Final Fantasy Resonance Review Roundtable | Between Levels Podcast: The Bonus Level

WheelieAverage: Hello everyone, welcome back to Between Levels. This is not a main episode as you're seeing because me, Wheelie Average, is here on my own, sort of, no cowboy or Sarth today, but we have Dom from Dom's Roundtable at the top, who has been here before, and we're joined by Dan Reb, who I will allow to introduce yourself. Dan, tell the people who you are and then say why you're here.

Danreb Victorio: Yeah, how's everybody doing? my name is Dan Rev Victorio. for those of you that don't know me, my main job in the gaming industry is as the community manager for gamers outreach. They're a nonprofit organization that brings video games to kids in hospitals. right now we're hard at work with our spectacular stream a thon, which is our charity stream for the fall. So yeah, we're working on that. the main way people here might know me is through my website, smashpad dot com, which I've run for over twenty years now. So yeah, looking forward to talking games with you.

WheelieAverage: So Dan Reb is a lot older than than he looks because he's been in the industry twenty years. My God

Doms Roundtable: I would have guessed you were younger than me. So I would have I'm thirty four, so

Danreb Victorio: I'm I'm thirty seven, so yeah.

WheelieAverage: And I am 33, only last w last week, literally a week ago. Thank you.

Danreb Victorio: There you go.

Doms Roundtable: Yes, happy birthday for last week.

Danreb Victorio: Happy birthday, yeah.

WheelieAverage: but yeah, we are here because we are all playing in some capacity or have played Final Fantasy Resonance. So this is kind of like a special review round table. Don't know exactly what we're gonna call it yet. I might even call this episode the bonus level. You know, we're between levels, maybe this is like the bonus level. Dan Reb, I know you haven't finished it yet, but how far are you into the game right now?

Danreb Victorio: I'm in the middle of chapter six. Mm-hmm.

WheelieAverage: Okay. Okay.

Doms Roundtable: So you have the airship.

Danreb Victorio: Yes.

Doms Roundtable: Dies.

WheelieAverage: So we won't spoil anything that you haven't played yet. so just

Doms Roundtable: Yeah.

Danreb Victorio: Appreciate that.

WheelieAverage: keep that in mind, Dom, because I know you've played the most of this out of all three of us. I think I saw

Doms Roundtable: Mm-hmm.

WheelieAverage: that you've played like 70 hours in

Doms Roundtable: I've I've got the hundred percent now. Yeah, yeah. I love

Danreb Victorio: Wow. nice. All right.

WheelieAverage: That's crazy. And then

Doms Roundtable: it.

WheelieAverage: and then I have played around sort of 40 hours now. I finished the main story at like 36 hours, but I'm still playing it because yeah, I'll I'll start, but I really love this game. Like I think it's a brilliant, brilliant game. To the point that and I and I say it in my review, which you'll you can read at the same time as this. I'm reviewing this one for Anime News Network. But this game manages to make me nostalgic for Final Fantasy games that I've never played. You know? And if and if it can achieve that, then it's clearly doing something right. And it's crazy to think that for people who don't know, this is effectively a remake of a mobile game, right? Like it's it's crazy. But how do you guys feel? Dan Reb, since you're new here, we're gonna go with you first, based on what you've played so far. How do you feel about Final Fantasy Resonance?

Danreb Victorio: Yeah, I have been utterly impressed. and like I started this game semi late because I was playing so much of control resident, which I

Doms Roundtable: Mm-hmm.

Danreb Victorio: kinda don't like. It was just so it was such a slog, and I feel like, you know, a lot of people call JRPGs like slog games, but this one t to me like went to bat really, really early. I love the protagonist in Rain. He's a very interesting character. He's not he's not always a go getter, he has a little bit of selfishness to him that I actually really appreciate. And yeah, like you're talking about you know, being nostalgic for Final Fantasy games, including ones you probably d did not play. I know it it also did that for me. Like we'll we'll talk about visions in a little bit, but when I came across, you know, characters from Final Fantasy the the online games and I'm like, Alright, cool, like you you have some cool abilities here. I don't know who you are and what you do, but I'm glad I have a little bit of a background and I will say like, you know, I've always been a little bit disappointed with Final Fantasy games as of late, especially when Square Enix continually releases these awesome H D two D games. everything that they've come out with for the Bravely Default series and and all that, 'cause I feel like those were more Final Fantasy than we've gotten as of late. And I feel like this is a r a return to forum and it's funny that they waited this long to get into the H D two D look, 'cause it's it's

Doms Roundtable: Mm.

Danreb Victorio: it's amazing.

WheelieAverage: Yeah, for sure. I mean, it's funny you said about a return to form there, because obviously we'll talk about it a bit more, but this is not only a return to the 2D art style of the older games, but it's also a return to turn-based combat for for Final Fantasy, right? So it's kind of like I feel like this whole thing is just nostalgia. You know, it's just like, hey, we're gonna make you an old school Final Fantasy, but we're gonna make it Suitable for twenty twenty-six. But Dom, you have played the most here. So tell us, how do you feel about the game?

Doms Roundtable: I will I will get into my spoiler-free review of the late game later on, because I don't want to waffle on about that yet. But just to off the back of what you two have both said, couldn't agree more. So firstly, like you were saying, I had no idea at first that it was actually a remake of Brave Ex Feus. So I made sure I did my research into that as well so that I knew 100% what I was talking about. And yeah, I couldn't believe that these these were all All like pre existing characters with a proper storyline. and they've taken away the mobile elements and made it a proper paid PC game. well, sorry, not just PC game, you what I Like a little yeah, proper. Not not a not a mobile game. And yeah.

WheelieAverage: Yeah. A full a fully fledged game.

Doms Roundtable: And they have done such a fantastic job with it. Really, really have. Like I like Dan Reb was saying, I I I really like Rain's personality. I really like that they've made him more than just Yeah, we can do it, guys. Like he has something more to him. And that is yeah, I love the characters, love the vision system, and it's just really, really nice to see them go back to like Final Fantasy VI was always my favourite and this this this feels so FF six for the modern day. It's fantastic.

WheelieAverage: I I never played it, so a bit of history here. My history with Final Fantasy is actually very new because I and I I think I've said this to you before, Dom, but I used to hate turn-based video games. Like I used to actually actively hate turn-based video games. And then when the Yakuza slash Like a Dragon series went turn-based. That was kind of what converted me. I think they did a very good job of being like a first turn-based game for someone that isn't normally into that genre because they still manage to keep all the things I love about that. But So I started Final Fantasy with Final Fantasy 15. So I played 15, 16, 7 Remake, and 7 Rebirths so far. And I own all of the old ones because I knew I was like. I love this franchise. I love that each game is kind of like its own self c self-contained thing. And I want to play these other ones at some point. I just haven't got round to playing any of them yet. So

Doms Roundtable: Mm-hmm.

