Spoilers up to the end of 'Buried Memories' chapter/ getting 'Acceptance' achievement

[Loony BoB]

This thread can be used to freely discuss the game up to the point where you receive the 'Acceptance' achievement / end the 'Buried Memories' chapter.

You can feel free to post unmarked spoilers about this portion of the game in this thread.

...So.

Wow, once again a lot has happened since the last thread! I suppose that's to be expected given how far apart the story progression achievements are.

The character I liked most of all in the game, Benedikta, died basically right after I said I hope she joins our team. Go figure. I'm not sure I care that much for the other major characters, sadly, but I am definitely more invested in the story at this point. I do like Gav, and I suppose I like the other characters, but they really do lack in personality.

I understand that the main character has to be some broody dude because, well, he's the main character in a dark RPG, let alone the Fianl Fantasy series. Cid is a bit broody too, though, and so is Jill. I think it's the medieval theme, the 'mature' theme, that is kind of blocking us from getting the more eccentric characters we see in FFs past. Still, it would be nice to get some kind of depth to the characters... like, even with FFXV, we had a character that loved ramen, a character that loved photography, a character that loved cooking. Why can't our characters have things about them other than their dark past? Or at least have a little more variety in personality? Cid deals with his dark past mostly through dark humour, which I can appreciate, and Jill seems to be solemn, which is fine, but it's the lack of other characters in the main party that are hurting the 'fun' part of Final Fantasy games in this iteration.

I'm button mashing 80% of the boss fights, still. I use square and I use R1 sometimes, and that's basically it. Very rarely triangle, I suppose. Perhaps it's my fault for using the auto-dodge and auto-attack items but I don't like having to learn combos, I like having menu options that I can pick from. Sadly it's all combos in this game so button mashing it has to be. The cinematics in the battles are incredible, although I find myself not able to pay full attention to them because I'm bracing myself for when to button mash next. Still, very, very cool.

Generally, I'm still enjoying myself, just not as much, nor in the same way, as in previous Final Fantasy games.

I got a lot of FFXIV vibes from the monsters we've seen since the last achievement - basically they are direct pulls from FFXIV, appearance-wise and to a degree attack/mechanics-wise. This is a good thing in a lot of ways, because it's giving me nostalgia, and I feel like I understand some fights before they even happen.

The mechanics that the enemies use as they fight are cool enough. But they're all so... weak. xD I think they need to make the visible AOE attacks hit a little harder so you're forced to pay more attention (although maybe I'm just saying that because they're so familiar to me from FFXIV that I dodge them well?).

I've not been close to death once, the only times I go below half health are when I'm fighting a boss that has a longer boss fight and then I use a potion or two and bam, back to normal. I've never run out of potions, either. I think this game might actually have been able to make use of a harder difficulty in the first playthrough. And no, I'm not on story mode.

I really hope there's a fishing game in this somewhere because the swamps made me want to go fishing so much. There are areas around the game we can't access yet, and we're still getting new mechanics being introduced late into the game (reminds me of FFXIII in that regard), but they're all battle stuff so far. This game is making me really appreciate the minigame additions FFXV gave us, because there's literally none so far in FFXVI and I'm a little worried it might stay that way. The sidequests add a little lore which is nice, but even they are simply "hit stuff, go back".

I'm not often critical of FF games but I definitely feel like there's a lot more this game could be offering. With FFXIII, there were very few minigames but still more than we have here, and the characters were diverse enough and even capable of having fun sometimes.

The platforming isn't all that amazing, lots of places we look like we could get to but can't (the jump feature is almost never useful, very rarely does running into a small ledge not make you automatically climb it, and very often do you see small ledges that you can't jump over despite your character's jump height clearly being capable of it based on what you see on screen).

The scenery in this game is lovely, though, despite that. The areas you visit are beautifully crafted and the foliage is abundant where it needs to be, in what I feel are realistic ways.

The music is beautiful, too. The highlight of the boss battles for me.

Super minor pet peeve (pun intended) is that Torga sometimes barks as we're running around and I have no idea why, and I always stop to see if there was something that triggered it. Am I being oblivious to something? I dunno. I feel like a dog shouldn't bark in a game without reason.

