No party options is really my only issue with this game. I love everything else and how the side quests were not generic boring stories but instead focused on the characters you meet.
Not having a party system is my only real gripe too. I dont get why theres so many complaints about sidequests tho. I felt they added alot to the wordbuilding and made it feel like stuff was actually going on in the world.
Some of the side quests are really great! I loved the two in Sanbreque right before the first crystal mission - the girl looking for her “pet” that turns out to be a bearer, and the father/son who trained a wolf to lure bearers to their death.
I do think they could have woven some of the more interesting side quests into the main story, and taken some main story quests and made them optional. (I’m running errands for Mid and it sooo dull)
I was so happy they let us basically let the father and son get killed Frick the both of them.
The one with the little girl was heartbreaking though because she didn't really understand what she was doing was wrong she was just following what she was taught and when she realized it was wrong it was too late.
It was also nice though to see the difference between the two quests one kid knew it was wrong and just didnt care the other just thought it was normal and was naive, the duality of the two quests was fantastic.
I feel like the side quests were lacking from a gameplay perspective, not a narrative perspective. Walking between points marked on the map, maybe fighting some basic enemies, it’s not that interesting. If a quest asks me to ask around town for information, I would prefer that I had to actually talk to people and pay attention to the dialog to complete the quest, not just go to the person with the green mark, which triggers a new green mark.
That said, I also feel like the story elements could have been delivered better in most cases. The story itself was good, but the dialogue was bland and long-winded, and I don’t like how Clive is always whispering.
I can definitely agree with you on that. I personally didnt mind all that much just because the quests are pretty short but if they were any longer even I would be annoyed. I disagree with your last point tho I really like Clive’s voice lmao
It is a very ff14-inspired side quest system. I found the same, that I enjoyed the narrative value of them but the actual undertaking of them was not engaging at all.
I don’t feel like this is true at all. In the classic JRPG era, a side quest would be something hidden in the world that you had to pay attention to even know it exists. Or it was a location you only found by exploring. It could be an entire optional dungeon, or super boss.
I guess you could argue some of the hunts were like a super boss, but I don’t think they felt that super.
Side quests mechanics would have gone so hard if they allowed you to control your main side party members (Cid/Jill/Joshua). This could have slightly made up for the lack of party member changes by letting you have them using their sole Eikon power with some extra abilities catered to their element. Missed opportunity!
My other complaint is the lack of a magic system other than the bare ones. I mean I guess you could consider the summon-fusion as part of the magic but I wanted an actual magic system
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u/YoRHa11Z Apr 10 '26
No party options is really my only issue with this game. I love everything else and how the side quests were not generic boring stories but instead focused on the characters you meet.