Somehow I never clocked that World of Final Fantasy was a Pokemon game until I started playing it. You'd think that knowing it involved stacking little creatures with yourself would lead to the assumption that you'd have to catch them at some point, but nah, it took the introduction of the Definitely Not a Pokeball for me to go "oh huh, so that's what this is". Not that I'm complaining, of course. In fact, World of Final Fantasy actually fixes a lot of what bugged me about Pokemon for years.
Pokemon's fantasy is an appealing one. An adventure across new lands, in search of self-betterment, just you and your animal buds. Ironically though, World of Final Fantasy isn't built on that fantasy. It's a linear, story driven RPG, with two set protagonists and a lot of cutscenes. It's a bold move, splitting Pokemon's theme from it's gameplay and sticking with the latter, lesser, half. Thankfully, World sports far more compelling stat management and progression systems, and isn't burdened by a love of secret numbers and fantasy genetics that makes engaging with Pokemon's systems so exhausting.
The fundimental loop of Pokemon is still there, getting into fights with monsters, catching a whole bunch and leveling your faves to take long for the ride. But rather than fielding one at a time, your protagonists, Lann and Reynn, enter the frey alongside 2 "Mirages" each. Though "alongside" may be the wrong word, as you actually stack yourselves on top of each other, making 2 stacks of 3 that function as 2 combatants(unless your stack gets pushed over or you all seperate). And already this solves one of my biggest gripes with Pokemon. 2 pokemon taking turns feels far too limited, and means you don't get to see many of your buds in any one fight. Having 4 mirages fighting at once means you get to see more of them in action, and even just 1 extra combatant opens way more possibilities. Something Pokemon already proved with it's double battles, yet never capitalised on, because most fights are 1 on 1.
Setting up stacks is also a lovely little puzzle. A stack's stats and moves are the culmination of everyone in it, both positively and negatively. You can stack mirages with fire resistance to the point where fire will heal you! But most fire-resistant peeps have a water weakness, so a stack of them will take to water about as well as the Wicked Witch of the West. There's also some powerful skills you can access by stacking certain mirages together, which together makes for a satisfying balancing act(heh) of trying to mitigate weaknesses while reaping the benefits of synergy. Unfortunately, all this comes at the cost of individuality. A lot of Pokemon's mechanics are framed as characteristics for your Pokemon, it's stats and Nature make it one of a kind. It's "your" Pikachu. "Your" Eevee. In World, each Mirage levels pretty much the same way, and you have complete control how it happens. This game's version of evolution is even reversable, you can freely switch between all forms of a mirage without penalty. Ultimately this makes for a better game I feel, but it speaks to what this game wants that this was the sacrifice made.
So lets talk about what's filling the void left by that Pokemon Fantasy. Because damn, do I love World's story. Lann and Reynn are fantastic leads, with effortlessly funny and gleefuly silly dialogue that definitely leans on the twee side of things, but nonetheless had a smile plastered to my face whenever it wanted to see one. And while it takes a looong time to even start showing it, there's real depth to the pair too. Their flaws and the motivations that bring them out are human, familiar and relatable, and if I didn't enjoy the long stretch of the game that isn't interested in that, I might have been disapointed that it's all towards the tail end. The first two-thirds or so of World are light, breesy fun, a whistlestop tour of Final Fantasy people and places. All the while it's building a picture of the world this all takes place in, which isn't quite what I expected from a crossover game.
Usually games like this introduce a few new characters to tie together a very standard universe-hopping plot. An excuse to travel to existing worlds, meet the main characters and genenerally dole out the fanservice that these games are made for. That wasn't enough for World of Final Fantasy. Instead of hopping between the actual worlds of these characters, World gives you Grimoire, an amalgate of all the Final Fantasy worlds, populated by chibi versions of the characters and monsters. Cloud is here! He's not the same Cloud from FFVII. He's a different person who shares the same look and personality. He has a similar history, but it took place in Grimoire. It's a much more interesting approach than I'm used too and has a whole load more vectors for the writers to show their love for the franchise.
The bulk of the game's world and characters is confined to the Not-Pokedex and the "Who's Who" character database, which is written completely beyond the forth wall. It's not "Forth Wall Breaking", that's an important distinction. There's a smidgen of that here and there, but for the most part the text of these info banks is written from the perspective of the devs, and it's all an absolute joy to read. It feels like a commentary track at times, with notes about how there are a lot of Christal Chronicles nods because the dev team makeup is similar, and how the team are all big fans of Yuna from FFX. It's funny, candid and very clearly comes from a place of genuine affection for both the, uh, worlds of Final Fantasy, and the world they've built for this game specifically. A world so full of convolution and details could easily have been off-putting when it rears it's head, but the writing makes the prospect inviting, even enticing.
My involvement with the Final Fantasy series has been very surface level. I'm no chump, 2 of my first peices for my old blog sang my priases for XIII and XIII-2(I've braught the old stuff over, so you can read those here and here), and despite not finishing it I love Lighting Returns all the same. I'm also a huge fan of XV, and have played a decent chunk of XII. That's not nothing, but it's barely a scratch on the surface of one of the longest-running series in videogame history. And I've never had much of a desire to go beyond where I'm at. Even the legendary VII sat out of my interest sphere. But playing World of Final Fantasy has inbued me with a desire to dive headfirst into the series. Because Grimoire is what it is, each character is a distillation of what fans love about them, which I know because it's so clear that the devs are among those fans. It's the same feeling you get when a good friend really Goes Off on something they adore. Because of World, the deluge of FF games coming to Switch next year have all become near-certain purchases. Feel free to consider this a point against it if you're short on cash.
Unfortunately I can only call the first two thirds of the game truly great. There comes a point when the game runs out of new environments to funnel you through with a decent amount of story left to tell, so it gets creative with ways to tell it. The results are... mixed. Sometimes it's using the cool interventions system to view and participate in mini scenarios, but sometimes it's being told to go off and farm for a while until you can pass another gut check. And bafflingly, sometimes it's playing odd early 2000s newgrounds flash games like the ones you'd play in your IT lesson while you think the teacher isn't looking. It's a shame, as it happens just as the story starts to bare it's teeth too.
To summarize:
World of Final Fantasy isn't quite what it sells itself as. It looks like a Pokemon clone for Final Fantasy fans, but it's more than a clone and it's not just for fans. Folks like me who are put off by high-level Pokemon gameplay will love it, and if you're one of those wonderful souls who loves Kingdom Hearts, I reckon this will be right up your street(I think it might actually be a secret Kingdom Hearts spinoff. It's already a sly continuation of old DS RPG Sigma Harmonics, and has a few other significant cameos too). But it's real success lies in it's truly unique feeling of personal connection between you and it. This game exudes love from every scene, mechanic and art asset, and even if you tap out after the first two thirds, it'll be time well spent.
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