This is probably the first Final Fantasy game I would say I consider to be a good representation of what the franchise is, everything feels a lot more polished and it introduces some mechanics that stay around for a while like the ATB gauge as well as having summons. I wouldn't quite call it a culmination of the series thus far but nonetheless it continues to make a steady increase in quality, and hopefully that mountain doesn't end too soon.

As always the soundtrack is pretty good, we haven't gotten to the era of peak soundtracks yet but there is a little in there, characters arent bad, main case I like besides Rosa who I feel pretty neutral about, in some ways I'd say she seems like Cecil's sidehoe rather than an important.

As for the story itself, it follows the usual ff formular of collecting/protecting crystals and doesn't deviate much from there, plot is decent but the character interactions is where I think it shines best, it also loves it's fake-outs with almost nobody dies and a lot of fake deaths seem to be played just for a brief moment of tricking you into feeling sad for some reason, as well as some rather silly 'sacrifices' at times as well as a few plot twists that seemed to come from nowhere.