Recent reviews by Massl

Warning: This review is bound to be subjective.

Look past the mixed reviews it has gotten - this is a PC port of a PSP game and it shows in the graphics and probably the optimization. Sure it was kind of rushed out, but keep reading.

• Runs stable
  
• Action packed combat system
  
• An entire cast of 14 characters to play
  
• Every character feels very unique, they all have their very own style of play
  
• Great story
  
• An overworld similiar to those of older Final Fantasy titles
  
• Different types of missions that spice the gameplay up a bit
  
• Lots of unlockable lore tidbits in the Crystarium
  
• A pretty fair ranking system for missions
  
• Any Mission can be replayed from the main menu to get a better rank if you wish
  
• Good challenge later into the game

• Bad controls for keyboard and mouse, i would even say unplayable. You NEED a gamepad, and a XBOX 360 one at that, since it doesn't support others. However you can use JoyToKey with other gamepads, ands it works fine, but remember to turn on the NumLock so your camera works with the stick you bind it to. Also turn on all axis in JoyToKey.
  
• Extremely muddy and low-res textures on most characters that aren't your protagonists or someone important to the story
  
• Not too many graphics options
  
• Optimization isn't perfect
  
• The camera can be a little bit obnoxious at times
  
• There are battles that you have to lose, at least in your first playthrough. (But said boss battles have a much higher lvl boss than your level is, so you will most likely notice which ones you are allowed to lose)

I want to note that i am playing this game on a PC with a normal GTX750 (not the titan version) with 6 x 3.5GHz and 8 GB RAM. The game runs smooth and stable without any FPS drops for me - that is if i have anti-aliasing set to [Off]. With AA, my framerate drops down to about 15. I guess this is a issue on my end though, since my specs aren't exactly high-end. You can definately play this game without problems if you can live without AA.

That said, this game is one of my favorite games ever, although it's not a perfect game, and much less a perfect port. For a "HD" re-release, there isn't that much HD at all in this game - the main characters, Class 0, look good, but almost everyone else has low-resolution textures, as do most buildings, cars, NPCs, etc.

But don't turn your head and think this game is bad. If you can look past the bad textures and limited graphics options, and are interested in great stories and big plot twist a la earlier Final Fantasy games, then with this game, you will find a true gem in the Final Fantasy line of games. Even more so if you like fast, action-rich combat involving timed attacks and dodges, mechanics unique to certain characters and like strategy - because there are strategic recapture missions in this game, somewhat like Advance Wars. They are fun, at least for me, and change the pace from a fast action RPG combat to a more strategic RTS approach.

This game also has tons of replay value. Every mission has a "Crimson Codex" mission that you can only enter from the second playthrough onwards. This will unlock you cutscenes and other unlockables in the Rubricum.

Don't turn this game down just because of the mixed reviews - this IS a port of a PSP game, after all, and sorry to say it shows, but that doesn't make this a bad game. You should give it a go if you like games such as Kingdom Hearts or the Tales Of-Series.