gangwarily
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This review contains spoilers
Final Fantasy VII is a sensational RPG perhaps like no other JRPG in existence. Its acknowledgement has breached mainsteam pop-culture to a degree unseen by any other individual JRPG- let alone game in the Final Fantasy franchise. It should be no secret to anyone that loves FFVII that Square Enix milks the nostalgic love people have for this game until it results in the disappointing mess that is the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy.
Before I dive into what made me hurl about this game, I would like to note and stress that there are a number of things this game attempts to achieve and is tantalisingly close to getting right. For one, I think the exploration being more reliant on Chocobos is an excellent idea- they've been neglected as a means of traversal since Final Fantasy IX; though the sloppy execution in every area nix Junon and Nibel leaves the concept rather lacking in a number of aspects. To add onto this, I think the utilisation of the Tiny Bronco was a touch that was much needed towards the end of the game to actually make the regions feel connected in a way they largely did not before Chapter 12.
The Combat system, just like Remake, is probably where this game shines best. Each character feels very distinct and is uniquely enjoyable to play as if you give them the time to unlock their weapon skills and abuse them to their fullest potential. Red XIII is their greatest accomplishment by far- I think Nanaki may just be the most powerful and ergo- the most enjoyable member to play as in the cast. In some ways I'm looking forward to how they portray Cid and Vincent in the final game.
Furthermore, when the game is trying to be Final Fantasy VII and not some half-assed attempt at creating a FFVII Compilation Omnibus, it captures the essence that I sorely want to see in an actual remake of this game. I think no scene better encompasses what I mean than Barret's Corel flashback. When this game is committed to getting its characters right, it really gets it right. Similarly said, I think that the focus on Cloud's SOLDIER cells degrading leading to his mental breakdown throughout the course of the story of the first disc.
Finally, the minigames. I'm so glad that they were here in abundance, and if the game featured more of them, I think I would genuinely bump up my rating to something higher than it currently sits at. Being homages to other FF games (such as "Gears & Gambits" taking the "Gambit" system from FFXII) was a real treat. Some don't hit quite as well (for example, I'm not an enormous fan of how the Chocobos control in Chocobo Racing,) but not all of them need to be amazing. Minigames- both good and bad, are a part of FFVII's identity. Queen's Blood especially was a real treat.
The negatives are where this game really gets to shine, though.
First and foremost I would like to come out swinging by stating that basing your overworld exploration on The Witcher III of all games was a terrible decision. That game itself has far too many side-objectives that take away from its core strength of compelling story-writing, which is what Rebirth also suffers from (except it also fumbles in the story-writing department, which I will dive into later.) Chadley commenting on every other small thing that you do was grating from the get-go and having no option to turn him off is frustrating beyond belief. He's a meaningless addition to the cast that feels forced and unnatural in the worst way- and their attempts to redeem his annoyance through glimpses into his real identity in the latter half of the game do no service towards how incessant comments. The objectives themselves are also repetitive after the first area. Painfully so. The Protorelics are the highlights of each area, except when they're just tied to combat. I couldn't even be bothered with the final Protorelic on Gilgamesh island because it was just more of the same detritus-- and as someone who generally loves completing games, this naturally leads myself onto the point that there are far too many objectives.
Nibel is by far the best area because it is not only the smallest, but also happens to have the Chocobo capable of the most efficient form of travel. If all areas were the size of Nibel and were easy to navigate as it is, I may have bothered completing the game. As it stands, though? Between Remake and Rebirth, stretching out the first disc to roughly 120 hours of content is an extreme test of one's patience, especially if you aren't fond of its design sensibilities, as I am.
No sugarcoating: the new storytelling is awful and they've completely butchered some of their most lovable characters. I think if you genuinely believe that the Remake trilogy is doing a better job at telling the stories of its entire cast, you need to seriously re-examine what they're doing. The worst offender in Remake was Sephiroth- and this carries over in Rebirth, though Cid and Aerith can also be added to that list quite easily.
