3.5★ - I really like the game.
I always thought the hate for this game was overblown having played both the GBA and PSP versions of this game. I could agree on some aspects like the enemies towards the end of the game spamming game-ending status elements or the lack of character in our main characters. But the gameplay itself was as good/basic as the first Final Fantasy.
However, I don't think that can be said for this version anymore. I wouldn't consider much of what I did as grinding. There were a few instances where I would spam random encounters but they weren't long and the goal wasn't exp but a rare enemy encounter and I would say I found the game to be quite a breeze. I did every encounter, only running when I spent a while trying to find a rare encounter. The end-game enemies didn't cause me issues and the final boss wasn't too bad. This was all due to making sure to basically have my mages using the spells I wanted to have by the end of the game always used even in basic encounters and this helped THOSE specific spells up to date without having to grind them.
However, the complaint about needing to grind other spells still stands. Ultima is a great example. I used that spell in every encounter as soon as I got it and it was still under-leveled by the final boss and it's due to this, I can't give the game a full 4 stars. But it was still a relatively nostalgic and fun experience that I could easily recommend to people going through the series. Still, not something I would recommend over other Final Fantasy games. But it's nothing awful.
I always thought the hate for this game was overblown having played both the GBA and PSP versions of this game. I could agree on some aspects like the enemies towards the end of the game spamming game-ending status elements or the lack of character in our main characters. But the gameplay itself was as good/basic as the first Final Fantasy.
However, I don't think that can be said for this version anymore. I wouldn't consider much of what I did as grinding. There were a few instances where I would spam random encounters but they weren't long and the goal wasn't exp but a rare enemy encounter and I would say I found the game to be quite a breeze. I did every encounter, only running when I spent a while trying to find a rare encounter. The end-game enemies didn't cause me issues and the final boss wasn't too bad. This was all due to making sure to basically have my mages using the spells I wanted to have by the end of the game always used even in basic encounters and this helped THOSE specific spells up to date without having to grind them.
However, the complaint about needing to grind other spells still stands. Ultima is a great example. I used that spell in every encounter as soon as I got it and it was still under-leveled by the final boss and it's due to this, I can't give the game a full 4 stars. But it was still a relatively nostalgic and fun experience that I could easily recommend to people going through the series. Still, not something I would recommend over other Final Fantasy games. But it's nothing awful.