This review contains spoilers
What a game. I had originally gone into this planning to just try it out and see what the hype was. I did not expect myself to get hooked as I did. I was never big into RPG games with the exception of a select few and this game has made its way onto that list.
The combat was so much more fun than I expected it to be. I remember trying out a demo when the game was coming out and not being super impressed. I'm not sure if my brain was just too unga bunga to give it a chance, but once i started to understand it, and when they introduced having your team, and not only being able to give commands but SWITCH TO THEM? I was sold. The game becomes this dance of using each character as much as you can in order to build up the ATB to use your abilities and so many of them are so fun to use. There were so many systems in place that were so interesting to dive into like the weapon mastery system, linking materia, weapon abilities, summons. So much that I can't discuss it all at once but it was a level of complexity that did not deter me as much as like the tutorial moments of Final Fantasy XV in a sense. The longer I explored the game's systems the more excited I became to utilize it and I only wish I had learned some of them sooner to make earlier fights easier on me.
The story was really fun to follow. I felt engaged the whole time, except the lab section with hojo, that gave some interesting information on genova but the section itself was insanely long and so close to the final showdown that I felt it was holding me hostage from the end of the game. The game did side quests really well as well where they never felt out of the way and were compelling enough to build your characters and get weapons in order to get through the later, harder sections. I'll take doing side quests over grinding any day, even though the combat system is fun enough to not deter me from going out to grind if i wanted to.
Biggest spoilers here but the final fight with Sephiroth was such an intense and fun culmination of everything I had learned up to that point. The presence Sephiroth had in the game was so great. When he showed up in a scene, you would feel it along with Cloud and I was both dreading and dying to face this menace at the end.
Quick moment to discuss the voice acting, when I started the game originally I thought I was going to hate it because of the overly dramatic gasps and grunts that come with the early moments of the game, however, once you're used to that, those reactions lend so well to many scenes and often gives a reaction you never heard thus far and you just feel it. The unease and fear I would hear from Cloud when he goes through his Sephiroth "hallucinations" late into the game and the fear you can hear from him is so gut wrenching.
There's so much to talk about with this game and I could probably do so for hours. All that needs to be said is once I finished this I insta bought Rebirth, and I can't wait to be with this cast for more time. Tifa endgame btw
The combat was so much more fun than I expected it to be. I remember trying out a demo when the game was coming out and not being super impressed. I'm not sure if my brain was just too unga bunga to give it a chance, but once i started to understand it, and when they introduced having your team, and not only being able to give commands but SWITCH TO THEM? I was sold. The game becomes this dance of using each character as much as you can in order to build up the ATB to use your abilities and so many of them are so fun to use. There were so many systems in place that were so interesting to dive into like the weapon mastery system, linking materia, weapon abilities, summons. So much that I can't discuss it all at once but it was a level of complexity that did not deter me as much as like the tutorial moments of Final Fantasy XV in a sense. The longer I explored the game's systems the more excited I became to utilize it and I only wish I had learned some of them sooner to make earlier fights easier on me.
The story was really fun to follow. I felt engaged the whole time, except the lab section with hojo, that gave some interesting information on genova but the section itself was insanely long and so close to the final showdown that I felt it was holding me hostage from the end of the game. The game did side quests really well as well where they never felt out of the way and were compelling enough to build your characters and get weapons in order to get through the later, harder sections. I'll take doing side quests over grinding any day, even though the combat system is fun enough to not deter me from going out to grind if i wanted to.
Biggest spoilers here but the final fight with Sephiroth was such an intense and fun culmination of everything I had learned up to that point. The presence Sephiroth had in the game was so great. When he showed up in a scene, you would feel it along with Cloud and I was both dreading and dying to face this menace at the end.
Quick moment to discuss the voice acting, when I started the game originally I thought I was going to hate it because of the overly dramatic gasps and grunts that come with the early moments of the game, however, once you're used to that, those reactions lend so well to many scenes and often gives a reaction you never heard thus far and you just feel it. The unease and fear I would hear from Cloud when he goes through his Sephiroth "hallucinations" late into the game and the fear you can hear from him is so gut wrenching.
There's so much to talk about with this game and I could probably do so for hours. All that needs to be said is once I finished this I insta bought Rebirth, and I can't wait to be with this cast for more time. Tifa endgame btw