"Look how they massacred my boy"
Don Corleone.
The Godfather.

I loved Fairy Fencer F Advert Dark Force (My favourite Compile Hearts game), but this spinoff/squeal hybrid is a frustratingly disappointing poorly constructed mess of a game that lacks purpose, charm and substance.

SJRPG combat is dreadful as it's the same enemies models over and over even when their change colour at times.

Terrible leveling up progression where you can only level up, by performing actions during fights, resulting the game to be a aimless grindfeast.
Barely any strategy to the combat, most sub fairys are worthless to your arsenal.

Story and characters, one of the best aspects of Advert Dark Force, is a drastic downgrade.
The story feels like a uninspired fanfiction of it's former self and the writing took a major hit, causing plot holes and various bad writing that barely existed in Advert Dark Force.

While it's was great to see the Fairy Fencer F cast again, they were done dirty here.
Many of them are given nothing to do and they just along for the ride with barely any substance.
The new characters are all terribly written and bland as rocks.

The graphics, when it comes to combat is embarrassing bad especially on PS5.
Ugly, janky and unpolished across the board.

In conclusion, Fairy Fencer F Refrain Chord is a boring waste of time and a awful followup to the underrated Fairy Fencer F Advert Dark Force.

I may not a fan of Compile Hearts games are they filled with meandering plots, poorly executed ideas and repetitive gameplay/asset reuse, (barring the aforementioned Fairy Fencer F Advert Dark Force, which did a good job at avoiding many of those issues), but this alongside Neptunia Sister vs Sisters, have reached a new pathetic low.
They are the LJN of the JRPG gaming industry.
It's frankly baffling that this poorly produced game that has no English Dub was sold on PS5 for £50.

One of the worst JRPG games of 2023 by far.

You done f* it up!!!

Tales of Graces F proves that you dont need a necessarily great story to be a great game.
The story is chessy and kinda nonsensical in many areas, however the character chemistry, gameplay and music completely make it up.

It's truly is a game made with fun and passion that many modern JRPGs lack.
Hopefully this get released for modern consoles/PC as more people should experience this wonderful gem of a JRPG.

Compile Heart's Magnum Opus.

Compile Hearts may have a unfavourable reputation towards JRPG's fans due to low effort and repetitive nature, however every once in a while they can something exceptionally good to excellent and Fairy Fencer F Advert Dark Force is easily the best game that Compile Hearts has done.

Granted it's kinda repetitive at times, and one of the routes, writing wise isn't the best, however it's makes up for everything else.
The character dynamics and humor are phenomenal that made me care of almost every character.
Story is nicely written and engaging for the majority of it.
Good voice acting for both languages, excellent soundtrack, decent gameplay visuals.

One of the best and most underrated JRPGs to come out of the PS4.

While not as consistently funny and well written as Fairy Fencer F, Megadimeion Neptunia is still a nicely well crafted game that's fun and memorable to play.
That's saying a lot given how much Compile Hearts have fallen since 2017 onwards.

Well defined and memorable characters especially Uzume.
A soildly written storyline.
Decent visuals.
Good gameplay if a bit grindy and punishing at times.
Amazing sci-fi futuristic soundtrack.

Overall an exceptionally great and game to the PS4/PS5 library of JRPGs.

What a cash grabbing hollow train-wreck this was.

As someone who loved the Dragon Quest Adventure of Dai anime, this was a massive letdown.

Aside the charming artstyle, the game feels like a throwaway low budget hack and slash game that you find in 7th gen, that somehow cost £50.

Very repetitive gameplay, a story doesn't even adapt the full story, let alone tell it properly.

Just save your hard earned cash and play something else instead.

Truly a soulless embarrassment.

Not as bad as many people say it is.
Yeah, the level desgin isn't that great and significantly grabs the game down, however the story, characters and to a less extent combat carry the game.

It's nice to a full fleshed adult cast well be adults, tacking dark subject matter instead of seeing another uninspired teen power fantasy story with the power of friends speeches.

A charmingly fun, but flawed game.
Pick it up when it goes on sale alongside the DLCs.