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Absolutely stunning. I'm completely new to this series. Never heard nor anyone in my country had ever mentioned to me about the existence of this franchise. This is the first game from it that I've ever played and I'm blown away by its sheer amount of entertainment it has given me through 200+ hours journey. I discovered this game by completely accident, as I scroll through new upcoming release and saw this one on the list.
I'm sure I would have loved this game in its original form if I'd known about it. I've played a lot of game with niche or something that wouldn't stand the test of time. Suikoden did come to mind while playing this, some similar aspect like a lot of missable characters, choice that matter, customization skill, formation and some so I did have this tolerance to go through something so daring such as this.
This game is so addictive. The amount of free style you can have with your team build, the main single plot but with several non linear routes that you can take, so many consequence of action and choice you've made, the difficulty of battle that put understanding of game to use. It's really full of dynamic as every play-through feels different and unique to its own. I completed the first playthrough in Classic and second one on Romancing. Every minute of it is awe inspired.

Gameplay

The game carries out the story and world progression in form of "Generation". In which the world move on as each people carry the legacy of those come before and to complete the grand mission that was bestowed to them against the struggling world tormented by the Seven Heroes. It starts with Leon's Generation and then every new emperor after him is appointed by your own choice and every story after it is narrated by your own chosen path.
In battle feature the turn based game. Every unit take action based on their speed. In their turn they can choose to attack using Tech or Magic or use defend or item. Simple enough. The dynamic comes from that every character's tech and magic can be customized to see fit your preference or battle. It's basically what make game feel fresh and fun all the time.
There's no character level in this game but a level of Tech or Magic determine how proficiency the character is with respective skill. Which become more powerful each time they use in battle. For example using short sword in battle will earn them experience in that particular weapon in which each time it levels up they will deal more damage with shortsword. The same is applied to magic.
It doesn't stop there. The best part is, In battle, there's chance they will spark a completely new move on the fly. This is called "Glimmer". A mechanic in which a character will learn a new Tech or Magic while fighting in battle. The chance will increase when they're fighting the stronger opponent. Also there's small chance they will learn the "evasion" tech which sometime spark when they're attacked by certain move cause them to effortlessly dodge that move every single time it's used on them. Glimmer is my personal favorite mechanic because it looks cool everytime it happens, especially when they're fighting boss. It's also very unique coming from all RPG out there. it's basically a trademark.
There're several characters in this game where they're all assigned in their own respective "Class". These classes and each individual from the roster of respective class will have their own base basic attributes and class ability. For example a Vagabond will naturally have high SPD but each individual from this class may be faster than other or they have more STR than other. Giving the sense that each generation have their own unique niche to it. The fun part was to discover who or which class is your favorite, then try to make it work in your teamcomp in any generation.
There's permanent death but no permanent deadend. Every character carry one stat called "LP". It's basically their life force. Which deplete each time they're KOed in battle, when it reaches 0, they're considered killed and gone forever. And new generation will take their place.
Technically, there's no game over in this game. If your party get wiped out. The game doesn't end and the screen will bring you to appoint a new MC or new Emperor, in which they will continue to struggling in their place. Dead is not an ending and may open up new opportunity for something better. This too is different from other RPG as dying is considered a progression itself.
Each enemy will have weakness to certain weapon or magic element. Attacking these enemy by exploiting their weakness will deal more damage and fill up "Overdrive" gauge. Overdrive is a union attack perform by several allies at once which allow player to burst the enemy to their death. This existing mechanic will further emphasize the important of team diversity which you must allow to exploit these weakness as many time as possible to turn the tide of battle. In additional to weakness is status aliment which matter a lot on battle against several enemies, especially on high difficulty where one or two hit could KO your unit, by inflicting stun or sleep on enemy will definitely increase the chance of surviving for your team. Vice versa, an enemy can also inflict these on your team and may end the battle quickly so you will put into considerate that power isn't only thing that matter.
There's one more important mechanic in this game called "time skip". Basically after every major story quest the game may trigger the timeskip in which the story moves on to the next generation. Through plot point the new emperor will be chosen, inheriting all those abilities and memories that come before as they continue to carry the legacy. Every new Tech and Magic learnt in the last generation will be registered in the training hall, allowing the new generation unit to directly learn from it. The new generation may use these tech with ease, and they may glimmer an even more amazing new Tech and Magic than the last. This is general flow of the game and how they choose to emphasize how the people of this world grow stronger to combat an even greater threat.
There's no side quest in this game. Except, every quest is a "story" itself. Which will allow you to experience the world in your own pace. There's no fixed order except in prologue Leon's generation where it's scripted, you're free to explore the entire world and discover all matter of region and cities at your own discreet. You can literally start any quest in anywhere as your own choice truly emphasize a true non linear RPG experience. In different order come different consequence each time, this is called "Free-Form Scenario" in which the world always move on with or without your presence. If the story say the situation is immediate, it really is, nobody know what would happen if you leave to do something else or get killed in battle, appoint new emperor and only to find out the story has moved on for the different outcome, there's more but this review shall not spoil its charming any further. Discover all of these blind is a fun itself.

Graphic and Sound

It's honestly beautiful anime style-ish game. It's well optimized throughout with stunning effect. I can see that they've recreated something based on original and make it even more hype for those people. For someone new like me, I understand why people praise the game being faithful to the original.
You can choose between original soundtrack or the remake one. I've listened to both and I'm amazed by how faithful the remake remix can get despite original already sounds so amazing, but the remake managed to make it sounds even better.

Conclusion

If you really like the degree of freedom on customize your team ability, picking whoever you want to journey on the non linear world full of dynamic and choice you can make. This is your game. It's the best of its niche and will offer exactly what you're looking for.