I've recently finished my playthrough of World of Final Fantasy and after going on an JRPG stint with FFXV, Tales of Zesteria and I Am Setsuna I have to say I enjoyed this game the most when thinking about it.
The game had everything I look for in a Final Fantasy- fun characters who don't mind having fun but at the same time can offer serious thoughts when they need to. Lann and Reynn never became annoying, not even Tama got anywhere close. In fact they all complimented each other rather well. Most of the games dumb jokes landed for me and brought along a nice feeling of jollyness as I was travelling around the world. This applies especially for the Intervention quests which are so ridiculous they measure up the some of the weird side activities you do in the PS1 FF games.
Having said that both Lann and Reynn got their character moments and character development pretty nicely done (though in the former case it did come a bit too late in the game).
While there wasn't a real world map (something that I don't care for too much), I felt it was a great sense of exploration going from area to another and discovering the world of Grymoire. There was enough different environments and cities and dungeons that I never felt I was bored. In a way the game reminded me a lot of FFX and what it did well with regards exploration.
Combat was interesting, if a bit too easy. It is quite easy to steamroll through the game using one or two stacks that you made at the beginning of the game, especially since thanks to the Colliseum you can capture a lot of powerful mirages quite early.
The story overall was also very good. For Chiba's first story and direction credit, he did very well. It starts off a bit rough with a lot of lore being dumped at you in the first twenty minutes but after that the game eases you in quite nicely. The twist with the Dyad being Lann and Ryenn was excellent, I felt, and really did a lot for the character development of the twins. The fake ending as well, full on embraced the video game nature of the game which was a nice touch. The way the villains are presented too, felt like a very good mix between the hamminess of Kingdom Hearts and the seriousness of the judges from FFXII. Honestly the story made much more sense and was much more involving that any of the above three JRPGS I mentioned before. Probably the first time an FF game had a good, coherent story that was told well since FFX.
I know the game didn't sell well but honestly wish we could get a sequel. There are some obvious sequel hooks in it, hinting at a saga similar to Kingdom Hearts if the sales were there. Unfortunately, I think Square released it at a very bad time. It came a month before FFXV so no one was really paying attention. A much better thing for the game, since it is a celebration of FF characters, would be have this be a big anniversery game to get people hyped for. But that's Square's management for you...
Lastly, i think after this game I'd love to see more of the behind the scenes people at Square taking a crack at Final Fantasy. I wouldn't mind Chiba writing or direction a new Final Fantasy.
The game had everything I look for in a Final Fantasy- fun characters who don't mind having fun but at the same time can offer serious thoughts when they need to. Lann and Reynn never became annoying, not even Tama got anywhere close. In fact they all complimented each other rather well. Most of the games dumb jokes landed for me and brought along a nice feeling of jollyness as I was travelling around the world. This applies especially for the Intervention quests which are so ridiculous they measure up the some of the weird side activities you do in the PS1 FF games.
Having said that both Lann and Reynn got their character moments and character development pretty nicely done (though in the former case it did come a bit too late in the game).
While there wasn't a real world map (something that I don't care for too much), I felt it was a great sense of exploration going from area to another and discovering the world of Grymoire. There was enough different environments and cities and dungeons that I never felt I was bored. In a way the game reminded me a lot of FFX and what it did well with regards exploration.
Combat was interesting, if a bit too easy. It is quite easy to steamroll through the game using one or two stacks that you made at the beginning of the game, especially since thanks to the Colliseum you can capture a lot of powerful mirages quite early.
The story overall was also very good. For Chiba's first story and direction credit, he did very well. It starts off a bit rough with a lot of lore being dumped at you in the first twenty minutes but after that the game eases you in quite nicely. The twist with the Dyad being Lann and Ryenn was excellent, I felt, and really did a lot for the character development of the twins. The fake ending as well, full on embraced the video game nature of the game which was a nice touch. The way the villains are presented too, felt like a very good mix between the hamminess of Kingdom Hearts and the seriousness of the judges from FFXII. Honestly the story made much more sense and was much more involving that any of the above three JRPGS I mentioned before. Probably the first time an FF game had a good, coherent story that was told well since FFX.
I know the game didn't sell well but honestly wish we could get a sequel. There are some obvious sequel hooks in it, hinting at a saga similar to Kingdom Hearts if the sales were there. Unfortunately, I think Square released it at a very bad time. It came a month before FFXV so no one was really paying attention. A much better thing for the game, since it is a celebration of FF characters, would be have this be a big anniversery game to get people hyped for. But that's Square's management for you...
Lastly, i think after this game I'd love to see more of the behind the scenes people at Square taking a crack at Final Fantasy. I wouldn't mind Chiba writing or direction a new Final Fantasy.
