Recent reviews by Carly 🌼

What Remains of Edith Finch is a short, first-person, narrative-driven adventure game with an atmosphere that blends quiet absurdity with deep melancholy - reminiscent of A Series of Unfortunate Events. It places you behind the eyes of Edith Finch, the last surviving member of the Finches: a large, eccentric, and extraordinarily unlucky family whose members all met fantastical and unfortunate ends.

The gameplay largely resembles a walking simulator. You explore the Finch family home - a towering, unusual, and maybe even intimidating structure - uncovering a series of documents that detail what happened to each family member. It rarely expands beyond this, with only a handful of sections asking you to engage more actively, but it works. Given the game’s brief runtime and its clear focus on experiencing each family member’s story, it doesn’t need to be anything more.

To avoid spoilers, I won’t go into the specifics of each segment. Broadly, discovering a document written by Edie Finch transports you into the perspective of the deceased family member, allowing you to experience their final moments first-hand. Each vignette progresses in slightly different ways and, while the game remains rooted in the walking simulator genre throughout, shifts in art style and presentation ensure it never feels stale.

Given that the story revolves entirely around death, it’s no surprise that grief sits at the heart of the narrative. Despite its short length, the game delivers a powerful message. Much of it is left open to interpretation - fans are still debating the true nature of certain deaths years later - but it effectively captures grief as a lasting, ever-changing human experience. It shows how grief can differ even among those who loved the same person, how it can distort perception, shape memory, and influence life-altering decisions.

Having experienced significant loss this year, the narrative resonated with me on a personal level. I appreciated seeing grief expressed in such distinct ways - how it can drive you to withdraw, as it does with Dawn; reshape your perception of events, as seen through Edie; or instil a quiet dread for the future, as it does for Edith.

The contrast between Edie’s experience of grief and that of her daughter Dawn (Edith’s mother) is particularly compelling. Their differing responses are presented thoughtfully, without attempting to invalidate either perspective. What makes the story so powerful is how deeply human these characters feel. They simply exist, navigating the world in ways that will feel familiar to many - especially those who have struggled with loss themselves.

Although some sections are emotionally difficult to play, I found myself completely absorbed. After finishing the game, I continued to reflect on it, forming my own interpretations of each character’s story and the circumstances surrounding their deaths.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with What Remains of Edith Finch and would recommend it to anyone who values emotional, meaningful storytelling. While its tightly focused narrative means there’s limited replay value beyond revisiting the stories, the strength of the writing, voice acting, and art direction make it more than worth experiencing at least once.

Dispatch is an episodic, telltale-style story game that follows Robert Robertson (Mechaman) as he starts a new role as a Dispatcher at the Superhero Dispatch Network, or SDN for short. After the destruction of his suit, he finds himself guiding a team of former villains, informally labelled the Z-team, as he tries to help them become capable superheroes and deliver strong results for his new employer.

The game is made up of eight hour long episodes and mirrors the style and structure of a traditional telltale title. That feels fitting, given that many former telltale developers worked on it. Across the episodes you mainly watch cutscenes, make narrative choices and complete a selection of QTEs and minigames. Choice options are always clear, as they appear alone on screen when presented.

The main departure from older telltale games is the lack of direct character movement or environmental interaction - this does not feel like a loss. The story is compelling enough that you hardly notice you are not physically moving Robert around the world. The pacing also feels appropriate throughout, with no episode dragging or noticeable rushing of key moments.

One of the game’s strongest elements, and the one I found most memorable, is its character design and voice acting. Aside from Robert, Blazer, Chase and Shroud, the key cast is almost entirely made up of members of the Z-team.

Despite the relatively short runtime of each episode, the game handles its sizeable cast exceptionally well. Every character feels distinct and is given space to stand out.

Although the narrative focuses primarily on Invisigal - initially introduced as the weakest performing member of the Z-team, who rapidly becomes the central character - the others still get their own meaningful moments. There are plenty of funny, touching and genuinely emotional scenes that made me care about the entire ensemble, which is impressive given the limited time available and the size of the cast. My favourite character outside the main group I listed earlier was Malevola, voiced by Alanah Pearce.

The tone sits somewhere between lighthearted comedy and the sort of irreverent humour you might expect from something like The Boys, while still feeling very much its own thing. It does not delve deeply into emotional character exploration, but it never needs to in order to tell the story it sets out to tell. Music supports this tone well, adding energy to comedic sections and heightening feelings in more heartfelt scenes.

