I guess 90s RPGs are just built different, I think the RPG boomers are on to something with this one
Of the very few Final Fantasy games I've played, this is undoubtedly one of my new favorites; I can definitely see why the fandom flocks to this one when trying to call FF7 overrated. It just gets so much right. It's got a very engrossing story, an interesting world, charming characters, engaging character progression and party building, super variant party diversity, deep and fun exploration, simple yet effective combat; this game has it all, and it's easy to see why this game gets the sheer love it does.
The two biggest knocks against it are, One: How dated it is; this game definitely feels like a 90s game, complete with extremely cryptic side, and even main, quests that only a walkthrough would know on their first try. Like most other 90s RPGs, it also has a deadly allergy to quality of life features that many modern RPGs have; beyond, of course, the ability to boost resource gain and auto-battle to cut down on grinding, because it's a remaster, and remasters of old RPGs really need that stuff (looking at you, FF10). Two: how braindead easy it is, the entire way through. I never once struggled in this game unless I was actively handicapping myself, and frequently hit the damage cap on most attacks late in the game, despite being deliberately underleveled because of how little I was struggling. While it does cut down a lot on time spent grinding, it comes at the cost of making 90% of the boss fights super anticlimactic because they just die in 5 or so hits; the few that don't are either super frustrating (I hate the Magic Master holy shit), or are, you know, the final boss.
Of the very few Final Fantasy games I've played, this is undoubtedly one of my new favorites; I can definitely see why the fandom flocks to this one when trying to call FF7 overrated. It just gets so much right. It's got a very engrossing story, an interesting world, charming characters, engaging character progression and party building, super variant party diversity, deep and fun exploration, simple yet effective combat; this game has it all, and it's easy to see why this game gets the sheer love it does.
The two biggest knocks against it are, One: How dated it is; this game definitely feels like a 90s game, complete with extremely cryptic side, and even main, quests that only a walkthrough would know on their first try. Like most other 90s RPGs, it also has a deadly allergy to quality of life features that many modern RPGs have; beyond, of course, the ability to boost resource gain and auto-battle to cut down on grinding, because it's a remaster, and remasters of old RPGs really need that stuff (looking at you, FF10). Two: how braindead easy it is, the entire way through. I never once struggled in this game unless I was actively handicapping myself, and frequently hit the damage cap on most attacks late in the game, despite being deliberately underleveled because of how little I was struggling. While it does cut down a lot on time spent grinding, it comes at the cost of making 90% of the boss fights super anticlimactic because they just die in 5 or so hits; the few that don't are either super frustrating (I hate the Magic Master holy shit), or are, you know, the final boss.