I would say it's the easiest, since the time limit is localized into sections rather than long term like the other two.
I've usually seen people say Totori is the hardest.

Originally posted by funewchie:

I bought the trilogy, but only have touched this game (as it appears to be the first in the story).
But, I've been having a hard time getting into all this.
It feels like it's tough, due to needing to be perfect, finding secret events for a character whose ending you want, and so on.
I guess my main issue holding me back is feeling like I'm going to sink 20 hours into it, just to get a bad ending.

(And I know someone's gonna say "use a guide".
Yes, I know I can do that, but it just kills the fun of a game if a walkthrough is outright required just to finish the main story properly.
(A secret/obscure ending or such, sure, perfectly fine))

I've heard that this was the hardest one in the trilogy, is that true?
Mainly wanted to ask that, and to rant a little.

This is why I absolute despise time limit games, it leaves a player with a bad choice or worse choices.

1 Use a guide right away
2 save scum till your eyes bleed
3 Risk losing 20+ hours on a failed run.

I dont see fun anywhere in there.

Originally posted by kconvey1:

This is why I absolute despise time limit games, it leaves a player with a bad choice or worse choices.

1 Use a guide right away
2 save scum till your eyes bleed
3 Risk losing 20+ hours on a failed run.

I dont see fun anywhere in there.

The game would have to be redesigned from the ground up to make the story work without a time limit. It's all about the struggle to keep the workshop alive while also building your relationship with the other characters. Removing the time limit would also trivialize the difficulty. You could heavily outlevel any encounter without repercussions.

The game isn't that hard actually. You can farm unlimited amounts of money without fighting or advancing time. You can use it to buy anything you need to catch up, hire companions or buy any amount of consumables to help in your quests. You can easily finish every term and all optional quests within 50% of the allotted time.

Originally posted by Yoth:

The game would have to be redesigned from the ground up to make the story work without a time limit.

I wouldn't say that. I could think of a couple ways they could go about it to keep the story and have the illusion of there being a limit story-wise without there actually being one that the player has to deal with. Might require the removal of the bad ending but beyond that it should be pretty doable.

Originally posted by Yoth:

It's all about the struggle to keep the workshop alive while also building your relationship with the other characters. Removing the time limit would also trivialize the difficulty. You could heavily outlevel any encounter without repercussions.

You could yes, but I fail to see how that differs from 80% of JRPGs. On top of which, the balance wouldn't be the same were it designed around no time limit. so it's also somewhat an irrelevant point.

Originally posted by Yoth:

The game isn't that hard actually. You can farm unlimited amounts of money without fighting or advancing time. You can use it to buy anything you need to catch up, hire companions or buy any amount of consumables to help in your quests. You can easily finish every term and all optional quests within 50% of the allotted time.

I'd love to have your skill at that.
I struggled with having enough resources and money.

Each main assignment only got me about 3 stars, which kinda implies it's not good enough. I had to miss a few optionals, just cause I had no idea how to.
And the fact that for character endings, Lionela's events just stopped, kinda hints something went wrong there.

I think I eventually just had to start over, and look at a guide.
Which stinks, but it stinks more to sink a ton of time in it, just to get told "Nope! You got the bad ending! Hahahaha!"

(The only thing more annoying... is after the restart trying to remember what music I assigned to everything. Some of those were funny! Like dramatic battle music in the lady's item shop. )

Originally posted by Yoth:

Originally posted by kconvey1:

This is why I absolute despise time limit games, it leaves a player with a bad choice or worse choices.

1 Use a guide right away
2 save scum till your eyes bleed
3 Risk losing 20+ hours on a failed run.

I dont see fun anywhere in there.

The game would have to be redesigned from the ground up to make the story work without a time limit. It's all about the struggle to keep the workshop alive while also building your relationship with the other characters. Removing the time limit would also trivialize the difficulty. You could heavily outlevel any encounter without repercussions.

The game isn't that hard actually. You can farm unlimited amounts of money without fighting or advancing time. You can use it to buy anything you need to catch up, hire companions or buy any amount of consumables to help in your quests. You can easily finish every term and all optional quests within 50% of the allotted time.

See above problem #1

Read a guide before you even start, lol

Originally posted by Melodia:

I could think of a couple ways they could go about it to keep the story and have the illusion of there being a limit story-wise without there actually being one that the player has to deal with.
[...] I fail to see how that differs from 80% of JRPGs. On top of which, the balance wouldn't be the same were it designed around no time limit. so it's also somewhat an irrelevant point.

Okay, let's rewrite the story and remove the time limit. What's next? Without the limit crafting becomes just another chore instead of a challenge. Players would not have to manage their time and make decisions. They would just walk through all of the tasks with little effort, unless it turns into a grindy collectathon which nobody likes. So this has to be changed and use completely different and more engaging mechanics. The focus of the game would also have to lean way stronger on difficult fights and puzzles to keep players occupied and challenged. At this point it is already a completely different game, it merely shares a part of the story. Maybe you'd like that kind of game more, but this one is not going to change, so it is kind of a pointless exercise. Let's not derail this thread any further. You could check out Märchen Forest on Steam though.

Originally posted by funewchie:

I'd love to have your skill at that.
I struggled with having enough resources and money. [...] I think I eventually just had to start over, and look at a guide.

Originally posted by kconvey1:

See above problem #1

Read a guide before you even start, lol

That's not skill. I just noticed there are some loopholes that can be exploited at any point in the game. These are not even bugs, just clever use of game mechanics.

I never used any guide. You just have to try a lot, adapt and exhaust all possibilities before moving on. Most likely too tedious for players that don't want to walk the extra mile. That's why guides exist. You can think of it as an accessibility option for those who aren't good at statistics and theorycrafting.

its hard . i had to google how to make gunpoweder ....

I did 100% on the three of them, Totori is my favorite and probably the hardest, the time limit there is very restrict, everything you do takes time,you def need a guide beggining to end if you want to do all characters endings

Originally posted by _Gustavo:

I did 100% on the three of them, Totori is my favorite and probably the hardest, the time limit there is very restrict, everything you do takes time,you def need a guide beggining to end if you want to do all characters endings

♥♥♥♥ then i will refund totori ... thats a shame is so hard

Originally posted by funewchie:

I bought the trilogy, but only have touched this game (as it appears to be the first in the story).
But, I've been having a hard time getting into all this.
It feels like it's tough, due to needing to be perfect, finding secret events for a character whose ending you want, and so on.
I guess my main issue holding me back is feeling like I'm going to sink 20 hours into it, just to get a bad ending.

(And I know someone's gonna say "use a guide".
Yes, I know I can do that, but it just kills the fun of a game if a walkthrough is outright required just to finish the main story properly.
(A secret/obscure ending or such, sure, perfectly fine))

I've heard that this was the hardest one in the trilogy, is that true?
Mainly wanted to ask that, and to rant a little.

Unless you really want to complete 100% the game in one run, it's not worth trying to go for everything at once. If you really don't want to stress yourself, just play the game as is and march to the beat of your own drum. The assignments are pretty easy and most can be done pretty quickly. Prioritise that for the maximum 10 stars each season then you can do whatever else is available until it's evaluation time.

Originally posted by carl:

its hard . i had to google how to make gunpoweder ....

I think the game just isn't for you at that point.

just do blind run on first try and if u want to do all achievs do it in NG+ u will have armors weapons from first game + money and decorations too so its a lot easier :D