World of Final Fantasy
Square Enix
PS4/Vita
The final fantasy series has evolved over the years from arguably the best version of a turn based JRPG to a style in and of itself every time a new game comes out. Along with Crystal Chronicles and a few others, some of the most interesting games in the series have been the ‘While you’re waiting…’ releases that come out in between. Introducing World of Final Fantasy, a game that has nostalgia and innovation dancing in harmony while day dreaming about pokemon.
The essence of WOFF is very similar to most final fantasy games, unfortunately this one has an overwhelming amount of tedium ingrained in it. The story follows two twins with no memory who traverse Grymoire interacting with characters from all the previous Final Fantasy games. It is a beautiful looking game as it’s cute colourful and draws a perfect amount of nostalgic references out’ve the history of the franchise without saturating it in references like a Scary Movie sequel. The problem with this I think though is the game is annoyingly and relentlessly aimed at a younger audience and yet takes most of its interesting story points from referencing games that same audience probably hasn’t heard of let alone completed. Both the-sidekick cartoon character and the over use of the replacement swearword ‘Honk’ is so unpleasant I often found myself pulling off my fingernails to relax.
On the bright side though the “collecting loads’ve monsters and using them to battle for you” method of game play, popularised by the Pokemon franchinse, works really well. I love being able to play as the ‘bad guys’ most of the time and I have, despite never really being sure whether or not I was enjoying the game, have accidentally hammered a solid 40 hours into the game and I have not come close to finishing it yet.
Visually the game is lovely and is definitely a lot easier than most of the FF games while still being challenging. It would be a great gateway drug for younger children or people who are overwhelmed and don’t know where to start with JRPGS. For me the downsides almost outweigh the plus sides, but I don’t feel like I’m the target audience, the storyline so vapid and underwhelming that I started skipping entire hours of cutscenes pretty early on. It’s worth playing while you wait for Final Fantasy XV if you miss the FF world specifically, but Sword Art Online have also just released a new game which is far superior in story and game play.
2 out of 5 Nerds
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
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