WheelieAverage: for me, this is like my first experience of almost that OG style of Final Fantasy game. So

Doms Roundtable: Nice, nice. And what a game to get you into turn based as well. Yakuza Like a Dragon. Absolutely love that series, man. Really cool. but I I do I do think that that turn based lovers are probably still the minority. Like it they are they are more specialized and you really have to be in the mood for them. But when you get the bug and when you start to really appreciate the joy that turn based games can bring you, then like then it's very easy to know a good one. And This Final Fantasy Resonance is an is an amazing turn based game.

WheelieAverage: Yes. Yeah, it really is.

Danreb Victorio: Yeah, like just just talking about not liking turn based. for I d I don't have a preference. I can go either turn based or action style. And like it just really depends on I call it like the viscerality of things. Like with games like this one, Residence, you know, when you get a good hit in and you and you stagger an enemy, it feels good. It feels like you actually hit them, you know? And like that kind of stuff matters. That mattered in your acquaintance like a dragon. I don't know if you ever Played it, but Persona 5, totally turn based, but it doesn't even feel

WheelieAverage: So s

Danreb Victorio: like it just because of, you know.

WheelieAverage: so that was one that I that I just missed out on, but

Danreb Victorio: Mm.

WheelieAverage: I I played Metaphor Refantasio.

Danreb Victorio: Okay.

Doms Roundtable: Metaphor.

WheelieAverage: and I'm gonna be playing like when

Danreb Victorio: That's both.

WheelieAverage: they do like when they do you know Persona 4 again, the the remake that's coming out

Danreb Victorio: Yes.

WheelieAverage: next year. I'm gonna play that because I've heard that that's a brilliant sort of turn based game as well. So what you know. I'm looking forward to getting into the Persona franchise, but we're here to talk about Final Fantasy.

Danreb Victorio: Yeah. I don't want to turn this into I don't want to turn this into get get get get wheelie into every new RPG, but I'm a huge

Doms Roundtable: Ha ha ha.

Danreb Victorio: backer of Falcom and Trails in the Sky. And they just remade the first two games over these past two years, and that game combines both action and turn based in ways that make sense. So

WheelieAverage: Yeah. So I have actually played I've played the first one. I didn't manage to get access to the second one. So

Danreb Victorio: Mm-hmm.

WheelieAverage: but once I'm less busy I'll I'll be picking that up and playing it because I did really like that first one. So

Danreb Victorio: Yeah.

WheelieAverage: yeah. It's it's funny how, you know, things can change over time and and it's it's interesting 'cause that makes me think again when I look at like Final Fantasy Resonance and what sets this game apart at least Based on what I can tell and and my research is like is that vision system, right? So

Doms Roundtable: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

WheelieAverage: let's talk about it. And Dom, I'm gonna pass it to you because you have the most experience with the game. Explain to people what is the vision system and how does it make turn-based combat in a Final Fantasy game different to the other turn-based games from the past.

Doms Roundtable: I would love to. Great question. So there's around twenty-four or twenty-five visions. I forget the s precise number. And there's there's roughly twenty characters spanning the already existing Final Fantasy games. So you've got Terra from six, cloud from seven, squall from eight, and so on, and then a bunch of original characters from this universe as well. And you go to their respective shrines and you rain connects with them and you earn The ability to have them fight alongside your characters. And what makes them so special and so unique is like like Rain could equip Squall, or Lazwell could equip Squall. So every single vision is interchangeable with every single character. There's no restrictions, there's no limitations. And the way that takes the turn-based combat to the next level is the lit-I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say infinite possibilities, the infinite combinations. With all of their abilities. So I I've written down a few notes here. So one example, Squall gives all your characters, eventually when you level him up enough, an a an attack called double action, which literally lets you take two turns. And you can give that to any character, and you can stack that with other double action actions. And I actually managed to get to a point at the end of the game where one of my characters could take 16 turns in one turn. And it's that

WheelieAverage: Yeah.

Doms Roundtable: kind of being able to break the game that sets the turn-based mechanics in resonance apart from other turn-based games.

WheelieAverage: That's crazy. That is like I so I knew about that mechanic, obviously, having having finished the game and having got the majority of of the visions. I know that there's there are some that are more of a post-game thing, which will,

Doms Roundtable: Hm.

WheelieAverage: you know, but it's it's I so I knew about that mechanic, but I didn't even think to myself, yeah, actually if I equip this vision to all of the different characters Because of the way the progression works, as you level up the vision and their bond with a specific character, you can then permanently acquire some of their skills through using AP and you

Doms Roundtable: Yes.

WheelieAverage: no longer need that vision equipped, right? So you can so you can do some really interesting things if you're willing to put the time in and level up these visions. It's it is crazy. But

Danreb Victorio: Yeah, it's essentially a evolution of the job system also from Final Fantasy. And, you know,

Doms Roundtable: Mm-hmm.

Danreb Victorio: just the way that it works just gives you total, you know, customizabil customizability with anybody that you wanna use. You know, he mentioned the the double turn with squall and the other thing is that every character in the game pretty much also has their own role. Like for example, Fina can heal. So you probably don't want to give her a vision that also heals because you'll just be doing, you know, a a a lot of the the

Doms Roundtable: Mm, mm.

Danreb Victorio: same stuff. But at the same time, it's been interesting playing with these a a lot because I'm not traditionally your min-max gamer. I'm not the person that really breaks these kinds of tendencies. But at the same time, all of Squares turn based H T Twe D games do that to an extent. Octopath is actually tumultuous with it, so it's pretty crazy with it.

WheelieAverage: Yeah, for sure. You are you are correct there about Octo Octopath, although I do love those games to be fair. But yeah, I I'm thinking about it now and I'm like, I wanna go back to the game and I wanna put a different vision on my character because I wanna get you know, I want a certain skill, like and you really can. You're basically you're leveling up your character by not even leveling up your character.

Doms Roundtable: Yeah,

WheelieAverage: You know, it's

Doms Roundtable: yeah.

WheelieAverage: it's it's a crazy thing to say, but it's like you could prop you could hit whatever the level cap is in this game with your character, and you could then still be equipp equipping other visions and leveling them up and improving your character through being able to combine new skills through having more AP or or whatever, right? And it's it's it's absolutely insane. Like you said, Dom. There are so many possibilities here with what you can do in terms of builds in this game.

Doms Roundtable: Yeah.

WheelieAverage: And and they give you a little bit of direction. They're kind of like, hey, this vision might be a good match for you. And they let you know that certain visions do match well with with certain characters because of the roles that they play, right?

