Weirdly flawed in the way a lot of modern Nomura games are, but hits just the right notes tonally in as many places that I had a lot of fun with this and I have to say that it is the best and most accessible main FF title in over a decade. Gameplay is fast and fun but of course as an original fan I'm hyper aware of all the sections that are padding and they feel that way. The pacing and direction are nowhere near as tight as the classic title, and Nomura's strange direction and fear that he doesn't have the guts to kill characters pervades.

Also why do all the NPCs talk at once, Square has been doing this since 13 to make the world more "alive" I guess but I can't hear anything as I'm running through these areas and it fucking sucks and has the opposite effect where it breaks immersion. Just have a background track unless I talk to specific people.

Still a love letter to many fans, I had a lot of fun with this and I am curious abt what they'll do further. Wouldn't recommend newcomers experience the story this way tho, just get over turned-based combat and play a classic already ya kids.

I was going to pen this review when the first credits rolled and I thought this game did a good job when it finally picked up of capturing a sort of “classic” spirit of the series. Not the most fulfilling and the first 30 hours from lvl 1-35 is a terrible grind unless you break things up with sidequests, triple triad, and chocobo racing. But god damn does that pick up at the end!

I had a really rocky relationship with this game, but the fun that came with soaring around, picking up all of the love-letters to other series entries, scratching the surface of understanding the dungeon and raid mechanics, and seeing them actually pull off rendering some of Amano’s iconic designs in 3D(which they need to do much more of from this point on, you could have a VISIONARY look that Nomura just doesn’t match up to, sorry), this game made my little fan heart swell quickly and won me over again. If anyone told me I’d hear Terra’s theme remastered as I stomp through the snow in Magitek armor, I would’ve beaten this game even sooner! A reprieve after hearing that damn chocobo theme for so long.

Playing solely for story, I’m so glad that I’m finally getting bits of this great writing I kept hearing talked about. It seems that the team here does want to make the series “grow up” and I cant wait to see what they do with the next mainline entry, where Yoshida can finally have a budget and a real protagonist with an arc. Thanks for all the players who have helped me along the way with duty roulettes and boss strategies! I wouldn’t have made it through this free trial without ya. Finally on to Heavensward!

After 90 hours to max the social links by the skin of my teeth and beat the final boss and get the Messiah persona in one run, I'm finally ready to put pen to paper on this one. Persona 4 for the ps2 is a game that captivated me when I got to college, and I loved most of all the way it emulated small town life with it's cast of characters. I've played Megami Tensei games since, and this one clearly fits more with the darker tone. But, being the first in this spinoff series to implement many mechanics, they're not as fleshed out and organic as they were in 4. At a certain point, the plot, the world, and the mechanics of the dungeon stopped cohering for me, partially for the way I played as to not do 2 runs for 160 hours again. The tired mechanics also suck, the game is far too hard at the beginning especially with managing the tactics command which really limits your options with teammates, I had to restart about 10 hours in with a patch that allowed me to control them directly like in 4 and the psp version. That being said, I adore the atmosphere, the presentation especially towards the beginning, and a lot of the characters, I just wish they were in a story that feels a little less contrived. The soundtrack too I like far better than 4 for its serious weight. For a step forward in the series it was remarkable, really utilizing the economy of the ps2 to the fullest with its simple but memorable designs for characters, monsters, and world. Glad I played this one through and a twist in the middle really impacted me, however I don't really get what all the buzz is with people praising this harry potter-ass ending. Maybe if I let myself get more invested, but I thought it was meh and Aigis pulls it through.

For years I thought this would always be my blind spot in the series, but then they brought back the trial you don't have to subscribe for and I had the time to sit down and play through the main quest before support ever ended for this thing.

Running through it solo is not the game was ever intended to be experienced, but amidst all my frustration with the hour long walks from nation to nation I got to enjoy some of the classic 2000s MMO ambience and Uematsu's score that doesn't get old until the 1000th loop. Also with a lot of the sidequests there's that dated element of not being clear indications for what to do, unresponsive NPCs unless you do things exactly correct, etc. I had no shame in using a guide to avoid spending a million years handing every single character in town a flyer.

You can see the game taking a lot of influence from the team of Vagrant Story, even though it wasn't directly the same people, but it really shows the touches in the lighting and combat speed. You can see why this was one of the most appealling MMOs of the time, even though with age it is now extremely clunky and a little slow(though very fast in comparison to the first 15 hours or so of FFXII). Still, I love how the camera locks in during combat kind of like Zelda's z-targeting, I think that was the one thing the initial launch of 14 did right. It's a small thing but it makes a big difference for the variety of mood during gameplay, especially when you're expected to grind for so long in these.

In my time with this I couldn't get to the expansions, but don't feel bad leaving them to rest as I haven't heard of them having the depth of say FFXIV's expansions, however some of them are teased in a few cutscenes and look like they are full of your typical squareenix-isms. The rest of the story is meh, but I can appreciate this legacy of an experience you had to be there for.

I used to play around a lot the Fire Emblem on GBA when I was in late elementary and middle school, but this is the first one I've completed outright. Love me a good strategy RPG, the cast is colorful enough and the pre-rendered cutscenes give it a nice edge, although they are rather sparse. The only real plot that is gripping involves the father, and the payoff comes a little late in the game and rather quick, I also didn't really get the motive of a certain betrayal that's a key twist, and the villain to me left an overall weak impression by the end. Still, love these mechanics and the vast amount of upgrades you get until your battalion of paladins is basically unstoppable.

I finished this out way back in the day, but I thought for some reason I'd write a review to a game that I think has been unfairly judged both when it came out and over the years. I played this through when I was beating all of the numbered Final Fantasy games back to back, and I gotta say that it was a breath of fresh air compared to 12 and 13, with a story that might be simple in comparison to those, but because of it being stripped down they were able to improve the mechanics and actually introduce a villain with some presence and a goal. These games were always made in part by their villain, and just the fact that Caius existed and his goal was relayed to the player put him far above any villain from 12 or 13. I also just really liked the atmosphere and music(the soundtrack is electronic, ethereal, and still bumps occasionally. Listening to it in part inspired this review), I felt like it had a really original tone and some creative ideas i.e. the location where the sky appeared to be more land. The fan service with Ultros and Gilgamesh also filled my heart with glee, and the two characters the game sticks you with are actually likable for once. Would have made the Moogle less obnoxious but at least you can chuck him like a football. All and all I still think this was the best main FF game since 10 when it came out, and my enjoyment while playing it still rivals 15.

In conclusion, it was the one saving grace to come out of this whole trilogy. I like the cheeky tone of Lightning Returns too, but ironically for the most part.