3.7.2017

With its cute art style, bright vibrant colours and accessible story, you'd be forgiven for thinking World Of Final Fantasy is a game for kids. Despite its joke-filled script and cliched plot about saving the world, the game play and battle system are surprisingly deep and robust. The welcome return of a turn based battle system requires some tactical planning to maximise its efficiency and although it becomes a lot easier to plow your way through the game with the same monsters toward the end of the game, this is vintage Final Fantasy and an ode to fans of the series.The story follows two teens, Reynn and Lann, as they're whisked away from their home into the land of Grymoire to save the world.As the fabled jiants of the land, a prophecy foretells that the two characters will end the darkness of the Bahamutian Army that's sweeping across the land. While the enemy forces grow in power, you take control of the two teens simultaneously, switching on the fly, while you scour the land for creatures called mirages to add to your roster and help destroy the darkness. It feels like a generic final fantasy story but the added layer of collecting mirages is great fun and coupled with the deep battle system, keeps the game fresh.The game feels like fan service on every level, mashing up some of the best elements from different Final Fantasy games into one. Everything from the level design, to the shattering of the screen for the battle starting is deliberately placed to hit those nostalgic buttons. With cameo appearances from most of the series' iconic characters and the ability to use those as summons, you can't help but smile as familiar faces like Yuna or Cloud help the heroes out. With 21 chapters, the game can be completed with the help of these heroes in around 25 hours or so but to see everything, including the side quests, collecting all the mirages and the mini games, you're easily looking at around 50 hours + playtime.The real meat of the game is with the battle system and its here that World Of Final Fantasy makes a solid case for a deeper, tactical turn based system returning to the series. The level of detail with it is meticulous, right down to the individual mirages and their unique skills. The way battles work seems complicated to begin with but after a little bit of playing, its a simple system to grasp. Much like Pokemon, there's a team of 6 monsters that can sit on the fringes of your team whilst the main party are "stacked". In the game, creatures come in 3 formats, S, M and L to correspond to their size. You choose a monster from each size to stack on top of one another to form the team to fight in battles. Reynn and Lann are compulsory additions though and can be changed to either their smaller "M" size or kept as their "L" size but real thought needs to be given in how to stack the monsters to maximise the two character's full potential. Whereas in games like Pokemon you train them up to evolve, the mirages can do the same but can significantly affect the stats of the party and more importantly, their size. My behemoth could have evolved into a behemonster with signifcantly inflated stats but I held off due to it being the strongest monster for my party.During my time with the game I changed my stack a number of times before falling on a perfect party to suit my play style. This constant tweaking and swapping monsters in and out is made all the better by multiple layers on top of that with the ability to level up each mirage with experience points in battle and in turn upgrade their stats and abilities to further bulk the party out.World Of Final Fantasy is a lighthearted entry in the series and its humour, whilst fused with some eye rolling jokes and cringey physical humour, definitely grows on you as the story progresses. Of course if hearing the chibi style humour poke fun at the Final Fantasy universe and the characters themselves doesn't sound like much fun, you're probably better off missing this one. Whilst this game isn't necessarily for kids per se, its dark tone is undermined by the levels of humour evident throughout the game. Wisely, the developers have included a fast forward button that skips all the voice acting to allow you to read through the subtitles rather than watch the action unfold in cut scenes and this welcome addition to the game spills over to the battle system that also has a fast forward and an "auto-action" button that, when pressed, just repeats the last action you did in that battle or defaults to attacking if you've only just started the fight. Whilst I rarely used the latter, I can see how it would be useful when grinding out the levels late on.On top of the story and deep battle system, the game boasts "intervention" questions which work as sort of side-story driven missions that almost always end in a fight of some description. There's also a coliseum where you can test out your stack against loads of different teams of monsters and very late on, the ability to play minigames too. There's a lot to do here and aside some of the connecting dungeons in the game feeling unnecessarily dragged out at times, it never feels like its padding the game out and brings a much needed distraction from the main plotline.Overall, World Of Final Fantasy is the answer to turn-based battle fans that aren't enthused with the new real-time battle system the series has opted for. The battle system is deep and with the ability to collect mirages and train them up with a pokemon-inspired system, there's plenty of reasons to like this game. It won't be for everyone of course and its cutesy art style might turn some people away but on the whole, World Of Final Fantasy is a solid entry and one that deserves to be checked out if you're a fan of RPGs.

