Had to drop my rating. There were too many issues with the story towards the end of the game and I don't like the villains very much. If they delivered on those ends it would've actually been amazing but sadly it wasn't.

OLD REVIEW

Good gameplay, a well written story overall (besides a few things), amazing music. All of those lived up to my expectations.

It did slow down a little story-wise after the Bahamut fight and leading up to the end, but I can't complain because I was engaged by the gameplay.

The sidequests towards at the very end were also fantastic and IMO felt like they should have been extra things tacked on to the main story so that nobody could have missed the conclusion to most characters' stories/arcs in the game

I do have a few sorta nitpicky complaints in being disappointed. Some characters being sidelined, the final boss not even being the most hype moment, etc. The Ultima design also didn't really resemble the Amano art or the mural in game, it's just blue Ifrit.

A great game nonetheless, the approximate 3 year wait was worthwhile. I am so glad that we are in an era where we have a good NEW singleplayer Final Fantasy game, but I really hope this isn't direction the series decides to take in the future