So, tl;dr, my review to this point:

Characters: 5/10 - They're good, on their own, but they are all very similar and lack diversity. We've only really have 3 players in our party that actually talk thus far, and while they can have charm, they're all broody in the end. I need a bit more eccentricity.
Battles: 5/10 - Too easy. The AOE attacks should hit harder so we have to be more aware of things, and perhaps after a certain point the auto-dodge and auto-combo items are too gamebreaking.
Plot: 7/10 - Will have to see where it goes, but so far, so good.
Lore: 9/10 - Love it. I love going to Tomes to catch up on it, too.
Scenery: 9/10 - Beautiful.
Music: 9/10 - Beautiful and epic at the right times.
Minigames: 0/10 - Non-existent.

[Psychotic]

I guess I can already revisit my prediction from the first thread, huh.

Also, is... is Gav in love with me?

[Loony BoB]

I remember the second that scene happened I thought "Well, all ships are going to sail so, so hard for this duo now." xD I've yet to fully ship Clive with anyone but I so, so, so very much wanted Cid and Benedikta to get back together. Having a sassy bish like her in the party would have given me exactly what I need when it comes to dynamics, the way she talks to all of the other party members would have been awesome.

I'll forever ponder what might have been!

[Del Murder]

This section was a bit more of a lull for me. Even when it picked up at the end of the section, it got to a place I knew it was going anyway. Clive was always going to accept who he was and join Cid's cause, because that would be a dumb game otherwise. I appreciate that the story had to address that and get there, and this was the chapter for it.

It was a bit slow in the trek through Rosaria, though I did appreciate the glimpse of what imperial rule has done and how they treat the bearers. World building and helpful for Clive's character journey. Just a bit slow.

Playing with Garuda has been fun, and I am now used to switching Eikons on the fly to use moves in combos. But it is pretty much button mashing. Very few things cannot be dodged. The only time I get hit is when I do not know the attack pattern yet or I was trying to time the dodge for that time slowing bonus. Once you know the attack pattern, every battle is very easy (I guess that is true for all action games). I at least like the powerful music of the boss fights and their attacks look really cool (for me to dodge). My biggest gripe is that the regular enemies mostly don't attack. There are some stronger ones (that have the stagger meter) that at least do some attacks but all the regular ones are just fodder. I wish there was some more to do in the battles.

I like the story. I like that it feels like a world lived in with real countries at conflict. The use of a world map helps a lot. At the end of this section, I got very invested with this being Clive's journey. I want to see him to the end of it. I also like Cid and Gav. Jill is bland. The other characters have promise but I haven't seen as much of them yet. Poor Benedikda, she had promise. Obviously, Torgal is awesome, but he took a back seat in this section. I need more clutch Torgal in boss fight cinematics!

I've not been close to death once, the only times I go below half health are when I'm fighting a boss that has a longer boss fight and then I use a potion or two and bam, back to normal. I've never run out of potions, either. I think this game might actually have been able to make use of a harder difficulty in the first playthrough. And no, I'm not on story mode.

You're not on story mode, but you are using auto-dodge and auto-combo accessories? That could be the reason it was so easy for you. I also think the battles are easy and I haven't used those items. I can't imagine how simple it would be with those!

[Loony BoB]

Yeah. I did spent a chapter or two at some point with them off, but the only thing it changed in my actual experience is I spent more time looking at icons at the bottom right of my screen (because of auto-combo) and less time enjoying the cinematic experience that some fights have to offer. I was already still trying to do perfect dodges even with autododge on, so it was more of a backup than a primary.

In retrospect, I think the main reason I left them on, aside from what I mentioned above, is that all the other options felt extremely uninspired. I was always waiting for something that felt like it would be really interesting and I never really hit that point. 95% of the accessories are just "make it happen 5% more often" and in an action game that just never catches my interest.

[Del Murder]

Well that is disappointing to learn that the accessories never go far beyond 'add x% to this ability'. I do wish there was more variety in how to win. The magic with triangle seems like an afterthought and not something intended as a key tool in your belt. Also there is no magic stat? There is at least a stagger stat, but so far, all weapons just add the same amount to both. Each new weapon is also universally better than the one before it and is easily affordable, even to +2 it, making the upgrading very straightforward.