#and this mechanic was later used in is4

[little-lanterns]

Whenever i look at trials of navigator i always wonder what it feels like for new player who are unaware of like 50% of the map/boss mechanics

[prettycottonmouthlamia]

This is probably going to be a little sacrilegious but something that I'm finding is that when I play IS3, I am actually enjoying myself a lot. Honestly, I'm enjoying myself a lot more than I was playing IS2. This isn't to say that IS3 is perfect or anything, or even than IS2 is bad, but I find that I'm enjoying my time in IS3 just a lot more.

Now keep in mind I'm not really a hard mode grinder by any means. I didn't enjoy the difficulty mechanics in IS1 very much, and their return in IS2 really did not inspire me with much desire to tackle IS2 on a harder difficulty. IS3's difficulty is a bit...infamous for being a bit much, and honestly I'm kind of content with just poking my toes into the water in the future if I feel I want to. If you asked me to do A15 Izumik or die, I think i'd take the gun personally.

The point here is that I'm taking both of these themes from their base standpoint, and that means on the surface level that IS3 is just going to be easier. Two of IS3's unique squads (Mind Over Matter and People-Oriented) not only feel stronger than any squad in IS2, but they're dramatically more interesting to play. You also start off with significantly higher buffs in IS3 over IS2. You have stronger statistical buffs, you have more resources, you have the frankly crazy perfect clear about 8 Max HP buff, and the new node types, all of which are good.

I don't really want to come in from the difficulty angle, although it is maybe unavoidable that more runs in IS3 for me feel like they actually finish compared to IS2. This is partly due to difficulty and partly do to factors that extend into the design of stages themselves.

I will summarize my thoughts here and maybe make a point later on to elaborate them in a different post

-IS3 gives you more opportunities to develop runs, mostly through the use of keys -Keys fuck, and honestly I will probably enjoy IS4 even more given it uses keys in a much cooler way. Having more control over a run feels really nice -Map design in IS3 is a LOT better than in IS2. A lot of IS2's map design is based on IS1, which I'm going to be brave and say is by and large total shit, and IS2 relies a LOT on what are basically pranks -Seriously, fuck the Lost Colossus stage in IS2. -This makes it so its a lot easier to get a sense of flow in IS3. You can look at a stage in IS3, and know how to reasonable tackle it. This isn't consistently true in IS2. Shit in IS2 just fucking, moves. -Also the fact that IS2 kept the absolutely awful Bear and Duck stages where you just contend with increasing numbers of bullshit, and decided to make one version with fucking Sandbeasts makes me really ticked off. These stages are so much better in IS3 -Corrosion is a significantly better mechanic than Sanity. I am not a Sanity defender and I think it says something that I consider Scarlet Singers so dangerous you have to always account for them -Granted Sea Skimmers also suck dick, Low-Altitude Hovering my beloathed -Paranoia Illusion is a much fairer boss than Lucian, Blood Diamond. I feel like if IS2 had an A15 people would legit hate this boss. You're generally priced into trying to kill him on the first pass or develop enough life to deal with leaks from the defender side. It's never worth actually developing that side if he breaks the roadblocks. -I also like Ishar'mla more than Troupe Mouthpiece. Mouthpiece's stage has a really baller design, but it is maybe the ending out of the 8 in the first two IS that requires the most specific set of units. -Also unlocking Ishar'mla is generally a bit easier than Mouthpiece and doesn't require you giving up a boss relic and THEN hitting a random event

But like, IS3 isn't perfect. It has its bad stages and frankly really annoying bullshit (Territorial Tendencies and Ubi bona somnia are quite bad as Emergency Operations). The Light mechanic is annoyingly useless and not even really fun to interact with. Izumik is uh

well frankly I kind of stopping wanting to do it that entire thing is beans

and the Resourceful Squad exists to remind me that I am not Fate's Favorite Child, I will roll nat 1s on my D12s