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Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards: Difference between revisions
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** Somewhat averted in ''[[Kingdom Hearts: 358 Days Over 2|358/2 Days]]''. While magic strength is also dependent on weapons (gear) equipped, and unlike most Square-Enix games where "Fira" is simply an upgraded "Fire" and so on, the spells scale with levels and have different effects, (Cure heals you, Cura regenerates health over time, Curaga creates a field that heals everyone within it over time) the mage characters may often wind up attacking during Mission mode because there is ''no'' limitation on how many times you can do that and enemies resist magic. But there are still heartless who have massive weaknesses to certain spells, and guess who you'll want with you during the missions where they show up?
** Played relatively straight in ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]''. Picking the Magic-based build during the introduction segments will be a disadvantage early on (especially since you start with absolutely no spells), but sticking with it will make your magic noticeably more powerful toward the end of the game. Conversely, choosing the offense or defense builds don't make a huge difference in the damage you give/take in the long run. If you DO pick Magic as your main focus, you'll be able to shave off multiple health bars from endgame Nobodies in a magic combo, your Explosion finisher (which bases damage on Magic) becomes even ''more'' of a [[Game Breaker]] than it is with a physical build, and [[Beehive Barrier|Reflega]] [[More Dakka|turns anything foolish enough to challenge you into Swiss cheese in a single cast]]. Should you use Magic while in Final form with a Magic build, [[Kill'Em All|you'll see this trope at it's prime]].
** And in ''[[Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep|Birth by Sleep]]'', it's played straight, but not in the way that you would expect. [[Mighty Glacier|Terra]], [[Fragile Speedster|Ventus]], and [[Squishy Wizard|Aqua]] are arguably equally powerful given [[Dishing Out Dirt|their]] [[Blow You Away|unique]] [[Making a Splash|skills]]. The characters differ not just in power levels but in leveling up and learning curve. Terra is the easiest to learn due to having higher HP quicker and being more melee oriented, something that most people familiar with the ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' series would know. Ventus meanwhile is also primarily a melee, but is faster and has a steeper learning curve than Terra, but not by much. Aqua meanwhile is primarily ranged fighting (something people who aren't magic enthusiasts or fans of Xigbar in ''Days'' probably aren't used to) and has a steeper learning curve, but she levels up faster than Terra and Ventus do at parts of their respective campaigns. So not only has [[Tetsuya Nomura]] [[Word of God|stated his recommendation]] to play through with the Terra -> Ventus -> Aqua order will make sense story-wise, but also, gameplay wise. Some fans have said that Terra is easy mode, Ventus is standard, and Aqua is Proud/Hard mode (however, there is a [[Harder Than Hard|critical mode]] being added into the international release).
* Zig-Zagged in the [[Tales (series)]]. It really depends on the game you're playing; in some the mages are more powerful (''[[Tales of Destiny]] II'', ''[[Tales of Eternia]]''), in others fighters are more powerful (''[[Tales of Legendia]]'', ''[[Tales of Destiny]]'') but in just about all of them, you basically need both since the games are often balanced enough that both become powerful end-game. Essentially; fighters aren't limited by casting times but mages have utility.
* The ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' series averts this, because ''everyone's'' growth is technically linear. Because magic works almost identically to the way weapons work, the variety that any particular class has partially depends on what weapons it's allowed to use (along with stat caps, movement, and class skills). The advantage of Mages is they're versatile in that they can attack from close-up or at range. However, most are standard [[Glass Cannon|Glass Cannons]], especially females (as males are more often the [[Jack of All Stats]]). This is even more notable on later games where both enemies and allies get decent resistance. For example...
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** In the first game probably does it to the greatest extent. Not too far into the game (round about Chapter 2-3) you can pick up Ether Staffs, which allow for Great Magic, but also boost magical power well into the quadruple digits, so without using Great Magic, you'll be out-doing the whole rest of the party for damage by a ludicrous factor; the lion's share of standard encounters will go down with one round of Lightning Bolt to the whole enemy group. With Great Magic, well, even bosses are going to go down in a hurry.
*** And then inverted once you get access to the endgame and postgame, where enemies who are highly resistant to magic and obscenely overpowered swords (especially) and spears start popping up everywhere. Your mage hitting everyone for 200,000 damage starts looking weak when a single sword user (or the secret characters) can do upwards of 1 million damage between their attack string and their Purify Weird Soul attack. Sure they only hit one character, but most things in the Seraphic gate can take a volley of Great Magic and then stomp you in return. Very few things, on the other hand, can take a full combo from most sword users, especially Lenneth, with the Dainslef or Angel Slayer equipped...
** Averted, though, in ''[[Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria]]'', where mages are [[Nerf|nerfed]] considerably compared to the other installments. There are still occasions, however, where the right spell will make certain enemies much easier.
** Finally, ''[[Valkyrie Profile Covenant of the Plume]]'' brings it back with a vengeance: The mages are alright at first, but are mainly best for building up the charge meter...until that is you get a staff that will push a mage's spell power into the quadruple digits, and gives Great Magic. Immediate game-breaker when you consider your physical attack power unbuffed may be around 5-700 by the end of the game.
* In most ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'' games, magic attacks almost always outweigh melee attacks by the endgame. The [[Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army|Devil]] [[Raidou Kuzunoha VS King Abaddon|Summoner]] games, however, do a decent job of averting this - Raidou's sword will always be one of your best friends.
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