The score is favorable, but the gameplay, bosses, and my love for Clive & Cid really bring it to that alone. It's a Soken soundtrack too, so generally you're getting quality even though XIV still blows it out of the water. It's also beautiful and the PS5 manages to do a decent job staying at 60fps. So much of this rocks and kicks ass and I really think the game is just stellar when my mind doesn't wander to other stuff I dislike about it. The components for one of the best games I've ever played are here, but they are not well organized nor are they well implemented.

The game is filled to the brim with baffling pacing choices, shitty characters (Especially most of the antagonists), and bizarre narrative decisions that either don't see meaningful payoff or just suck. Even for as good as the combat system is (and it is REALLY FUCKING GOOD) it doesn't make up for how easy the game is. I did literally everything on the first playthrough I possibly could and the only time I was genuinely challenged was when I was 15 levels below an S-Rank hunt and even then a few tries got me through it.

This is a strong foundation for future games with this combat engine, but PLEASE do something different next game. I cannot overstate how much I don't want to just dump on the game because at its peak it is a fantastic action rpg with a really enjoyable protagonist, but fuck dude this game sucks when it sucks.