Chapter 11 is iinteresting. The open world is rough going at first and the change of pace is kind of overwhelming, but you eventually you get into the flow enough that taking down each of the quests is fairly easy and each crystarium pinata feels like a big pop. Knowing when to avoid the difficult enemies is key (since they don’t drop enough points to be worth it anyway). I found myself really enjoying the open world the more I hung out in it. But as soon as I went into the caves and started to progress in the more linear part of the level, it’s gotten a bit frustrating again. I spent about 40 minutes dying against Vanille’s Eidolon. and felt kind of annoyed I didn’t just spend that time grinding up my secondary classes to level 4.
I think I can comfortably say while this game pays off its narrative beautifully and consistently throughout, the pacing is very draining. Every time I boot it up I know I’m going to have to just power through back-to-back-to-back battles. Sometimes the intrinsic pleasure of these fights really connects and feels so nice. Other times it feels tedious, and I can’t really predict when or why that is. It’s a weird game to reassess, because I constantly feel like the more I think, the more I’m missing the forest for the trees. Nonetheless, among the joy and frustration, this game is overbearing in a neutral sense. It demands your attention and attacks you on all sensory levels in a way that replaying older FF games doesn’t feel. It is the opposite of a cozy bedtime game in that way. This part of the game in particular I think would benefit by being a lot more low-key.