11.11.2016

The perfect balance between nostalgia and freshness.World of Final Fantasy (WoFF) is a glorious journey of light-hearted humour with surprisingly accurate in-date puns clearly designed to appeal to a younger audience. ("Did i just get owned?") However, whether intentional or not, WoFF is best suited for veteran players who have been there for all, or most, of Final Fantasy's journey. Everything from the battle system, to the cameos - most of which act as summons, to the classic beasts/fiends with hilarious descriptions, tugs on the heartstrings of those that have watched this series evolve throughout the ages.It is more than a Final Fantasy meets Pokemon clone,but the inspiration drawn from other "Monster collecting" titles is present throughout.Firstly, the game establishes that this is a story-based, full-fledged Jrpg that you're about to invest 50+ hours of your life into. The cutscenes are long, but beautifully animated. The characters do much more than stand around, shaking their heads and waving their hands, which is a go-to for cutscene heavy jrpgs. The camera and actions made during each scene sets a tone, and shows expression. They move, they gesture, they blink and sometimes, they break the fourth wall. All of this works, and makes it known that WoFF wasn't lazily slapped together for a quick cash in.Secondly, catching monsters isn't as simple as lowering their hp and throwing a "Prism." Instead, you have to create a Prismunity, and each monster has its own specifications. Sometimes it will be just to lower their HP, sometimes it'll be to heal them, sometimes it'll be as complicated as dishing out X amount of damage with a water attack, or landing a critical hit, or getting rid of every other monster first. This keeps WoFF fresh, and gives grinding/re-visiting areas a bigger purpose than a lot of Jrpgs.If I had to pick a fault with WoFF, i'd say its biggest lay within it's two protagonists themselves as neither seem to show much development (Note: I'm only 20 hours in) The male (Lann) is the butt of most jokes, often resulting in Reynn (his twin sister) scolding him for his stupidity. Sometimes, this'll happen not only in a cutscene, but then during a in-field conversation, then at the end of the dungeon in another cutscene. Okay, we get it, he's not too bright. I put this down to the games "intended" younger audience.However, all in all, the characters are at least tolerable and beautifully voice acted. (You can also use the original Japanese dub if you pre-ordered or get your hands on a day one edition) It's also worth mentioning that cameos such as Yuna and Lightning have their original voice actors too, giving you that extra jolt of nostalgia.WoFF has earned its place alongside the main titles and shouldn't be considered a throwaway spin-off, only intended to be played by kids or casual gamers. It is the perfect gift to long-time FF fans, and will be enjoyed mostly by those who know the cameo-characters backstories. (Although, new players who aren't looking to play an FF game, but like monster collecting, will still find some great gameplay here)The only reason not to buy this is if you're looking for something exactly like Pokemon, with little-to-no story. This isn't the kind of game where you should be skipping the ten minute cutscene just to get back to catching things. (However, there is a fast forward button that allows you to do this in R1, which also works to speed up battles too)

10.11.2016

I have clocked over 40 hours in playing this game and I am a little beyond halfway through the game; namely chapter 15 and I feel I have seen enough of the game already to form a view about it but will update this review later if necessary.Imagine if final fantasy and pokemon had a baby, it would be this game, albeit with a gimmick (more on that later).This game feasts on nostalgia in both characters and gameplay. You will see plenty of previous returning final fantasy characters (loveable and not so much) and the gameplay is old-school turn-based with the gimmick of stacking.Speaking of stacking, you can have two stacks of characters at a time and they have the advantage of being stronger than individual monsters,but they have less turns. Additionally, new spells and abilities are formed when having monsters of similar ilk. For example, I had Shiva and a small ice monster once and one of the stack's spells was Thundaja (yes not thundaga, which is weaker). Monsters came in all shapes and sizes, and each size can occupy a certain placement in the stack (obviously big monsters are at the bottom and the small ones are at the top). Enemies can topple your stack and you can do the same; there are certain abilities which are more effective for doing that. On the flip side, visually, stacks may look like a good concept initially, but if you get past this, you're in for a game with infinite possibilities and very deep mechanics.Another aspect which may put off some people is the chibi (small) art style. While the cute-looking characters may appeal to many people, this art direction is obviously not for everybody. However, the main two characters can assume a normal form (called giant form) in which they look like they come from kingdom hearts game. Speaking of art style, the graphics are really beautiful for an anime game and I have just read in gematsu that Ps4 Pro will support this game! I don't know how, but this got me excited.As for monster catching, you can catch (imprism is the technical term in this game) almost any monster but conditions very for catchable monsters; for some you need to use a certain spell on them or to inflict a certain status ailment and you need to be very patient if you wanna catch (imprism?) 'em all. The cool thing is that this game borrows the sphere grid from final fantasy X where you can advance the growth and teach new abilities and spells to your monsters and you can even evolve many of them as in Pokemon. So, if you are a completionist, you will probably be stuck in this game more than you would be willing to be.The story so far has not been epic and the characters' interactions and dialogue range from the funny to the cringy, but the voice acting is superb as far as I am concerned and so is the game's music.Overall, if you are a final fantasy fan and love or are not averse to old school games, or extremely cute chibi versions of final fantasy, you will probably like or even love this game as I did!Update 1: I recently finished the game (the true ending) in just under 100 hours and I was pleasantly surprised by the ending, which made me a bit emotional. Also, the game doesn't seem to have a shortage of extra post-game content as there are extra dungeons and mirages to explore and trophies to unlock!

