Y'all, this game is amazing.
I borrowed this from a friend back when it came out and hated it (probably because I was young and impatient). When it came to Game Pass, I decided to give it another shot, not thinking I'd get very far.
First thing that really drew me in was the art style. It has a kind of painterly flair with the highlights on characters and eyelashes that almost look like brush strokes. I don't know if I've seen another game I could really compare it to graphics-wise, which I appreciated.
Then I started to notice the voice acting. Vaan and Penelo were actually really chill and likeable? I even liked Migelo. Everyone was so different and well acted. Once Balthier and Fran showed up, though--WHEW, I was all in. I've only known Fran as "the bunny girl" this whole time, but holy shit, her voice acting made her character so unique, mysterious, and cool. I kinda wish she was wearing pants or something, but what a great character that I had mostly dismissed for so long. Balthier is just awesome. Suave and full of heart. Also, there's some sort of effect over the dialogue that makes it all sound kind of...magical or from a storybook? It's hard to explain. Something to do with the acoustics, maybe? Whatever it was also made the game even more special. I decided to see if all of this had been talked about more and found
this thread, which was super interesting to read.
The combat was not my favorite at the beginning, but everything else about the game kept me coming back. Once I got some skills unlocked and gambits set up, it was pretty satisfying! I think FFVII Remake still has my favorite combat in the series, only because I prefer the more action-oriented approach.
After beating it tonight, I'm so happy I decided to try it again after all this time. I might go back in and explore a little more, try out some harder hunts, maybe dabble in NG+ a bit.
TL;DR: Great game, best acted FF