The quest to make Sephiroth this less ambiguous villain is ultimately doing him no favours- and honestly, there is no real tension or menacing presence maintained by his on-screen presence because they're far too focused on either delivering the audience blockbuster-esque eye candy or feeding fanfic writers with toxic yaoi material by having him treat Cloud like a trained dog. Advent Children also made the mistake that has transferred over to Remake in changing Sephiroth's theme to One Winged Angel, as opposed to Those Chosen by The Planet. TCbTP is a track that is meant to emanate tension by its mere presence, whereas OWA was composed to serve as a boss theme. In many ways, the change of theme is symbolic of his transition from an ambiguous entity to an ever-present "boss" entity that the party has to face.
Aerith too is now suffering from a similar issue to Sephiroth, wherein she is being played as part of a meta-plot about timelines and alternate universes, rather than her original allegory as that of a Messiah. The final boss fight in particular reeked and soured my opinion even further regarding the portrayals of both of their characters, including and not limited to their choice in music excluding Birth of A God in favour of One Winged Angel.. again.
I ended up getting Red XIII on my second Gold Saucer date, and as soon as he seized the opportunity to talk about Aerith's oncoming death in the Skywheel, I audibly sighed.
Cid is shockingly one I'm not seeing people complain about, though. He's an entirely different character. Removing Rocket Town from disc one in favour of the Gongaga plot solely to wave Cissnei in the face of the audience... who largely probably doesn't even know who she is, is a choice I find shockingly baffling. At the minute, he's just being played as a "nice guy" that's helping out the party because he fights for the republic as an independent flyer. His pearly white teeth are reflective of his "reimagined" personality: he's been cleaned up to a degree I find completely unacceptable, and truth be told? I was genuinely looking forward to hearing him be the rudest person in the party. It's so sad.
In conclusion- between the release of this game and a far more genuinely faithful remake releasing earlier in the year in the form of Persona 3 Reload, I find myself wondering why I even bother with the FFVII Compilation anymore. It's poor attempt at creating a new story and playing its audience by baiting them with beloved characters is a charade I find most appalling; and I'd rather them take story-telling risks with a new cast of characters as FFXVI did than whatever this bloated mess of a game actually is.
Before I dive into what made me hurl about this game, I would like to note and stress that there are a number of things this game attempts to achieve and is tantalisingly close to getting right. For one, I think the exploration being more reliant on Chocobos is an excellent idea- they've been neglected as a means of traversal since Final Fantasy IX; though the sloppy execution in every area nix Junon and Nibel leaves the concept rather lacking in a number of aspects. To add onto this, I think the utilisation of the Tiny Bronco was a touch that was much needed towards the end of the game to actually make the regions feel connected in a way they largely did not before Chapter 12.
The Combat system, just like Remake, is probably where this game shines best. Each character feels very distinct and is uniquely enjoyable to play as if you give them the time to unlock their weapon skills and abuse them to their fullest potential. Red XIII is their greatest accomplishment by far- I think Nanaki may just be the most powerful and ergo- the most enjoyable member to play as in the cast. In some ways I'm looking forward to how they portray Cid and Vincent in the final game.
Furthermore, when the game is trying to be Final Fantasy VII and not some half-assed attempt at creating a FFVII Compilation Omnibus, it captures the essence that I sorely want to see in an actual remake of this game. I think no scene better encompasses what I mean than Barret's Corel flashback. When this game is committed to getting its characters right, it really gets it right. Similarly said, I think that the focus on Cloud's SOLDIER cells degrading leading to his mental breakdown throughout the course of the story of the first disc.
Finally, the minigames. I'm so glad that they were here in abundance, and if the game featured more of them, I think I would genuinely bump up my rating to something higher than it currently sits at. Being homages to other FF games (such as "Gears & Gambits" taking the "Gambit" system from FFXII) was a real treat. Some don't hit quite as well (for example, I'm not an enormous fan of how the Chocobos control in Chocobo Racing,) but not all of them need to be amazing. Minigames- both good and bad, are a part of FFVII's identity. Queen's Blood especially was a real treat.
