I'd forgotten, but they really break up the
swift pace of battles, in a bad way, forcing you to wait until they decide to use a move you can counter, which can sometimes happen a lot, or sometimes they'll just wait for minutes at a time without using it.
Still, I found the
brisk pace of battles and punchy combat kept the frequent encounters from wearing out their welcome.
The head - to - head mode was a fantastic inclusion, too — but even this wasn't enough to impress contemporary critics, many of whom were bemused by the comparatively
glacial pace of battle.
But the
entire pace of the battle is likely to change in an instant once that opposing character is defeated and another character with a different skillset enters the fray.
I'd forgotten, but they really break up the
swift pace of battles, in a bad way, forcing you to wait until they decide to use a move you can counter, which can sometimes happen a lot, or sometimes they'll just wait for minutes at a time without using it.
Given
the pace of battles later in the game, it can be a bit of a problem.
The addition of a new counter system greatly helps with
the pace of battles.
but
the pace of battle is incredibly slow.
There are a few things that keep
the pace of battle interesting — you have to keep an eye on your gas levels and blade sharpness as you eliminate titans, however its never really an issue as there are always recruitable comrades around who can help you stock up on supplies.
Most importantly, unlike in most JRPGs, which delineate bosses and regular enemies through pacing, with regular enemies being defeated easily in swift battles, and with bosses absorbing more punishment and requiring more complex strategy, Dragon Quarter has two
paces of battles: slow, and slower.
The pacing of the battles make it very accessible for the general player without much experience with strategy JRPGs.
Otherwise,
the pace of battles feels a bit stilted due to the clunky controls.
But something as simple as adding button hotkeys to the menu really does a great deal to increase
the pace of battles.