The Ivalice Chronicles is one of SE's better recent offerings and arguably the best version of FFT to date; however, in typical SE fashion, while this is the best version currently available, it's [b]not the best version that they could have made,[/b] not even remotely. It would have been nice, though not essential, to have included a little extra end-game content for us haggard old veterans to chew on; a limitless dungeon, a new game +, maybe an online VS mode...boiler plate re-release stuff. But not only are such features absent, the excellent WoTL content which [i]they had already developed in ages past[/i] has been cut out. While this version has many great things to offer, it will always stand in the shadow of those omissions.
With Ivalice Chronicles, you're basically paying for two things; the ability to play on a modern platform in a modern way (i.e., the UI and quality-of-life adjustments) and the complete narration of all the dialogue in the game.
From a technical standpoint, they did a good job modernizing it. All of the visual elements look decent and work together well, and everything is presented and showcased very nicely. My only gripe is that the layout of the menu's have been changed quite a bit and can feel a tad unnatural at times (okay...maybe [i]more[/i] than a tad unnatural if you still have muscle memory from playing prior versions for hundreds of hours).
And the quality-of-life features make a bigger impact on FFT than on any other SE re-release to date. The ability to flee from random encounters and to fast forward through animations makes a [i]huge[/i] impact on the overall flow of the game. I found myself using them constantly; it'd be hard to image ever playing the game again without them.
But if this version has anything truly new to contribute to FFT's legacy, then it's clearly the narration. Honestly, that was the sole feature that secured my purchase, and having now played and mastered the game I can say that I was not disappointed. FFT's story is of such scope and scale that I could envision it as a multi-season, "Game of Thrones" caliber miniseries. Having the entire dialogue brought to life with voice acting is the closest thing we'll probably ever get to that, and SE did a pretty good job pulling it off. The actors are well-cast and give solid performances all around. A few mid-battle exchanges become overly-wrought and dampen the pace of combat, but on the whole, the game is vastly improved by having its intricate tale of conspiracy and power imbued with the flourish of human theater.
In summary, while the exclusion of WoTL content leaves a noticeable void, I'd much rather have this version than no PC version at all. It does a great job servicing the core story and the world that made the original so great, and by days end that's all I suppose I can rightfully require from SE.
