Recent reviews by Aaron

i'm not even done yet, but this is the greatest game i've ever played.

might just be the best incremental game I've ever played, and it's still in early access. replaying it almost feels even more fun than playing and experiencing its varying mechanics for the first time, and you never feel stuck or feel the need to look anything up; it's all there, and even if the size of options is intimidating, it's extremely intuitive and looks pretty.

My hours in this game are a little weird because although it's far beyond any other FF game I own on steam and most other games for that matter, it's solely because I'm a stubborn person who really wants the last achievement to get lv99 in all jobs which is easily the biggest grind in a video game I have ever done (removing all other content I'd say this extra grind alone was at least 150 or so hours).

That aside, this is for me definitely the worst final fantasy game from I to X. Bland characters, boring story beats, uninteresting story, ridiculous grinding no matter how good you are at RPGs and a pretty clunky port of this game to boot. Would never in my life recommend III to anyone looking to get into the series--I'd only recommend it if you've played every FF game that interested you and you just HAD to complete your journey through the games.

V, for example, is much much better in every possible regard and has a similar lighthearted tone to its storyline. Essentially a direct upgrade to this game.

I'm conflicted. A part of me, especially during the end segments of my stygian run, kind of wants to call this game wasted potential; it's beautiful, it's harrowing, and so many elements of the battle system and leveling system are great, fun ideas, but the rest of the time I find this game to be a chore, even when I tried radiant for a bit. The hamlet upgrading system and leveling system is so tedious, especially when coupled with the repeated and often annoying slog to sit through dungeons or repeated boss fights, that the game feels more like a manager simulator. I don't mind that, I'd still probably play the game if it were just that and I sent adventurers in without controlling them, but it's too much for a game when its selling features are its stunning visuals and inventive battle system. They are both appealing to me, but one felt too saturated and didn't belong.

It's the little moments, though, that really keep me going and falling in love with this game. Sure, the intro dungeon was just ok, but I cannot remember playing a game where I wanted to plan things out so hard when I tried my first medium and long dungeon. I'd think about whether I should have just chosen a short dungeon since I started on stygian and wanted to be super careful about heroes and time. I was afraid of the crimson court but mustered up the nerve to play it. Even after countless cleared dungeons that bothered me with its repetitiveness, the DDs offered a fresh new experience. Sometimes frustrating, but still fresh and entertaining. When I got those rare early crits to save my life or against me that made me cry out "NOOOO", I was really into it. The stress system fascinated me until I broke it into another management system that worked really well but ultimately was not fun. The lovecraftian themes were great. The designs were great. I could go on all day!

Ultimately, my verdict is probably somewhere down the middle. I value the difficulty of the game, since I'm a person who loves to maximize challenges and I seek to do the most with the least; because of this, the game is less pure RNG like for some people and only partly RNG to have those moments of sadness and pain or glory when a crit or a speed roll didn't or did go in my favour. This game really suits my taste and playing style/skill with RPGs and it is a huge boon for me, but I could very well understand that it's relatively niche, even with radiant making things a bit easier and quicker for others. The difficulty is also well-implemented, offering time and death deadlines that make you plan more, enemies that do things a bit differently, and a few other things that require a workaround instead of just beating your head with a handicap against you.

If you aren't someone like me, I get the dislike. I'd dislike it too, but style and character is huge for me and this game's got both in spades.

One of my all-time favourite games.