Doms Roundtable: Hm.

WheelieAverage: But the fact that they give you that free reign of Hey, you can put any of these things on any of these things. Like for the longest time, I've had cloud attached to my laswell, right? And it's like I I don't I don't know why. I just did.

Doms Roundtable: Ha ha ha.

WheelieAverage: And it just works. And it's they I think it's just because between them, they have so many different different elemental attacks they can do that he's just like my elemental machine. Like he just it, you know, it's it's it's crazy. But I want to talk about something with the visions as well, which is obviously the namesake attacks, the resonant attacks, right? The resonance attacks, which happen when you basically stun all your enemies in in in one period. You have a sweeping stun stun phase, which gives you a bonus phase. And then at the end of that bonus phase. You always end up with basically a powerful ability, right? And it could be. it will depend on what visions you have equipped, but it could be a healing ability, it could be something to do more damage, or it could be something that gives you different buffs for for a certain amount of turns. And what I really liked about that, it is kind of. It's the one element where I'm like, you can tell this is still a mobile game. But they play like the really high-end. video video

Doms Roundtable: Yeah.

WheelieAverage: sequences for the for the attacks and it's like okay we're in a movie now for the for the next ten seconds but but I liked that because it just kind of it made those characters and those moments feel special. Do you know

Doms Roundtable: Yeah.

WheelieAverage: what I mean? Like the first time you do it with Cloud and it's like and you get to see the video of like the Final Fantasy VII remake Cloud actually doing his attack and then you see the little like 2D HD version doing the same thing straight

Doms Roundtable: Yeah.

WheelieAverage: after it's that's just kind of cool. Like to me. I don't know. Maybe I'm maybe I'm simple and maybe I just enjoy simple things. But to me that was cool. and again I think it's that thing of it all feeds into it feels like this game is basically a celebration of the entire franchise.

Doms Roundtable: Absolutely.

Danreb Victorio: Yeah, it really adds to the charm. I had the pleasure of actually previewing the game during PAX West. and it was like

Doms Roundtable: Nice.

Danreb Victorio: a few days before the demos came out and I was already sold on it. I'm a JRPG guy, I like Final Fantasy, I love HD Two D. And then when I got my hands on the demo, you know, played a little bit of the battles and all of a sudden I used the cloud resonance move, I was like, you you guys are doing this. Okay, like, you know. As as you were explaining, like it's it's it's a simple touch with these with these full motion videos, but at the same time it adds a f it adds a premium feel and makes the game feel more expensive and high end. And not only do you see it with cloud, but you see it with every vision. So if you're playing

Doms Roundtable: Yeah.

WheelieAverage: You do.

Danreb Victorio: like you you use Tara from Final from Final Fantasy Six, like we've never seen her in three D before, so all of a sudden just seeing that happen is awesome and that makes you wanna get everybody right away, and you kind of end up doing that and it's fun. So

WheelieAverage: Yeah, absolutely. The I will say the one small detail of this game that really frustrated me to no end is you go to every single one of these shrines to get these visions and it's the same dialogue. It's like, I knew you

Doms Roundtable: Mm.

WheelieAverage: would you would come here. It's like, yeah, sure.

Danreb Victorio: Yeah.

Doms Roundtable: Yeah.

WheelieAverage: You know, you you told me to come and find these things It's it's just

Danreb Victorio: Yeah. It was only a matter of time before you show up here.

WheelieAverage: And it's it's it's again, it's but it's one of those things where like I got to the point where I was just skipping that dialogue, you know? And I was just like, It doesn't

Doms Roundtable: Mm. Yeah.

WheelieAverage: really matter what I answer to these three questions, you're gonna give me the vision anyway, so let's just hurry up and give me the vision, you know?

Doms Roundtable: Yeah. Yeah. I I I I found for the characters that I am very passionate about, I would sit through the whole thing. I would sit through the whole thing with Cloud and School. But when it got to like I'd like like the Warrior of Light from Final Fantasy One, like, yeah, well, don't do to be no but bad example, 'cause like he's the original, so he's still quite cool.

Danreb Victorio: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Doms Roundtable: But like I never played Eleven. I never played the first Final Fantasy online. So when it got to I think it was Shantoto from Eleven, I was just like, Okay, cool. I don't really know this character that much. I'm just gonna skip through this one.

WheelieAverage: You don't have a connection. Yeah, you don't have a connection.

Doms Roundtable: I don't have the connection, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But the ones where I did, I still sat through and watched all the F Bs and

WheelieAverage: One one thing I will say, yeah and that's what I was gonna say, one thing I do like about that entire way of getting the visions is you get to see these characters in their own games. So if you haven't

Doms Roundtable: Yeah, yeah, that's cool.

WheelieAverage: played these games before, you get to see almost like the history of the franchise. Like it feels almost like the vision part is an encyclopedia of the entire franchise, you know?

Doms Roundtable: like they're taking taking you through a final fantasy museum.

WheelieAverage: Yeah, and it's like there was th this world and this character did this and then and they do, they genuinely give you like a lot of information to the point where, you know, you I think it is possible to get a connection to some of these characters just through listening to that stuff and

Doms Roundtable: Yeah, fair.

WheelieAverage: and and things like that. So, you know, it's like the Warrior of Light. I I was actually using him for quite a while because I was like, he's the he's the OG, why would you not?

Doms Roundtable: He's the original.

Danreb Victorio: A OG.

WheelieAverage: Why would you not, you know? Yeah.

Danreb Victorio: He also has like four different kinds of spells you can use too, so yeah.

Doms Roundtable: Yeah. He is cool. He is cool.

WheelieAverage: So but I obviously one of the things that you guys will have more experience with than me, just because I don't n I haven't played so many Final Fantasy games, is the music. Because music in Final Fantasy is iconic, right? And

Danreb Victorio: Yes.

WheelieAverage: they clearly reuse a lot of music here from from prior titles. and things like that. But how do we how do we feel about that? Was that you know, does that add to the game or would you have preferred more original music here? Is you know, how do you feel about the music use in this game? Anybody?

Doms Roundtable: Dan Red, do you want to take this one first?

Danreb Victorio: Yeah, yeah, I'll I'll go with I mean it it goes back to like, you know, what we were saying earlier. I don't know if you were hinting at it earlier, but when you recruit every vision, they're also playing the background music from that particular game. And,

Doms Roundtable: Mm-hmm.

