SPOILER FREE Talk about a rollercoaster of emotions in more ways than one. The newest release in the long-ass series of RPGs takes out most of the RPG elements, but in its stead, adds a phenomenal story.
((To be honest, I didn’t take any notes during my playthrough so this is off the top right after finishing the game))
Graphically, this game looks wonderful. Playing on performance mode as Frames > Graphics, but it still looks great! The colors are inviting and the darker tones really do portray death and dread when they need to as this game is all about the Good Vs. Evil mindset. With that in mind, this is the most cinematic entry of the series, which is crazy as this series is known for being graphically superior to most. However, there are some instances in the game where I believe it would have been beneficial to tone back the graphics, but more on that later.
The game felt like it was locked at a consistent 60 FPS, but there was definitely stuttering during cutscenes, pulling up menus, and in other non-critical areas. Combat and exploration felt fluid and went off without a hitch. I did not experience any game breaking bugs, glitches, or crashes. There was only one glitch where an enemy’s body kept sliding off into the sunset lol.
Speaking of combat, this new battle system is flashy as fuck. After getting my first taste of this Devil May Cry developed battle system, I was craving more once the demo had ended. Now having finished the game, the combat is fine. Surprisingly enough, combat didn’t evolve much for me from the demo to the end of the full release. Yes, you do get a number of new moves and abilities, but combat is just boiled down to using the moves that remove the yellow “Will” bar enemies have so you can maximize damage once their will is exhausted. Nothing really changes that system throughout the 50+ hours of the game. A number of the moves seem badass, but their application is not as cool as they are made out to be on paper. Either they do not flow well with the other movesets, they are inferior to other moves, or they just flat out suck. I’m sure there are probably arguments for different move-sets and abilities, but through my experimenting with the moves (thank christ for free respecing) I found that three DPS abilities, two crowd control abilities, and the rest focused on will removal was the sweet spot.
Now, onto the best part of the game, the story and characters. I can’t say much as I don’t want to spoil even the tiniest bit, so this will be vague. Each main character in this story is written so well that I genuinely cared for 10+ of them. I made sure to read all their dialogue, their lore entries, their side quests, etc. I enjoyed each main character very much and the game knows that they’re written well and the player will probably enjoy everyone, so it makes it very rewarding. I cried & teared up a number of times due to being sad, happy, and proud of these characters. Now, as for the story, that’s also a banger… mostly. There’s something to be said about the pacing of the game. The highs are SO FUCKING HIGH, but the lows are a fuckin’ drag. I know you need to balance out the pacing of a story and it cannot be all highs without any lows, but damn, the lows are so boring and meaningless. Side character fetch quests in the main story quest is a pain and this has that in spades. Granted, you’ll be back doing cool shit eventually, but a lot of the lows made me want to turn off the console.
As for the main issues I have with the game: The itemization is WHACK. The gear progression is extremely linear as well as the character progression. Levels give you stats automatically which feel meaningless. The side-quest rewards are pointless crafting materials (and at the beginning of the game, the side-quests are abysmal, but they get much better later on in the game). Really and honestly, they took out 95% of the RPG elements of the game and I don’t think that was a great idea. Streamlining a game with 16 main-line entries seems odd. Granted, this is a great entry for players who have not played a final fantasy, I guess, but if they go into any other one expecting gameplay like this one, sucks for them. For the record, most FF games aren’t connected and don’t rely on knowledge of previous entries, so newcomers are free to play any which one they want. It just seems like taking out the MAIN aspect of the series is an odd choice and wasn’t made clear anywhere in interviews or even the demo.
Overall, I did enjoy my time with this game and I adore the story and characters. The removal of most of the RPG elements this series is known for is a mistake since it didn’t add anything noteworthy, so don’t play this if you’re looking for an RPG experience with builds, sweet weapons and armor, etc. I recommend this to those who are looking for a pretty good action adventure game with a phenomenal story and cast of characters. I only warn them to have patience with it and to not look too much into the Final Fantasy name.
