Trying every PS-Plus Extra Game: Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon

I think that for most people that when they enter into a game that looks like this and is actually called "Every Buddy!" on the poster for it that you don't really set your expectations very high when you are going in. I was always going to play it anyway and I have a certain tendency to like Chocobo's anyway since they are pretty delightful characters dating all the way back to the beginning of Final Fantasy lore.

The game is cute and it is reasonably entertaining. The problem that I have with it is the same problem that I have with a lot of Square-Enix games and that is that they put way too much story into this and a lot of it is done with poor voice acting and unskippable cutscenes. This destroys almost any gaming experience in my mind.

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It's silly, it's cute, it's got a wonderful and quite easy to understand learning curve, and for the most part the dungeons are well-designed even though they are procedurally generated.

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The battles and the movement is all turn-based and this can be nice for someone that is looking for a more relaxed game to play after doing something that is likely a lot more intense in another game. You have as much time as you want to choose your next move and this is fun sometimes. None of the early enemies are very difficult at all and I believe they are intentionally designed to be pushovers so you can gain some levels and get familiar with the game. This is typical of all games and I like that it is that way. Nothing complicated happens in the first hour and to me, I think that they were hand-holding a little TOO MUCH in that first hour to the point where I was kind of getting bored really quick.

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I like finding new gear. I like how the dungeons are going to be different for everyone everytime they play it, I also like for a game to be cute. What killed the experience for me is the constant interruption of gameplay so we can have cutscene after cutscene, most of which are voiced over very poorly. The first time I heard Chocobo make it's silly sound that is a response for everything that is said to it I laughed and thought it was super cute. Fast-forward about 127 of the same sound effect and I am getting more than a bit annoyed.

A lot of studios are guilty of intermingling cutscenes or cinematics into the game a bit too frequently but I think no studio is more guilty of this than Square-Enix. All i can say is that there must be enough people out that that actually LIKE this sort of gameplay because they keep doing it with virtually everything they release.

I would have preferred the game if they would interrupt play significantly less with the rather silly story that I don't think many adults are actually going to care about.

Overall I would say that if you actually ENJOY excessive cinematics that you might enjoy this but for me it was a dud: Pass!

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Games I have already tried in my journey to play at least 1-hour of every PS-Plus Extra game

• Gravity Rush 2 (action adventure game with fast movement in every direction. It has RPG elements and a pretty decent story. Make it past the first hour and the game really opens up. Recommended)
• Oddworld: Soulstorm (2D+ platformer with great graphics, sound, and voice-acting. Unfortunately it is plagued with a lot of repetition. Recommended for a few hours)
• Bee Simulator (sort of like a flying FPS game but with no combat. It's graphically impressive and filled with tidbits of knowledge about bees... unfortunately it is repetitive as hell and gets boring fast. Not recommended)
• Prison Architect (a prison management simulator game similar to SimCity. It's a great game but just like most simulation games, it just isn't very playable using a controller. Not recommended on PS4)
• Hotline Miami 2 (a top-down shooter with gruesome violence and terrible AI. Would be great for speedrunners and hardcore gamers. Casuals like me are going to quickly tire with it)
• Battle Chasers: Nightwar (turn based RPG of medium-length that does a good job of teaching you how to play in the first hour. It's pretty old-school and I happen to like that... recommended)
• Chorus (3rd person open-world space fighting game. It's graphically impressive but combat is too repetitive to really hold your interest for the entire story. Still recommended though.)
• Portal Knights (a very well made survival action builder game similar to Minecraft. I really enjoyed this and look forward to playing it more. Recommended)
• Saints Row: The Third (clever and funny FPS game that intentionally puts you in impossible and absurd situations. It's innovative and humorous but ultimately quite dated and got repetitive and boring pretty quick. Not recommended)
• Balan Wonderworld (A rather beautiful 3D(ish) platformer that is extremely easy but still engaging enough to hold your attention for a few hours. Recommended for casual gamers)
• The Artful Escape (an adventure game of sorts with awesome visuals and music, but repetitive areas and controls combined with IMO far too much dialogue makes this game get boring, fast... Worth a look but not recommended to play)
• Until Dawn (interactive horror game that you don't really control a great deal of. It's reasonably entertaining, you can't lose, and the graphics and sound a pretty great. It's not really a game but I enjoyed it and played it to its finish. Recommended)
• 11-11: Memories Retold (a WW1 story that doesn't actually involve much input on the player's part. The game is very boring despite having a wonderful graphical style: Not recommended)
• Desperados 3 (a real time tactics / stealth game that I personally do not feel belongs on consoles at all. If you have never played these sorts of games on PC your opinion might be different. This one gets a "maybe.")
• Maneater (Action RPG where you play the role of a deadly shark. The idea is decent but ultimately the extremely repetitive gameplay makes this one easy to miss. Not recommended)
• TorqueL (physics puzzle platformer that is simplistic at first but quickly becomes maddeningly difficult. Gets boring pretty quickly on consoles and would be better suited as a time-waster on mobile devices. Not recommended on PS4)
• Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon: Turn-based cutesy RPG that is extremely story-driven just like anything Square is involved in. If you are huge fan of Final Fantasy you might like it, for me it was one hour then done forever.

All other games I have already reviewed (there are a lot of them)