Syzygy
This weekend me and my friend played more, are now up to whatever mission recommends 86 gear. Having played exclusively two player through this game, and then doing the one fight they force you into 1P in Cornelia and realizing that there are NO revives in this game during single player flipped my lid a bit. The economy of Phoenix downs and potions used as revives had felt pretty alright throughout the game and if a single death would put you back to a checkpoint, well, it really is a different game.
I was recalling this thread while doing the ‘kill three master tonberries’ mission, and at the least we could somewhat tag-team or sandwich them, and they still were tough (action difficulty). It must have been intense/excruciating doing that single player.
The other thing I was noting as we played is that I could tell there was an extent to which having multiple players breaks the flow that any individual is able to set up. I found myself accidentally comboing an enemy out of final big hits that my friend had been winding up for. The legibility of exactly what each person was doing (or my rusty reading skills only playing this game in long sessions about once a month with my friend) made that feel somewhat unavoidable.
Once we clear the game I think I’ll definitely do some solo play to get a sense of how it plays without a second source of madness on screen. Definitely feels like it would be a substantially different game.