This is a game i can always come back to for another playtrough and have a good time. As someone who absolutely loves turn based strategy RPG'S (it may be my favorite genre), and loves to experiment, this series is a mix made for me. A while ago i did a 100% completion to get the postgame judge missions, and then you see just how deep this game is. There are some systems that you can miss out on completely when you do a normal playthrough, but are needed to get all the missions. For example monster capturing with a hunter and using the monster bank with a morpher, learning everything with the blue mage when you control monsters with a beastmaster, etc. Sometimes you can miss whole questlines by not checking the rumors regularly or not doing all the dispatch missions. There are so many references to the older main games, Square loves to do that. The graphics are colorful and gorgeous, peak 2d. There are some amazing music tracks in here. Some people seem to complain about the law system, but there are so many ways the game gives you to get around it. In the end the developers just wanted people to not do the exact same tactics each map. If this was the best system to archive that is debatable, but it's an unique system and nicely integrated in the story.
About the story: i can see how it can be hit or miss depending on the person consuming it (like almost all art and media). When i played this game for the first time i was around 12/13 and was in i think the most difficult period of my life. I sheltered myself from the real world problems (like bullying, which is the whole reason the final fantasy Ivalice world got created in this game!) and escaped into games. This story really resonated with me, for that reason. It can be amazing to work yourself up in games and lose yourself in them, but in the end you can't run away from the real world forever. I still love games a lot (evidently), but back then it was a reality check i really needed and i can't believe something that made such an impact on me was a spinoff of a spinoff and on the gba of all things. This game will always stay close to my heart, and i thank the writer(s?) to try subject matter like game addicition that you never see in this kind of game, or any game title for that matter.
About the story: i can see how it can be hit or miss depending on the person consuming it (like almost all art and media). When i played this game for the first time i was around 12/13 and was in i think the most difficult period of my life. I sheltered myself from the real world problems (like bullying, which is the whole reason the final fantasy Ivalice world got created in this game!) and escaped into games. This story really resonated with me, for that reason. It can be amazing to work yourself up in games and lose yourself in them, but in the end you can't run away from the real world forever. I still love games a lot (evidently), but back then it was a reality check i really needed and i can't believe something that made such an impact on me was a spinoff of a spinoff and on the gba of all things. This game will always stay close to my heart, and i thank the writer(s?) to try subject matter like game addicition that you never see in this kind of game, or any game title for that matter.