Their heart was in the right place with AST.

[Gemina]

We went from:


You have the pieces, make them work.

to:


Match the shape (seal) and color.

And this is bad because? Simplification seems to be demonized around here. It isn't always a bad thing. I would actually probably agree if an assembly puzzle allowed you to take a piece your grabbed, and change it to the piece you need via a RR, Spread or Minor Arcana. That is something I strongly disliked about the old mechanic that has also bleed over into the new one, and it's that we are not forced to play the card we are dealt.

I am fine with the seals system. I am ok that all cards buff DPS. I am not ok that the cards do not buff the AST in anyway with the exception of a DMG boost that likely should be used on another player. Each of those six cards should provide the AST with some kind of powerup, and these can be a myriad of possibilities. I've brought up aetherial spikes that deliver damage if the AST is struck; increased movement speed, def/mdef^, haste, among others. Point being they buff they AST and nobody else with the exception of that initial DMG boost to the player.

I feel this would not only give AST mains back that element of feeling each card's impact, it will also actually give them a choice unlike both iterations of this mechanic.

On a last note, I will always be troubled by Divination so long as the devs continue to not see that the odds are the exact same for getting three of one seal as they are getting one of each. There is basically two outcomes as of right now because no one will intentionally give themselves 3 of the same seal unless the system was changed into something I suggested above.