Maybe I'm just a bit spoiled by Larian CRPGs, but this feels like it's got too much jank & baggage for a game that's relatively recent (as far as the genre is concerned). The game follows the Pathfinder 1e ruleset way too closely, failing to adequately adapt it to a computer-controlled scenario, especially considering the lack of transparency it provides in the mechanisms at work, making it feel like I'm playing with a shitty GM who's changing rules on the fly. I was excited to see that choices seemed to matter, only to have a character immediately decide to join the other team, accusing me of doing the very thing I had just gotten a scolding for not doing, and that's where I decided I wasn't even going to bother finishing the prologue.

I genuinely want to love this; the setting is incredibly well-realised, and the detail leaves things feeling almost simulation-esque rather than gamey. However, my initial impressions are that it will not be worth the frustration to get through it all. My biggest issue is that the save system is way too cumbersome for a game as punishing as this. While I understand that that is easily circumvented with mods, I've encountered enough poor game design choices otherwise in my first few hours that I cannot bother to increase my time committed to this by tenfold in hopes it gets better. And I'm sure it would get better as it's got a lot going for it; I'm just simply getting too old for this shit.

It's an incredibly moving story that tackles some important topics and is likely to have a pretty broad appeal, but it's held back a bit by some pacing issues in the first half. Combined with gameplay loops generally lacking depth and ultimately repetitive, this can lead to the middle segments feeling like an absolute slog, further punctuated by a soundtrack that's not quite varied enough for the game's length. Still, the overall playtime is pretty short, and it's well worth putting up with this game's minor hiccups to get to its true heart - a touching narrative & convincing characters that will likely stay with you for a long, long time.

The progression system feels somewhat lacking and uninspired - more akin to the type of progress you'd see in an idle mobile game. The combat itself is interesting and has a lot more depth than what it initially looked like, and the visual style is absolutely gorgeous. However, that style makes every map appear almost identical, making the already dull progression system feel even more lifeless. If you're not a stickler for engaging progression and are a big fan of deceptively deep combat systems, this could be an excellent pick for you, but otherwise, it's pretty meh.

FFIX is one that slipped me by during my youth - I'd yet to truly fall in love with the franchise at the time. When revisiting earlier titles, I didn't find the character designs too appealing compared to its other PS1 counterparts at the time. While it was still a fan-favourite then, it held nowhere near the kind of reputation that FFVII does.

Taking much more inspiration from the roots of the series as a sort of last-hoorah before the series forged full ahead with the more sci-fi-inspired beats that VII & VIII brought to the table, IX maintains an almost comfy & Disney-esque feel to it throughout the grand 4-disk adventure. Every character is goofy yet charming and offers some of the series's best character growth and arcs.

In terms of gameplay, it offers a decent amount of strategy, and while not overly complicated or particularly engaging to any degree, it's certainly not as easily breakable as some of the earlier titles and offers a bit more variety. The story is surprisingly well-paced, although the constant flittering between open-world and rail-roaded segments during the first half of the game would make the more linear segments feel much more cumbersome than they should have at the time. Visually, it's impressively astounding for a PS1-era game - although, take that claim with a grain of salt, as I was using the Moguri mod to spruce things up a little. While I regret leaving it so long, I'm delighted to have experienced this game eventually.

I like the idea of what the systems are trying to do, but I feel that the implementation is sloppy and dated. It's an incredibly complex game, but you must dive deep into the warren report to discover that, removing all sense of casualness from the game. At first, I thought the level cap was a neat idea, but even without grinding I ended up spending multiple battles at the cap, constantly fighting an uphill battle against opponents that were perpetually stronger and better equipped than my rag-tag army. To me, this comes across as a lazy attempt at raising the difficulty that subsequently forces me into a box of playing the 'right' solution, suppressing creativity in one's approach as you rely more on exploiting the AI, creating a much more stagnant, repetitive and aggravating experience that becomes an entirely different kind of grind. What I saw of the story was intriguing, but it's nowhere near enough to make me want to slog through the rest. The grind has a certain uniqueness that allows tiny incremental gains even at the level cap, but I can't shake the feeling that this just isn't respecting my time. Otherwise, it looks and sounds great. If you're looking for a tactical RPG that you can just pick up and play casually, this certainly isn't it, but if you're up for a challenge and have the time to spare, then I'd still say you should give it a go.