The story as a whole is cohesive, with few major surprises but a steady sense that its central beats are earned. Most things feel well placed, with one notable exception near the end. Without revealing spoilers, a particular character makes a consequential decision on Robert’s behalf that is supposedly based on the choices made throughout the game. I struggled to understand why this happened in a way that aligned with the decisions I made in my playthrough. The game does not clearly flag when a choice has had a direct impact, but in most situations the consequences feel obvious enough that explicit indicators are not really needed - so this particular moment was surprising to me.

After discussing it with others and checking forums, it became clear that this moment seemed to hinge largely on whether you pursued romance with a certain character, regardless of how many good or consistent choices you made elsewhere. That meant someone could make almost identical decisions to mine, aside from the romance choice, and still end up with a completely different ending.

For me, this revealed a reliance on romance as a driving force for the main story. It made some of my other choices feel less meaningful and undermined the game’s emphasis on player agency - particularly because of its influences on the ending, which is arguably the most important part. It also made it harder to understand the motivations of the character involved.

It is possible this is the result of minor differences in playthrough or another seemingly unrelated choice having more of an impact than it initially seems - but I would argue that makes little sense given how obvious outcomes of other choices are, and the general lack of consensus amongst players around this particular issue.

Visually, the animation is as strong as you would expect from a visual novel or telltale-style game. The presentation has a comic book television feel, and it never became tedious to watch. Dialogue remains engaging throughout, often funny, heartfelt or emotional, and there are plenty of opportunities to make choices even with the shorter runtime.

The dispatch minigame quickly became a standout feature. It functions like a call centre interface, with events happening across San Francisco that require you to assign the most suitable members of the Z-team. Some tasks are single situations, others form short quest chains, and a few tie into the main narrative.

Each event requires particular skill levels, influencing who you send and how likely you are to succeed. Successful missions grant XP, which lets you upgrade skills of each character to boost future success rates.

There is also a synergy system that activates when certain characters are sent out together, such as Sonar and Malevola. Repeated pairings improve synergy, further increasing team effectiveness. You can also discover unique abilities, like Invisigal gaining a higher chance of success when sent solo, depending on how you handle missions.

The hacking sections that appear occasionally were my least favourite part of the experience. They work fine mechanically, and there are no technical issues, but they felt unnecessary. Only one plot moment genuinely called for their inclusion. Otherwise, the dispatch minigame was already doing plenty to keep missions engaging.

Alongside the gameplay, characters exchange small bits of dialogue and banter during dispatch missions. These moments add charm, tie the minigame more closely to the overall story and help the player connect with the cast. They also aid replayability, as different choices affect who is available and how they interact.

Aside from my confusion surrounding the ending, Dispatch does an excellent job of making choices feel impactful from episode to episode. Decisions can alter who you work with, how challenging minigames become and how characters respond to you. I only wish my ending had reflected this, though opinions on this will of course differ depending on the romantic choices each individual player makes.

It is also worth acknowledging the significant challenges faced during development. Dispatch originally began as a TV show, experienced funding issues that prevented an Xbox release and was shelved multiple times. These setbacks may have contributed to the reliance on certain characters and to the parts of the ending that felt slightly underdeveloped. Its history as a TV show in particular would have set the structure in a way that allowed more time to flesh out some characters over others and could potentially explain how disconnected the ending felt for me in a video game format.

Even with these hurdles, the quality of writing and voice acting shines through, which speaks volumes about the strength of the team behind it. Given Dispatch’s success, I imagine future sequels or spin offs will not face the same constraints.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Dispatch and would love to see these characters return in a sequel or related projects. A standalone campaign built entirely around the dispatch minigame would be a welcome addition in the meantime.

Unfortunately, I think this one just isn't for me. I giggled at a couple things at the start, but then it just felt like all the jokes and dialogue were the same - that, in combination with its gameplay and lack of any sense of what to do (beyond hitting random objects/people) left very little for me to enjoy.

Wanderstop, a cosy game from Ivy Road, may be short, but it leaves a lasting impression.

