Let's get to the point: You probably shouldn't buy this game. It's very clear that this was made with the intention of being esports hit (it wasn't) and it's few features rely heavily on participating in online matches (the lobby is full of crickets). Unless you have a couple of FF fanboys willing to couch co-op, you're going to be leading a very lonely existence.... All that out of the way, wizard Kuja :D !!

As a guy who played a concerning amount of PSP Dissidia in my highschool days, I was put-off about NT. I was peeved about 3v3, about the Dynasty Warriors faces, about how story mode would progress.... But one day I sat down to actually learn how to play a few of the characters and it opened up from there. It's a mess, but a bedazzling glorious mess once you learn to identify all the going-ons.

You'll be naruto running up walls, parrying fireballs, slamming ikemen into the ground with your Goblin Punch and getting fried by Ace (he's overpowered, I swear). Sometimes there's so much glitter on the screen I can't tell where I am but I do know that the glowy blue line means a victim is at the other end, waiting for my punishment. Having so many players in one game adds a lot of chaos. You'll be gathering up brave points on one weak subject only to wall-dash into ending the life of some big bad. God forbid somebody summon something, because then you really can't see.

Your AI teammates are admittedly a bit shit, at least until you train them properly (this can be done quickly by maining desired character in tournament mode). You'll gather some goodies to spend in the gatcha, which isn't nearly as awful as you'd think-- You'll eventually collect so many rewards that you'll be swimming in dupe money to spend on whatever you'd like. The story is mostly cutscenes with some specific battles that can be unlocked by playing the game.... Much of the game is locked behind "playing more of the game". It sounds obvious, but it's a tactic lots of pay-to-win types use. Except here, you don't gotta pay nothin'. Unlocking things in this game kinda feels like searching for lost change in an abandoned mall..... On account of how empty it feels without a real playerbase. So it'll most likely just be you, riding the high of your fanboy-isms as you grind until you become a god in a game nobody plays.

Man, I didn't make this game sound very nice at all. I bought it on sale and I played it obsessively and I don't regret that time. Learning the character of Bartz specifically was a joy-- His multi-layered mastery skill coupled with highly adaptable attacks that are all references to the FF5 job system had me nerding out in my seat. The story is a silly "slamming all my action figures together" kind of thing, but hey, seeing Firion going full friend-crush on Edgey Nomura Tidus was something I didn't know I needed. Also, Cecil's sassy walk cycle....Enough of that. I really like Final Fantasy, and with NT, I just had to like it in a different way. It's fun. It's messy. It's great to learn. The only problem is that.... Nobody plays it anymore. RIP NT, you will always be great in my heart.