This game is not like other FF games. For the first few hours I was sort of interested in story/characters and then quickly lost all interest. On top of that the music is awful. The item upgrade system is terrible. The reason to play this game is the combat. It may be the most well thought out turn based RPG combat I have ever experienced.

Some of the later boss missions make you really think and try different strategies. For most FF games you can just mash the Fight button and heal sometimes to win all battles. In this game the boss battles require timing and planned out strategies. You will have to time on-the-fly class changes among other things. One of the key features is the doom counters. Adding these meant the developers were forced to create battles that would not take too long. My only issue is that some of the fights have a slow doom counter, meaning the fight still take too long for my liking. I don't want to be in a fight for 40 minutes. They should have maxed fights to 15 - 20 minutes. Once I figure out a working strategy for a boss I shouldn't have to repeat it 30 times over. Overall it feels great to figure out how to win in a fight that at first feels impossible.

It was a hard decision for me to recommend the game because it has so little to offer. But what it does offer is amazing. The real game starts at Chapter 11 (20 - 30 hours in).

This game is not like other FF games. For the first few hours I was sort of interested in story/characters and then quickly lost all interest. On top of that the music is awful. The item upgrade system is terrible. The reason to play this game is the combat. It may be the most well thought out turn based RPG combat I have ever experienced. Some of the later boss missions make you really think and try different strategies. For most FF games you can just mash the Fight button and heal sometimes to win all battles. In this game the boss battles require timing and planned out strategies. You will have to time on-the-fly class changes among other things. One of the key features is the doom counters. Adding these meant the developers were forced to create battles that would not take too long. My only issue is that some of the fights have a slow doom counter, meaning the fight still take too long for my liking. I don't want to be in a fight for 40 minutes. They should have maxed fights to 15 - 20 minutes. Once I figure out a working strategy for a boss I shouldn't have to repeat it 30 times over. Overall it feels great to figure out how to win in a fight that at first feels impossible. It was a hard decision for me to recommend the game because it has so little to offer. But what it does offer is amazing. The real game starts at Chapter 11 (20 - 30 hours in).