You step into the shoes of Alta, a once-unbeatable warrior who, for seven years, never lost a fight. But as the game begins, her strength falters – she can barely lift her sword, let alone wield it. In search of answers, Alta wanders into the forest hoping to find a master who can restore her skill. Instead, she stumbles across Boro, the warm and endearing owner of a little teashop called Wanderstop.

The story struck me deeply. Alta’s exhaustion runs so much deeper than fatigue – it weighs on her body, her sword, and her spirit. The narrative explores the tension between constant striving and the need to slow down, even stop, in order to care for yourself. It reminds us that the weight of our own expectations can sometimes cripple us – but that we ultimately have the power to change this. In today’s world, that message feels especially relevant.

Gameplay is simple, familiar to fans of the cosy genre: you forage tea leaves and mushrooms, grow fruit and seeds, decorate, and, of course, brew and drink a lot of tea.

What sets it apart is how tightly the mechanics reinforce the theme – there are no deadlines, no time limits, no pressure. From objectives to achievements, the game encourages taking things at your own pace. That design choice amplifies its central message: rest is not failure.

The tea-brewing device was a delightful surprise, adding a whimsical flair that made me fall in love with the game even faster. I didn’t know I needed it, but it turned out to be one of my favourite touches.

Visually and musically, Wanderstop is equally thoughtful. The artwork’s soft colours and the soundtrack’s gentle pacing create a calm, immersive atmosphere that mirrors Alta’s journey. These details brought me into her experience and underscored the importance of slowing down.

Overall, I adored this game. It resonated with me on a personal level, and I think everyone could use a Boro in their lives – someone to help keep them grounded and remind them that they are enough, just as they are. Ivy Road has crafted something truly special, and I’ll be watching eagerly for whatever they create next.

Beyond: Two Souls is a narrative-driven action-adventure game by Quantic Dream.

You play as Jodie Holmes (Elliott Page), a woman bound since childhood to a mysterious supernatural entity named Aiden. The story follows her across different stages of her life, exploring how this bond has shaped her experiences and identity.

At its heart, the game examines themes of identity, freedom, belonging, and the meaning of life and death. Underpinning much of the narrative - especially as it reaches its conclusion - are grief and loss, and how they ripple through a person’s existence.

Because of her connection to Aiden, Jodie is often treated as an experiment by the CIA and ostracised by those around her. She’s bullied, cast aside, and made to feel “othered.” For most of her life, the world values her only for the supernatural abilities Aiden grants her - the very thing that isolates her.

Growing up this way, missing the usual milestones that help shape who we become - parties, friendships, school - Jodie internalises shame and guilt over her abilities. She often longs to be free of Aiden, blaming him for the life she feels she’s missed. This tension influences not only the story’s events but also the player’s own choices, creating a deeply personal experience.

One of the aspects I loved most was how each group of people Jodie meets along the way teaches her something about what it means to live - and sometimes, depending on your choices, what it means to die. These encounters slowly guide her toward a sense of acceptance, or at least the belief that her powers can be used for good.

I think using Jodie as the lens for these themes works extremely well, and everything ultimately builds toward the final decision of the game. By that point, I wasn’t just thinking about my own values, but also about everything Jodie had endured. I genuinely believe that if my earlier choices had gone differently, my final decision might have been completely different too - something that speaks to the game’s narrative strength.

When it comes to player choice, Beyond: Two Souls shines. The range of decisions is significant, and not all of them are obvious dialogue options - many stem from how you interact with characters or the environment. The consequences felt meaningful, which is crucial for a game of this style, and it pulls that off convincingly. Combined with its sheer number of possible endings, it offers strong replay value.

Beyond its narrative, the game also provides a variety of smaller activities - stealth missions, cooking, and more - that break up the cutscenes. They’re relatively simple, but they help maintain engagement with the story and make you feel more connected to its outcomes.

For a title originally released in 2013, it looks fantastic. The character models are remarkably life like - impressive even by narrative-driven game standards - and, in many ways, feel ahead of their time.

That said, a few things did detract from the overall experience - mainly the controls and some narrative choices.

The controls often felt clunky, made worse by a constantly shifting, sometimes nonsensical camera. At times it was a struggle just to move Jodie in the intended direction. Playing on a Steam Deck brought further challenges: despite being fully verified, the motion controls needed a lot of adjustment, and the default layout was essentially unusable. This often led to missed QTEs that affected outcomes or forced chapter replays.

