tough but fair and has a lot of great aspects from the Paper Mario series actually. The soundtrack is really nice. I don't think it necessarily comes the level of something like Octopath Traveler, but it's certainly up there. The graphical style is fantastic. It blows me away how someone can do such detailed pixel art. The characters are emotive and I love seeing the portraits or even the special short cutscenes that are a bit more detailed even further. The story so far is decently intriguing, but I think it's held together better by the friendship of the lead characters. I am invested in them, not the story beats so much.

It reminds me of Golden Sun in that way. As I felt that same way about those characters. However, this game also feels like Golden Sun in the sense that the exploration of the world relies on semi-top down platforming of sorts. The world itself is a bit of a puzzle and that's fun to navigate. Expanding your abilities is also great and comes at a pretty good pacing. There are no djinn but at first glance, you may not even realize this isn't a Golden Sun game. I didn't expect those parallels going in. A delightful surprise.

I'm definitely eager to see this through. I've heard it can last anywhere between 20-30 hours for a typical playthrough. Cool.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to trying it out. It's good to hear that the Combat has Paper Mario elements. I need that arcades element to stay engaged!

Really weird release strategy on this game. Premiered on a Nintendo Direct, then launched on both the PlayStation and Xbox subscription services. I would've bought it, but I guess I'll just play it for 'free'! This kind of stuff does make me gunshy about buying indies on the Switch, though. At least for full price.

@Anand

Yeah, I would have bought it on Switch but that $35 price tag on a series I didn't know if I'd enjoy had me leaning towards Game Pass since I already pay for that. Plus, the fact they announced there will be a physical version but not at launch has me deciding to buy it later if I even get around to it. It'll depend on how much I like it in the end, or if I'll wish to play it again someday. I wish they just had a physical Switch copy at launch. I'd probably had bought it at launch that way then; full price and on my Switch.

We'll see I suppose.

I liked the demo of this but I was a little unsure of the combat system. What do you guys think of how battling works?

Just downloaded this on Switch...a day or two ago? Put some time into it and it's pretty good stuff. The intro section is a bit...verbose. But the art is fantastic, the music is fantastic (love that battle theme) and overall I'm having a fun time. Definitely agree with the Golden Sun vibes. Got a bit of Chrono Trigger vibes too, thanks to the speedy combat and map screen progression.

I don't have an Xbox so I don't have GamePass, but thankfully, I had a king's ransom worth of My.Nintendo Gold Coins. So I was at least able to get it at a deep, deep discount.

@TriforceBun

The battle system is one of my favorite things about it so far. The Super Mario RPG/Paper Mario/Mario & Luigi timed attacks/defense is well done and engaging. Love the fact that not all attacks are just "hit the button right before impact" for extra damage. There are charge attacks, deflection attacks, combos, and more. Good stuff.

Even better? The battles themselves don't take a long time. I've found that with some games, random battles can take...A...L O N G...W H I L E..T O...S L O G...T H R O U G H. (*cough* Bravely Default *cough*) But in this game? Nice and speedy. And the fact that you don't transition to a "battle screen" to engage enemies (a la the aforementioned Chrono Trigger) makes it just...*chef's kiss.*

It gets my "GDG SEAL OF APPROVAL."

Well described about the battle system @GameDadGrant! I totally agree with you. Even the longest battles still seem to be pretty swift. I like that it's not just a numbers game either, as the Mario RPG-style button timing can really affect things. Plus, sometimes utilizing some mana with a simple attack gives you just the elemental boost needed to do heavy damage against a specific weakness. The variety of how things are timed is tricky sometimes but still appreciated. Some character's base attacks even have unique timing compared to their partners. I've been quite pleased with this battle system. It's not the most in-depth but it's not too basic neither. A good mix that's swift but tactical still!

I don't have a lot to add other than I'm like 6 or 7 hours in and it seems pretty solid so far. Lots of neat little gimmicks in the areas to keep it fresh. Battle system has enough going on without being overly complex. Some very beautiful pixel art at times.

I’m around 20 or so hours in, and I’ve just arrived at The Sea of Stars. That was a wild ride getting there…!

Just finished the final boss. Was kinda weird. Very fun game overall, though!