Final Fantasy Explorers Reviews
Although initially quite enjoyable and filled with aspects that fans of the series will enjoy, the repetitive nature of the game is an absolute killer. The fan service is enough to get players interested, but not enough to keep them satisfied. For those in the audience that just happen to be fans of both Final Fantasy and Monster Hunter, this may be enjoyable in the short term, but, ultimately, Final Fantasy Explorers feels like somewhat of a failed experiment.
Choose your job and embark on a boring adventure
Square Enix's latest attempt to create a Monster Hunter clone has a lot of Final Fantasy fan service but few other reasons to explore its world.
Final Fantasy Explorers can be an engaging experience, but with a slow start, a lack of communication options for multiplayer, and a lack of polish, it's hard to recommend.
Even though all of its individual pieces did their job, there wasn't much that made me want to keep playing Final Fantasy Explorers. Even scenic landscapes and potent sentimentality can't save the game from bland combat and repetitive missions.
When playing with others the visual prompts used to co-ordinate skill use and crystal surges are masterful, and should be taken note of by any developer looking to create a modern multiplayer game without voice chat
Interesting, but takes 20 hours to get going
Dull encounters mean a great Job system never gets a chance to shine.
At the end of the day though, Final Fantasy Explorers just feels shallow. It's not that it is a bad game, it's just painfully average in almost every respect. With some more graphical polish and more unique things to keep it in-line with the Final Fantasy universe, I think this game could have been a huge success. If you are a Monster Hunter or Final Fantasy diehard and want something new to play, this might fill the void for a little while, but at the end of the day, it just feels like a poor-man's attempt at Monster Hunter.
Final Fantasy Explorers isn't short on hooks or good ideas, but it's too repetitive and grindy an experience while lacking Monster Hunter's character and depth. Fans of the saga will love the chance to tackle favourite summons or dress their Avatar like the series' best-loved heroes, but for most players the allure will wear off all too soon.
Presenting itself as a large dose of fan service, with fun combat sequences and a very good cooperative component, it fails when it starts to get too repetitive and simplistic and its level of challenge comes off as not balanced enough. This intersection between Final Fantasy and Monster Hunter will mostly satisfy the fans of the former but disappoint those of the latter.
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However, if you still blubber like a baby every time someone mentions the name Aeris, then Final Fantasy Explorer's exceptional level of fan service will warm you up like a Chocobo onesie.
3DS title provides nice, if non-archetypal, way for devotees to re-enter the universe while they await forthcoming XV and VII instalments
Final Fantasy Explorers may not be the best spin-off that the series has received, but with the level of fan service and solid gameplay, it still might be worth a look for those who are fans of both Monster Hunter and Final Fantasy.
Final Fantasy Explorers certainly has the potential to grow into worthy Monster Hunter alternative, but its first attempt is a little way off. Despite being nothing more than satisfactory in some key areas, there are some neat ideas at work that, if combined with a revised approach to gameplay, could make this the strongest Final Fantasy spin-off series to date. It's way too early to start dreaming about sequels or what could have been, however. What we have here is imperfect though some will undoubtedly find themselves exploring Amostra for many hours to come.
I’m a little disappointed with Final Fantasy Explorers not because it’s a bad game but I feel that it could have been better with the addition of even a tiny bit of story. Lack of plot aside the game actually has some great features like the job system and it's crafting, let’s face it who doesn’t want to dress as Sephiroth while kicking ass as a Dark Knight or Dragoon. Multiplayer is clearly where the developers imagined this game to be played and it’s definitely where you’ll have the most fun. Given all the negatives, I still have the urge to continue on, there’s a solid basis to the game just not much more than that.
Final Fantasy Explorers is a kinder, gentler take on Monster Hunter, and it's going to appeal to those who want to like that series — but don't care for its opaqueness or its hardcore gamer leanings. Final Fantasy fans are going to love the fan service, too.
For a few hours at least, Final Fantasy Explorers is a charming little adventure that's fun to play alone with your monster buddies or with real-life friends. But repetitive quests, the lack of a serious challenge until late in the story and a poor travel system eventually broke the charm spell that Explorers had cast upon me.
The wide variety of jobs coupled with ability mutations leaves room for a lot of experimenting but the lack of quest variety and the amount of grinding required to obtain rare items means that you may not have much enjoyment in doing so.
Final Fantasy Explorers is a poor Monster Hunter clone but still a reasonably fun game. It's a lot of fun to team up with three friends and beat your way through Bombs, Chocobos and Tonberries, even if it ends up feeling repetitive after a while. Those who've cut their teeth on Capcom's beasts will probably find the gameplay too basic, but newcomers to the genre, especially Final Fantasy fans, should find it to be a good introduction to the basics. It's not the best hunting game on the market, but it's one of the most accessible, especially to those used to the slower pace of RPGs.