Thankfully your memories of past FF games will give you the upper hand, as the mechanics it took to defeat certain enemies come back in FFRK. For example, mechanical enemies will be weak to lightning spells, undead will be damaged by healing magic etc. Bosses make an appearance as well and for those of you who have good memories, you can still use the same methods to defeat them that you once used in the original games.

Summons also make an appearance, but I’m sad to say that they were quite a let down. Of course you can’t expect the 16-bit versions to be as amazing as their predecessors, but for what they’ve turned into, I did expect a bit more.

Aesthetic Charm

The recreation of battles to be animated using the old 16-bit style graphics is quite fun to begin with, but the more battles you take part in, the more you find yourself wishing Square took a page out of Evoland‘s book and gradually progress through different types of graphics and play styles throughout your journey.

Another plus is the music found throughout FFRK. As you battle your way through the plethora of memorable foes, you are rewarded at the same time with the original sountracks from whichever level of the FF series you are currently fighting for.

Final Thoughts

Final Fantasy Record Keeper is quite a simple game that allows for a fair bit of customisation which makes up for the lack of depth to the story. You will find yourself recovering memories that you once thought were lost to adulthood but unfortunately these memories will be miniscule compared to what you’d experience by playing through the originals again.

In app purchases are scattered throughout FFRK which isn’t surprising given it is a F2P game, but you can easily get by throughout the entire game without spending a cent. However, the presence of a ‘stamina bar’ that is spent to enter levels and slowly regenerates over time is quite a sad addition. If it weren’t for the fact that I can easily put a game down for a few hours, I would probably see reason in spending money on FFRK just to speed up that stamina bar!

With a score of three stars, FFRK is worth a download for Final Fantasy fans, if only to enjoy the recreation of your favourite heroes in 16-bit format. Don’t get your hopes up about revisiting lands from the series as the most you’ll be seeing is a familiar backdrop during your battles. If you don’t decide to download it, you won’t be missing out on much.

Score

3 stars – a fun but easily forgettable trip back in time.