As for the narrative, the handling of romance subplots in particular felt out of place. Without giving spoilers, many of these relationships lacked proper buildup or emotional grounding, with one in particular feeling almost forced. These moments detracted from the main story’s focus, and I believe the game would have been stronger without them.

Overall, I had a great time with Beyond: Two Souls. It delivers a compelling story, meaningful choices, and a memorable cast of characters. With a more focused narrative - leaving out the underdeveloped romances - and tighter controls, it could have been truly exceptional.

Deliver Us The Moon is a short adventure-puzzle game in which you play as a nameless astronaut sent to the moon to restore power and save Earth from an energy crisis.

The gameplay is straightforward: you explore each location, solving a variety of puzzles to progress while collecting documents, listening to audio logs, and watching holograms. These pieces gradually reveal the narrative and unravel the mystery at the heart of the game.

Without giving away spoilers, I found the story cohesive and its themes of corruption and sacrifice well executed. Despite the game’s brief runtime, it delivered its core messages clearly, and I left with a full understanding of both the plot and its meaning. The ending, while bittersweet, felt emotional, unexpected, and ultimately satisfying.

While not a horror game, it does explore the psychological toll of isolation in space. The environments - eerily quiet and unsettling - heighten this sense of unease, helping the player empathize with the characters’ motivations and actions.

For the most part, it plays like a walking simulator, but it’s broken up with platforming sequences, driving sections, and moments where you use your robotic companion, ASE, to solve puzzles. These additions helped keep the experience engaging and prevented it from feeling monotonous.

I encountered very few technical issues playing on the Steam Deck. Performance hiccups mostly cropped up in the final chapters, with noticeable frame rate drops and stuttering, but these resolved themselves after a few minutes. I never experienced any crashes.

The game is visually stunning, particularly during the “Outward” chapter, where you can traverse the moon’s surface in a vehicle. You can even take short detours - playing with zero gravity for a few minutes if you like - and there are some charming easter eggs for curious players to discover.

My main criticism lies in the puzzle design, which often felt too simplistic. I would have appreciated a greater challenge in certain sections. In some cases, puzzle solutions didn’t feel consistent with the story - for example, finding door codes on notes left behind by characters who were supposedly locked out of the very areas those codes opened.

That said, I enjoyed the few environmental puzzles included in the game, even if they were relatively quick to solve.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Deliver Us The Moon. Despite the occasional technical hiccup and a few overly simple or narratively inconsistent puzzles, it delivers a cohesive, impactful story and a satisfying gameplay experience. I’m looking forward to playing Deliver Us Mars next.

Discounty is a story-driven supermarket management sim developed by Crinkle Cut Games.

You play as...well, "yourself" - moving to the rundown town of Blomkest to open a supermarket. From there, the game has you gradually expanding your store’s stock, making the occasional upgrade, and meeting a colorful cast of townsfolk, each tied in some way to the community’s past.

On a technical level, the game runs flawlessly on Steam Deck. I didn’t run into a single issue.

The management side of Discounty is where it really shines. I loved keeping an eye on stock levels, placing new orders, experimenting with layouts, and ringing up customers. Even with the slightly accelerated clock while the shop is open, time slipped away quickly - especially in the early hours of the game, when you’re managing just a handful of shelves and a checkout system that requires you to input every single price yourself (yes, that includes doing the math).

That said, the management loop loses momentum later on. Even at maximum upgrades, the product selection remains limited. Once you’ve got an upgraded checkout and a staff member handling things, there’s little left that challenges you or keeps the day-to-day gameplay engaging. Despite stocking every item available, I still found my supermarket looking half-empty - and filling it with duplicates felt wrong, so the space stayed bare.

Outside the store, there are other missed opportunities. Your character lives in a cramped caravan for the entire game, and no matter how successful your supermarket becomes, it has no real impact on your living space or on the town itself. The option to decorate the caravan feels odd when there’s barely any room to place things. Meanwhile, Blomkest is littered with closed and dilapidated buildings, which I initially hoped could be restored as part of revitalizing the town - but that never came to pass.

Visually, though, I loved the pixel art. The map is small, but it’s a joy to explore while picking up litter or buying stock directly from local suppliers. This system makes a lot of sense - your supermarket can source fresh fish from a character aptly named “Fisherman,” for example. I found that this enriched the overall experience.

