Astonishingly incredible. The idea of a puzzle-metroidvania is fucking genius. From the handful of experiences I’ve had with the genre, the combat has always been the worst part of the package. These games demonstrated engaging puzzles and encapsulating atmospheres, but dithered about with lacklustre combat; combat that is somehow presented as a third pillar of the game, as an equal to its atmospheric and puzzling counterparts. Neglecting this element to the extreme brings out the best part of metroidvanias (and is really, really fun to play).

Becoming intimate with this huge web of puzzles, slowly unravelling it yourself, and reaching the bottom of the rabbit hole. It’s an incredible concept, yet is so simple and so naturally delivered that it's hard to conceive how new this game feels. As both a publisher and developer debut, this is an explosive arrival to the scene, and hopefully a sign of great things to come for both.

There's a category at the Bafta Game Awards called "Game Beyond Entertainment". About an hour and half ago I would have ridiculed the idea that art and entertainment are such separate bodies. In 2021, Before Your Eyes received said award. When games like this and Assasins Creed exist with little differentiation, perhaps art like this should be raised above the pack, and placed on such a pedestal.

This joins a very very small list of games that made me cry, and an even smaller list of games with something to say.

Realises the original vision of Jet Set Radio incredibly. Delivering on everything I wanted that game to be and then some. The movement is so fun and responsive. It’s comparable to the 3D Mario games, where the game would still be pretty fun if you were just moving around in an empty space. Thankfully, you are not in said empty space. Every level boasts rich colours and broad variety. Each one is intricately designed to give the game's incredible movement the jungle gym it needs to reach its heights. Also the music officially goes insano mode (apart from the song that just says “ass” fifty times).

It is kinda pricey though, a £33.50 RRP is ridiculous. I paid 70% of that and it was perhaps still a bit much. Though, I don’t really think something like that should weigh into an assessment of a game’s quality; its just a note.

Absolutely incredible. Games like this are why the Final Fantasy name carries the pedigree that it does. A truly magnificent, world-spanning epic.

The combat is flawless. The music is flawless. The visuals are flawless. I have no notes about any of them. The world feels so vivid and so alive; chock-a-block with delightful characters with stories to tell. You are truly convinced that this is a world worth saving.

Rather surprisingly, to me at least, this game is pretty funny. That is not really something I associate with this series, not even in the game that preceded this. All the charm that was missing from FF16 is here in spades. So many silly little moments that make this game the delight that it is.

Though, perhaps the biggest surprise in this entire game, to me, was that the side quests are good. FF16 has the worst side quests in any game I’ve ever played, FF7 Remake was not far behind, and to be honest, I can’t even remember a single side quest from 15, which I think says enough. Every side quest in this game however, is lovely. Bringing cute little character moments with your party. They are simply very fun to do.

And what a party to have those character moments with. God I love every party member in this game. I would die for like half of them. Barret is easily the strongest-written character in this game, and he gets some really incredible moments that flesh him out to such a wonderful degree. Tifa and Red get some lovely moments too, and the 4 new party members all have an opportunity to shine. Don’t tell anybody but I’m kinda eh on Aerith, she feels so dry and distant, but I far from dislike her. It's hard to talk about Cloud beyond him being cool because I don’t really know what was going on with him at the end, but yeah he’s cool like I said.

The story that accompanies this cast is serviceable, good even, but it’s not great. Honestly all the new stuff does is seem to muddy the game’s strongest moments from the original, but it’s not too bad; I enjoyed it. My one and only main gripe is that the ending makes absolutely no fucking sense, but this is part 2 of 3. Thus, for now, I will give them the benefit of the doubt.

In FF7 Remake, they established the tone, combat, and general direction for this trilogy, with relative success. With those hard parts done, this game goes absolutely wild and provides a sprawling adventure unlike anything I’ve experienced in this franchise. The training wheels are truly off, and I can only hope this momentum can carry forward to the closing act of Final Fantasy VII.