Looking for Ramuh in his cave. I've only been to three dungeons so far (that specific Ronin guy in the Leide dungeon did a number on me, so I didn't really manage to keep progress there lol), but man, they're pretty good (clunky combat camera aside): atmosphere is great (great music. "Find your way" also works really well.
In regards to everything else... The open world in Duscae and Cleigne is actually pretty good: great sense of scale for the most part, interesting landscapes (fuck Leide), common enough (to the point of it not being unrealistically littered with POIs like an amusement park) landmarks... And it looks really beautiful for the most part, especially under certain lighting and weather conditions (once more, fuck Leide and its ugliness and flat, boring design). Also, chocobo riding is fun and fast.
Combat has clicked on me even more. I mean, it's not without faults, but I can't honestly understand some people I've seen saying it's bad or the worst in the series. It's perfectly fair not liking it, but considering it bad? And again, it's far from being perfect, but it's pretty fun for the most part.
Now, as for the bad... I'm pretty sad about the story. I didn't expect anything great (I mean, it was Nomura and Nojima before, and the people on the current project didn't inspire me much confidence), but the dissapointing part is that it's really disjointed, it's kinda messy (for a plot as simple as this actually is), some cutscenes' directing and editing are embarrasing, there are no big moments (so far!) and I don't expect much to change, at least not on the open world part of the game.
I mean, look at Chapter 4's ending and 5's beginning. What the fuck was even that. Really anticlimatic for what it should be (the fucking Chacellor of your enemy Empire saving your ass just like that and then leaving you on the field again just like that, for the sake of it. Without a single cutscene, just a shitty text). I'm guessing this is one of the things they're going to fix in that patch, but... I understand and even like a subtle approach to the plot, where you're the one unfolding the story if you really want to (like in Souls), but I feel that this is more of an accident than intentional in this game.
Again, I never expected anything better than just "enjoyable", but I expected something a bit different (basically, some meat to the plot) and I see myself not really caring about the plot right now. Character interactions are pretty fucking good, though: individually, they're just, I guess, average or alright; but together, they're fucking great and you can really feel the camaderie and friendship.
But hey, I'm barely into the game's main plot. Hopefully something happens and my sensations change, although I'm not very confident all things considered.
areas are too damn awesome, overall looks more interesting than lucis; wasted potential
