My life changed when I first played Final Fantasy VII in the late 90s. The narrative-focused RPG about the struggles of misfit adventurers trying to save the world held my attention as something else. Its slow-paced story told through text boxes on pre-rendered backgrounds, all backed by a loud melodic score, was unlike any piece of media I'd encountered before. Before the decade was over, Final Fantasy VIII arrived and delivered more of the same to me. In the early 2000s, however, Final fantasy change, and I thought I would never know that game type for the first time again. That is, until I fired up The Neo Dimension Fantasy and was immediately transported back to the late 90s.
Read More: Final Fantasy VII: The My city Retro Review
And if you're like me and have been wanting that original PlayStation Final fantasy vibes, then you have to give it Philosophy spin
If you are only now hearing about it Philosophythere may be a good reason for that. Developed by Mistwalker and produced by his father from Final fantasyHironobu Sakaguchi, Philosophy it was initially locked behind the iOS and Mac Apple Arcade ecosystem when it launched in April 2021. Like Final fantasy titles of the late 90s on the original PlayStation, it features a fixed camera view and 3D character models animated over pre-made backgrounds. It also features a soundtrack written by a legendary Final fantasy Composer Nobuo Uematsu. Three years after its first publication, Philosophy reaching modern consoles and PC via Or Dimensionan updated version with spruced-up graphics, difficulty changes, some changes to the game to adapt to its mobile origin, and voice acting.
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While Philosophy is a video game produced in the 21st century for mobile platforms, it is very capable of transporting you back to the simpler times of Final fantasy 7, 8and 9. This is especially true if you voice the new trick and just let the text boxes do the talking and exposition for you (which, with due respect to the voice talent that went into bringing the characters to life , I think that is a better way to play Philosophy).
Unlikely FF titles of the late 90s, however, the backgrounds are in Philosophy they were not created with computer graphics, but instead were made with a real physical diorama which were raised from many places. Although it provides special, and proudlook at Philosophythe experience in motion is very old school FF titles. FF7 in particular a handmade look always had its background to add charm. The world feels deliberate, with an eye towards making it feel like a memorable place, inspired to transport you to the realm of fantasy. Throw in some turn-based combat, random events, and a fantasy/science-fiction hybrid narrative about an amnesiac protagonist and, well, if you were an entrepreneur. Final fantasy fan in the late 90s, this should sound familiar. And speaking of sound, boy, it does Philosophy sound familiar Just listen to this battle theme:
And compare it to the tunes in this classic FF jam:
The soundtrack is full of moments like this, reminiscing about the great events of yesteryear through music and motifs familiar from the 90s. Final fantasy melodies or simply through Uematsu's iconic and written styles. This is some of his best work.
As someone who always felt that a certain charm was lost when a Final fantasy it began to change its entire structure in the early 2000s with Final fantasy x, Philosophy has filled many late nights for me with a kind of wild nostalgia that I've always wanted to experience, but never expected from today's games. In his presentation and commentary, Philosophy literally feels like PSX in disguise FF title.
There are a few rough edges here and there, and you can see the mobile origin of the game from time to time through the UI and the fact that the combat requires you to line up targets in a way that would maybe feel more. naturally on a touch screen. And although the story is very entertaining, it doesn't hit the mark FF7and so on FF8and doing. (Then again, it also has to compete with the two decades of nostalgia I built up for the Cloud and Squall stories.)
But really, these rough spots don't matter much because the game captures the pace and tone of the narrative and dialogue that the late 90s brought. Final fantasy titles to life. I still haven't hit the game's infamous “Part Two,” which I've heard comes with a difficult spike (and I'm playing on “Hard”) difficulty, but I've been ' spending nights grinding my characters in preparation for that…which, honestly, is what I used to do there Final fantasy 7 at least.
Philosophy shaping up to be one of my favorite games of 2024, even if it's a psuedo-remaster of a 2021 title. It's the kind of game I've been dying to play for almost 25 year. If you've been looking at screenshots since the game was released a few years ago, looking at the dioramas and wondering if he could cast the same spell as those late 90s PSX Final fantasy titles, then wonder no more and give Or Dimension to try
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