The negatives are where this game really gets to shine, though.
First and foremost I would like to come out swinging by stating that basing your overworld exploration on The Witcher III of all games was a terrible decision. That game itself has far too many side-objectives that take away from its core strength of compelling story-writing, which is what Rebirth also suffers from (except it also fumbles in the story-writing department, which I will dive into later.) Chadley commenting on every other small thing that you do was grating from the get-go and having no option to turn him off is frustrating beyond belief. He's a meaningless addition to the cast that feels forced and unnatural in the worst way- and their attempts to redeem his annoyance through glimpses into his real identity in the latter half of the game do no service towards how incessant comments. The objectives themselves are also repetitive after the first area. Painfully so. The Protorelics are the highlights of each area, except when they're just tied to combat. I couldn't even be bothered with the final Protorelic on Gilgamesh island because it was just more of the same detritus-- and as someone who generally loves completing games, this naturally leads myself onto the point that there are far too many objectives.
Nibel is by far the best area because it is not only the smallest, but also happens to have the Chocobo capable of the most efficient form of travel. If all areas were the size of Nibel and were easy to navigate as it is, I may have bothered completing the game. As it stands, though? Between Remake and Rebirth, stretching out the first disc to roughly 120 hours of content is an extreme test of one's patience, especially if you aren't fond of its design sensibilities, as I am.
No sugarcoating: the new storytelling is awful and they've completely butchered some of their most lovable characters. I think if you genuinely believe that the Remake trilogy is doing a better job at telling the stories of its entire cast, you need to seriously re-examine what they're doing. The worst offender in Remake was Sephiroth- and this carries over in Rebirth, though Cid and Aerith can also be added to that list quite easily.
The quest to make Sephiroth this less ambiguous villain is ultimately doing him no favours- and honestly, there is no real tension or menacing presence maintained by his on-screen presence because they're far too focused on either delivering the audience blockbuster-esque eye candy or feeding fanfic writers with toxic yaoi material by having him treat Cloud like a trained dog. Advent Children also made the mistake that has transferred over to Remake in changing Sephiroth's theme to One Winged Angel, as opposed to Those Chosen by The Planet. TCbTP is a track that is meant to emanate tension by its mere presence, whereas OWA was composed to serve as a boss theme. In many ways, the change of theme is symbolic of his transition from an ambiguous entity to an ever-present "boss" entity that the party has to face.
Aerith too is now suffering from a similar issue to Sephiroth, wherein she is being played as part of a meta-plot about timelines and alternate universes, rather than her original allegory as that of a Messiah. The final boss fight in particular reeked and soured my opinion even further regarding the portrayals of both of their characters, including and not limited to their choice in music excluding Birth of A God in favour of One Winged Angel.. again.
I ended up getting Red XIII on my second Gold Saucer date, and as soon as he seized the opportunity to talk about Aerith's oncoming death in the Skywheel, I audibly sighed.
Cid is shockingly one I'm not seeing people complain about, though. He's an entirely different character. Removing Rocket Town from disc one in favour of the Gongaga plot solely to wave Cissnei in the face of the audience... who largely probably doesn't even know who she is, is a choice I find shockingly baffling. At the minute, he's just being played as a "nice guy" that's helping out the party because he fights for the republic as an independent flyer. His pearly white teeth are reflective of his "reimagined" personality: he's been cleaned up to a degree I find completely unacceptable, and truth be told? I was genuinely looking forward to hearing him be the rudest person in the party. It's so sad.
In conclusion- between the release of this game and a far more genuinely faithful remake releasing earlier in the year in the form of Persona 3 Reload, I find myself wondering why I even bother with the FFVII Compilation anymore. It's poor attempt at creating a new story and playing its audience by baiting them with beloved characters is a charade I find most appalling; and I'd rather them take story-telling risks with a new cast of characters as FFXVI did than whatever this bloated mess of a game actually is.