Speaking of characters, the townsfolk themselves are charming and memorable. Each has a backstory, ties to Blomkest’s history, and their own stance on a supermarket moving in. I also appreciated how exploring the town lets you interact with objects that unlock extra dialogue and context. Sometimes these were just a few lines, but more than once they made me laugh out loud.

The story begins strong, building intrigue and suggesting there’s a deeper mystery at play. Unfortunately, that sense of mystery fades in the mid-to-late game. Several plotlines remain unresolved, and the ending feels rushed. The narrative does touch on meaningful themes, such as climate change and ocean pollution - but it struggles to fully deliver on them.

And by this point, the decline in supermarket tasks makes the lack of narrative payoff even more noticeable. It started to feel less like I was running a store and more like I was just going through the motions.

Even so, I don’t regret buying Discounty. I had a great time with it, and I think it has a lot of potential if the developers continue to build on what’s there. With some updates and expansions, I’d happily return to Blomkest for another run.

Dead Take is a short first-person psychological horror from Surgent Studios. You play as Chase Lowry (Neil Newbon), a struggling actor who breaks into a luxury mansion to search for his missing rival and friend, Vinnie (Ben Starr).

The game leans heavily on exploration and its star-studded cast to tell its story, and it works. Beneath the surface, it’s a sharp commentary on Hollywood’s darker side - fame, exploitation, mental health, and the cost of stardom. The deeper you explore the mansion, the more secrets you uncover, and the more Chase’s psyche unravels. Watching his descent into madness is both disturbing and compelling.

One basement sequence in particular stood out for me. While it leaned on familiar horror tropes, the tension was so suffocating that I had to step away before continuing - though I will say that I rarely play horror games, so someone more 'seasoned' will likely have a much easier time.

Performances across the board are excellent, with Neil Newbon, Ben Starr, Jane Perry, Sam Lake, Alanah Pearce, and Matt Mercer all bringing weight to the story. A late-game clip featuring Jane Perry was especially powerful and easily the most memorable moment of the game for me.

Without spoiling too much, Dead Take shines in what it leaves unsaid. The producer - who never directly appears - casts a long shadow, his influence felt through text messages, recordings, and the characters’ fractured relationships. The narrative’s exploration of abuse and control is subtle, thought-provoking, and leaves plenty open to interpretation. I found myself empathizing with both Chase and Vinnie at different points in the story.

Gameplay itself is straightforward, closer to an atmospheric “walking simulator.” You’ll explore rooms, solve puzzles, uncover documents, and piece together film reels to unravel the mystery. The mansion’s design, combined with excellent sound work, creates a constant sense of paranoia - like something is always watching. On Steam Deck, I had no technical issues at all.

That said, the puzzles were overly simple and could have offered more challenge, both for variety and narrative payoff. I also felt the game relied too much on jump scares at certain parts, which rarely landed. The atmosphere alone was more than strong enough to unsettle without them.

Honestly, I hadn’t even heard of Dead Take until the cast was announced - particularly Ben Starr and Neil Newbon - but I’m glad I gave it a chance. Despite some overused jump scares and light puzzle design, it’s a chilling, thought-provoking experience I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys atmospheric horror.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth marks the second entry in a three-part reimagining of the legendary 1997 classic.
Picking up directly where Remake left off, it drops you straight back into the heart of the central storyline.

Performance on the Steam Deck was impressive overall. I did have to make some compromises – every setting was dialed down to low except for characters (high) and textures (medium) – but even so, the game looked stunning and ran smoothly about 95% of the time. Stutters cropped up in towns, cities, or during particularly crowded battles, but they never led to crashes and typically resolved themselves after a minute or so.

One of my biggest complaints with Remake was its sluggish pacing, with little truly substantial happening until the late game. Rebirth fixes that in a big way. The stakes felt consistently high, and there was a stronger focus on fleshing out our characters and their motivations. This momentum was maintained for most of the game, only occasionally interrupted by the sheer number of mini-games and side quests that the game is eager to remind you about – more on that later.

Combat and the skill system remain largely the same as in Remake, with the notable addition of synergy skills and abilities. These were fun to use, though like many mechanics here, they’re not explained particularly well, if at all. I also really appreciated that Rebirth avoids the tired “your characters somehow forgot everything from the first game” trope. Some abilities are available right from the start, though there’s still some re-earning involved – it just isn’t everything.

