World of Final Fantasy PS4 Review

These past few years have been a bit of a strange time for me in my world of gaming. Gone are the old preconceived ideas of what I would like, and I have been opened up to a plethora of different genres not really seen before.

One that I have been scorned for in the past is the Final Fantasy series. I have always been a Playstation owner from the very original so I should have got my hands on at least one, but for one reason or another I never have.

With World of Final Fantasy that has now changed, but in a season filled to the brim with Final Fantasy goodness- a movie, an anime & a new mainline entry! – does World of Final Fantasy deserve its place in such a long running and epic series?

World of Final Fantasy is a cutsie addition to the massive Final Fantasy legacy. It celebrates the series with obvious nods to previous titles and play styles, but also opens the world up to a younger audience.

You’re greeted with a cryptic cut scene to begin. Introducing you to the twins Lann & Reynn, who up until now seem to have been living a normal life in the city working and going about their daily business, but now it is time for them to "wake up."

You wake up and make your way to work but something seems different, the streets are awfully quiet, the only person you come across is a mysterious woman who is somehow in your coffee shop before it is open. In bursts your sister and you are given some surprising news.  See all this time you’ve been asleep from your true selves, you are actually very important figures from the mysterious world of Grymoire. Of course none of this sounds familiar to you, because all your memories have been taken and you need to go to Grymoire to get them back.

Standing in your way are the miniaturised versions of Final Fantasy’s most beloved monsters referred to as Mirages. To defeat these mirages you need to battle them, beating them into submission till you can capture them and use them to help you on your quest. Aiding Lann and Reynn is their ability to switch between their small and large selves which is used in many different ways. Be it in battle or just simply to scare one of the locals to let you through an area.

Monsters are used to aid you in battle and can be levelled up and their abilities tweaked. You can make monster towers by stacking them for a combined attack/defence using your monsters size, element and order effectively to win each battle. With hundreds of Mirages to collect it is easy to get lost in building and perfecting your monster collection.

World of Final Fantasy is definitely one for the fans. It becomes glaringly obvious when you are taken through the tutorial steps. There is a lot to take in. You are given a run down on the battle dynamics. It is turn based with a charge up time between attacks. The shear amount of information that is given to you in a short time had me starting the game again to get another go at it. I’ll be honest, I don’t really know what I am doing, but I am enjoying myself.

The art style reminds me of the original Final Fantasy style. I have even seen Lann be mistaken for Cloud in a few pictures. If you can imagine Final Fantasy done by Studio Gibli, you would be heading in the right direction. The world is a vibrant place and characters are all visually stunning, I found myself lost just watching what was going on around me.

The only real downside is the repetitive nature of what you are doing. There is not nearly enough variation in combat or exploration to carry you through the campaign length, some 60 hours. I have played just over 25 before I put it aside. I am going back, but in a little while.