Rise of the Ronin
2024
I will start things off by saying this is Team Ninja's best story game, which is not saying much with the track record but they do let some characters really shine with their writing and backstories, there are also some who are forgettable.
In regards to gameplay this feels Team Ninja to the core and if you are familiar with their previous work, you will settle in pretty nice and easily with this one. This game features "allies" who you take along with your missions but as someone who likes to do things solo, the forced emphasis on the duo boss fights becomes a bit tedious after a while and becomes slightly discouraging when wanting to go about the game on your own.
The open world is exactly as I expected, the normal ubisoft formula but luckily it has its own twist with allowing your open world to become more open with the ties to the world you strengthen but it is still bogged down by repetitive activities which do kind of sully the experience.
Overall I enjoyed this outing but I do think I prefer the approach of the more linear Team Ninja games but I will applaud them for trying something out of their comfort zone even if they did not nail it.
In regards to gameplay this feels Team Ninja to the core and if you are familiar with their previous work, you will settle in pretty nice and easily with this one. This game features "allies" who you take along with your missions but as someone who likes to do things solo, the forced emphasis on the duo boss fights becomes a bit tedious after a while and becomes slightly discouraging when wanting to go about the game on your own.
The open world is exactly as I expected, the normal ubisoft formula but luckily it has its own twist with allowing your open world to become more open with the ties to the world you strengthen but it is still bogged down by repetitive activities which do kind of sully the experience.
Overall I enjoyed this outing but I do think I prefer the approach of the more linear Team Ninja games but I will applaud them for trying something out of their comfort zone even if they did not nail it.
Persona 4 Golden
2012
Whoever said this game was 70 hours lied to my face this was way shorter than I thought it would be. Honestly probably my favorite cast in a Persona game so far (haven't touched 5 yet) for the sole reason that everyone is an idiot and stupid and I love them for that. Fun story but that true ending twist honestly got on my nerves pretty bad. Still! I love the murder mystery aspects of the plot and honestly didn't hate a single member in my party... except Teddie obviously.
Gameplay... well it's not great to be honest. It's my fault for playing P3R and then starting the older game, but point still stands. Some enemies and bosses are like the easiest thing ever, and then you can come across a group of enemies that manage to get the jump on Yu and instakill him forcing you to restart the whole floor again. It's super annoying! And man do I miss having the shift mechanic.
Overall I recommend, the 50 hours go by pretty quick if you ask me.
Gameplay... well it's not great to be honest. It's my fault for playing P3R and then starting the older game, but point still stands. Some enemies and bosses are like the easiest thing ever, and then you can come across a group of enemies that manage to get the jump on Yu and instakill him forcing you to restart the whole floor again. It's super annoying! And man do I miss having the shift mechanic.
Overall I recommend, the 50 hours go by pretty quick if you ask me.
Similarly to Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, I’m incredibly confused how this is the highest rated game of the series in recent memory.
When reaching the end of that game, I found myself thinking that the reason it was so well received was not because it was actually better than the last one (it absolutely wasn’t), but just because it was the MOST of one of those games yet.
I can’t shake the feeling that that’s the case here. While Remake drew a 4-8hr section of the original game up to about 35hrs, it felt relatively focused aside from a couple of dud chapters and boring side quests which feel like a series staple at this point.
Rebirth on the other hand feels lost; never able to balance the more sincere but serious tone established in Remake and the desired quirkiness of the ‘97 original. It also stumbles at nearly every hurdle with how they have chosen to implement the open world aspects. While promising in the open hours due to a seemingly more hands off approach, it’s quickly turned into another map clearing checklist. Only this time on top of this standard open world fair, you’re also treated to constant harassment from one of the worst characters in a video game; incessantly calling you to tell you that you just activated a tower right after you just activated a bloody tower. There’s this immense friction to the open world in this game; a constant stopping and starting which really kills any sense of momentum you might be gathering. By chapter 10, I was so checked out of the open world activities and how badly they felt just tacked on that I tried just mainlining the story. However, level requirements forced me to go back and do them just to eke out a few more levels.
