I don't know if this will be a straight 10 for anybody, but the aesthetics and themes of this game appealed perfectly to my tastes. When an auteur like Sakaguchi throws his passions in with the talents of Takehiko Inoue and Kiyoshi Shigematsu, whatever that blender churns out is bound to be fascinating. And this is pretty fascinating for a JRPG. If you've heard anyone talk about this game you know what the basic premise is, and the short stories scattered throughout the game really hone in on those themes of immortality and the importance of life's transcience. I've seen a critique often that this game has interesting setup but ultimately falls into usual JRPG trope, which it totally does. But as someone who's used to that drama I will say that for a JRPG it's still massively solid and the backdrop of the stories is not only welcome but carves out some necessary depth to the characters, even Ming's story towards the end does a great job of this. The game still has a memorable antagonist with always clear and dire stakes, great expansion and alteration of the world as you progress, it hits all those JRPG story beats as masterfully as Sakaguchi and the team have been doing them since Final Fantasy 4.
The visuals being a sort of steampunk-Greece spin on the graphical style of Final Fantasy X, and they also lifted that game's punchy and strategic battle system. Rings and enemy types add another layer to think about, and the formation of the party actually matters for once. The game is littered with treasures and collectibles, I only missed about 3 of the Seeds but other than that I felt pretty maxed out on equipment and abilities by the end of my 60-hour run. Includes beating the superboss that feels unfair until you counter with your own game-breaking magic, which feels so rewarding when you've just been playing the game thoroughly. There's no grinding here, just an extremely tight and satisfying experience I'm glad I finally got to play after years of missing out because of my lack of xbox. Mistwalker doesn't miss no matter what budget they're working with.
The visuals being a sort of steampunk-Greece spin on the graphical style of Final Fantasy X, and they also lifted that game's punchy and strategic battle system. Rings and enemy types add another layer to think about, and the formation of the party actually matters for once. The game is littered with treasures and collectibles, I only missed about 3 of the Seeds but other than that I felt pretty maxed out on equipment and abilities by the end of my 60-hour run. Includes beating the superboss that feels unfair until you counter with your own game-breaking magic, which feels so rewarding when you've just been playing the game thoroughly. There's no grinding here, just an extremely tight and satisfying experience I'm glad I finally got to play after years of missing out because of my lack of xbox. Mistwalker doesn't miss no matter what budget they're working with.