Danreb Victorio: you know, just to give you give the the listeners and the and the viewers like more of a picture, basically you go into a shrine, the crystal all of a sudden talks to you, and you're taken into this like Star Wars, you know, high hypergalactic scene where everything is coming at you and what's coming at you are actually screenshots and videos of the game that the vision is coming from. So if you're getting the Warrior of Light from Final Fantasy I you're gonna see screenshots and videos of Final Fantasy I and then you're gonna be asked three questions about what that protagonist did and how you relate. Does it matter what what what what you'll say? No. you you're gonna get that vision anyway. But you know just being able to remember everything that happened or learn about it for the first time is valuable. And the music definitely adds to that. I remember, for example, one of my favorites is Final Fantasy Ten. and as soon as you get Tetis, you know, spoilers I guess, it plays Tezanarkind and I'm like, okay, Tasanarkend is one of my favorite songs in all of Final Fantasy, and because of that, you know, Don was talking about earlier, I was paying more attention to what was happening there.

WheelieAverage: Yeah, that makes sense. What about you, Dom?

Doms Roundtable: Yeah, well, just absolutely echo everything that Dan Reb just said. Th there's there's one vision in particular, and I'm gonna be really, really vague, 'cause I don't know if either of you will have seen this vision yet. It's the one vision in the game you actually have to fight to earn.

Danreb Victorio: the w

WheelieAverage: I know

Danreb Victorio: the w the the the the whirlpool.

WheelieAverage: who this is, yes.

Danreb Victorio: Yeah.

Doms Roundtable: Yes, the Whirlpool. And that's the only one where the crystal has different dialogue. And

Danreb Victorio: Yes.

Doms Roundtable: and when she says, like, if you don't beat him, he will return you to the planet. Fucking shivers, chills. I was like, my god, I know what's coming. and then the music starts.

WheelieAverage: Ha ha ha.

Danreb Victorio: Yeah. The music hits. yeah.

Doms Roundtable: I had a complete nerdgasm. It was amazing.

Danreb Victorio: Yeah.

WheelieAverage: Yeah. And and it's they

Danreb Victorio: He could he could

WheelieAverage: made the right decision there of like having this be the only one that's different, you

Doms Roundtable: Yeah.

WheelieAverage: know? It it's like they know, they know what they're doing. They know that people who love this franchise view this character somewhat differently. So yeah.

Doms Roundtable: Yeah, big time.

WheelieAverage: Yeah, absolutely special moment there and

Danreb Victorio: Yeah. I didn't I didn't know so and so would be there. The first thing I did when I got my airship was go straight to that. And then yeah yeah, that person that person whooped my ass, you know. Whoop my ass

Doms Roundtable: Me too. And then you got destroyed. Yes.

WheelieAverage: Nice, nice.

Doms Roundtable: Yeah.

WheelieAverage: How do we feel about the character of Gilgamesh or Gilgamesh?

Danreb Victorio: Ha ha ha.

Doms Roundtable: Kilgamesh.

WheelieAverage: It's like like really like you first encounter this guy w when you're basically going up the tower to get the the Esper to calm the seas

Doms Roundtable: Mm.

WheelieAverage: and you get something out of out of like what you think is a treasure and it's like a really good It's a really good piece of gear. And then he just comes out of nowhere and he's like, I'll have that. Thank you. You know. Like,

Doms Roundtable: See, that is that's that's classic Final Fantasy. Like he that that is his story arc in basically every single game. He comes and he steals the Genji equipment from you. So the fact that they kept him true to his his character arc is amazing.

WheelieAverage: Yeah.

Doms Roundtable: I love that.

Danreb Victorio: Yeah, because he's always been a total doofus

WheelieAverage: Yeah, absolutely.

Danreb Victorio: and y y you said you

Doms Roundtable: Yeah.

Danreb Victorio: played both remake and rebirth, right? Like he's in there. You know what he does there.

Doms Roundtable: Mm-hmm.

WheelieAverage: Yes. Yeah, yeah.

Danreb Victorio: So yeah.

WheelieAverage: Yeah. But that's what I mean. I I do like that he shows up here as well. And like I said, like the more I think about it and the more we speak about it, I genuinely think this game was made just to celebrate the whole franchise. I think they

Doms Roundtable: Absolutely.

WheelieAverage: were like, we can't really d decide what we want to do next. And we think the best way to do a 2D game in the in the modern era is to basically celebrate the entire franchise. So that we can take little bits and pieces of each thing and and throw them in, you know. What I will say though, and we mentioned earlier that it's a remake of a mobile game. But to put in perspective what they've done here, I don't actually think you would know this was ever a mobile game if you played

Doms Roundtable: No, I didn't. I didn't.

WheelieAverage: it. You know? And and that says a lot, because we've had mobile games that have been turned into full-fledged releases on consoles and PC before, but this genuinely is like this is just a brand new Final Fantasy game. Like

Doms Roundtable: Mm-hmm.

WheelieAverage: and it and it has the quality there as well. It doesn't feel like you know, like they've kind of half assed it and been like, hey yeah, we're just gonna strip out the mobile stuff and effectively port this. That's not what they've done. Like

Danreb Victorio: Yeah.

WheelieAverage: w what they've done here is create a really, really good game.

Danreb Victorio: When the game was first unveiled in the West,

WheelieAverage: But I do want

Danreb Victorio: I was actually watching it with one of my friends who did play Exebus. He was like, Hey, wait a minute, that's rain, that they're doing those. And if you guys remember, they actually shut that game down a few months ago. which also

WheelieAverage: They did, yes.

Doms Roundtable: Yeah.

Danreb Victorio: happened with the Octopath Traveler mobile game. And if you guys know, Octopath Traveler Zero was that mobile game as well, turned into a premium game. And after I played that and enjoyed it, I was like, Yeah, this is gonna be a banger too. It has to be.

WheelieAverage: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think the lesson for Square is just don't make mobile games in the first place. And

Danreb Victorio: Ha ha.

Doms Roundtable: Ha ha ha ha.

WheelieAverage: and and and you know, make them as premium games because clearly you know what you're doing. You know?

Doms Roundtable: Mm-hmm.

WheelieAverage: It's just like just just stick with it. You're d like, yeah, I'm I'm blown away by how good this game is. And going into it, I knew it was gonna be good because it was very clear that they're you know I think it's hard to mess up a Final Fantasy game that's going back to 2D and going back to turn based at the same time. They would have had to have really screwed it up for for this to be a a bad thing, you know?

Danreb Victorio: it can happen. Final Fantasy Four, the after years is not a good game, but yeah.

Doms Roundtable: Mm-hmm.

WheelieAverage: Yeah. But but I but what I will say, and I don't know where it will fall right now, but this game is comfortably inside of my top ten for this year. Like

Danreb Victorio: yeah. I agree with it.

Doms Roundtable: I'd agree.

WheelieAverage: and I really didn't think it would be going into the game.

Doms Roundtable: Mm-hmm.

