Recent reviews by RuCookie

Game is easy enough to pick up and has a high ceiling for skill expression despite how simple it seems. Worst of all, it reminds me I have a distinct skill issue.

While the game is fairly pretty, it's also fairly boring. It's the same open world gacha slop you're used to, just the rmt is for cosmetics instead of heroes.

This is 8/10 for me, Game is fun, and the story is solid enough that for this to be my favorite Final Fantasy since 9. I will confess that while writing this I haven't played through the finale and am still working through the second DLC, having done more or less all the side content along the way.

The bad;
Exploration, side quests, and crafting are pretty poorly implemented. A lot of the extra content in the game feels unrewarding when you get another fifty bloody pelts to had to the collection of 1000-3000. The fact that recipes don't appear in the shop until you progress in the game with few from side quests, and that you'll have way more of most materials than you ever need leave much to be desired.

Lack of character customization, I can get over playing a character with a specific identity or appearance, but unlike the games predecessors this one is lacking option diversity in what kind of a hero they are and what tools they use. I think there was one single time the game offered me a choice (outside of choosing weather or not to do a sidequest). And Clive is always just a hand and half sword man that can use magic. I think action games are cool, but this game doesn't have the tools to allow players to play like a more magic oriented character without dramatically reducing the gameplay.

I experienced occasional lapses in performance, it was never really bad and didn't have a large impact, but it definitely cuts into the experience.

The questionable;
DLC raising the level cap has no impact on the player experience. I don't understand why it's here as leveling up only grants a nominal boost to stats with no other perks.

No surprises, I had 11/12 correct predictions for what was gonna happen in the story, and while foreshadowing is usually a good story telling tool, it was overdone in my opinion, particularly without any actual twists.

A pointless romance, it's not cringe but highlighting an npc having a gay lover who literally only appears to show he has a gay lover, and slap him in the in game archives. If you want to put representation in games that's fine, but in this instance a little less would have been more, alternatively more would also been more if the relationship, or the other partner was ever relevant. (I could just be taking mental damage from Lunafreya flashbacks, and this might be worth ignoring.)

I understand making sure players who skip past side content and focus on the story still have the tools they need to have an enjoyable experience, but giving the player a weapon that trumps what they got for doing quests and hunts feels pretty bad, and there's little reason for it as the game has a built in arcade to let players authentically experience both the dungeon/combat stages and major bosses.

The Good;
The game is pretty, and the world has a pretty consistent art style and theme, even more so in combat.

The combat feels very smooth, and slowly introduces more tools for players to pick from that suits their play style, even tough some of them do similar things, each one has a place. The cinematic parts of combat are overly simple, but they're also really cool. I unironically believe this game overall experience is playing the main character in an anime.

True to it's roots; Every Final Fantasy game does something new, or something different that none of those who came before it had helping to keep it fresh despite the fact that a lot of elements are familiar. Anyone whose been an FF enjoyer will see a lot of the staples from the series.

Things aren't pretty, but the game is good fast paced action. Really enjoy the high end auric missions, and I feel like the most recent update put the game in it's best state yet by giving a measure of organized power progression.

I've enjoyed this game quite a bit in the time that I've played it, and held off on a review for a little longer than I normally do thanks to some drama surrounding the game. Given that I believe the development team has a bright (if not terrifying) future ahead for the game. And now that Sony has announced that they will no longer be forcing Divers to make a PSN account to enjoy the game, I look forward to spreading liberty and managed democracy alongside them.

I'mma keep this really brief, the game is a lot of fun most of the time. I think it's an acceptable throw away of ~50-100hrs running around doing all the side stuff. Mind you as I've written this I've completed the main campaign, but none of the expansions, and I don't know what quality they contain. That said this is by far the worst Final Fantasy game I've ever played (mind you I haven't played any offshoots or phone games or Dissidia). It feel more like 5 other games slapped together rather than it's own game.

Mild spoilers ahead: The story is nonsense and a lot of the cast is paper thin. (Lunafreya) could literally only have one line dialogue for the entire game and her character would be unchanged.) There's a lot of chaff tossed in the game that doesn't make it more enjoyable and it just wastes time. (Unrewarding and clunky gathering, and literally everything having a level tied to it.) There are things that I think the developers realized sucked dealing with all the time and added in 'features' that lets you just completely ignore these inconveniences, most of which are unlocked through quests. (Like being able to drive at night without having to fight, or infinite fuel). Magic in this game is incredibly unfriendly to the user, no mp cost but it has a CD, is a limited resource, and can be replenished in a limited supply by gathering, also only Noctis and his family is capable of extracting magic so no enemies ever utilize it. You should not have to unlock the ability to directly control your teammates, nor should they have their own separate chapters added in after, and not integrated directly into the game, particularly when the player is expected to perform with these characters during the finale. There is a huge unnecessary time skip that barely had any content on the other side. A minor gripe, the achievements called it an open world but it is definitely a sandbox, and there are even places in the sandbox that are unreachable (Unless you count forcing your car to fly over them). To say what they did right, the game is pretty. The summons in the game are some of the coolest they have been in a while (Although I dislike the Bahamut design, and non-flare based attack).

It's just got a really good story, and great challenges for those willing to take them.