@frenden: I have a bunch of quests yet to do and fairies to find, so that's my priority, but finding those cats is pretty addictive too. Forgot to mention that this is the first fishing minigame I've liked since Dark Cloud 2. It's real easy to figure out.
I'm real moony over this game. I love the compass (it's so amazingly easy to see even with my vision and should be a gold standard for devs looking to create more visual accessibility in their games), I love the chill nature, I love the aesthetic, I love exploring.
As others have mentioned, it's a little light on the main quest side of things, but I've put five or so hours into it and I think it's well worth the price. It could definitely do with more fast travel spots, though.
I always took the first part of the lake scne, pre-CGI video, to be more literal, with the CGI stuff to be metaphorical. That said, the difference among the before, during, and after is remarkably jarring and took me out of the moment. I don't think making love is as much of a storytelling necessity to JRPG romances as it would be in Western storytelling, so I don't necessarily buy the idea that the CG video is metaphorically them making love, but I do think it's a stand-in for the idea that it's the moment they actually realize they love each other. That's a no-brainer, but anything beyond that is a bit of a stretch.
The religious aspect, like a lot of Final Fantasy VII-X's problems, is a glimpse into better ideas than we actually get. The undead clergy is a fascinating idea if the idea was played up that they were trying to save the world by keeping things the same, but the game focuses on teh wrong elements - Seymour's general creepiness, for example. In a medium where the writers could maintain a better focus, I think it'd make for a neat idea. As it is, it creates a few cool scenes and some remarkably tragic character moments, more than what most games in the genre can claim.
While I don't think I'd necessarily watch something like Dota, I do miss the general idea of Daily DOTA and would watch it with occasional rotating games. This was kind of a fun reminder of those things.
I wish this game had a single ounce of heart. Just something tangible I could love about it. But nothing about it stands out. The combat's boring. The characters are boring. The story is garbage. The world's completely forgettable. The leveling system is a huge letdown after the genius of X.
sparky_buzzsaw's comments