WheelieAverage: I was ki I was kind of like, it'll be fun, but I'm not sure if I'm gonna remember it. But like I said, like I'm playing other stuff right now for for coverage purposes. And all I want to do is go back and play more Final Fantasy Resident, you know? It's sort of like it

Doms Roundtable: I I find myself every evening, like now that I've done basically everything, like like you were saying, like my characters are maxed out, but I still have a bunch of visions to max out. So when I've done with my work for the day and I just want to switch off for a couple of hours, I log into it just to carry on leveling up my visions, just so I can

WheelieAverage: Nice.

Doms Roundtable: unlock even more really cool, really broken combos for like that

WheelieAverage: Yeah.

Doms Roundtable: I can test out against like the super bosses at the end of the game. It's very fun.

WheelieAverage: Nice. Nice.

Danreb Victorio: So basically what you guys are saying is file fancy resonances resonating with you.

Doms Roundtable: Mm.

WheelieAverage: Yeah, it really is. It really is. It really, really is. And I do think and I people people you know there's a bit of a there's a bit of a joke here on the podcast because I will often say this is a must play game, right? But I usually caveat that with like for example, I say that Hellraiser, which I reviewed for Smashpad, I say that that is a must play game. For Hellraiser fans. This Final Fantasy game, in my opinion, is just period a must-play game. Like, it's it's that's how good I think it is. Because the story here is good, the characters are funny and interesting. Like you guys mentioned about Rain, but I actually really like Laswell as well.

Danreb Victorio: yeah, absolutely.

WheelieAverage: and there's that there's that side story you can do where like Laswell you know, caught this fief red-handed basically,

Doms Roundtable: Mm.

WheelieAverage: and and then and then you figure out what's actually going on there. Like there's some really cool side stories here. What what surprised me though and and Dan Reb you kind of alluded to it earlier, is the fact that this is a JRPG and it's a very traditional one, but the pacing is excellent. Like this this game doesn't take Forever. You know, you can finish the main quest in 35 hours. You can effectively do everything in the game within 70 hours. And I feel like a lot of other traditional JRPGs would take 70 hours just to beat them. Do you know what

Doms Roundtable: Mm.

WheelieAverage: I mean? So they've done like it's very well balanced, it's an easy It's a easy game to pick up and play for like an hour and actually feel like you've accomplished something and then I think it does a good job at that. But what I wanted to ask you guys is is there anything about this game you don't like or or that you'd like to see improved? And Dan Reb, we'll go with you first.

Danreb Victorio: Yeah. It's hard to say that I don't like it, but you know, y you you kind of hinted at it earlier. the act the the just just the act of getting every vision and going through that same bit of dialogue over and over and over gets

Doms Roundtable: Mm-hmm.

Danreb Victorio: tedious. Especially like when I'm you know, I'm busy on the main quest. I'm exploring the map and all of a sudden, look, it's a shrine. I wonder who's gonna show up this time or after I go go through all these bullshit of words, but You know, there's that. But also relating to the visions, you get so many so early that you don't know who you want to use. And I'm the kind of person who's gonna be scrolling Netflix or Xbox Game Pass for an hour and not actually do anything because I am just so overwhelmed by the options here. And especially with Final Fantasy, where it's like, Alright, you know, Warrior of Light has all these cool magic attacks. And I love Final Fantasy VI, so Terra is always gonna be on my squad, but at the same time, it doesn't make sense to have her only be on one person. I gotta share the wealth. And it's like you know, trying to find the balance to me is taking more time than it should when I really should just be having fun with it. the the the other thing is that since I'm playing on Switch 2, I'm not pressured to like do every side quest because there's no trophies on the Switch 2, so I'm not really w too worried about hundred percenting everything. But like I also care a lot about these characters. So when I see like, you know, the blue exclamation point signifying a side quest happening somewhere, I'm gonna go do them. And again, like I'm not really annoyed by that, but I feel like some just are the definition of anime filler. And like this th this is where the pacing course sort of gets bogged down a little bit. But I'm I wish it was more spread out where whereas it feels like most of the side quests happen toward toward the back half.

WheelieAverage: Interesting. Interesting. Dom, what about you?

Doms Roundtable: Fair fair. yeah, the one big thing for me is there is, in my opinion, a little bit too much endgame grinding. So it's very, very easy to finish the main story at level 50, maybe level 52. The side content will force you to go all the way up to level 99 if you want to do everything. And there's no easy way to do that. You just have to spend 30 hours. killing the highest level enemies over and over and over again. And ev like in in inherently some level of grinding in JRPGs is expected. And there's there's there's something to love about it in short bursts, but they they ask a lot. They ask a lot of grinding from you if you want to do everything. And it can be a little bit fatiguing towards the end. That's the only thing I'd say really.

WheelieAverage: Yeah, I mean that makes sense. I think the grind in any of these games is always a really delicate balance, right? Like

Doms Roundtable: Mm.

WheelieAverage: I I mentioned like Yakuza Like a Dragon earlier and that first game the second game not so much the second turn based game, but the first game has a point in it where it will force you to grind because it's like there's no way that if you've mainlined this game that you're gonna be the appropriate level to beat this certain boss fight and and so there's always a grindy nature but it is all about to me it's all about the balance and the

Doms Roundtable: Just get in the balance.

WheelieAverage: and and how easy or or hard it is to grind, right? 'Cause I think a lot of one of the things I really like about some JRPGs is they'll have like, hey, here's this battle arena and you can go in the arena and you know that each time you do it you're gonna get a certain amount of XP, you're gonna level up a certain amount of times And it kind of allows you to have that time scale in your head of okay, this is gonna take me 10 hours, you know, this is gonna take me 10 hours of grinding to do this.

Doms Roundtable: Mm-hmm.

WheelieAverage: But when it's structured in the way it's structured here, it's actually quite difficult to tell how long it's gonna take you a lot of the time. Because it's like, you know, depending on certain things that happen in a battle as well. it can impact how much XP you get y and and things like that. So

Doms Roundtable: Because of the bonuses, yeah, yeah. And

WheelieAverage: yeah.

Doms Roundtable: and when you're fighting certain bosses, then bonuses can make a huge difference to how quickly you're you're being you're leveling up. j just yeah, on on the topic of grinding and and experience and and knowing or or not knowing in this case exactly how long certain things are gonna take, there is like I'm I'm literally coming out with a video of like these are the first visions you should focus on and this is why. And there is one vision, she increases your vision's experience gains by fifty percent, which which eliminates a big chunk of the grind. And if you don't know about that, it can feel a bit more tedious than it needs to, because like there there is a mechanic in the game that helps to alleviate that problem, but it's quite hidden if you don't know about it.

Danreb Victorio: That sounds very helpful. I don't

WheelieAverage: Yeah, yeah.

