being a Disgaea kid i thought i wouldn't really enjoy this for some reason and also because i always think this about Matsuno games before i play them. but as usual i was wrong!! maps are fun and while the 5 character limit is a bit restricting, we were still able to express ourselves via our party, which is basically why i love playing any TRPG in the first place.
in contrast to XII that i played earlier this year, the story is actually political this time and focuses a lot on the motivations for Ramza's rebellion while discussing what the people in power are doing to Ivalice by dragging out a prolonged war out of pride and a desire to take hold of history's reins. while individual characters themselves are not really the focus, whatever glimpse of their personality you can get make them usually likeable enough to care about their story.
it is a, sometimes, uncharacteristically (for the series) brutal game, which makes me wonder how it did get approved to carry the FF name while Xenogears had to be a different series altogether for these exact same reasons. i did enjoy the story a lot even if most characters end up as no more than chess pieces themselves, even Ramza to some extent. which makes me wish there were more sidequests to flesh them out, the Construct 7 quest for example was delightful and so was the Rais and Lionheart's quest added to the PSP port. i should also say i didn't really mind the second half of the story and it think it still maintained most of it's themes even with the inclusion of the Lucavi.
this is also one extremely beautiful game, the sprite work is literally miraculous, every action has weight, characters will hold and interact with each other and they won't feel disjointed or weird, it's such a joy to watch them move around. And even then i still enjoyed the PSP cutscenes a lot, really love how they emulated Akihiko Yoshida's style in 3D.
glad i finally played this, now i don't have to keep wondering if i'm gonna hate it or not, it's a really really good game and playing it alongside with my bf alternating control between fights was a really special experience i'm not going to forget anytime soon
in contrast to XII that i played earlier this year, the story is actually political this time and focuses a lot on the motivations for Ramza's rebellion while discussing what the people in power are doing to Ivalice by dragging out a prolonged war out of pride and a desire to take hold of history's reins. while individual characters themselves are not really the focus, whatever glimpse of their personality you can get make them usually likeable enough to care about their story.
it is a, sometimes, uncharacteristically (for the series) brutal game, which makes me wonder how it did get approved to carry the FF name while Xenogears had to be a different series altogether for these exact same reasons. i did enjoy the story a lot even if most characters end up as no more than chess pieces themselves, even Ramza to some extent. which makes me wish there were more sidequests to flesh them out, the Construct 7 quest for example was delightful and so was the Rais and Lionheart's quest added to the PSP port. i should also say i didn't really mind the second half of the story and it think it still maintained most of it's themes even with the inclusion of the Lucavi.
this is also one extremely beautiful game, the sprite work is literally miraculous, every action has weight, characters will hold and interact with each other and they won't feel disjointed or weird, it's such a joy to watch them move around. And even then i still enjoyed the PSP cutscenes a lot, really love how they emulated Akihiko Yoshida's style in 3D.
glad i finally played this, now i don't have to keep wondering if i'm gonna hate it or not, it's a really really good game and playing it alongside with my bf alternating control between fights was a really special experience i'm not going to forget anytime soon