Mobius Final Fantasy Review

Ah Final Fantasy games, where would I be without them? Well, technically probably in a better job, seeing as the release of Final Fantasy VII coincided right with the studying for my exams. Studying never stood a chance. Anyway, Final Fantasy is a decades old legacy of engaging RPG goodness. SquareEnix’s latest creation Mobius Final Fantasy is attempting to carry that FF goodness but squish it all into one mobile app. It’s free but is it any good? Does it hold a firaga up to the other games? Read on.

Storyline

This is something that SquareEnix had to nail. If Mobius Final Fantasy didn’t include an epic storyline then it would have to instantly hand in its Japanese RPG membership badge. Well, right off the bat you as an amnesiac warrior, is instantly told that you have the potential to become the warrior of light, you and many other amnesiac warriors, collectively known as blanks by a rather formidable knight in plate armour. Before long you are in the familiar storylines of princesses, battles between light and chaos, demons, and darkness. The storyline is there and it clearly has the FF stamp all over it.

Gameplay

The game itself is a cross between an action RPG and a collectible card game. The basis gameplay is simple. Tap the screen to attack enemies, which generates little glowing orbs of magic. Collect these orbs to use your special powers and use them on your enemies. The effectiveness of these attacks depends on the element of the enemy, ice works better on Fire, wind works better on air etc. Once you’ve one you gain a bit of XP and a few rewards, including gill, cards and ways to increase the effectiveness of your character.

That is the basic combat gameplay but the rest of the game fits more into a CCG game. As you play you win cards. Now depending on the card, you can use this to unlock other summonable creatures, jobs (i.e. warrior, mage, ranger etc.), and skills. Any excess cards can be used to increase the strength of other cards, by way of fusion.

The two sides of the game are clearly distinctive and you may find that you prefer one side more than the other. I like the combat part, but the CCG part I tend to fall behind with because at times because, well let’s face it combat’s a lot more fun.

Graphics

Graphically, you’ll think you’re looking at Final Fantasy X. The protagonist is decidedly Tidus looking for a start, and all the enemies you face look like they’ve jumped straight from one game to the other. Although this ‘copying’ doesn’t feel like a lazy or cheap tactic but closer to a good memory of the previous games.
For a mobile game Mobius Final Fantasy looks pretty good. Sure some of the edges are a little off and grainy, but fans of the series pre FFXV will be very used to that

Sound

A lot of the game includes voiced dialogue, which is of course a good thing. There is one exception to this and that is all the mogs. Mog’s are little pink floating bear things, who use the word kupo to end sentences and punctuate comments and so on. So, you will hear kupo a lot to the point of sickness which never gets any better.

Other than that, all the music and sound in the game seems as if it’s been taken straight from the Final Fantasy series. The pomp music when you complete battles, the sounds of cactuar’s and chocobo’s, everything is right how it should be.

Replayability

I’m not sure how this is going to rank long-term in terms of replayability. It doesn’t have the same charm as your basic FF game. Sure there are cards, jobs and summons to unlock but is that enough to keep your average player going? I suspect that once the basic thrill has worn off, players will start dropping out of this. Despite it looking nice and really working on the FF vibe, there isn’t really much here to bring you back.

Verdict

Mobius Final Fantasy as mobile games go is alright. I know, that’s a fairly inconclusive description. I love the graphics and the sound is nice enough, and it does give me that warm Final Fantasy feeling. However, after that things just start dropping off a bit. The part I really like is the combat, and there are so many loading screens and mid-battle animations (albeit brief ones) that It becomes nothing more than a screen-tap-fest.