The Different Times in Valisthea
The story of the game is roughly divided into three parts of Clive’s life, and in the beginning, it jumps around them a bit. These are: Clive’s teens, his 20ties, and finally his 30ties, where most of the game takes place. I can understand that some might find the first two a waste of time, but I quite liked how they put some color into how the world existed before. In addition, I really liked to see the young Clive, Jill, and Joshua. The next part is in his 20s, where you start off in the game and continue after a short interlude in his teens. Without going too far into it, this sets everything up for the biggest part of the game: his 30s.
I’ve been thinking, you want to create a world where our people can die on their own terms…why don’t we create a world where they can LIVE on their own terms, with their own free will the only lord they adhere to?
The Graphic
A few sentences about the graphics of the game: This being a PS5-only game, the graphics could be better, for sure. But that doesn’t mean it’s bad by any stretch; it’s just that they are generally very good PS4 ones, or at least that’s what they feel like most of the time. You have to look a bit more closely to see the PS5 part, like the detail in the fabric that Jill’s wearing or the details in the different swords that Clive carries around (every sword that he finds or can get at the blacksmith is displayed on his character) or in the far distance on the open world maps. I played in the visual mode and never had any noticeable frame drops or problems, except once or twice.
The Music
The in-game music is sooo good; I really loved it! It matched perfectly with most of the encounters and story parts and underscored them to a T. I liked it so much that I grabbed the Limited Edition OST CD Pack from the store! It includes many new pieces, classics from old Final Fantasy titles, as well as classics that are rearranged to fit this new one.
Things I liked
I really enjoyed the character development of everyone over the course of the game. Though they might seem bland at first, they add depth and thought processes over time, and one really feels connected to them while cheering them on. The evolving closeness and friendships between the characters have been pulled off quite well, in my opinion. And can we please talk about how cute they are and how much life they brought to Torgal? That’s one of the best side companions anyone could wish for. Even in the hideout, when you just look around, all the NPCs add depth as they buzz around, getting water, carrying around a sack of earth for the garden, or repairing something that is broken. I really liked, as the game takes place over many years, how some little thing that is done in his 20s sets up something bigger or more deep in his 30s. This also carries over into the side quests as well… Of course, there are the usual “get me 10 sacks of goo and 15 crystals” without much impact but a few gil, but there are also many that have a bigger impact on the environment or the hideout and add things to it. (Especially in the later parts of the game, where every supporting party for the hideout has their own two-part side quests.)
Things I didn’t like
There are, of course, some things that could be handled better or changed entirely. For one, I would have loved to have at least a little more RPG elements in it; only outfitting Clive and never his companions or being able to give them commands (other than Torgal) is kind of boring. Talking about the fighting system, I know it’s an action game, but only mashing one button three times or three times and one other button is some pretty uninspired combo system. There are many action game examples where you could have made a lot more out of that. What I also didn’t like are the expressions and mimic of the characters, which were virtually nonexistent. In my opinion, the facial expressions of the characters don’t really exist, and the most you will get out of this is in a video sequence where someone has tears down their face, either of happiness or sadness. In normal in-game graphics, happy Clive, sad Clive, and smiling Clive mostly look the same.
I’m coming to one of my biggest pain points: running speed! OH MY GOD
Not only don’t you have the ability to run via a button, but as he begins to run after a minute by himself, he only does so when he can. Because, and I don’t know what they thought when Business Unit 3 implemented this, you can’t run everywhere! And even when you run, it’s not like the fast traversal speed you would need in a game this big; that only comes when you do a side quest and get a chocobo. Related thereto, I would’ve loved to have more quick-travel points; they are REALLY far apart, and most side quests put you squarely in the middle of nowhere in between two of them. I bet while I was doing all side quests, 1/3 of the time of those was only comprised of travel from point a to point b, and you don’t even have auto-travel like you did in Final Fantasy XV, so no moving there and slacking off until you get there.
A few words about change in Final Fantasy Games
For those people who say “This isn’t a Final Fantasy game”, you’re either wrong or you only have part of the sentence. Final Fantasy games have ALWAYS evolved and changed; 7 was not the same as 8 and 9 (anyone remember the collectible in-game card game?) and so on. So of course, 16 would not be the same as 15 or other, more RPG-type Final Fantasy games. If you don’t like an action RPG that’s fine, but saying it’s not Final Fantasy is plain wrong.
SUMMARY
All in all, there are some flaws, but in the end, I really enjoyed my time in Valestia and I hope they will come out with a dlc for one or some of the side companions of Clive (maybe Dion?) as there is still so much to tell about them. With the music, the story, and the whole group dynamic being a whole package, I had a lot of fun and got a lot out of this one (my playtime of over 100 hours shows this). But now it’s off to something else while I ponder what snacks Torgal is getting from Clive and why he is always so happy after getting them…
