For a game that seems to be splitting long time Final Fantasy fans and newcomers to the series between loving it or hating it, I managed to fall somewhere in the middle, leaning more towards like than dislike because while I have a decent list of gripes and issues with the game, it does still have a lot of excellent qualities and I think if it was willing to commit to those more and cut the fat, this would easily have been a top tier game for me.
For the cons, I've mentioned it a few times but I just did not care for the semi open world approach, the side quests were largely weak and unrewarding, and the RPG elements felt tacked on. I think the pacing isn't great at points either but maybe thats a side effect from doing most of the quests for the first 2/3rds of the game and not enjoying them.
For the pros:
- I mostly enjoyed the main plot. I don't really get the complaints about any sort of kingdom hearts-esque plot twist(s), it all seemed fairly tame if we are comparing it to that series. Maybe people were just upset it wasn't the GoT style plot they maybe expected but I was happy with the revenge plot and what it eventually became, though I do think it loses a bit of steam towards the end but thats just a JRPG trope I'm not a huge fan of anyways.
-I didn't dislike the characters but I can't say I loved any of them, didn't feel a sense of connection with them compared to similar games.
- I enjoyed the combat decently enough, I'm not fully sure why but it just never fully clicked for me, it was always serviceable but never much more. I think a lack of enemy variety that would encourage various playstyles and builds could have been a cause.
Overall, theres a decent mix of pros and cons for me. I think if it leaned more into the linear action adventure and could dive deeper into what worked and cut what didn't, this would be a top tier game for me as I mentioned earlier. Probably wouldn't have gotten this at full PS5 price if I could go back in time but at least it both motivated me to finish it and also this was probably the best window to play it due to the next few hectic months of releases.
For the cons, I've mentioned it a few times but I just did not care for the semi open world approach, the side quests were largely weak and unrewarding, and the RPG elements felt tacked on. I think the pacing isn't great at points either but maybe thats a side effect from doing most of the quests for the first 2/3rds of the game and not enjoying them.
For the pros:
- I mostly enjoyed the main plot. I don't really get the complaints about any sort of kingdom hearts-esque plot twist(s), it all seemed fairly tame if we are comparing it to that series. Maybe people were just upset it wasn't the GoT style plot they maybe expected but I was happy with the revenge plot and what it eventually became, though I do think it loses a bit of steam towards the end but thats just a JRPG trope I'm not a huge fan of anyways.
-I didn't dislike the characters but I can't say I loved any of them, didn't feel a sense of connection with them compared to similar games.
- I enjoyed the combat decently enough, I'm not fully sure why but it just never fully clicked for me, it was always serviceable but never much more. I think a lack of enemy variety that would encourage various playstyles and builds could have been a cause.
Overall, theres a decent mix of pros and cons for me. I think if it leaned more into the linear action adventure and could dive deeper into what worked and cut what didn't, this would be a top tier game for me as I mentioned earlier. Probably wouldn't have gotten this at full PS5 price if I could go back in time but at least it both motivated me to finish it and also this was probably the best window to play it due to the next few hectic months of releases.