i heard this game was really bad so I was mentally preparing for another final fantasy 13, a game held back hard by its limitations and obvious overambition, and what I got was EXACTLY that, but something throughout the entirety of the experience felt different. Don't get me wrong, this game is an ABSOLUTE mess, its janky, the story requires you to watch/read a lot of shit to get the most out of it, some of its most prominent plot points and characters feel underdeveloped, and the open world is mostly empty outside of hunts and sidequests. And even then, this game left me sobbing by the end of it

and its really just because this game truly resonates with me, moreso than any other final fantasy. i love its party sm, noctis is a phenomenal protagonist, the world is beautiful, the vibes are higher than any other ff game, the music is enchanting (yoko literally never misses it actually baffles the mind), the game is gorgeous, and despite the story being clearly unfinished, it has some beats that worked SO well for me. Throughout the entire game I was just thinking of that one "this fucking sucks" guy pointing at literally the coolest shit ever meme, almost everything ff15 does worked so well for me and I genuinely like it more than most of the ff games I have played

ff15 is an absolute mess but it stuck with me hard and could have been my EASY favorite if it just had more time to develop itself

tldr, one of the worst games that I have ever loved and one of my favorites of the franchise so far