As far as the story is concerned, there were at least a few moments where it felt relatively consistent. I hated that the game started in media res, with near to no setup dovetailing out of Remake. I felt compelled to continue at least.
As things progressed it became increasingly clear that while Remake only had to introduce the story and could play freely in that space up to the point of leaving Midgar, this one has to tackle a midpoint. It never feels like there’s clearly established stakes other than this aimless wandering; every few hours you are quickly told “the princess is in another castle” and it’s time for “next location” and ferried off to another open world map littered with banal activities and a litany of new mini games. It’s genuinely hard to shake the feeling that they realized this would be the same length as the last game for what should be a much bigger part of the story if they didn’t stuff it to the brim with side content. Unfortunately quantity over quality definitely beat out the alternative, but Queen’s Blood is good at the very least.
Liked the combat for the most part, it feels like some good changes were introduced from the previous game. However party management is so atrocious in this game and at several points I felt like the game was actively screwing me over because it locks you into mandatory story sections with a few specific party members. If you’ve got one party member you’ve not paid attention to or not outfitted adequately, as I had, these sections are utterly unbearable (looking at you Chap 12, I’m sure most people will know what I mean).
Really don’t know how they’ll pad the next one to make it a “full length” game, but after this one I doubt I’ll be rushing to play it whenever it does come out.
When reaching the end of that game, I found myself thinking that the reason it was so well received was not because it was actually better than the last one (it absolutely wasn’t), but just because it was the MOST of one of those games yet.
I can’t shake the feeling that that’s the case here. While Remake drew a 4-8hr section of the original game up to about 35hrs, it felt relatively focused aside from a couple of dud chapters and boring side quests which feel like a series staple at this point.
Rebirth on the other hand feels lost; never able to balance the more sincere but serious tone established in Remake and the desired quirkiness of the ‘97 original. It also stumbles at nearly every hurdle with how they have chosen to implement the open world aspects. While promising in the open hours due to a seemingly more hands off approach, it’s quickly turned into another map clearing checklist. Only this time on top of this standard open world fair, you’re also treated to constant harassment from one of the worst characters in a video game; incessantly calling you to tell you that you just activated a tower right after you just activated a bloody tower. There’s this immense friction to the open world in this game; a constant stopping and starting which really kills any sense of momentum you might be gathering. By chapter 10, I was so checked out of the open world activities and how badly they felt just tacked on that I tried just mainlining the story. However, level requirements forced me to go back and do them just to eke out a few more levels.
As far as the story is concerned, there were at least a few moments where it felt relatively consistent. I hated that the game started in media res, with near to no setup dovetailing out of Remake. I felt compelled to continue at least.
As things progressed it became increasingly clear that while Remake only had to introduce the story and could play freely in that space up to the point of leaving Midgar, this one has to tackle a midpoint. It never feels like there’s clearly established stakes other than this aimless wandering; every few hours you are quickly told “the princess is in another castle” and it’s time for “next location” and ferried off to another open world map littered with banal activities and a litany of new mini games. It’s genuinely hard to shake the feeling that they realized this would be the same length as the last game for what should be a much bigger part of the story if they didn’t stuff it to the brim with side content. Unfortunately quantity over quality definitely beat out the alternative, but Queen’s Blood is good at the very least.
Liked the combat for the most part, it feels like some good changes were introduced from the previous game. However party management is so atrocious in this game and at several points I felt like the game was actively screwing me over because it locks you into mandatory story sections with a few specific party members. If you’ve got one party member you’ve not paid attention to or not outfitted adequately, as I had, these sections are utterly unbearable (looking at you Chap 12, I’m sure most people will know what I mean).
