6 reviews liked by Fminus
I have had this in my favorite games on backloggd since September I never lost faith
There's no limits to the glaze review edition:
Absolutely incredible. I knew it was gonna be the greatest Final Fantasy to my eyes and be up there with my favorite game but man it truly was and even exceeded my high expectations.
Og FFVII to my eyes is the pinnacle of the frnachise and I feel the same way about this one. Truly feels like all the entries in the end led to this one and experiencing filled me with pure glee.
It's mind melting to see how they reimagined and expanded on things from the og to this. It was crazy in remake but this man was a whole another level. The world is incredible and every region is distinct and massive in scale, none of it felt exhausting. The story is great too, its really character focused and they're all just great and a joy to journey alongside with. The whole story had me on my toes and they did the suspense aspect insanely well. All the emotional parts were on point, the main quest design was an upgrade from remake and has less dragging parts (There are like 2 but not r that bad imo) The world is charming too the whole game just felt like a dream man I was constantly going "This game is not real." Exploration so good it made me say welcome back xenoblade chronicles 3: Future Redeemed.
The gameplay too a real creamer, just fixed my issues with remake's and its incredible, so much fun and I r liked that in the story missions they make you get a good feel for all the characters. I usually don't take parts where the party is divided too kindly but how the game executed is very fucking good. Boss fights were always a high fukin point w remake and rebirth is no exception this is real gaming. Minigames are fun too.
Soundtrack is WILD perfect mix of remixes and new tracks just like remake only issue is that it gets overbearing and the audio mixing isnt not on point. Tweaking w the settings does make it better. Questing I feel like is worse than remake because the materia segment is like the 2nd thing for some reason so its annoying just cos of that. Regardless the quality of this game is just unreal I creamed and cried at the end, Side quests are r solid too.
Just yeah this game isnt even like my dream FF game just better than that its insane. Truly a once in a lifetime experience and part 3 has an insane responsibility to follow up with this one but I have the same complete faith I had with rebirth. One of SE's finest (also funniest) titles to date. Game of the life.
Absolutely incredible. I knew it was gonna be the greatest Final Fantasy to my eyes and be up there with my favorite game but man it truly was and even exceeded my high expectations.
Og FFVII to my eyes is the pinnacle of the frnachise and I feel the same way about this one. Truly feels like all the entries in the end led to this one and experiencing filled me with pure glee.
It's mind melting to see how they reimagined and expanded on things from the og to this. It was crazy in remake but this man was a whole another level. The world is incredible and every region is distinct and massive in scale, none of it felt exhausting. The story is great too, its really character focused and they're all just great and a joy to journey alongside with. The whole story had me on my toes and they did the suspense aspect insanely well. All the emotional parts were on point, the main quest design was an upgrade from remake and has less dragging parts (There are like 2 but not r that bad imo) The world is charming too the whole game just felt like a dream man I was constantly going "This game is not real." Exploration so good it made me say welcome back xenoblade chronicles 3: Future Redeemed.
The gameplay too a real creamer, just fixed my issues with remake's and its incredible, so much fun and I r liked that in the story missions they make you get a good feel for all the characters. I usually don't take parts where the party is divided too kindly but how the game executed is very fucking good. Boss fights were always a high fukin point w remake and rebirth is no exception this is real gaming. Minigames are fun too.
Soundtrack is WILD perfect mix of remixes and new tracks just like remake only issue is that it gets overbearing and the audio mixing isnt not on point. Tweaking w the settings does make it better. Questing I feel like is worse than remake because the materia segment is like the 2nd thing for some reason so its annoying just cos of that. Regardless the quality of this game is just unreal I creamed and cried at the end, Side quests are r solid too.
Just yeah this game isnt even like my dream FF game just better than that its insane. Truly a once in a lifetime experience and part 3 has an insane responsibility to follow up with this one but I have the same complete faith I had with rebirth. One of SE's finest (also funniest) titles to date. Game of the life.
Club Penguin
2005
Final Fantasy XVI
2023
Before release I was very skeptical of this game. All the marketing wasn't really grabbing me and I didn't think I'd enjoy the vibes of this one. And then I played it, and it became one of my favorite games from Square Enix.
This game really feels like Square looked at what went wrong with Final Fantasy XV and decided they wouldn't let it happen again. While that game feels like a mess (albeit, one that I do love), this one feels so finely crafted in every regard.