28.10.2016

I got this today and love the new stacking system, just a whole lot of fun capturing monsters or 'mirages' and having them balance on your head in battle, wobbling around! Very nice colourful areas although they are very small, well detailed with typical Final Fantasy flourish. Music as always is top notch and the plot is completely bonkers and loveable as only the Japanese can do :-) Game is 10GB installed with v1.01 patch and single save is 3.15MB, has option of Cross Save.I won't talk about the story as not to spoil its enjoyment, character dialogue is witty and self deprecating which endears me to them. The combat is where this game shines,I remember the fun of Dragon Quest's on the Nintendo DS capturing monsters and adding them to your party, this game has that and then introduces 'stacking' where the monsters are 1 of 3 categories, S, M or L for small, medium and large. As usual your party starts off weak and get stronger through stacking and learning abilities.I find having the brother and sister, Lann and Reynn, in Jiant mode, where they are normal size, the best early on. This is because you get the M size monsters, Floating Eye and Copper Gnome, in the Nether Nebula dungeon. This allows you a 3 stack, 'Bigstack' which gives a good advantage in battle. Capturing monsters in the right prism can be a pain as they all have different criteria to be captured. So the Floating Eye needs to be the last one standing, Copper Gnome physical damage to low HP, etc.I think Mandragora will transfig to Marlboro as there's Bad Breath which inflicts all sorts of ailments on a mob. Beating Ifrit I get 'Fritt' which has 3 transforms (!) Last one has Firaga and Crimson Cyclone, even better than Hellfire :-) Counter as well. This game is something else.Actually in the 1st hour the game tempts you with a murk rift which contains of all enemies, Behemoth! He annihilates my party and after being resurrected you go back to near him and see he's at lv 24! Interesting as he is an L so once you capture him (2nd time around and good luck!) you can put your party into Lilikin mode and ride around on The Mighty Behemoth. Even an M monster like Copper Chrome has 3 states to transform into, the last has mouth watering abilities like Grand Sword, Mighty Guard and Invincible. So the amount of monsters, transformations, elemental affinity stacking and so on are mind blowing.Also have nice puzzles to açcess new areas in dungeons where they use the weight and elemental attributes of your monster pack, together with stacking again. I hope this game has larger areas to explore the more I get into it, side quests are nicely done and I did the 'Best Helm in the Realm' quest, in inventory they are in Adventure Log - Miniventures. Has the potential to be an excellent game, hope its a long one, loving it so far.I like the way the game opens up as I play it, getting Champions is ace and from the pre-order you get Sephiroth. Finally captured that pesky Babyhemoth and he's worth it for the Counter passive ability. Brilliant game.

2.11.2016

This game is exactly how I hoped it would be, a turn based combat game 'Pokemon' style with final fantasy characters throughout. I really like the Transfiguration (evolvement) of your captured 'Mirages' as this adds an element of depth to the creatures you capture that fight with you in battle, each creature also has an in depth skill tree. There are no skill trees for the main protagonists who are always in your battle party, instead they have unlockable skill slots where you can allocate bespoke skills to to give your team 'Permanent' swappable skills that dont rely on having the 'correct' Mirage in the party.There are one or two frustrations like the inability to skip certain parts of the game (the intro music for instance with the credits)

