World of Final Fantasy Maxima

Genre: Turn-Based Monster Collecting JRPG

Players: 1

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Review:

World of Final Fantasy is a Turn-Based Monster Collecting JRPG originally released on PlayStation 4 and Vita in 2016, acting as a tribute on the series’ 30th anniversary. Re-released on multiple platforms with the “Maxima” subtitle, this version adds extra minigames and a character-transforming “Champion Jewels” ability that has players transforming into heroes from throughout the Final Fantasy series. Oh, and given that most of the Final Fantasy games take place in separate, unrelated worlds, it should be pointed out that this game’s story is self-contained and not really concerned with the canon of any of the prior games – they’re basically just cameos here.

Visually, this game looks really good, with nicely detailed worlds that have a really great, colorful look to them. The characters in this game switch between a cutesy chibi style and a style that’s closer to the Kingdom Hearts games (it’s no surprise Tetsuya Nomura is one of the names behind this game). This is paired with some good original music, as well as some delightful remixes of music from throughout the series. This game’s soundtrack is a huge nostalgia trip for any fan of the Final Fantasy series, but I think even newcomers should be able to appreciate it.

When it comes to the story, there’s good news and bad news. On the good news front, this game’s original story is interesting and makes you curious to find out the mystery of the lost memories of its two protagonists and exactly what happened in their past, and it’s great to revisit so many beloved locations and characters from the series’ past (the fanservice is strong with this game). However, on the bad side, I really hate some of the dialogue here. I can tolerate the helper character Tama’s verbal tic of inserting an extra “the” in every other sentence, but protagonist Lann’s interminable childish stupidity makes me hate this character so much that… yup, I think he’s the worst Final Fantasy protagonist. The other protagonist, his sister Reynn, isn’t nearly as bad, except when the two of them squabble… which is frequently. The voice actors do their darndest with what they’re given here, but there’s only so much you can do with lines like “who the honk put this thing on my head?”

As for the gameplay itself, this game does some interesting things with the typical Pokemon formula by having you literally stack the monsters you catch on your head. As silly as it may seem, creating stacks of characters allows players to mix and match abilities in a way that’s really satisfying and adds some surprising strategy to the game, and since players have to balance characters of multiple sizes it limits players so they can’t just select their most powerful monsters and combine them. In addition, players can opt to have these monsters split off, making them all individually weaker, but giving them additional turns. I would say that this game doesn’t give players quite as much to do as Pokemon does – there’s no multiplayer here, for example. However, what is here is extremely satisfying.

If you’re not a fan of the Final Fantasy series, the great deal of fanservice in this game will undoubtedly be lost on you, but I still think you’ll enjoy it as a solid Monster Collecting JRPG with great music and excellent visuals (well, when characters aren’t in chibi, at least). If you are a fan of Final Fantasy, this game should be an absolute must-buy for you – that is, unless you have something against the Monster Collecting RPG genre.

tl;dr – World of Final Fantasy Maxima is a fanservice-filled love letter to fans of the Final Fantasy games, with gameplay similar to the Pokemon games, although with plenty enough originality to set it apart. The game has a great presentation with excellent music, and there’s some good depth to the game’s battle systems. Fans of the Final Fantasy series, fans of Monster collecting games, and fans of traditional JRPGs should definitely give this game a look.

Grade: A-

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