1-17-2013		1-17-2013
	1-17-2013		1-17-2013

At first glance, All The Bravest looks like an epic series-wide crossover that would appeal to anyone who loved the first 6 titles in the series. But it is far far from it. Aside from the basic plot, there is no additional story to keep the game moving forward. The game relies solely on the nestalgia of some of the great Final Fantasy job classes of the retro games. Warriors, knights, monks, thieves, mages, dragoons, summoners, and others bring back the times of Final Fantasy - Final Fantasy V. You'll steadily unlock up to 25 different jobs, culminating in a party of 32 playable characters. And this can even be increased to 40, if you use the in-game Facebook and Twitter options to unlock more positions. As you fight your way across the maps, you'll gradually level up your units, acquire new weapons, earn Gil, and face down the likes of those awesome bosses that plagued you as a kid. It's like every retro Final Fantasy combined into one huge, sprawling adventure...but it only seems this way.

Before we get into the thing that has driven this game down completely, let's look at some of the positives shall we?
Ok first off, I must say the graphics on the IOS/Androids are beautiful. It boggles my mind to see a game that would have once required a bulky cartrige to be able to shine so brightly in these smaller devices. There are absolutely wonderfully colored battle fields and maps. The sprites of the enemies and characters who have not been in the 32 bit era are done fantastically. It is a perfect breath of freshness to the world of 3-D and realism to see such wonderful graphics. Reminds us that not everything has to be overdone to the point of insanity to make for a great setting and characters.
Music was not too bad either. Even for the Android. The scores of old are done wonderfully, and sound great on our portable devices. There has been some remixing, but it brings you immediately back to those games the scores are from. It serves as yet another wonderful reminder of how fantastic and brilliant Final Fantasy I - VI really were.

But this...sadly...is where praise ends.

The story basically does not exist. There is really nothing to follow at all. There is little more than the prologue (Above) to the story at all. You are simply going through the game fighting mindless battles to the very end.
Speaking of battles, there is not a single ounce of strategy to them. All you have to do really is run your finger continuously up and down the screen to keep the battles going. There is no choice of this or that attack or move. Just simple fighting. That brought the entire battle mechanics down to almost nothing.
Topping that off is the Job classes. You hear Job Classes, and immediately think "Oh yeah!!! I am going to get to make customizable jobs like I did in V!!!" No. That is completely wrong, and if this was the case you will be sorely dissapointed. Each job has 1 (yes 1...that is not a typo) attack they use. And even the ones who would normally heal are given offensive spells, rather than healing magic. This leaves you to only be able to fight the offense, and never bring in healers to keep you going.
If you do get knocked out, your character has to wait 3 real-time minutes, before being able to rejoin the fight. 3 minutes is a long time for someone embroiled in a massive battle, with 1/2 their party wiped out. But there is a solution....and you will not like it.


Gold Hourglasses will bring your party back when used. (This by the way is the only item in the entire game.) But they come with a price. $0.69 for 3, $1.49 for 8, and $1.99 for 20. Yes you have to pay real money to get these items! I was beyond appauled with this aspect, and almost stopped playing all together. You have to pay real money to bring your players back to life?!? This is something never seen before, and hopefully never will again in Final Fantasy. But this was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of money grubbing.
The total for all DLC brought into All the Bravest is $46.62, almost the cost of the game itself, and there really is nothing big in it.
You can get an additional 35 of Final Fantasy's most memorable characters from II - XIII...but with a catch. You do not get to choose which character you want. Instead, it is chosen randomly for you. This basically forces you to pay for the characters ($0.99 each), until you get the character you wanted.
There is no status effects, or boosts of the weapons you aquire either. only the attack will increase. No customization at all. What you are basically left with, is a shell of what might have been a fantastic crossover of epic preportions. Instead you get some half baked train wreck that leaves you and your bank account empty.
All the Bravest was the final straw for a lot of gamers, left upset with XIII, XIII-2, and XIV. The once RPG giant has seemingly lost complete touch with their fans, and the reasons the series has been around for some 25+ years. Even I, the webmaster of Final Fantasy Kingdom, saw this as the beginning of the end. But with the recent announcement of XIV Realm Reborn, XV, and Kingdom Hearts III, it seems Square finally is beginning to get their act together. Let us hope we never see something as horrific as All the Bravest again.
This is, to this webmaster, the worst game in the entire series.