I was skeptical, so skeptical, but y’all, it’s really actually that good. It both does and doesn’t feel like Final Fantasy, the overall story feels very FF, but the way that it’s presented feels like a season of Game of Thrones.
I like the worldbuilding and depth of the lore, the voice acting is incredible, visuals are great, and some of the vistas and set pieces have been incredible.
Boss battles are this insane spectacle that I just wasn’t expecting, it’s just non stop flashy and it gets me pumped and full of anxiety, combat system is pretty complex.
I was not happy about the idea of losing turn based or quasi turn based battles, and I never feel like I have a ‘party’ ( my happiest was with Jill and Cid ) but it still all works.
The main villain oozes mystery and is pretty creepy, and the secondary villains have been mostly memorable.
I love it.
I absolutely love how badass it makes me feel and I will cherish that. I also love how deep the lore and writing goes. Voice acting is top notch.
However, here I am… over leveled, equipped as high as the game has allowed me so far, auto-dodge and auto-combo rings on, and I’m still not “gud” enough to just power through the first chronolith trial I’ve come across. That really gets on my nerves.
The FF series is old and so are a lot of its fans. I don’t have the time to rehearse a battle over and over again until I execute it just perfectly. And even if I did, I’m not sure I’d have the reflexes or the mental fortitude to pull it off.
I really miss the more strategy-focused, relaxing, management quality of turn based combat, such as in XII.