izigame.me

TLDR: This is a JRPG with life simulation elements, not the other way around. Ignore the Steam page headline that says "Life simulation RPG", change your expectations, and you may well enjoy it. I'm glad I didn't get to refund it, even if I was unhappy at first.
I would definitely buy it on sale, however, because the publisher's behavior doesn't scream that they wanted to give the game the refinement needed for its AAA-status.
Now, for the more comprehensive notes:
I'm actually glad I waited to play this long enough to be ineligible for a refund, because the first bad impression would've stopped me from playing what lies between a good and great game for my tastes, even though it could have been more.
It's strange, because in many ways, after playing the game thoroughly, it really does feel as though, in some parts, a lot of effort and joy was put into things like the aesthetics of the world and its worldbuilding, the character portraits, the music, and even a good part of the writing.
Much of this is contravened by many other things, however, that suggest that some people either didn't like the work they got, or, more likely, that the game was rushed by investors who wanted an expensive game out without the refinement required for a good experience.
Whatever the cause, this manifests as:
-Very limited character customization; hair color and eye color, and that more or less seems to be it, much in contrast to practically every other "life sim" out there.
-Animations and choreography is often without variety, choppy, or otherwise janky, (They don't even have moving mouths!) and appears as though it was made in a rush. In the context of rushing, this makes sense, as you usually only make animations when the models have been made, which is later in the game cycle, where the suits may have become impatient. I've lost count of how many times the wacky "shaking my head" animation has been used in an already highly limited repertoire of animations.
-Almost every character seems to have the same "base" shape with certain alterations. Namely, that everyone seems to have a pretty wide set of hips, including the males.
-Very little voice-acting, mostly triggered when you go near an individual and hear them comment on something, or even just say "Hello" or "Have a safe trip", which, despite being homely, doesn't change the fact that having no voice-acting in dialogue is very suspicious for an AAA game in 2024, especially at the current price.
Weren't it for the textures in some places being surprisingly detailed, I would be easily convinced the game was from, say, 2010.
So why, in that case, do I actually quite like the game?
-Where the game lacks in model and animation variety, it manages to create quite a few individual storylines that, while not very charming at first to me, became more and more interesting as more characters were added, while the depth of the stories seemed to get deeper and touching on various serious subjects, rather than becoming diluted as more characters were added.
-Continuing on to this, while I must admit I was much less impressed by the very beginning and the last 1/10th of the story, between there it had only gotten more and more interesting, and touching on some pretty real subjects, whether or not I agree with the writers' conclusions.
-The music, as far as I'm concerned, is absolutely phenomenal. I would have to write an entire new review for the soundtrack alone, but I can say that the peacefulness of the homestead track, the ethereal/lonely feeling of the Quietus track, and the various environmental tracks ranging from excited combat-music to somber ruins-wandering music... it's just right up my alley.
-And finally, the worldbuilding and the beautifully designed environments, such as the glowing trees and crystals on the homestead, or the white granite buildings of Nemea flanked by clean water and cherry blossoms. There's a definite charm with hearing the nighttime tracks (each town + homestead have daytime and nighttime tracks) play in a rather fantastical environment.
-The combat has some satisfying moments, even if it's not that amazing overall.
For me, at least, it always takes a while to warm up to a game and start really enjoying it. I was sad and would have likely refunded the game when I first tried it. But not being allowed to do so, I committed to it, and I really enjoyed the experience.
However, and I really must stress this... it really could have been much more. If I see this as a "good, sometimes great" game, then if they introduced modding (lol, good luck) after fixing all the above issues, it would have been a "great, sometimes fantastic" game.
I don't have the biggest hopes for this franchise or the above wishes, given the reception and, frankly, "throw it out and forget about it" attitude that Square Enix seems to have taken with it. I wish to be wrong on at least one of those counts, though.