Probably the most gorgeous game I’ve ever played. Some of those cutscenes look straight out of a movie. The music is beautiful, and the story is great. XVI’s iteration of Cid might be my favorite of the whole series. I really dug the mature vibe - it never felt forced or inappropriate. Torgal is the goodest boy. The boss fights are amazing and epic.

However, the gameplay becomes borderline tedious by the end of the game. The side quests are among the worst I’ve ever seen. The battle system, while extremely fun at first, became so repetitive by the end of the game that I could close my eyes for half of the battles and win no problem. Half of the Eikons were useless to me, so many of the same skills I was using at the beginning of the game were still being used at the end. Except for a few optional bosses and one or two story bosses, I thought the game was too easy. While I did do all optional content (so I did become a bit overpowered), I played on action mode with no timely accessories ever equipped. I can’t imagine how easy the game must be on story mode.

Anyway, aside from the side quests, most of the gripes I have with the game are relatively minor. The biggest issue with the game I have is that it just doesn’t feel like a Final Fantasy. It’s a pretty good game overall, but a bad Final Fantasy. I could go over why that is in great detail, but anyone who has played it themselves probably doesn’t need me to do that. Give me a DLC that adds a better magic system, some cactuars and tonberries, and maybe an airship, and we’ll talk. Throw in Leviathan as a playable Eikon while you’re at it.

7.5 - I liked Final Fantasy XV better. See ya!