((To be honest, I didn’t take any notes during my playthrough so this is off the top right after finishing the game))
Graphically, this game looks wonderful. Playing on performance mode as Frames > Graphics, but it still looks great! The colors are inviting and the darker tones really do portray death and dread when they need to as this game is all about the Good Vs. Evil mindset. With that in mind, this is the most cinematic entry of the series, which is crazy as this series is known for being graphically superior to most. However, there are some instances in the game where I believe it would have been beneficial to tone back the graphics, but more on that later.
The game felt like it was locked at a consistent 60 FPS, but there was definitely stuttering during cutscenes, pulling up menus, and in other non-critical areas. Combat and exploration felt fluid and went off without a hitch. I did not experience any game breaking bugs, glitches, or crashes. There was only one glitch where an enemy’s body kept sliding off into the sunset lol.
Speaking of combat, this new battle system is flashy as fuck. After getting my first taste of this Devil May Cry developed battle system, I was craving more once the demo had ended. Now having finished the game, the combat is fine. Surprisingly enough, combat didn’t evolve much for me from the demo to the end of the full release. Yes, you do get a number of new moves and abilities, but combat is just boiled down to using the moves that remove the yellow “Will” bar enemies have so you can maximize damage once their will is exhausted. Nothing really changes that system throughout the 50+ hours of the game. A number of the moves seem badass, but their application is not as cool as they are made out to be on paper. Either they do not flow well with the other movesets, they are inferior to other moves, or they just flat out suck. I’m sure there are probably arguments for different move-sets and abilities, but through my experimenting with the moves (thank christ for free respecing) I found that three DPS abilities, two crowd control abilities, and the rest focused on will removal was the sweet spot.
Now, onto the best part of the game, the story and characters. I can’t say much as I don’t want to spoil even the tiniest bit, so this will be vague. Each main character in this story is written so well that I genuinely cared for 10+ of them. I made sure to read all their dialogue, their lore entries, their side quests, etc. I enjoyed each main character very much and the game knows that they’re written well and the player will probably enjoy everyone, so it makes it very rewarding. I cried & teared up a number of times due to being sad, happy, and proud of these characters. Now, as for the story, that’s also a banger… mostly. There’s something to be said about the pacing of the game. The highs are SO FUCKING HIGH, but the lows are a fuckin’ drag. I know you need to balance out the pacing of a story and it cannot be all highs without any lows, but damn, the lows are so boring and meaningless. Side character fetch quests in the main story quest is a pain and this has that in spades. Granted, you’ll be back doing cool shit eventually, but a lot of the lows made me want to turn off the console.
As for the main issues I have with the game: The itemization is WHACK. The gear progression is extremely linear as well as the character progression. Levels give you stats automatically which feel meaningless. The side-quest rewards are pointless crafting materials (and at the beginning of the game, the side-quests are abysmal, but they get much better later on in the game). Really and honestly, they took out 95% of the RPG elements of the game and I don’t think that was a great idea. Streamlining a game with 16 main-line entries seems odd. Granted, this is a great entry for players who have not played a final fantasy, I guess, but if they go into any other one expecting gameplay like this one, sucks for them. For the record, most FF games aren’t connected and don’t rely on knowledge of previous entries, so newcomers are free to play any which one they want. It just seems like taking out the MAIN aspect of the series is an odd choice and wasn’t made clear anywhere in interviews or even the demo.
Overall, I did enjoy my time with this game and I adore the story and characters. The removal of most of the RPG elements this series is known for is a mistake since it didn’t add anything noteworthy, so don’t play this if you’re looking for an RPG experience with builds, sweet weapons and armor, etc. I recommend this to those who are looking for a pretty good action adventure game with a phenomenal story and cast of characters. I only warn them to have patience with it and to not look too much into the Final Fantasy name.