Recent reviews by Salty

Man, I always did a hard pass on this game because I thought the aesthetic and characters looked terrible. Earlier this year, I decided to play through some of the FF games that I never played and this was the first one on the list. Everyone applauds this game as the best FF, and sometimes even the greatest game of all time. And yeah, it actually is that good.

I was really blown away with how well done the story is, how great all of the characters are, and how beautiful the world is in this game. The story is SO good, with probably the best ending in the series. I can't really think of a single thing I didn't like about the game, except maybe the ATB system, but that's just personal preference.

If you're a fan of FF, you quite literally *have* to play this game. If you have never played any FF games, you should still play it because it is definitely one of the best games ever made.

Side note: make sure you install the Moguri Mod for the best experience.

This game is a lot better than people make it out to be. It's definitely different than any other FF game that came before it, but it still retains a lot of the same things that make the series great. If you're on the fence about whether or not to play it, I'll just list a few things that you might want to know before making a decision (spoiler free).

The gameplay is not as braindead as everyone will have you believe. It actually gets pretty interesting by the time you reach the late game chapters... but that's the biggest issue, in my opinion. It takes for too long for the combat system to get to the part where you're having fun and thinking through your decisions, and not just pressing auto battle for every fight. Keep that in mind if you end up buying the game and think the gameplay is too boring. It DOES open up... eventually.

The story is alright. I wouldn't it rank it among the best in the series, but it's not awful or boring. Personally, I didn't spend too much time delving into the lore (there's a glossary you can access that explains the different terms and names you come across in the story), because it just didn't hook me that much, but there is definitely a wider story than the game gives you upfront if you're willing to spend time reading about it. All in all, though, it's pretty much what you would expect out of a Final Fantasy game.

The characters are decent. I think Vanille and Fang were definitely the highlight of the game (runner up Sazh), with the rest being whatever. The character designs and the world setting in general does look very cool. The aesthetic is what made me want to play this game to begin with, so if that's also your thing then you'll probably like it too.

tl;dr - if you really like Final Fantasy games and haven't played this one then I would definitely recommend it, story is alright, visually looks very cool, the gameplay is fun but it won't open up until around Chapter 9 or so. Vanille and Sazh will make you smile irl (:

Also, download the FF13 Fix mod because the game runs like ♥♥♥♥ if you don't.