Game Reviews

Final Fantasy Record Keeper

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Final Fantasy Record Keeper
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At first glance, Final Fantasy Record Keeper looks like the ill-fated, IAP-ridden Final Fantasy All The Bravest - baddies on the left, heroes on the right, sprites all over the place.

Fret not though, this is a completely different beast. What we have here is a more traditional Final Fantasy battle mechanic - an Active Time Battle (ATB) system, abilities and magic to junction, and limit breaks of sorts.

Over the coming days I'll detail how the first week of play fares in this free-to-pay Final Fantasy offering, so you can decide whether or not you want to get involved for the long run.

I'm playing as Tryo, a new character in the Final Fantasy series. His task is to help Head Keeper Dr. Mog work out why past glories recorded within paintings are fading.

Turns out the best way to save the records is to take a leaf out of Super Mario 64 and jump inside the paintings to relive them.

First impressions

I stand in front of the Hall of Doors, behind each of which lies a gallery of records, each one a painting capturing a moment from a numbered Final Fantasy game.

My magical moogle buddy sends me into the first record and guides me through a series of battles culminating in a showdown with Guard Scorpion, the first boss from Final Fantasy VII.

The boss battle tune remains intact, as do Guard Scorpion's strengths and weaknesses. From playing FFVII I know not to attack when its tail is up, and I chuck a few lightning bolts its way to knock it out.

The moment I complete the battle, a familiar face appears to join my party. Cloud Strife, arguably the most recognisable character from the Final Fantasy series, is here to save the day.

Cloud and I soon venture off to take down another Mako Reactor together, opening up new doors for Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy X.

Some of the spritework from VII and X appears to be re-used from Final Fantasy All The Bravest, but both characters and baddies look much more animated here, whisking you back to long-gone 16-bit days effortlessly.

I'm mostly brute forcing my way through at this point as the enemies are pretty weak, but I can already see I'm going to have to muck about with my equipment and abilities once I've built up a full team.

Day 3: For the love of Cid

My team can now take on every Classic Dungeon open to me. My crew? Final Fantasy newbie Tyro, Kain (FFIV), Cloud, Rydia (FFIV), and a generic white mage, all averaging out at level 20.

Unlike Final Fantasy All The Bravest, you can't unlock characters via IAPs. All the better I say, although I would enjoy taking a few more of my favourites into battle.

Instead, IAPs in Record Keeper are all about gems. These are mainly for participating in rare relic draws. Relics are weapons, armour, and other bits of equipment that with varying star ratings.

You receive one free relic draw per day, and you can also use Mythril you collect to grab more. It's by no means necessary though as you can still find rare goodies in treasure chests dropped by monsters.

Evil goons also drop Orbs and Gil. Orbs can be fashioned into abilities with the help of Final Fantasy fan favourite Cid, and can in turn be honed to become even stronger if you have the Gil and materials to spare.

Equipment works similarly, as you can upgrade each piece by combining it with weaker weapons. The fanciest one I have at the moment is a sickle... I'd do anything for a Buster Sword (bar shell out on gems).

The best news is that I've had no problems with the energy system so far. Stamina is used up each time you delve into a painting, but it always restores faster than I can use it up.

I have only unlocked four other characters, and I seem to have hit a brick wall in terms of progress. I've restored the records for FFIV, V, VI, VII, and X, and Dr. Mog has told me I'll be able to uncover more soon.

A little odd, but it gives me time to beef up my party and get to grips with one boss I have yet to best for a master ranking.

Day 7: Now loading...

Several days later and I am er... still pretty much in the same spot I was last week.

Since completing all the available Classic Dungeons, I have not had any news regarding how or when I'll be able to play new dungeons from the remaining games.

My party's all around level 30 now, but I've swapped Rydia out for Tidus as physical damage tends to be a lot more useful for steamrolling foes in the Auto Battle mode.

I've been working my way through the Daily Dungeons, which have proved very useful for grinding materials to upgrade equipment.

The Hard Daily Dungeons are still a little too much for me to handle, but I am starting to work my way through the Elite Dungeons, which have rewarded me with some ace gear and plenty of Gil.

I've cashed in my 30-odd Mythril for rare prize draws, but there's still no sign of the limited edition Buster Sword yet. Humbug.

I would consider purchasing some in-game currency to increase my chances, but the IAPs are far too expensive to even consider at around $3 per draw.

While I'm a little more used to the incessant loading screens now, the always online nature of Record Keeper has ruffled my feathers when I've been playing it on the Underground. Surely there's another way for DeNA to track data at regular intervals?

It may not sound like it, I am still very much enjoying Record Keeper's battle mechanics and upgrade system. I love grinding, but I just wish I had more characters available to work with.

I'm just wholeheartedly disappointed that an artificial wall has been put in place to limit how much of the game you can play through, as DeNA seem to want to stagger releasing Record Keeper's content.

If you're a patient Final Fantasy fan looking for something to grind during tea breaks, Final Fantasy Record Keeper is a great fit.

However, if you're expecting a fully-fledged RPG with a campaign you can storm through in a week or two you'll need to look elsewhere.

How are you getting on with the game? You can tell us and the rest of the PG community about your experiences by leaving a comment in the box below. Click here to learn about our free-to-play review policy.

Final Fantasy Record Keeper

Final Fantasy Record Keeper will please many fans, but RPG fanatics wanting to sink their teeth into something may be taken aback by the initial lack of content available at launch
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Danny Russell
Danny Russell
After spending years in Japan collecting game developers' business cards, Danny has returned to the UK to breed Pokemon. He spends his time championing elusive region-exclusive games while shaking his fist at the whole region-locking thing.