I've put about 60 hours into this game so I wanted to finally talk about it some. I still haven't beaten it yet but have played most characters through Chapter 3 of their stories so I have a lot of time with them all. This game has a bit of a different structure so I want to break down how all of it works.
The game has 8 characters that you can play as, hence the name. The unique thing about this game is that it's totally open from the start and you can pick any of the 8 as a starter. The kicker though is the one you pick first cannot be taken out of the party during the playthough, so it does kinda matter who you pick. They all can hold their own in combat but all the characters have unique abilities outside of combat. Therion is the Thief and I'd recommend picking him first. He has the ability to open purple chests found all over the place as you explore and he can steal from people in the towns. Only he can open the purple chests, you can't switch to a thief class and do it. I didn't pick him cause I wanted to go in pretty blind. I picked the Hunter H'aanit as my first character. She has the ability to capture creatures and use them in battle which, turns out, can be very useful. She talks in a very Shakespearean way that will kinda have to grow on you. Her story is interesting though.
I'm not gonna talk about every character and what they can do cause I'd just be doing a list at that point but just know they all have special abilities to use outside of combat. Characters like Ophilia, Primrose, and Tressa can give you additional fighters in combat that you really should take advantage of. Or if you don't want to get all the characters you don't have to. You can just pick your favorites and go though their stories but it'll be kinda though. Having a full party of 4 is really needed with late game fights.
Not only does this game have combat like an old school Final Fantasy game, it has the graphics to match. Having seen this game in action for as long as I have I'm very impressed with the art style. Most of the game has a 16 bit look to it but it also has modern touches. The water looks amazing and when you use magic the fire/ice/lightning looks super crisp! The world you explore is great to look at and has a good bit of secrets hidden away that you won't see unless you look. It kinda does have this canvas painting come to life thing going on.
Now let's talk about the combat a bit. It's very unique and can take a bit to get used to. It's classic turn based but each enemy has a shield with a number next to it with slots next to that. You have to find the weaknesses of each enemy so you can break the shield and stagger them. Once you find the weakness the symbol will remain in one of the slots to help you remember. If you have played a Persona game then this might sound pretty familiar because it did remind me of those games. You also have BP that you build up after every turn. You can use it to make attacks, or any move for that matter, stronger. You can have up to 5 max and use up to 3 at a time. So you can use a very powerful move and use 3 BP on a staggered enemy to deal massive damage! It's a pretty cool system to try and master and gives a lot of options in combat!
I want to talk about the story structure a bit and how different it is. There's basically 8 different stories being told in this game with 4 Chapters to them. Each character has a separate story that does not connect to the others in major ways. They connect in that some characters cross and the same town is used but not much outside of that. Each story so far has been pretty good to legit great! Primrose has the strongest story in my opinion and earns its T rating on hers alone! There are some moments of Travel Banter where the characters talk to each other in a Tales style and those are cool but there's not much going on in them. The voice acting is a strong point here to me! There are some deeply emotional things that happen in this game and they are handled really well, and there are some genuine funny moments! The final dungeon does connect the stories though and requires you to complete all 8 stories and do certain side missions to unlock. It's very high level though so some grinding will be needed to do it.
So now let's talk about some of the things I don't care for. I'm getting to a point that I don't care for random battles with my RPG games. There are a lot of them here and they can be a bit much when you just want to look for loot. And as much as I like the art style, the graphics can wear on me a bit. I'm playing on a 4K tv and that style doesn't take advantage of anything of that. I'm not saying that every game needs to be in 4K but playing Final Fantasy 15 in 4K and this in 16 bit...there's a bit of a difference there. I also think the side quests are super convoluted and confusing. You'll get one and they'll say what they want you to do/get but not give any indicators other than that. You can't track the quests so you just have to talk to everyone in every town and hope you can solve them. It can be a bit much, especially for the rewards you get. You mainly get money and items and on occasion get a weapon/armor piece. Just one more thing that kinda bothers me: You do get additional jobs but you have to randomly find them on the map. There's no way to find out where they are and go to them other than that, and you'll need those additional classes. There are also secondary jobs that you find in the same manner but they are guarded by a boss. Them having a boss fight is cool but they are all high level and you'll basically be a level high enough to beat the game by the time you can get these. I get making them tough but that's a bit much to me.
I could seriously keep writing about this game but I'd like you to actually read this so I'll chill! Based on my time with this game it's probably my second favorite game of the year so far. I can't put it above God of War but it's right there with it. The combat, story, music, art, all stand out and are very impressive! It's also gonna take me like 90 hours to fully beat this game so you def get a long game here! If you like RPGs, especially the older turned based games, then this is a must play! I'd go as far as to to say it's worth buying a Switch for since it's exclusive to that system! Amazing game!
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