Danreb Victorio: know about it, so Okay.

Doms Roundtable: Victoria. Victoria.

Danreb Victorio: wow, okay. See? Not even a pro not even a pro protagonist,

WheelieAverage: Interesting.

Danreb Victorio: and I I wouldn't have cared. All right.

WheelieAverage: That's so funny, but I love when games have mechanics like that that are sort of hidden away

Doms Roundtable: Mm-hmm.

WheelieAverage: because then when you find them, it's like, I've found something nobody else has found, you know. It's it

Doms Roundtable: Yeah.

WheelieAverage: it's like you it's almost like like you said, you said earlier, Don, but there are so many ways to break this game, right? With the

Doms Roundtable: Yeah.

WheelieAverage: with the builds you can create and things as well. and and like I couldn't believe you said the sixteen turns in one turn, like That's nuts.

Doms Roundtable: So I don't know what what level I can't remember what level Laswell unlocks his ultimate ability, the absolute hailstorm of whatever it's called.

WheelieAverage: Yeah, I can't remember.

Doms Roundtable: but yeah, I I

Danreb Victorio: Like fifty or something, forty.

Doms Roundtable: like with a yeah, that sounds right, yeah. with a combination of squall, Furion and Nicoll, that gave him sixteen uses of that one ability in one turn. And he racked up like over a million damage on this boss. It was crazy. Yet, yet the boss's health went like this. I was like, this is gonna be a long fight.

Danreb Victorio: So demeaning. Yeah.

WheelieAverage: Yeah. I mean there's a few in there, like there's the there's a like I don't remember what they call them, but there's like the gold pot guyers that you can come across.

Doms Roundtable: yes, the the magic

Danreb Victorio: the one you g you g you gotta give items to,

Doms Roundtable: pots for

Danreb Victorio: yeah.

Doms Roundtable: yeah, the ethers for the AP. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Danreb Victorio: Yeah, you guys are

WheelieAverage: And it and it's like they're weird, you know, they're

Danreb Victorio: stealing my good ship, you know.

WheelieAverage: they're interesting. One thing we haven't talked about yet is like the like the summons. Cause you also have your traditional summons in this game, right? You y you know, you can summon your your various different I don't know what they call them here, Esper's in this one, isn't it?

Doms Roundtable: Espers. Yeah. Yeah. Espers.

Danreb Victorio: Experts, correct, yes.

WheelieAverage: And you can hear about them around the map and it's like, hey, there's a man up on the mountain and you can go and get

Doms Roundtable: Mm.

WheelieAverage: you know, it it's like that's all really interesting. But I feel like maybe it's just me. I feel like summons are really secondary in this game.

Doms Roundtable: they're they're so weak. I I I I love Carbuncle because he he he applies some really, really powerful buffs to your party. But in regards to the damage output that your visions can do, summons they are no, I rarely ever used them. They look damn cool. I love summoning them just to see them. But then they would do a couple of thousand damage, whereas my other characters were doing like tens of thousands. And I was like, What's the Bahama, step your game up? What is what is What are you doing? Yeah, yeah.

Danreb Victorio: Yeah. Yeah.

WheelieAverage: Baby baby summons, that's what they are. B baby

Danreb Victorio: They're really just assists. I mean, I'm I'm at a point where where

WheelieAverage: summons. Yeah.

Doms Roundtable: Just assists, yeah.

Danreb Victorio: w where where where they still help, you know. Dom's like I'm I'm I'm here l listening to ten thousand. Who how how you how you doing this? But yeah, so

Doms Roundtable: To be fair, yeah, like ear early to mid game they are very, very useful, but they drop off

Danreb Victorio: Gotcha.

Doms Roundtable: hard in the late game.

Danreb Victorio: I will say though, and I don't know if it's if it's a disappointment, but I've learned how to pronounce so many names. I'm like, it's Ramu. Okay, cool. I thought it was Rema the whole time.

Doms Roundtable: Like and I I've I've always said Zidane and it's is it Zidane and I was what? There you go, there's there's your thumbnail face.

Danreb Victorio: Zidane, yeah. Yeah. I was like, that's how you pronounce his name. Yeah.

Doms Roundtable: Zidane?

WheelieAverage: I mean I mean I mean I would have gone Zidane, but I'm a football fan, so that's where I would have got that one from.

Doms Roundtable: fair. Yeah. Yeah.

Danreb Victorio: Mm, mm, okay, fair enough.

WheelieAverage: Or soccer for the American people out there. But yeah, I mean I've I I just I honestly am struck like I'm thinking to myself, is there anything I don't like about this game? And other than that one nitpicky thing of getting all the visions and the dialogue repeating and

Doms Roundtable: Mm.

WheelieAverage: all those choices not really even mattering, so why have them there in the first place? It other than that, I don't think there's anything that I dislike about this game. I I really don't and that's crazy to say because you know that means that in reality I probably should be scoring this game maximum marks across the board but I actually don't quite do that in my review because I don't know about you guys but I have had a couple of technical issues with the game. it actually crashed on me once, which was that was that was frustrating because I lost about ninety minutes of progress.

Danreb Victorio: no. Even with the autosaves? Man.

WheelieAverage: Yeah, yeah. So, so that was really frustrating. But yeah, other than that, honestly, honestly nothing. I like the art style. I don't think from from a two D H D perspective, I don't think this is the best looking two D H D game that that there's been. But it's still a very nice looking game. You know, it's it's

Doms Roundtable: Yeah. Yeah.

WheelieAverage: it's got a nice art style, the characters all look really cool and and they do some fun things, you know, with with how they animate certain things is quite fun. The the world the world map and kind of getting around that and using the chocobo and all those things. Like that's fun. I like how they signify when you're about to get into a battle as you're traversing the world as well. It it kind of doesn't get in the way and it just It lets you know like, okay, one's coming up in a minute, you know. I do

Doms Roundtable: Mm.

WheelieAverage: wish what I will say is I wish that for progression's sake, I wish there was like a quick skip of a battle, like a quick flee, like rather than having to actually take your turn, go into the menu, press flee, like as it's loading up, why can I not just tap a button to be like, hey, I don't want to do this battle? You know? Because sometimes you don't want to do the battles as you're going around the world. You're just trying to get from point A to point B. Like maybe that's just me, but but that's kind of something where I was like, I wish there was a quicker way to just flee away from these random world battles, you know? Just just

Danreb Victorio: Yeah, I definitely agree with you in that regard. Again, it's not really a criticism, it's just more of a quality of life thing. But like again, com compared to Falcoms games, trails in particular, you can you can put it on fast forward up to five X to speed. And like that means everything in regards to cutscenes where all they're doing is panning in and out. And I'm like, man, like Final Fantasy could use this for battles or

Doms Roundtable: Yeah.