Really don’t know how they’ll pad the next one to make it a “full length” game, but after this one I doubt I’ll be rushing to play it whenever it does come out.
This game has some of my favourite moments in the series and helps add so much to the characters we are familiar with, and a finale that is truly a spectacle to witness. The game has many moments that remind me why I am a final fantasy fan but unfortunately everything surrounding that story feels like it was made to force me away from the game. The game features a typical open world Ubisoft design with its "towers" to unlock activities on the map and I do truly wonder how this game gets a free pass on such mediocrity where other games get criticized for it. It is fine in the first area of the game where it is all new but by the time it happens for the 5th time, it is purely eye rolling "oh...again" and I wish they could have come up with something much more creative for the world that deserves it.
Ultimately I enjoyed my time with the main story, even though there are slight areas of padding, I simply cannot give it a higher mark because of how much the open world aspects of the game ruined my overall enjoyment and at times made it hard to push through and see the story to the end.
Ultimately I enjoyed my time with the main story, even though there are slight areas of padding, I simply cannot give it a higher mark because of how much the open world aspects of the game ruined my overall enjoyment and at times made it hard to push through and see the story to the end.
Persona 3 Reload
2024
Wow… I need a minute to think about this
The game is better than Breath of the Wild in about every way. Objectively I liked it more. And yet, with 7 years of experience and skepticism under my belt, I didn't feel the same wonder.
Gunstar Heroes
1993
More like Funstar Heroes
Cyberpunk 2077
2020
As much as I wanted to like this game it always ended up feeling shallow and one dimensional. The graphics, sound, art style, immersion and overall vibe are all incredible and deserve to be appreciated on their own but the gameplay and story often times fall flat for me.
I feel like if you go into this expecting a fun open world action game that you can immerse yourself in you're going to have a good time but if you go into this expecting an RPG with choices that really affect the story in a meaningful way with deep combat mechanics that makes you really have to decide what type of character you are and how you'll play like I did you're probably going to be disappointed because it has neither of those things. Maybe I just went in with the wrong expectations. Despite all of that I'm glad I played this finally and can still appreciate what a titanic effort developing something like this must have been.
Also this game is still buggy as hell even in patch 2.1 what the heck??
I feel like if you go into this expecting a fun open world action game that you can immerse yourself in you're going to have a good time but if you go into this expecting an RPG with choices that really affect the story in a meaningful way with deep combat mechanics that makes you really have to decide what type of character you are and how you'll play like I did you're probably going to be disappointed because it has neither of those things. Maybe I just went in with the wrong expectations. Despite all of that I'm glad I played this finally and can still appreciate what a titanic effort developing something like this must have been.
Also this game is still buggy as hell even in patch 2.1 what the heck??
This review contains spoilers
Will update score and entire review when I'm finished with the entire expansion (it will probably trend towards a more positive impression). Currently just did the Vauthry/Innocence trial.
Here are my impressions ~30 hours in:
The post Stormblood patches straight up kept me from quitting this game and the beginning of Shadowbringers was the most invested I've been with this story. Emet-Selch's introduction was perfect. The Chrystarium felt like the best hub instantly and I really liked the setup of your companions predicament.
However, things started to sour a bit when I came to the realization, after fighting the first lightwarden, that I would repeat the task of: going to a zone, gain the trust of the inhabitants of the ~2 settlements (by doing pedestrian filler quests) so they can help me reach the lightwarden and then fight the lightwarden... 4 more times. The stories told about the minor NPCs in each zone were almost all uninteresting so it just felt like inane filler. The only thing keeping me interested were the tiny scraps of the actual story they would feed to me after each lightwarden fight.
