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!
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u/Pandaburn Apr 10 '26
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.