This review contains spoilers
A triumphant victory of the torchbearers of the modern Final Fantasy to claim their evolution of the franchise in a gloriously well-done manner. Playing this game is like what I envisioned in pleasant daydreams as a child pondering what a "live-action" final fantasy might look like were it to shed its traditional turn-based modus, and even then so much more. There's been several missteps from SE in walking that road (XIII, XV, Maybe even XII), but the pitfalls and trips have lead us to a hard-fought land of wonder, informed as much by its predecessors as its contemporaries. The story and its development, while not a flawlessly cut specimen of crystal, are fearlessly adept and potent. The sidequests are emergently meaningful and enriching, with worthwhile payoffs more often than not. The combat is, unsurprisingly, Masterfully tuned by the dream team they assembled. And The Boss fights? Unforgettably intense. A new high-bar for the industry to learn from, and miles ahead of anything else in recent memory.
There stands only two true marks against this title that began to erode how enraptured I was with it, and claim a pittance off the score I've settled on for it in the afterglow: Firstly was a distinct lack of enemy and mini-boss variety. Secondly was the world feeling smaller than it should for lack of meaningful "expanses" to fill the gaps in very rationally tiny ones left in my head when one makes sense of how the local map fits in the continent map. Though I imagine both of these quibbles are resultant of developmental limitations, and not a lack of spirit or vision on the part of the developers; there's only so much time to spend in the hours and days and years that make a game. If these are the greatest of this games sins then I'd say the folks at SE CBU3 and their many collaborators could stand against the gods they dream to fight and come out on top.
Would have been a 9.5/10 (4.75/5) with nothing of note to hold against it for my own tastes (Outside of some grating Bri-ish accents) if not for the ending. While perfectly fitting to usher in their new world on their terms, I have a poor palette for bittersweet endings, this one smacking fiercely more on the bitter side. My spirit doesn't sit well with its outlook; balking against the noble sacrifice of the brothers of flame resulting in a post-mortem excision of the "Fantasy", in a Final Fantasy. They dared in asking me to "Hope" for a normal world, where I could better spend it in a number of resulting worlds. Though its unique at least to the titles I've played so far that the Finale is a "Final" note to a "Fantasy.", and per Cids wishes, it was their fantasy to finish how they choose from the onset.
There stands only two true marks against this title that began to erode how enraptured I was with it, and claim a pittance off the score I've settled on for it in the afterglow: Firstly was a distinct lack of enemy and mini-boss variety. Secondly was the world feeling smaller than it should for lack of meaningful "expanses" to fill the gaps in very rationally tiny ones left in my head when one makes sense of how the local map fits in the continent map. Though I imagine both of these quibbles are resultant of developmental limitations, and not a lack of spirit or vision on the part of the developers; there's only so much time to spend in the hours and days and years that make a game. If these are the greatest of this games sins then I'd say the folks at SE CBU3 and their many collaborators could stand against the gods they dream to fight and come out on top.
Would have been a 9.5/10 (4.75/5) with nothing of note to hold against it for my own tastes (Outside of some grating Bri-ish accents) if not for the ending. While perfectly fitting to usher in their new world on their terms, I have a poor palette for bittersweet endings, this one smacking fiercely more on the bitter side. My spirit doesn't sit well with its outlook; balking against the noble sacrifice of the brothers of flame resulting in a post-mortem excision of the "Fantasy", in a Final Fantasy. They dared in asking me to "Hope" for a normal world, where I could better spend it in a number of resulting worlds. Though its unique at least to the titles I've played so far that the Finale is a "Final" note to a "Fantasy.", and per Cids wishes, it was their fantasy to finish how they choose from the onset.