Danreb Victorio: for trav traversing the world map, things like that. What I do like though is that As soon as you've been somewhere you can just go back to that place with almost no limitation. I remember

WheelieAverage: Yes.

Danreb Victorio: when w when we first got our our our ship, that there there was supposed to be a limitation, but I never saw anything. Like, all right, I I can I can go back to this place for a side quest and that was easy. And and that was why I did them all, because they're y they're just so easy to get to.

Doms Roundtable: So quick to go from a and and the fact that the airship will automatically come with you as well. Like if you if you fast travel to the other other side of the world. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's a it's a really

Danreb Victorio: There's that. Yeah, I w I I wa I was scared about abandoning it, but as soon as you leave it's right there. I'm like, thank you, you know.

Doms Roundtable: good quality of life thing that is, yeah.

WheelieAverage: Yeah, I mean the the being able to fast travel anywhere has made it. So this is probably This is the first game, no joke, in probably like a decade where I've actually fast traveled more than I've moved around the map myself.

Doms Roundtable: Could see that. Yeah.

WheelieAverage: But it's just because it's so easy and so quick. So it's

Doms Roundtable: Mm-hmm. So quick.

WheelieAverage: it's it's it it you know it's not taking a lot of time. It's This game is not a heavy game, right? So it's able to load up that stuff really quickly. There's lots of like all the towns are self-contained as well. It's it's yeah, they're doing some good stuff here. I think that the completionists are gonna have fun with this one because of how easy it is to get to those side quests and hey, you wanna go and get your little like I forget what they what she's called, but there's like the princess

Doms Roundtable: the t the the t the tablet shards for the princess. Yeah, yeah.

WheelieAverage: Yeah, yeah. And it's like and that stuff's easy to do as well, and you can actually get some quite cool gear by

Doms Roundtable: Mm.

WheelieAverage: by doing that stuff, so I would recommend looking out for those. although I actually don't think it explains that well how you get the stuff, and I also bugged out the entire system because I had like four shards before I even saw her. and then She th she thought that I only gave her one shard. So that was that was weird, you know. but yeah, is so I think it it makes it easy to do a lot of things very, very quickly, you know, and it's like there's a side quest that I did and it was like, go over here and get this medicine for this guy to stop him going more blind. Then go back

Doms Roundtable: Yeah.

WheelieAverage: here and and you just but If you know what you're doing, that took about two minutes. So it just is a very quick and it feeds back into that thing of you can play an hour of this game and feel like you've made a lot of progress. Especially if you're doing side content and things like that. Because a lot of these side missions for a negative and a positive are quick and easy to do, right? But that does also mean that. Some of them definitely fall into the hey, we're just here for filler and don't really offer much of

Doms Roundtable: Mm-hmm.

WheelieAverage: anything else, you know? But I feel like, and again, you guys would know a little bit more than me, but I feel like it that's very sort of expected with JRPGs, right? Like you're always gonna have some level of filler content.

Doms Roundtable: Yeah. Yeah. Like I I I love both the old school and the new school Final Fantasies. Like I have no problem with both the original Final Fantasy VII and remake. I think they're brilliant in very, very different ways. They both have really mundane side quests at a at points that are just like filler, like you say, yeah.

WheelieAverage: Absolutely, I think you can't avoid it unfortunately.

Doms Roundtable: Yeah.

WheelieAverage: It's it you know, it it is way it is and it's it's it's it's I think that when you get into a JRPG, you know that those things are gonna be there.

Doms Roundtable: Hm.

WheelieAverage: You know, like they just are. That's that's part of the that's part of the core design of that genre of games. So I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing, but it is something to be aware of that like Yeah, there are quests that are filler here. There are absolutely side quests that you should do as well, because I think they build out the world in a good way, and they build out some characters in an interesting way. Like I mentioned that one with Laswell earlier. You can completely miss that quest that I did. But actually it does a lot to build Laswell's character. Like it's so there is a lot of there's a lot of interesting stuff in that regard. What I want to kind of Have as the last major question here though, is following this game, where do you think Final Fantasy as a franchise? Obviously, we've got the third part of 7 Remake coming, but after that, where do you think Final Fantasy as a franchise goes? Do they go for another 2D game? Like, is that the next sort of brand new thing? Or are they gonna go back to your action-based 3D games again. What what do we think? Dan Reb?

Danreb Victorio: It's an interesting point. I come from an opinion that the Final Fantasy fandom or community is very divided. and they're divided between

Doms Roundtable: See that.

Danreb Victorio: the OGs, the people who are more accepting, and then the people who want the new stuff. And it's hard to really make everybody happy in that regard, right? like for example, I you know, I wouldn't mind it going going back to being entirely turn based. And that's something they did with with with Final Fantasy IX. So in regards to what I think they'll do next, I do think they are gonna, you know, finally come out with that nine remake, just because like it's been talked about for so long and it doesn't make sense to just leave it leave leave something there unreleased. So, you know, that would make the most sense for me. but I do know that, you know, those devs saw what Expedition 33 did, you know, they made a super premium game, which was actually an indie game at and at the same time probably have the best battle system in all of RPGs and they might, you know, build something off of that. And you look at a game like Final Fantasy 16, where that was probably the Game of Thrones of the entire series, because they went like totally mature with the tones there and they can go totally head in that direction. Yeah. So

WheelieAverage: Political and mature, yeah.

Danreb Victorio: that being said, like I do think that the future of the series, like for example, with 17 or whatever it may be, will continue going down that 3D road. But I also don't think you should expect action either. I think Expedition thirty three opened a lot up a lot of eyes in regards to turn based battles and you know, we can definitely see them go that way as well. But I also would not mind it going into the the anime route either, because those were my five favorite Final Fantasies.

WheelieAverage: Fair, fair. Dom, what about you? What do you think?

Doms Roundtable: I mean th the hand the answer is all of the above. L we just had because they like like you were saying, their fan base is so big now and they have little pockets of people who love all of the different things they've done over the years. So the hardest job they've got is thinking like, well what what do the most people want next? Because everyone wants something different. And hopefully eventually

WheelieAverage: Yeah.

Doms Roundtable: they will they will just they'll just keep cycling through all the different Hypes of Final Fantasy that the different pockets of fans love, and they'll just appease us all. Because they're never gonna make everyone happy with one game. And I I love everything they do for different reasons. So whatever they do next, I'm I'm it's gonna be a day one by for me, and I'm gonna love it regardless. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If that's what Final

WheelieAverage: So Dom's playing it regardless. It it could be little stick men at a turn based game and Dom would still play it.

Danreb Victorio: Yeah.