It just frustrates me that I have to play a boring 3 hours so that they can show me the ACTUAL well executed part of the story. Like Emet-Selch is already extremely interesting but over 30 hours played and I've heard this guy talk for about 30 minutes in total. The only times I stop the auto-advance were to actually hang on the words Emet says. I can feel so much potential and I know he will only get better. On the other hand, The Crystal Exarch hardly becomes a character with any personality until right before the Vauthry fight. This will probably change as I progress further but I just don't really see any point in his secrecy act other than to delight the player with a surprise, but it was obvious who he was like 30 minutes before the expansion even started... I really like most of the characters but I just can’t get myself to care that deeply about Ryne, Ardbert, Exarch, Alphinaud. Which is weird because I gel’d with Graha in crystal tower (writing this right after his reveal, I will probably end up warming up to him), and Alphinaud during Heavensward. Honestly, Alisiae has much wider tonal range then Alphinaud, who only really ends up being good boy or mad that someone else isn't being good boy, in stormblood and beyond.
One last thing, some of the music is the best in the entire game (which is a pretty high bar) BUT then some of the music gets so repetitive that its grating. E.g. Kholusia part 2, ardbert music, that one choral part of shadowbringers in all its different variations.
I really hope the end part of 5.0 and post patches really changes things because so far I'm just a little disappointed. I just can't love the aspect of doing inane shit for 4 hours then being extremely engaged with the game for 20 minutes when the actual good shit happens. It's alike to FF16 in the aspect of feeling like I'm waiting in a long line for a rollercoaster ride.
6.5/10
Update (writing this after completing the post-patches):
I was right, it did get a lot better. From the beginning of Amaurot to 5.3, other than 5.1, was awesome. A lot of it had to do with the ascians finally becoming your focus and not the lightwardens.
(Negatives, rants, thoughts. Skip to positives next paragraph)
I still strongly dislike the lightwardens story arcs other than Vauthry, who I thought was okay but not worth everything else that came with him (Ranjiit was boring). They all felt like same-flavored primals from ARR. Although everything clicked back for me during the end of 5.0-5.3, I'm starting to come to the conclusion this game isn't for me. I'm hitting the breaking point when it comes to the vertiginous pacing, and the nature of it being an MMO. The pacing, which I had already ragged on in the 1st part of this review, has almost felt like a cheap way of making you love the huge moments more. The MMO-ness of the game has also gotten on my nerves. The 20 minute queues for the trials, the limited technical/visual presentation in most cutscenes, the way you get a random 8 man party to fight some trials even though, canonically, the WoL is fighting by himself (other than the two best trial fights with the lightbeams). You know that one scene at the end of 5.3 where all the characters were just chilling a couple days after they came back from the first? That shit made me sad because 1. Your group is finally just chilling 2. G'raha 3. The animations, expressions, personality of the characters were crazy enhanced. You only get a handful of moments, per expansion, like that. I understand it's impossible to do that but it made me sad regardless.
On to the positives: Crystal Exarch finally became a real character after his reveal and, for me, probably the most standout next to Emet. Both were easily the most endearing in all expansions. I could probably write 1000 words on each without thinking. I do wish Crystal Exarch was more like G'raha before it was revealed but whatever. All the scions either became a real character (Urianger wasn't one other than that one patch in heavensward), or were just more, but better. And the music got better. Neath Dark Waters, Eldibus fight music, La Hee, Ahm Araeng, and that one sad ass song that plays when Exarch is being nostalgic. All those definitely getting added to a playlist.
I know it looks like I have more negative to say than positive but I promise it's only because I find it easier to write my criticisms than my praises.
8/10
Here are my impressions ~30 hours in:
The post Stormblood patches straight up kept me from quitting this game and the beginning of Shadowbringers was the most invested I've been with this story. Emet-Selch's introduction was perfect. The Chrystarium felt like the best hub instantly and I really liked the setup of your companions predicament.