The scope here is far larger, spanning seven distinct regions, each with unique enemies, environments, and questlines. These open-world areas are packed with collectibles, simulations, and side activities. Some zones – like Corel and Cosmo Canyon – were flatter and easier to traverse, which was refreshing after navigating the overly vertical, maze-like layout of Gongaga. While it’s meant to feel like a dense jungle, finding your way there could be frustrating. Thankfully, this was the only map where navigation felt like a chore. Various traversal options such as a chocobo, an off-road truck, a plane, and a boat gradually become available and make exploring far more convenient, especially once the world opens up around Chapter 12.

The game juggles its large cast remarkably well – no character feels sidelined or overpowered in terms of narrative focus. Each gets meaningful development, supported by excellent voice acting that amplifies already emotional moments. The soundtrack, as expected from Final Fantasy, is superb. Chapters 12–14, in particular, deliver some incredible musical moments, with the final boss theme feeling like a true payoff – though the fight itself does run a bit long.

My biggest gripe is the sheer volume of mini-games and side quests, compounded by several unnecessary difficulty spikes in certain mini-games. This becomes more frustrating when major rewards such as fighting Sephiroth in a 3D brawler, and many of the game’s achievements, are locked behind them.

While I loved the story overall, it leans heavily on players already knowing the original game’s events to fully grasp the meaning of its final sequences. Several major developments are left to interpretation, even though the presentation suggests we’re being given clear answers. Still, this is a relatively minor issue, as the writing is otherwise very strong.

In the end, Rebirth stays true to Remake’s tone – a serious story that still makes space for moments of fun. It improves on all the major issues I had with the first installment, while leaving a few areas that could be refined further. I’m already eager for the third chapter, and I’ll happily spend the wait theorizing about what it will bring – and what it might be called.

Final Fantasy VII Remake is the first of a three-part reimagining of the 1997 classic. It throws you into a world where mercenary Cloud Strife gets caught in a conflict between eco-activist group, Avalanche, and corrupt mega-corp, Shinra. As the story unfolds, it’s clear there’s more to Cloud – and the world around him – than initially meets the eye. His past, his connections, and Shinra’s true role are mysteries the next two games promise to unravel.

I played on Steam Deck with zero issues. It looks gorgeous and runs flawlessly. The character models and environments are stunning, with rich use of color that stands out even in its gritty, dystopian setting. I got some great cutscene and photomode shots, but photomode itself is frustratingly limited. The camera barely moves, which is a shame given how many moments and scenes are screenshot-worthy.

The story is strong, and the writing compelling, but pacing is a major issue. Nothing significant to the main plot happens until Chapter 9 – which just so happens to be the game’s best chapter.
The first eight are largely spent getting to know the characters, but the process drags. Each chapter is bloated with filler: long chase sequences, endless crawl spaces, repetitive cutscenes. Even after Chapter 9, the bloat doesn’t entirely go away – fighting the same three bosses multiple times in a row being a prime example. This pacing problem also bleeds into the final boss encounter. While narratively important, the sudden (and significant) spike in difficulty felt jarring and unnecessary.

Each chapter is set in a semi-open area, and side quests often send you back to the same locations. That said, I found most side quests – especially the minigames like darts and squats – to be entertaining. They kept me engaged enough to push through to the much stronger second half of the game. One gripe: the pull-up challenge. The difficulty jump from intermediate to pro is wild. One slip and you’re behind by 10–15 points in seconds.

Combat is where the game truly shines. It’s fluid and satisfying. I mostly used Action mode but occasionally switched to Classic for a more laid-back feel. Swapping between characters mid-fight and using their unique styles kept things fresh. The Materia and ability systems are intuitive, and fights, especially with big bosses, never felt repetitive thanks to the wide range of strategies and weapon options. I also liked the optional “auto-upgrade” system for weapons, which tailors upgrades based on your preferred playstyle (balanced, offensive, defensive). A smart feature that saves time while still letting you customise.
Once you finish the game, Chapter Select acts as a NG+, making achievement cleanup a breeze.

All in all, this was my first Final Fantasy, and I loved it – flaws and all. The pacing dragged at times, but the characters, world, and combat were enough to keep me hooked. It sets up Rebirth beautifully, which I’m jumping into straight away.