Yes 💪

Yeh alot of Jap Devs woo U with kindness and they hope U enjoy there product.but imo they are less transparent then western Devs I ultimately don't pay attention to them.however I'm looking forward to the story and hopefully our reality becomes playable towards the end.

I would say it's for the better. Since the Press Turn system is one of the best "traditional" turn based JRPG systems out there.

I enjoyed the starts of Persona 4 and 5. However, they walk at a different cadence. The lack of character motivations in those games pair well with the slower pace as it let's the players create their own internal motivations and "self insert". For Joker's case, atlus used a lot of "kick the puppy" techniques to get you rooting for the MC. Getting drugged up and abused, getting into legal trouble for doing the "right thing". I was already in Joker's corner alittle bit because of the blatent relatable injustice that is actively impacting the story. This is similar to how the many tribes of metaphor hate the Elda but without the immediate impact (yet). What personally grounded me in Persona 5 was the very first major arc - power imbalance SA. It struck a cord a bit close to home and got me rooting for the MC's corner for the intrinsic good that they're doing. I'm still seeking that internal hook that'll get me rooting for our MC in Metaphor. As you've mentioned, all of Metaphor's party members so far have very easy motivations/backstories to digest and get behind. The straightforwardness of it may be the friction keeping me from clicking not because there is anything wrong with using tropes and archetypes, but I'm not afforded time to build up that connection. They really want me to like the character and they want me to like them fast! I do like hulkenberg and strohl a lot, though, so it worked! 🤣 As for FF7 Cloud's case, I think this one is harder to quantify. There is alot going on with FF7's prologue sequence that far and away supercede Cloud's multifaceted trauma. He's a merc supersoldier whose only in it for the money. Does it make sense? I have no idea this world is a bit alien, so maybe. Do I care about Cloud's story? Not yet, but he has a big sword and there's explosions everywhere! Do I care about Avalanche's plight? I care about as much as Cloud does in that moment. Then you get to know the Avalanche Crew at the same time as Cloud. Mix that in with hints of the past with Tifa and his inconsistencies to keep you moving forward. The curiousity on what makes Cloud ticks helped to engage me in the narrative. As the prologue's external factors die down, I started to form connections with the cast and that became my internal motivations; matching Cloud's internal motivations at least in the Midgar section. Do I hate Shinra and support terrorism? Naw. Not yet anyways. But i did get to know and form a connection with the Avalanche Crew before things really hit the fan. I could end up really vibing with the prince and the protag's goals, but need more time before that happens. Compared to Cloud's mystique and edge, the straightforwardness of the MC's motivations to save his childhood friend leaves less to the imagination. Nothing wrong with that at all, but with less mystery comes the need for that bond/connection for relatablity. This could also be done by amping why Louis needs to be stopped or giving us a more easy to hate villain. Someone who "kicks the puppy".

OMG I WAS LOOKING FOR A COMMENT LIKE THIS 😂

11: each area has 5 treasure maps. Get them all, dig up the treasure, usually has decent weapons, stat boosters, or level boosters (along with gold) 12: The Witch lets you inspect animal carvings, The Wizard stone heads, Chloe ruins, Lex towers, The Elf Man stone circles, The Druid sigils, The Owl Scholar mysterious doors. Make sure all of these get recruited if you want to interact with these points of interest 13: rapport conversations give a small amount of honor, on top of learning more about the characters. 14: learned skills get auto-added to your tactics queue. If a party member levels up and suddenly starts doing less damage, that's why. 15: buy nuts, bread, and steak, every time. You never know when an extra action point or two will save your unit