However, things started to sour a bit when I came to the realization, after fighting the first lightwarden, that I would repeat the task of: going to a zone, gain the trust of the inhabitants of the ~2 settlements (by doing pedestrian filler quests) so they can help me reach the lightwarden and then fight the lightwarden... 4 more times. The stories told about the minor NPCs in each zone were almost all uninteresting so it just felt like inane filler. The only thing keeping me interested were the tiny scraps of the actual story they would feed to me after each lightwarden fight.
It just frustrates me that I have to play a boring 3 hours so that they can show me the ACTUAL well executed part of the story. Like Emet-Selch is already extremely interesting but over 30 hours played and I've heard this guy talk for about 30 minutes in total. The only times I stop the auto-advance were to actually hang on the words Emet says. I can feel so much potential and I know he will only get better. On the other hand, The Crystal Exarch hardly becomes a character with any personality until right before the Vauthry fight. This will probably change as I progress further but I just don't really see any point in his secrecy act other than to delight the player with a surprise, but it was obvious who he was like 30 minutes before the expansion even started... I really like most of the characters but I just can’t get myself to care that deeply about Ryne, Ardbert, Exarch, Alphinaud. Which is weird because I gel’d with Graha in crystal tower (writing this right after his reveal, I will probably end up warming up to him), and Alphinaud during Heavensward. Honestly, Alisiae has much wider tonal range then Alphinaud, who only really ends up being good boy or mad that someone else isn't being good boy, in stormblood and beyond.
One last thing, some of the music is the best in the entire game (which is a pretty high bar) BUT then some of the music gets so repetitive that its grating. E.g. Kholusia part 2, ardbert music, that one choral part of shadowbringers in all its different variations.
I really hope the end part of 5.0 and post patches really changes things because so far I'm just a little disappointed. I just can't love the aspect of doing inane shit for 4 hours then being extremely engaged with the game for 20 minutes when the actual good shit happens. It's alike to FF16 in the aspect of feeling like I'm waiting in a long line for a rollercoaster ride.
6.5/10
Update (writing this after completing the post-patches):
I was right, it did get a lot better. From the beginning of Amaurot to 5.3, other than 5.1, was awesome. A lot of it had to do with the ascians finally becoming your focus and not the lightwardens.
(Negatives, rants, thoughts. Skip to positives next paragraph)
I still strongly dislike the lightwardens story arcs other than Vauthry, who I thought was okay but not worth everything else that came with him (Ranjiit was boring). They all felt like same-flavored primals from ARR. Although everything clicked back for me during the end of 5.0-5.3, I'm starting to come to the conclusion this game isn't for me. I'm hitting the breaking point when it comes to the vertiginous pacing, and the nature of it being an MMO. The pacing, which I had already ragged on in the 1st part of this review, has almost felt like a cheap way of making you love the huge moments more. The MMO-ness of the game has also gotten on my nerves. The 20 minute queues for the trials, the limited technical/visual presentation in most cutscenes, the way you get a random 8 man party to fight some trials even though, canonically, the WoL is fighting by himself (other than the two best trial fights with the lightbeams). You know that one scene at the end of 5.3 where all the characters were just chilling a couple days after they came back from the first? That shit made me sad because 1. Your group is finally just chilling 2. G'raha 3. The animations, expressions, personality of the characters were crazy enhanced. You only get a handful of moments, per expansion, like that. I understand it's impossible to do that but it made me sad regardless.
On to the positives: Crystal Exarch finally became a real character after his reveal and, for me, probably the most standout next to Emet. Both were easily the most endearing in all expansions. I could probably write 1000 words on each without thinking. I do wish Crystal Exarch was more like G'raha before it was revealed but whatever. All the scions either became a real character (Urianger wasn't one other than that one patch in heavensward), or were just more, but better. And the music got better. Neath Dark Waters, Eldibus fight music, La Hee, Ahm Araeng, and that one sad ass song that plays when Exarch is being nostalgic. All those definitely getting added to a playlist.
I know it looks like I have more negative to say than positive but I promise it's only because I find it easier to write my criticisms than my praises.
8/10