In terms of gameplay this might have my favorite in the ones I've played. I'm a massive fan of Devil May Cry, so the fact that one of the combat designers from that series came to work on this game was always something I was excited for. This game's combat does not disappoint. It is insanely satisfying chaining together your basic four hit combo with magic, abilities, dodging, parrying, and even a Devil Trigger-equivalent. It's not quite as deep as DMC, but it definitely has that series' incentive to experiment and never feels boring.
Besides some pacing issues in between major story missions, I enjoyed this game's story a lot. All the characters felt so well-written and had just enough screentime. Even the side characters got a good bit of depth within sidequests.
Also, the music??? Oh my god??? So many bangers were spread throughout this soundtrack. I definitely enjoyed some songs more than others, most notably some of the boss themes, but so many area themes were incredibly chill and nice to vibe out to. I need this OST on Spotify.
I am thoroughly impressed with this game across the board and can see myself loving it even more on new game+ replays and with the DLC which I have not played yet. If you have the ability to play this game, you absolutely should. It's honestly up there with FFX for me.
This game really feels like Square looked at what went wrong with Final Fantasy XV and decided they wouldn't let it happen again. While that game feels like a mess (albeit, one that I do love), this one feels so finely crafted in every regard.
In terms of gameplay this might have my favorite in the ones I've played. I'm a massive fan of Devil May Cry, so the fact that one of the combat designers from that series came to work on this game was always something I was excited for. This game's combat does not disappoint. It is insanely satisfying chaining together your basic four hit combo with magic, abilities, dodging, parrying, and even a Devil Trigger-equivalent. It's not quite as deep as DMC, but it definitely has that series' incentive to experiment and never feels boring.
Besides some pacing issues in between major story missions, I enjoyed this game's story a lot. All the characters felt so well-written and had just enough screentime. Even the side characters got a good bit of depth within sidequests.
Also, the music??? Oh my god??? So many bangers were spread throughout this soundtrack. I definitely enjoyed some songs more than others, most notably some of the boss themes, but so many area themes were incredibly chill and nice to vibe out to. I need this OST on Spotify.
I am thoroughly impressed with this game across the board and can see myself loving it even more on new game+ replays and with the DLC which I have not played yet. If you have the ability to play this game, you absolutely should. It's honestly up there with FFX for me.
Final Fantasy XV
2016
Underwhelming entry
This review contains spoilers
I really, really wanted to love this game. I was ready to call this my game of the year, even before launch. It had everything to play with my emotions, but it unfortunately didn't deliver.
Let me at least start with what I did like:
-The combat is great, and much better than Y7. I loved being able to walk around in battle and placing my character in a precise position to hit multiple enemies.
-The OST was great, I loved the new Karaoke songs and battle songs.
-The new ( playable ) characters ( Tomizawa, Chitose, and Seonhee )
What I disliked:
-Weird story decisions
-Blueballing in Kiryu's Life Links
-Ending
( story spoilers start here )
I wasn't really a huge fan of the Hawaii story part to begin with, but when the game switched to Kiryu's side in Yokohama halfway through the game, that's when the story started to pick up more.
This was also where they introduced Kiryu's bucket list with his Life Links,
where all the blue balling happened. They show off old characters but don't allow Kiryu to meet them or talk to them. It was so unfortunate seeing Taichi, Nakajima, and Kaoru, but not having them interact with Kiryu.
What makes it even worse is that starting chapter 10, starting the third life link, Kiryu is exposed to be alive. But somehow none of the Life Link characters except one have seen it, or act up on it. It's so infuriating. This brings me to my second point that doesn't make sense: At this point in the story, you know who the V-tuber is who exposed Kiryu. It's revealed that Chitose is being manipulated behind the scenes to do all this on her Tatara channel. So why does Chitose not delete the videos/livestreams that happen after she reveals the truth about being the V-tuber? If she doesn't have access anymore, could she not have said that she doesn't? It's the small things that inconvenience the story/Kiryu/player. I was confused, but disregarded it when a good Life Link happened, the Akiyama Life Link. Akiyama puts Kiryu and Date in a set up, and forces them to meet. Causing Kiryu to finally interact and talk with a major character from a previous game. I was so happy, would this mean the next life link is Haruka? Can I finally meet her?