Doms Roundtable: Fantasy 17 is, I'm getting it.

Danreb Victorio: I was actually very

WheelieAverage: brilliant. Brilliant.

Danreb Victorio: against sixteen until I tried the demo. The demo sold me. So as long as I can continue with that strategy, it works.

WheelieAverage: Yeah. I really liked Sixteen. I I thought that that that story was, in my opinion, really good and and you

Danreb Victorio: It was.

WheelieAverage: know

Doms Roundtable: It was

WheelieAverage: Clive Clive as a character was interesting.

Danreb Victorio: Joshua.

WheelieAverage: Yes, yeah. That was a good impression.

Doms Roundtable: It was it was the l the least Final Fantasy Final Fantasy they've ever made, but it was still

WheelieAverage: Yeah.

Doms Roundtable: a really, really good RPG in its own right. Because like there was no party, there was there was less build variety than they've had in the past, but it made up for it with amazing characters, a really fun story, gorgeous visuals, like

WheelieAverage: It Yeah. It it was almost like it was almost like quite literally a character action RPG, right?

Doms Roundtable: Mm mm.

WheelieAverage: It wasn't it wasn't really it like they could have released that game under a different name and it still would have been successful. But the reason

Doms Roundtable: Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Yeah.

WheelieAverage: it was called Final Fantasy is because there's a name cachet there that that brings people in, right? Like let's be honest, that's That's why these franchises look at you know you mentioned Dom about how you know the audience is split and people like different things and some people like all the things so they're gonna be happy anyway. And that's very similar to a lot of people with something like the Assassin's Creed franchise. There are people who hate the newer games and just want the older style more focused on stealth and things like that.

Doms Roundtable: Yeah.

WheelieAverage: And then there are people that are so burned out on the older games that they don't ever want those back, you know? So it's it it kind of I can totally understand it. The interesting thing for me is are they gonna do another tactics game? You know? Because they did one not too long ago. It it was it was it was quite successful from what

Doms Roundtable: Hm.

WheelieAverage: I understand. and there is Although that that's probably the smallest audience they have within their audience, the people that really want the tactics game, it is also probably the most diehard one in many ways.

Doms Roundtable: Yeah.

Danreb Victorio: Yeah, every tactics game they made is good. So they have that going for them.

Doms Roundtable: Mm-hmm.

WheelieAverage: Yeah, for sure.

Danreb Victorio: I think especially seeing the success at a Fire Emblem, you know. We'll

Doms Roundtable: I was gonna bring.

Danreb Victorio: see.

WheelieAverage: Yeah. Gonna be gonna be a very, very interesting time, but as we near the end of this episode here, are there any final things and final thoughts you guys wanna say about Final Fantasy Resonance before we get out of here? Dan Reb, I'll let you go first because I know that you have to go in a minute.

Danreb Victorio: Yeah. I mean, first I'll I'll I'll finally go with something that I actually didn't like. you know, I feel like the towns lacked culture. they all definitely had a problem to solve and it was fun solving them, but I felt like they were all pretty much the same once you've solved their problems, except for like the weapon forge, you know? So, there was that. especially when you compare it to the The Dragon Quest games where every town feels distinct. Every town has their own culture. You can even see it in the in the in the dialogue and read it that way. And I feel like Final Fantasy resonance really lacked in that regard because at the same time, the world was pretty big. You you get on that airship and you can go all over the place, but it's like, okay, people are still speaking it in in in in an American accent. And I'm like, okay, this is interesting. So yeah.

Doms Roundtable: Ha ha ha.

Danreb Victorio: but aside from that, no, like, there aren't really a lot of things that I d that I disliked about the game and that was really the impressive thing. And, you know, I joked around about all of us saying that the game really resonates with all of us, even if we are long time or new fans of the series. And it's awesome in that regard. If you are somebody who, you know, is looking for another JRPG that isn't too long, that gets to the nitty gritty right away, and at the same time has that that fun factor This is it. It's a really, really surprising title. I didn't think any of us would enjoy it to this extent, but Square hit it out of the park with this one.

WheelieAverage: Absolutely, absolutely. You you honestly could not have said it better. I I one hundred percent agree. It outstanding video game. As I said before, I've got nothing personally bad to say about it. I really recommend it to anybody. I think it's actually a perfect sort of first turn based game as well. If you're s if you're someone that has been like me in the past, a little bit apprehensive of turn based games and struggled to get into them. This could be a really good starting point for you. And it will, if you're a newer fan of Final Fantasy, it will teach you about those older games as well. And it will teach you about the legacy of the franchise and and why people love it so much, right? Dom? Dom, what's your closing thoughts as the man that's played 70 plus hours of the game?

Doms Roundtable: It's fun, you know. Actually, I was just gonna say that I said I 100% it. Turns out I still have one achievement left, and that is because I found that I was crushing fights so easily by the end of the game that I would get a sweeping stagger, but I would skip the resonance because like you could just cancel out of it. You can sk

WheelieAverage: Yeah.

Doms Roundtable: skip the animation, save yourself some time. There is an achievement to trigger 400 resonances. So because I skipped so many, I

WheelieAverage: Mm.

Doms Roundtable: don't have it yet. So I'm literally sitting here every night now just triggering resonances again and again. Just to try. So for anyone who wants to 100% it, don't skip resonances, even if you don't need

WheelieAverage: Make sure you're doing it. Yeah.

Doms Roundtable: them. Because that's the one achievement I'm missing. but it's yeah, even the few minor gripes I have did not dampen my experience in any way. It was such a good game in in every aspect. I cannot recommend it enough for Final Fantasy fans and just turn based JRPG fans alike.

WheelieAverage: Yeah, I agree. And like I said, I've had less experience with those types of games, but I think the fact that even I'm saying that should really highlight to you how good this game is. Because it's not just, Hey, I'm Dom who loves every Final Fantasy game and I'll play it even if it's stickben, you know, it's it's like it there's a lot of there's a lot to love here and I really recommend it and I hope to see it nominated for some awards at at the end of the year, you know, that would that would be nice to see. But yeah, thank you guys for joining me on this very special episode of Between Levels. hopefully the audience has enjoyed it. And if you haven't already, go and check out all of our individual content for the game as well. Like I said, I will have a written review at Anime News Network. I'm sure Dan Reb, your review is gonna be over at SmashPad. And Dom, you said you're doing some videos for the game, right?

Doms Roundtable: Yeah, my review but also a couple of guides as well just to help people really get the most out of their experience.

WheelieAverage: Nice, nice. Well make sure you go and check all of that out. I'll link Dom's channel below and I'll also link SmashPad so you can go and check out their website as well. And yeah, thank you for joining us. But until next time, goodbye.

Danreb Victorio: See