Quote Originally Posted by Elly View Post
but there is still story in those side-quests, the one with Dave and the Dog Tags is a really good example of one that further develops the boys character...
FFVII had story in the side quests too. The difference is, if you ignore the sidequests you still get a satisfying story.

Also for every "Dave and the Dog Tags" quest there's half a dozen "Fetch me a mushroom" quests, which don't advance plot/characters in any meaningful way. And it's tedious going through them just on the off chance there are a couple of nice ones. It's not like I did absolutely 0 side content, I did experience a reasonable chunk if only to get to the recommended levels for the main missions...

Quote Originally Posted by Fynn
Looking at people's opinions on reddit, I kind of noticed this trend that people who took the time to actually go and explore everything actually have a much greater appreciation of the story because the way the world builds it in subtle ways is really effective. And people who rushed through it are incredibly disappointed for the very same reason


It's also likely that the people who took the time to go and explore every nook and cranny were happy to play a game that forces them to do that. I'm not one of those people. I would like to point out though that FFXII was a game that did exactly the same but also gave you sufficient detail on the linear path to be satisfying. It's not either/or. Plus, what are we defining as 'subtle' ways here? I hope that doesn't count turning on all the radios so that you don't miss really important plot details, 'cause that infuriates me!