Yes. Date calls, and had a meeting set up with Haruka. When Haruka and Haruto are in Serena, Kiryu is about to walk in. When they pull some bullshit and Kiryu goes away before meeting her. I've never been more mad in a Yakuza game. I coped and thought. Ok ok, she's a major part of Kiryu's character, I feel like she should be a part of the ending right? Maybe they'll meet and talk towards the end? After all, Tatara did expose Kiryu to be alive.
Nope. Last 20 minutes of the game. Kiryu fell unconscious and is being rushed to the hospital while one of the worst songs I've ever heard plays in the background. Is it finally happening, are they killing off Kiryu?
Post credits scene arrive, a shot of Haruka and Haruto walking in the hospital on their way to Kiryu's room. Hinting that Kiryu is alive, I was both sad and happy, because he didn't even get to interact with Haruka.
Haruka & Haruto walk in Kiryu's room, and... He just got out of the room for treatment while they walk in. Before I even managed to think they might interact later, Kiryu said his name and the ending card appeared.
I don't think I've ever been more disappointed in an ending. I binged Yakuza 0 to Yakuza 7 in a month to have Infinite Wealth hit hard. Yakuza 7's story was so good, I genuinely thought Infinite Wealth would be even better. I really wanted my emotions to be played with and that I would be thinking about this game for weeks, or months. Unfortunately, the only way it played with my emotions is that I get mad whenever I think about this game and it's ending.
Let me at least start with what I did like:
-The combat is great, and much better than Y7. I loved being able to walk around in battle and placing my character in a precise position to hit multiple enemies.
-The OST was great, I loved the new Karaoke songs and battle songs.
-The new ( playable ) characters ( Tomizawa, Chitose, and Seonhee )
What I disliked:
-Weird story decisions
-Blueballing in Kiryu's Life Links
-Ending
( story spoilers start here )
I wasn't really a huge fan of the Hawaii story part to begin with, but when the game switched to Kiryu's side in Yokohama halfway through the game, that's when the story started to pick up more.
This was also where they introduced Kiryu's bucket list with his Life Links,
where all the blue balling happened. They show off old characters but don't allow Kiryu to meet them or talk to them. It was so unfortunate seeing Taichi, Nakajima, and Kaoru, but not having them interact with Kiryu.
What makes it even worse is that starting chapter 10, starting the third life link, Kiryu is exposed to be alive. But somehow none of the Life Link characters except one have seen it, or act up on it. It's so infuriating. This brings me to my second point that doesn't make sense: At this point in the story, you know who the V-tuber is who exposed Kiryu. It's revealed that Chitose is being manipulated behind the scenes to do all this on her Tatara channel. So why does Chitose not delete the videos/livestreams that happen after she reveals the truth about being the V-tuber? If she doesn't have access anymore, could she not have said that she doesn't? It's the small things that inconvenience the story/Kiryu/player. I was confused, but disregarded it when a good Life Link happened, the Akiyama Life Link. Akiyama puts Kiryu and Date in a set up, and forces them to meet. Causing Kiryu to finally interact and talk with a major character from a previous game. I was so happy, would this mean the next life link is Haruka? Can I finally meet her?
Yes. Date calls, and had a meeting set up with Haruka. When Haruka and Haruto are in Serena, Kiryu is about to walk in. When they pull some bullshit and Kiryu goes away before meeting her. I've never been more mad in a Yakuza game. I coped and thought. Ok ok, she's a major part of Kiryu's character, I feel like she should be a part of the ending right? Maybe they'll meet and talk towards the end? After all, Tatara did expose Kiryu to be alive.
Nope. Last 20 minutes of the game. Kiryu fell unconscious and is being rushed to the hospital while one of the worst songs I've ever heard plays in the background. Is it finally happening, are they killing off Kiryu?
Post credits scene arrive, a shot of Haruka and Haruto walking in the hospital on their way to Kiryu's room. Hinting that Kiryu is alive, I was both sad and happy, because he didn't even get to interact with Haruka.
Haruka & Haruto walk in Kiryu's room, and... He just got out of the room for treatment while they walk in. Before I even managed to think they might interact later, Kiryu said his name and the ending card appeared.
I don't think I've ever been more disappointed in an ending. I binged Yakuza 0 to Yakuza 7 in a month to have Infinite Wealth hit hard. Yakuza 7's story was so good, I genuinely thought Infinite Wealth would be even better. I really wanted my emotions to be played with and that I would be thinking about this game for weeks, or months. Unfortunately, the only way it played with my emotions is that I get mad whenever I think about this game and it's ending.