While there are many good Final Fantasy games on the mobile, some of them are mediocre and just downright shameless at best. Fortunately, this game is one of the few better mobile games that Square Enix has provided. Also, the gaming masters at Gumi have collaborated with this awesome company to provide a new gaming experience on your mobile.
Think Brave Frontier meets Final Fantasy! This is the Reader's Review of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius!
This game is great, just in case you are wondering,
Title: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius
Date Released: October 22, 2015 (initial release), June 29, 2016 (international release)
Company: Square Enix, Gumi, A-Lim
Genre: Role playing
Platform: Mobile
ESRB Rating: None (but I guess it will be E10+)
Brief Background: The development of this game is actually the first collaborative effort between Square Enix and A-Lim, the latter being responsible for Brave Frontier which was also the main inspiration for the game's framework, It was first revealed at the same time as the Final Fantasy Portal App, among other similar titles. As usual, Yoshitaka Amano is in charge of the promotional art. The latter is known for making timeless artworks of most Final Fantasy-related media.
What do you do here?
The world of Lapis is in grave danger. The Crystals are being threatened to be destroyed one by one by a sinister group. Rain and Lasswell, royal knights of the Grandshelt Empire, encounters a young girl in a crystal and warns them about the impending doom that will happen to the world should all of the Crystals are destroyed. After a series of unfortunate events, Rain and Lasswell receive the ability to manifest the power of Visions, essences of heroes of old, to combat the forces of darkness that envelopes the land and to prevent the Crystals' destruction.
What makes the game interesting?
First of all, a good game is comprised with a very nice premise and Brave Exvius delivers it with much gusto; it offers a very deep story line about Rain and Lasswell travelling the world to stop a menacing evil from destroying the Crystals. Just like every other Final Fantasy game, the Crystals is the focal point on the story where Rain and the gang must stop the Sworn Six of Paladia from these artifacts being destroyed, not to mention the meticulous attention to detail as well as the use of nostalgic events from other Final Fantasy titles to integrate them to the main story. All in all, the plot itself offers a ton of fan-service to old-school FF fans while offering new fans something to be engaged on.
Second, the combat system. Since the creators of Brave Frontier are the same ones who created the game, there are some certain mechanics that you will be familiar of (especially if you have played the latter) but with certain tweaks and changes. Unlike in Brave Frontier, you can flick the character bar to perform certain actions, such as using special skills, consuming items, and defending from attacks. This is highly reminiscent to the command-based nature of previous Final Fantasy games which is very fascinating, especially if you are a fan of the old games or if you are not used to Brave Frontier's lack of command inputs during battles.
Additionally, the game has an extensive roster of characters; all of which have unique abilities that either make them stand out or just do badly overall. The roster itself is comprised of different characters from previous and current Final Fantasy games, with original characters added for good measure. Since the game is free-to-play, expect certain characters to be added frequently to the roster, which is another way for the game to attract both fans of the series and new players.
Lapis is the premium currency in this game which you can use to recruit units, replenish energy, increase item capacity, among other uses... and there a ton of ways for you to get them without even spending money! As of the time of this writing, Square Enix recently released the missions system for the Global version of the game (the Japanese version has previously received this system) where you gain Lapis if you met a certain condition during quests. Also, with the constant events being distributed, there will be chances that Lapis will be given out to players; giving you more opportunities to effectively use them without the need of hurting your wallets and credit card bills.
Speaking of unit recruitment, this game uses a Gashapon-like system. Which means that you spend Lapis to it and hoping that you get the unit you want. The units you'll get is entirely random, so don't expect too much on it. Also, there are certain summon banners that will be distributed based on the given event that is currently on-going. For example, back when the Final Fantasy IV event was up, there was a increased chance for Final Fantasy IV characters (like Cecil, Rydia, and Kain, along with new units like Edge and Rosa) to be recruited via Lapis summoning. This is actually very encouraging as you will have better chances on getting the units you really want while still making the odds a bit balanced to get other units not included in the banner. Such a nature of these games.
Espers return in this game and you can only receive them by defeating them in battle for the first time. To unlock their stage, you have first to meet certain prerequisites such as fulfilling a certain quest or talking to certain people in towns. From there,you will beat several other quests on that specific stage before fighting the Espers themselves. Upon their defeat, you can finally use them to summon in battle.
The Esper system was not just limited to summoning them and aid you in battle, but they can also help you by providing status increase to your units. Each Esper are specialized to increase specific parameters of your units such as HP and Attack. You can also feed them Magicites (which you frequently get in dungeons) to further increase those bonuses and to unlock the hidden potentials of your Espers even further.
In terms of exploration, unlike Brave Frontier, you can be able to traverse through several towns and cities which allows you to talk to people, buy items, or just simply gathering information. This is a nice reference to previous Final Fantasy titles where you can walk around towns and do the same things mentioned. This rule also applies to certain dungeons where you can roam around and battle foes while getting some sweet treasure. Watch out for secret passages along the way and who knows what you might end up with...?
Promotional events are being held every week or two; introducing new units and bonus dungeons where you can get rare items and other goodies throughout. These events are only up for a limited time so take advantage of those events if the need arises.
There is a certain system called the Trust Master Rewards. Certain characters have these bonuses which can allow you to gain rare equipment and spells once their Trust Rating reaches 100%. Like in most Final Fantasy titles, grinding takes a matter of patience which gives out a certain degree of satisfaction upon completing them. You can also increase the trust rating of that unit by fusing a certain unit as well as multiple copies of the same character. Keep in mind that story characters don't have TMRs.
What are the flaws that I found in this game?
Regarding the flaws I consider, I could say that grinding the Trust Master Reward is a very tedious one. Basically the most efficient way for you to get it is to raise 5 units of the same character and go to the very first dungeon, finish the dungeon, rinse and repeat until they reach a certain percentage. There are some players that use a certain software in order to get these faster, but I won't recommend it as it actually defeats the purpose of properly grinding through the game.
Second, the rates of getting the units you want is sometimes unforgiving to the point of frustration. There will be a high chance that you will receive units that you don't even want in the long run, which is also evident to its sister game, Brave Frontier. The latter do have some decent units, however,
As an online-only game, the game will sometimes undergo maintenance, which can either take about an average of 4-10 hours depending on the update (take note that it may take more than 10 hours due to unforeseen consequences). This is rather annoying since that you have to wait for the game to go back up again. However, these do have their advantages. Sometimes, Square provides compensation to players in the form of Energy, Lapis, among others.
If you were given a chance to make a cross-over with another media, what media do you like Brave Exvius to cross-over with and why?
I would say Phantom of the Kill because of the character designs and story that the latter provides. It also has a decent roster of characters such as Zero (not the Reploid) and Tyrfing whom they can become potentially powerful units if they are to be included in the game.
Do you recommend this game?
Yes! Definitely. If you are a fan of Brave Frontier but you find the game to be lacking of anything Final Fantasy, then you may enjoy this one!
Overall Rating: 7/10
Just like Brave Frontier, Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is only as good as the latter. While it is far more polished and balanced, Brave Exvius also suffers to the stigma that free-to-play games are having; they can be quite unfair and unstable at times. However, once you managed to get a hang of those issues, Brave Exvius can potentially provide you a nice experience. Square Enix knows how to make their fans satisfied with their games, and they will keep on improving. That's an assurance!
--END OF REVIEW--
No comments:
Post a Comment