Released several months ago in Japan, Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is, for a little over a week, finally available on our good old European continent.
The economic model
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is a game available on Android and Apple smartphones and tablets, the latter being Free to Play. A shop is present in the game, but the latter is optional and we can easily do without.
Indeed, almost all of what is offered for real money can be obtained in the game itself. On the equipment or component side, it is possible either to buy them in the shop (via packs) or they can be obtained quite simply by playing such as, for example, by fighting enemies, by buying them with Gils (classic currency present in almost all FF) or even by making them.
As for obtaining the heroes, which is one of the important points of the game, it is also possible to obtain them for free, without spending the least euro. Indeed, regularly, the game offers players Lapis. (currency that can be bought for euros) These are offered to players very regularly, whether by completing daily quests, defeating bosses, completing an area, via daily login rewards or even when the game is undergoing maintenance. Players can also use Friendship Points. These can be obtained through friends who send them to you or when you use another player's hero in any encounter. (50 points when you are friends with and 25 points when you are not)
The only point that can push players to checkout is the item limit. Indeed, the different categories (objects, materials, equipment, skills) have a space limited to 50 per category and if you tend to make a lot, it can quickly be full. However, these space extensions are paid for via Lapis and, as stated previously, the player wins them very regularly and in quite large quantities.
The game and its gameplay
Final Fantasy requires, the latter offers a story (classic certainly, but very interesting) asking us to save the world. In addition, besides the story mode, several other modes are available.
Story Mode
The story mode puts us in the shoes of Rain, accompanied by Lasswell, his lifelong friend. While on their way back to their country, they were approached by a woman locked in a crystal who asks for help to protect the crystals which are about to be destroyed.
The two companions will have to travel the world in search of the crystals, supposed to maintain the balance, and to prevent an ill-intentioned person from destroying them. This is the base story, which gives the two adventurers a reason to go on an adventure, but the latter develops and gets a bit more complex as you go through the storyline.
The single player mode is divided into two “sub-modes” of the game. The first, the meetings. This mode is in fact a sequence of several fights, which can sometimes end with a boss encounter. In this mode, the player only has to fight.
The fights are very easy to take in hand, but quickly become quite technical and the regulars of Final Fantasy turn-based will not be disoriented. Indeed, the enemies will be more and more difficult to fight, whereas at the beginning of the game, the "auto mode" automatically causing enemies to attack at random will be sufficient, the latter will undoubtedly result in the death of the player once advanced. in the game. The enemies will have many resistances and will also have weaknesses to exploit and some will even have special techniques.
For example, bombs will explode, instantly killing a random character if their health bar is between 1 and 20%. It will therefore be necessary that the player be careful not to lower the latter in this slice of life point and, either to lower his life points to just below 20% to kill him in the next turn, or to kill him in one turn. . Another enemy (whose name escapes me at the time of this writing) will automatically cast a spell turning to stone the characters who have attacked melee. Other enemies will automatically poison anyone who attacks melee, others will cripple those who cast spells, etc. In short, the fights become very tactical and knowing the enemies well becomes almost obligatory if you want to survive the fight! Fortunately, it is possible to obtain information on enemies through certain spells and techniques.
The second “sub-mode” is exploration mode. In the latter, the player will be able to freely explore the dungeons, zones and cities. These are quite large and also have many secret passages. Often, you will have to go there to explore and research in order to complete quests.
Cities, which also have many secret passages, chests, etc. allow you to collect many quests, run errands (equipment, potions, components, crafting plan, etc.)
In addition, the game is also full of secrets. For example, in order to unlock a chimera, it will be necessary to discuss with many non-player characters to obtain information about its location in order to unlock it on the world map and be able to access it.
Coliseum
Outside of the historical world, there is the Colosseum. The latter will make players fight against different monsters until the confrontation of a boss. The Colosseum is divided into several categories, each with 5 sub-categories requiring to perform 10 fights each in order to face a boss in each increasingly difficult. There is little more to say about this game mode, but it is still quite addicting.
Dimensional vortex
The Dimensional Vortex is the last mode of play. This last one is very interesting and allows to obtain very many things. First, there is the Desire Vortex. This allows the player, once a day, to unlock one of four wings for free:
- Creation chamber
- Room that allows you to obtain items of confection.
- Awakening chamber
- Chamber which allows to obtain materials of awakening.
- Experience room
- Room that allows you to gain a lot of experience.
- Chamber of riches
- Room that allows you to get a lot of Gils.
It is possible to unlock the other rooms for 100 Lapis. However, they will still be closed at the end of the 24 hours.
Each of these rooms has three categories of difficulty, namely Beginner - Intermediate - Pro. In terms of Experience Chambers and Wealth, this rakes in little to a lot of Gils / experiences. On the side of the chamber of creation and awakening, however, each category offers different types of objects. For example, in the Chamber of Awakening, Seeds of Life can only be obtained in Intermediate and Pro modes.
The dimensional vortex is also where temporary events take place! (Unfortunately, I haven't been able to make one yet.)
Heroes and evolutions
Now that we have made the tour of the game modes, we must focus on a very important aspect: the team, the characters and their evolution. Each character has two levels. The first is the level of the character himself (classic level present in any RPG) and the second is the rank of the unit.
The level of a unit determines ... its level! (How does that make sense?) Each level allows, like in any RPG, to increase statistics, unlock new spells, new talents, etc. To increase the latter, all you have to do is fight or "sacrifice" heroes. The heroes used give more or less experience depending on their own level, their rank or there are certain heroes (hello the Pampas) who give a fairly substantial amount of experience. (10 experience for a rank 000 Pampa while a "classic" rank 2 unit only gives 2 on average.)
Next to this is the rank which determines not only the rarity, but also the potency of the character. Each rank allows a unit to have access to new spells, new skills and new talents. However, each unit has its own maximum rank. Where some units can go up to rank 5, others have a maximum rank of 2, or even have only one rank. In order to increase the rank, this requires that the unit has first reached the maximum level. Once the maximum level is reached, it will be necessary to use awakening materials in order to evolve the unit in question.
In addition to the heroes, the adventure allows you to unlock chimeras. While some optional and others not, the latter are very powerful allies who can turn the tide of a fight by inflicting considerable damage on enemies, granting them numerous penalties or even granting big bonuses to heroes. of the team. To be able to use them, you must first link them to a hero. (but it is possible to change which hero a chimera is linked to outside of combat) chimaeras have levels and ranks, just like heroes, and also have a "talent tree" allowing the hero to whom the character is granted. chimera is linked to big bonuses such as increased health point, magic point, element resistances, stat increase, damage, etc. To improve a chimera, you have to use special objects that can be found everywhere, whether in chests, during fights or via quests.
When used in combat, they offer us very beautiful cutscenes which you can find a preview in the video below.
Conclusion
For my part, I am totally won over and I have not let go of the game since its release. The story is very gripping and the different game modes allow you to always have something to do. The economic model can be scary on board, but we can very well do without the store as long as we are a minimum of patient. If you are a fan of Final Fantasy and RPGs in general, I highly recommend it!
- Android version
- Version Apple
