Recent reviews by Alath

unbiased review, not an avid final fantasy fan




Best cinematic experience in a dark fantasy setting

Highest highs ever witnessed in any videogame ever (big words, but no lies)

Captivating serious story, healthy cast of characters

Deep and satisfying player-expression oriented combat system with lots of abilities and toys to play with, slight emphasis on dodge mechanics

Nice side content in the form of hunts, mini boss fights that reward you with powerful gear crafts,
or chronoliths, which are challenges where you can only use a predetermined loadout, these reward you with unique accessories

Solid ost with some outstanding tracks

There is post-game content if you wanna engage in it, a separate, purely combat game mode for glowing weapon transmogs with unique cosmetic effects, and ng+ to craft best in slot gear

Dlcs are good, very good, one of the 2 has potentially the best fight in the game, the other one is more story focused but unlocks further combat options

Stellar voice acting (english language)



too many side quests get in the way of story pacing, although they are entirely skippable, some of them provide further world-building and more insight on important characters, or reward you with major things like a mount, weapon and gear recipes, and consumable upgrades, ultimately there is no definite way to tell which side quest is gonna have a good interesting story so you'll have to see for yourself


2 abilities per eikon on a 3 eikon limit is questionable, but i guess the main character would be far too overpowered with more tools at his disposal

the game is NOT an rpg, it's a story driven hack&slash(&cast) action game



some boss fights are more cinematic than challenging, you can still effectively fully utilize your chosen loadout and interact with core game mechanics on every single fight the game has to offer, but dont expect to be heavily challenged, this doesnt imply that the fights are braindead easy, but it's not a souls game, they have adequate difficulty

despite being a final fantasy game, the game has its own distinct identity and artstyle,
reject classic eastern/anime, embrace the rawness of it all



MUST play for people that enjoy fantasy/dark fantasy settings, and/or meaty action games (and power trips)


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If you think the game is mid, please unequip the timely accessories

i don't understand

If you are wanting to do a COOP run expecting an epic adventure where each player of the 4 feels unique and have their own progression as a character differing from the other 3, possibly diverging in opinions creating extra story paths, and for the game's reactivity to be consistent and take all of that in consideration, forget about it, thats not how the game works, im sorry

I dont reccommend doing a multiplayer run on your first playthrough, expecially if 2+ players, unless you want combat mayhem and story to be largely inconsistent with how your party gets treated and who is considered "the main character" because yes, even if you play coop, one of you has to be the main character, and that ♥♥♥♥ kinda sucks

Another warning for those who want to co-op, do NOT pick an origin character unless you and your buddies know the game from the inside out and know exactly what you are doing

But if your idea of a coop run is to simply go in, kill ♥♥♥♥ and ♥♥♥♥ around, that is 100% okay, but expect a lot of missed quests, and dont expect a good rewarding story

Ignoring this, the single player experience is pretty amazing, all companions have good backstories with twists (i managed to progress all of their stories while the majority of them were sitting at camp, so thats an option) , the combat is good and inherits all of the good 5e mechanics while adapting those that wouldnt fit in a videogame format (this doesnt mean that you will like the combat if you dont like turn based RPGs), the OST had some amazing surprises (house of hope is a 18+ disney movie, probably the best segment in the whole game)

The story? Hard to tell, my experience was very positive as i have played solo, took my time with everything, and vibed with the game, but im pretty sure some folks that are playing in MP will kinda just have the plot slip past them resulting in some unsatisfying ♥♥♥♥, and thats 100% fine, but not much to say about story in that regard

With that said, i think it's possible for a group of 4 people to go through the game blindly and still enjoy the story and get satisfying moments, just not very likely to happen, CEO of larian already explained this better than i can

Graphics 8/10
Sound design & music 9.5/10
Combat and mechanics 8.5/10
Story, 9/10 if you are solo, ?/10 if you are not

Game is not perfect, some companions who were developed in the final stages of the game are lacking in comparison to others, if that issue was fixed, the story would be a 10/10

This is a must play for everyone that has an even remote interest in RPGs.