So game has been out for 1 month. What are the overall impressions?

[Dat Matt]

Discussion here is pretty slow now the games been out for a while. How are people getting on with the game? Finished it yet, slowly working through?

Answers on a postcard.

[maybee]

Been slowly working on it. I should of completed it ages ago, but the final chapters almost ruined everything for me.



Should get to it soon. Honestly been too busy with RL.

[Skyblade]

Chapter 6 needs some serious revision.

Just started Chapter 7, and immediately went back into full "squee" mode at the very first fight. So much better than Chapter 6.

[Fynn]

I have this nagging question.

(SPOILER)What the hell is up with Airy's sister? It's kind of a deus ex machina, though not entirely unforshadowed. It's just that... Is she a real Cryst-Fairy? We know Airy was lying and that she was created specifically by Ouroboros to upset the balance of the Crystals, so does that mean her sister was created alongside her? But that's not possible, as Mephilia (I think) suggests that there's a celestial within Tiz, something Airy definitely is not, considering her birth. So I guess they can't be sisters in the bilogical sense, how we understand it. Also, Airy said she took the form of a cute fairy to deceive Agnés and her true form is that bug thing, but we see her sister as a fairy. Does that mean Airy based her appearance on her sister, or is her sister in disguise as well?

I mean, the game treats this so casually! "Oh, by the way, this fairy is a good one, not that bitch," but that just raises soooo many questions!

[Pumpkin]

Has it only been a month? I don't feel so bad for not having bought it yet now.

[Skyblade]

I have this nagging question.

(SPOILER)What the hell is up with Airy's sister? It's kind of a deus ex machina, though not entirely unforshadowed. It's just that... Is she a real Cryst-Fairy? We know Airy was lying and that she was created specifically by Ouroboros to upset the balance of the Crystals, so does that mean her sister was created alongside her? But that's not possible, as Mephilia (I think) suggests that there's a celestial within Tiz, something Airy definitely is not, considering her birth. So I guess they can't be sisters in the bilogical sense, how we understand it. Also, Airy said she took the form of a cute fairy to deceive Agnés and her true form is that bug thing, but we see her sister as a fairy. Does that mean Airy based her appearance on her sister, or is her sister in disguise as well?

I mean, the game treats this so casually! "Oh, by the way, this fairy is a good one, not that bitch," but that just raises soooo many questions!

Ahem. Not everyone is finished, and this is not the post-ending discussion thread. Heck, shion hasn't gotten the game yet.

[Fynn]

Sorry

Considering the topic of this thread, I assumed it was meant for people who had finished the game

[Skyblade]

Sorry

Considering the topic of this thread, I assumed it was meant for people who had finished the game

It's a general impressions. What are overall thoughts, versus specific nitpicks (feel free to post a new thread for any of those).

Overall, I adore this game. Music is great, characters are fantastic, world is engaging, and everything is just so much fun (Chapter Seven just gets more fun and more difficult as it goes).

[Fynn]

I know and I agree But this one question is also part of my general impression of the game.

I actually liked chapter 6, if only because of the conjurer sub-quest. I liked all the "what if" scenarios and it really put some of the characters in a different light, which I thought was really fascinating. The story has its flaws, but overall it's pretty superb. I don't get why a lot of people call it generic or nothing new - just because the themes are already familiar to us, does not mean they can't be utilized in a smart new way.

And the music is so awesome it can hardly be contained. That is indisputable.

[Skyblade]

I know and I agree But this one question is also part of my general impression of the game.

I actually liked chapter 6, if only because of the conjurer sub-quest. I liked all the "what if" scenarios and it really put some of the characters in a different light, which I thought was really fascinating. The story has its flaws, but overall it's pretty superb. I don't get why a lot of people call it generic or nothing new - just because the themes are already familiar to us, does not mean they can't be utilized in a smart new way.

And the music is so awesome it can hardly be contained. That is indisputable.

I agree on the conjurer sub-quest. A couple of the other sub-quests also had some real potential, but I feel they didn't fully realize it. (SPOILER)I wanted to confront Khint about his daughter and Profeteur's cheating, for example, but we get no closure on that. Also, given the way they mixed up the boss fights in Chapter 7, setting up the bosses in trios, Chapter 6 would have been a great time to pair them up, to slowly ramp up the difficulty. I also wish that they had cut or changed the crystal bosses . I was so sick of those fights by that point. No story, no substance, not even minor changes to the fight.

If you break things down enough, few stories are new or different. FFVII is forty hours of "chase down the bad guy", with only a few other plot developments. This game's twists are fairly unique, and the character writing and world building are superior to most titles.

[Fynn]

That is just my point. People are mostly unaware of tropes and I've seen a couple of reviews criticising this game for following the "restore the crystals" formula, even though this game deliciously puts that on its head. Really, the writing in this game shines, especially in terms of characters who really all genuinely feel human. Some things seem rushed, in my opinion, but overall you can see a lot of thought was put into those characters so that they seem like real people and you can really feel that the events of the story have a huge emotional effect on them (Agnes tearing up at the end of chapter 5 or 6 (can't remember) was pretty heartbreaking for me). I also like how they paid real close attention to the villains so that they're not one-dimensionally evil. Really, the entirety of the cast is very well-rounded and memorable.

Also, this game gloriously averts what is one of my biggest gripes with most contemporary jRPGs. The way it treats religion. I mean, this is a topic for a whole article, I guess, but finally, somebody actually put thought into how religious systems work and how you don't have to have an organized religion (even if it's corrupt) be wrong and the main villanous force that needs to be vanquished, becasue silly religious people really need to be taught a lesson.

[Elpizo]

I absolutely adore this game. It was a bit slow in the beginning, but as soon as you have the entire party things really kick off. I mean kick off in terms of character interaction. Yes, the job system, music, graphics, battles are all really good, but for me it's the characters that make this game so fantastic. I love seeing my party interact. They're just oozing with personality and charm. And some of the dialogue is so funny I had to remind myself to stay quiet because it was 3:00 in the night and people wouldn't appreciate me roaring with laughter. The interaction between Ringabel and Edea shines, Ringabel himself is always good for a laugh, kind of like a cross between Zidane from FF IX and Balthier from XII. The scene where Agnes tries a bow for the first time had me giggling like a schoolgirl, I loved it, it was so funny! And I really feel the voice acting adds a lot to the personality of these characters, too.

I'm only on chapter two now, but I'm absolutely hooked and I can't wait to see where it goes.