25.11.2016

A more involved game than you may think, boasting a full story line and side quests as well as the advertised main feature of catching and growing mirages. Plus regular tie-ins with many popular previous Final Fantasy characters from the series, presented in a way that set this aside from any other stories and events, but is still enjoyable as most FF games are separate from the others anyway.The battle system is turn based, it can be speeded up by auto assigning commands, but if you are anything like me you will much prefer the nostalgic commands screen, most fondly remembered from FF VII and VIII. There are a wealth of side quests to complete, not just the traditional go and fetch this item'

30.10.2016

The game looks like a mix of Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and Pokemon so if you like any of those games (or all of them, like me), you should feel at home playing World of Final Fantasy.The first thing you notice is how cute everything looks. Your characters have got an option to choose between big form (reminds me of Kingdom Hearts characters) or a small chibi one. Most of monsters and NPC appears in their chibi forms which for some may be cuteness overkill but I guess you can check the style by playing a demo and decide whether it's for you.The combat is turn-based and seems a bit slow at the beginning until you discover R1 button to speed everything up.

7.12.2016

If you are big final fantasy fans, into the chibi art style and like Pokemon style games, then you will enjoy this.The game is based around a twin brother and sister who have been living in a reality that isn't at all what it seems. You walk around areas and dungeons collecting mirages in mirage cubes (think Pokemon and poke balls) which you can then level and use to fight along side you. All mirages are sized by small, medium and large and you stack them up with yourself to give you new abilities and stronger attacks. Fights are turn based, and can feel a little slow sometimes, but you can speed it up by pressing the right trigger if you wish.The grid system used to give your mirages new abilities is simple to use and its pretty much pick up and play for all ages.

7.11.2016

I'm a massive Final Fantasy fan and in recent years the games just haven't been up to par. Ever since the hey-days of Hironubu Sakaguchi, Nobuo Uematsu and Yositaka Amano ending after FFX, the series has lost its direction and focus. Some hits (FF12) and some misses (FF13) and some unknowns ( FF15) mean that me and the series have fallen out of love a little.This game brings back the love.This is best described as a mixture of Kingdom Hearts and Theatrhythm styles, mixed with a dollop of Pokemon style monster catching with classic FF monsters, and a healthy serving of old school sensibilities and fan service.The game play is reminiscent of old style FF's (1-10) and plays a great game with lots of dungeons,

28.11.2016

The initial presentation is a bit cheesy but as you continue to play you'll find it's a solid Final Fantasy game with a great amount of depth for fans of the series (particularly the earlier 16-Bit era & PlayStation era games). As you would expect, it covers a vast amount of Final Fantasy characters, settings and includes some very amusing writing. Traditional favourites appear constantly & even some of the more obscure monsters make an appearance.The battle system is actually one of the best implementations for the ATB despite not actually being a mainline game. Character progression borrows from the Sphere Grid of Final Fantasy X but improves heavily upon it.

20.6.2017

Refreshing to have some proper old Final Fantasy turn-based fun and random encounters. Lots to dig into beyond just levelling and progressing. There's not really much to collecting the pokemon, some require persistence, others a slice of luck, but you don't need them all, just the ones that give you skills or have decent gems in their skill trees. After about 60 hours I'd had my fun, done all the colosseum content but wasn't going to hang around and rinse out every last drop for the platinum trophy, but don't blame anyone who does it's compelling. Haven't enjoyed a FF as much since FFX on ps2.

31.3.2017

Better than FFXV, no doubt about that. Gameplay is great fun, very addictive, like a mix of pokemon and final fantasy, well worth your money. Storyline can be a bit (extremely) cringey at times, if you like kingdom hearts you will love this, if you like final fantasy you will love everything but the ott childish story.I've played FF 1 - 15 (excluding 11, 13 series, 14) and CC, Tactics. So a long time fan here.

11.12.2016

One of the best Final Fantasy games I've ever played - it's very light-hearted, has unique and enjoyable gameplay, and brings me nostalgia from the past 20 years of my life. If you're not a fan of Final Fantasy, you won't gain as much from this. Expect around 60 hours out of this to play to its proper completion, or longer if you're a trophy hunter.

10.11.2016

I tthink this game is great its like a cross between pokemon and final fantasy it is absolutely amazing it got here on time the day it come out and it come in the morning so I got to have a good go on it the price was great too id recommend this to anyone who loves pokemon and final fantasy

30.10.2016

As a Final Fantasy fan for the most of my 24 years of living I am thoroughly enjoying this game! Haven't been this hooked and laughing at a game for a while. I defo recommend to old non judgmental real fans of the series and the new comers :)

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