I think I tend to be more charitable towards ARR than most and it's hard to know how much of that is based on its genuine merits and how much is just plain nostalgia. In any case I think the base game is good, but for completely different reasons than the rest of the game. Yeah, the story is pretty by-the-numbers and bland barring a few stand-out moments. Yeah, the gameplay is a hollowed shell of its former self and no job gets fun until lvl 50. BUT, those early areas are just so cozy and fun to run around and get lost in, and when I think about my time with ARR, that's what I think about.

Whereas I look upon the later expansions as great stories that took my breath away, ARR feels like a city I once lived in, full of fond memories and tucked-away, unremarkable corners that nonetheless mean something to me. Some of my fondest memories with this game are from the times when I ignored the MSQ and just walked around, filling in all the blank spaces on my map, seeing what I could see, like the aimless walks I used to take in my old neighborhood in Nashville, arriving at intersections and picking a direction at random, learning every twist and turn. I remember wandering the Shroud, not even following any questline, just wandering, looking up at the sunlight through the leaves, my aging laptop perched on my knees, purring like a jet engine and turning my blanket into a sauna.

Like I said, the bulk of these feelings are probably nostalgia. I played ARR at a formative time and it gave me the Something I desperately needed to latch onto at the time. But there are plenty of other games that I played in similar states and don't feel this fondly towards. These feelings couldn't have gained a foothold if there wasn't something in this game for them to grab hold of. The early game areas really are something special, and as the game "got better" in later expansions, the feelings I felt towards the lands of Eorzea itself started to change. As priorities shift towards paying more attention to the narrative (because it's good now), the game world itself eventually becomes a means to an end. A desire to find out what happens next leaves less and less time for the aimless wandering that characterized my ARR experience. This isn't a bad thing necessarily, just an attempt to maybe explain why those early areas have such a grip on my brain in the way no later expansion areas ever have.

I think this is also why Stormblood was such a disappointment to me--it lacked both the compelling narrative of the "good" expansions and the lively exploration of ARR. It's just so barren, and not even in a fun or interesting way most of the time.

Hard to say anything that hasn't already been said a hundred times. I was worried the hype would deaden its impact on me, especially given how long I built it up in my head before playing, but the avalanche of praise was more than deserved. A genuine, one-of-a-kind, once-in-a-lifetime, deeply inspiring work of art. As I played, I just kept marveling at how this even got made. And even as the industry does its damnedest to rip Elysium away from its creators and juice it for all it's got, the fact that it exists at all leaves me hopeful somehow.

A lovely surprise :)

Picked this up on a whim cuz it looked cute and was steam deck verified lol. This is pretty much the only life sim game I've ever bothered to see through to the end and I think it's because:

1) It starts you off with a finite goal and always gives you a clear idea of the pace at which you're progressing towards that goal. I don't love forever games and it feels like a lot of "endings" in life sims are just half-measure concessions to drape a feeling of accomplishment over what is intended to be an endless loop.
2) cute girls
3) Great art in general -- beyond the A+ character design, I just love how much personality is packed into every little animation.
4) cute girls

I romanced Xid btw. I cannot resist the allure of a bass-playing she/they

idk man... I don't think I like these games that much. It took me ages to get through this and it started to feel like a chore past a certain point. The combat is just not my thing and the whole game feels bloated. I know people say "the side content is the best part" but enough of it is just rote and tedious that I eventually gave up trying to find the good stuff. The story was good, if a little meandering, and I think this game is ultimately pretty great (even if it's not my particular cup of tea) but I'm not motivated enough to continue with the main series right now and I may just skip to 7 to see if I like it better.