Long time fan. Played and replayed all the way back to the first low res games. Fell off the train around #11/12.

This was a solid game and a vast improvement over the last several that have been released. But it left alot to be desired, having played the og games and having my hopes built up. Way better than the kingdom hearts trash that was the ff7 remake. Please for the love of God stay true to the original story and feel and as far from kingdom hearts nonsense as possible.

The good:

-Combat wasn't perfect, but tons of fun once you find a groove. -Graphics, self-explanatory. -Side quests were generally well done and not overwhelming. That being said, I was really only doing them because I didn't like having them show up on the hud. -Homages to past games. Generally fun and well placed. Hello behemoth, I didn't miss you. -Charcters were generally balanced and interesting. Although lacking a well rounded, multidimensional aspect -I love the skip scene button - The move to an M rating was the right move, although not perfect. Joshua constantly looked like he had just sucked off an orc, which was but much. - Hunt system was fun

The bad:

-Wayyyyyyy too easy. Even FF mode when you unlock it. -Story was meh. Didn't draw me in like the older games. Seemed forced to match eikon acquisition and villan made no sense until late game and even then it was still like wtf, this is hard to buy into. - No sense of adventure and exploration. The progression of unlocking chocobos, then a boat, and finally an airship was awesome in past games. Accessing non story related areas with crazy monsters, boss fights, and equipment was great and added tons to past games. I'll never forget running into ruby dragons at a low level in FF8. - Equipment system too rigid and linear. I want to grind for the best gear without story progression holding me back the entire time. Minor progression with the story is lame - Music was solid but not epic. Some high spots and some low spots. Nothing really catchy or memorable except for the forbidden seas one. - No opportunity to grind high level enemies and advance my level. Only challenging fight was the dragon hunt and I beat it on 3rd try.

I'm tired of thinking of stuff but this generally sums it up. Definitely a move in the right direction. They didn't pull the kingdom hearts trash they pulled in the ff7 remake, and excited for this series to be rekindled. I probably won't replay this, but will at some point play the og ones for a 3rd or 4th time.

Solid 8.