This is the first Final Fantasy game I’ve been able to play on release, I followed it closely for years and now that I’ve finally finished it I’m so happy to say it’s really fantastic. The one real issue I take with it is that there are a few filler quests within the main questline that have no relevance to the story and should’ve been side missions, they tank the pace of the game at a few points. I also wish they had incorporated more RPG mechanics, specifically elemental affinities. Other than that though, absolutely no complaints. Combat is fun as hell, super fluid, and I love the amount of abilities you can play with. Customizing your layout is lots of fun and never got old. Presentationally speaking of course it’s top of the line in every aspect, it’s exactly what we’ve come to expect from mainline FF. Boss fights are a consistent high point, the spectacle here is absolutely off the charts and arguably the best I’ve ever seen in a video game. The best part of this game to me is the story, it spans a whole 18 years and is incredibly complex but the new Active Time Lore feature makes it really easy to keep up with it all. I really loved this from beginning to end and the final scenes absolutely floored me in the best possible way. Thinking back to the “four pillars” that the dev team laid out wanting to focus on, they absolutely nailed all of them. This is a phenomenal game and easily the best in the series in decades.