It was the first FF game with random encounters that I got to play. At the first attempt they made me abandon the game but when I returned to it after playing FF7-9 they were no longer a problem.
I enjoyed the new turn-based system but the venerabilities mechanics made it feel almost like Shin Megami Tensei. I’m glad the game finally remembered for me, which attacks I should use on what enemies. And all the movements impacting turn order were an interesting addition to the fights. Most encounters were also quite short which is a good thing too.
I don’t have any strong opinion on the sphere grid system. On the one hand it allows you to almost endlessly customise your characters and on the other it allows you to almost endlessly customise your characters. This is good because if you are patient enough, you can make a warrior out of a mage but at some point characters stop being more powerful in what they are supposed to, but gain powers reserved for other roles. And then there’s Kimahri, who is useless throughout most of the game because he starts without any speciality.
The story was surprisingly coherent for Nojima’s writing and even made sense on the surface level. The characters didn’t though. I found silly most of the moments which were supposed to be profound because most of the dynamics between the characters made no sense to me. Some plot twist like the main villain being the main character’s father are just so dumb cliches which try to be shocking but are not even unexpected and further undermine the efforts made to make the story serious and engaging.
I enjoyed most of the locations in the game as they are usually unique and each of them has something interesting to offer, at least in terms of visuals. I am especially fond on the Thunder Plains and Sand Ocean. Too bad most of them is that they are just straight corridor. Luckly, they still contain some secrets to discover. Finding al-bhed primers throughout the game was a great fun and so was entering the Cactuar Village. I wish there were more places like the optional dungeon in this game. I also miss some real cities with things to do, but lack of them makes sense in the world where the story is set.
Even though I craved for more dungeons in this game I absolutely despised all the trial chambers. They are not riddles, as there is no logic to them. You just have to guess what was the designer thinking and there are no clues for you to do it. I’m glad I played it in the internet era when I just opened a walkthrough on my mobile. They must have been such a pain back when the game was released.
There are also other activities than exploring and fighting in this game, but most of them are not that fun. Blitzbal is just as bad as the card games from FF8-9, plus it’s packed with long animations. There are also many challenges which are so tedious to do that there’s not a slight chance to beat all the dark Aeons for me. Collecting monsters for the arena is boring but that would be something I could do while listening to a good audiobook or a podcast. Jumping over 100 lightnings or chasing butterflies and all of that other nonsense is unacceptable for me.
It’s a good game, though, unless you are going for completing 100% of it. In that case, prepare for suffering.
