A close up on Aerith’s eyes.
She drops a flower.
It’s crushed underfoot.
The camera pans back to an overhead view of Midgar as the orchestra swells and the horns fanfare.
We zoom in on a train, Cloud perched on top.
Initially, with this opening, it makes a good first impression.
But it’s all a facade.
At least the visuals are good.
It’s how the original seemed back in the day, nostalgia flooding in.
It all looks typically Final Fantasy.
The more powerful the ability, the more segments of the ATB gauge it’ll cost to perform.
it’s possible for you to also switch between attack and defence modes, each offering associated buffs.
To an extent, the game plays itself.
Boss battles do at least require some input.
Frustratingly, though, you’re unable to choose which game’s story to follow.
So I’m pootling along through the story, rinsing through missions, admiring the cute visuals.
But then as a reward I receive some Blue Crystals.
What do these do?
Right from the off, Ever Crisis pelts you with materials, quests, and bonuses.
Prices vary on these packs from 1.99 to 69.99, with some purchasable with Red Crystals.
Red Crystals range from 2.99 to 69.99 for a bunch.
The Premium Hunt Season Pass is 12.99, which rewards players with items and vouchers for more items.
There are multiple Special Draws and multiple Featured Draws, which use Red or Blue Crystals.
you could also Draw using Tickets, another currency gained (slowly) through normal play.
All of this is buried in a mess of awkward terminology and unintuitive menus.
It feels deliberately confusing, designed to baffle players into spending money - perhaps needlessly.
How much do you’re gonna wanna pay to win?
I’m not sure.
So far I’ve not spent a penny, much against the will of the game.
But alas, I’ve also hit a wall in the story.
This leads to the wealth of other modes.
There are co-op battles where you join others online to complete quests.
Those expeditions are timed and guess what?
you’re free to pay to speed those up too.
There’s more I haven’t even unlocked yet like summons and materia enhancement.
No doubt these too will have opportunities for microtransactions.
Ever Crisis is just full of stuff, with a design geared towards payments over fun.
The good bits are utterly buried and everything has been monetised in some form, capitalising on fan nostalgia.
And now I’m stuck against a boss.
Strategy out the window, the only way I can win is to simply be stronger.
Or I spend on the Draw feature and hope I get better equipment.
Or I grind away at some other mission throw in and hope the rewards are in some way useful.
But I don’t want to.
I don’t want to give this game my time or money.
The Young Sephiroth missions might be calling to me, but nothing is worth putting up with all this.
Ever Crisis is the sort of experience that Shinra would be proud of.
And that’s absolutely not a compliment.
