Final Fantasy Explorers

You’ll be able to take along any combination of 3 friends, monsters, or strangers via the internet to get the job done. With 12 Eidolons to capture, 21 jobs to unlock, and 10 different historic characters to collect there is more than enough Final Fantasy fan service offered up in Explorers to ensure that it successfully married the best of monster hunter style action RPGs and the Final Fantasy franchise.

It will reward the patient who can see past its flaws.

Final Fantasy Explorers goes far away from the classic franchise but attracts new players with its adventures. Gameplay now adapts to the difficulty that the player wants, offering a challenge to the veterans and a simple adventure to new explorers.

Explorers won't replace 'Monster Hunter' as king of its genre anytime soon, but what's here is an infinitely more accessible game that does more than enough to set itself apart from others like it. It takes a little while before all of its mechanics are fully revealed, and the repetition will be a turnoff for many, but it's an incredibly fun game overall. An extremely strong start to a promising series.

Final Fantasy Explorers plays like an MMORPG that fits your pocket. It offers a lot of freedom in building your own character, and you will have months of fun on 3DS with Final Fantasy Explorers.

Final Fantasy Explorers is a game that both newcomers and veterans to the online Action RPG genre should enjoy greatly.

Final Fantasy Explorers is a cute and interesting variation of the original Monster Hunter formula, aimed at the less hardcore players. If you like Monster Hunter but you can't stand its high difficulty level, this is the game for you.

Well, yeah, Final Fantasy Explorers is obviously trying to go through the “Monster Hunter Route”, and gain some following in that fanbase, but it’s still a pretty deep and fun game, and way more accessible than Capcom’s top seller.

It's no Monster Hunter replacement, but it's a strong start to a new direction for the esteemed RPG series.

The mix with Monster Hunter mechanics works in the end, as the part MMO, part hunting-game combat system delivers some depth and interesting twists. Of course, is way better when enjoyed with coop.

This decent spin-off will be especially enjoyed by Monster Hunter lovers and by the ones who make use of its multiplayer. But it would have been a much better game if the quests were not so repetitive and the visuals were not so simple.

Final Fantasy Explorers never fully captivated me. Building up your character is fun and the Final Fantasy fan in me enjoyed all the callbacks, but it didn't keep me invested. It gives you plenty to tinker with, but doesn't have the meat to back it up.

I like what Square Enix has done with Final Fantasy Explorers. It has some real potential to be great, but as it stands, it might fall short slightly with a more seasoned Final Fantasy adventurer.

Unoriginal and technically lacking, Final Fantasy Explorers tries to make up for it with a large amount of content and fun multiplayer modes.

Despite these flaws, Final Fantasy Explorers offers a good time with friends taking on iconic enemies from the FF universe- just don’t expect much of a challenge.

Shallow as it is content wise, Final Fantasy Explorers is a love letter to Final Fantasy fans with tons of well known items, jobs, spells, monsters and characters.

A new twist for one of the most established and beloved JRPG series well recreated specifically for 3DS. Interesting and plenty of missions to play alone and (much better) with our friends.

Final Fantasy Explorers may tread a new path for the franchise, but it doesn’t offer anything new for the genre.

Easy to pick up, with some fun FF series links, but making the most of it can be too much of a grind. [Feb 2016, p.84]

It certainly succeeds in providing a forum for building personalized heroes to show off in cooperative missions, and has enough content to supply hundreds of hours to those interested. It doesn't, however, have the strategic girth, the environmental depth and detail, nor the quirky and engaging story and characters that Capcom has perfected with its series.

Final Fantasy Explorers has a simple but effective combat system, deeper customization mode and full of jobs and characters variant, but is too repetitive in main quests and subquests. Better in coop mode.

While Final Fantasy Explorers has more than a couple great ideas, they are too plenty to be fleshed out, which makes the game a fresh experience, but can't keep your attention for more than a few dozen hours. That's not a bad thing of course, but it's not a great thing either. Final Fantasy Explorers manages to just rise above mediocrity, but not by much.

Final Fantasy Explorers offers a lighter alternative to players intimidated by Monster Hunter, but know going in that it's a very light experience indeed.

It might not have the highest production values, the core gameplay is undeniably repetitive and the world created can’t really compete with the depth and detail of its more illustrious inspiration, but despite these issues, Final Fantasy Explorers remains a resolutely enjoyable interpretation of the genre.

Final Fantasy Explorers works well as an entry-level experience for anyone looking for something like Monster Hunter. It may not have a plot to follow, but the gameplay value rests on its multiplayer, as well as on its monster and weapon crafting.

Enjoyment of Final Fantasy Explorers is defined by two things: nostalgia for Final Fantasy and the amount of immediate challenge desired.

Whether alone or with friends, Explorers is a worthy investment for those looking to scratch that RPG itch.

This is the first attempt on a series that could have been better in a matter of balance of progression and difficulty. However, it delivers excellent mechanics with a unique taste that differentiate the title among others from the same genre. Unforgettable boss battles, and tons of fan service for followers of the franchise.

Final Fantasy Explorers is a poor Monster Hunter clone but still a reasonably fun game.

Final Fantasy Explorers is a good alternative to other Monster Hunters-like games, with an original gameplay and a good amount of fan service to please Final Fantasy addicts.

The technical hiccups aren't the major obstacle for me. I just felt finished with the game after completing the campaign. The simple mission structure didn't compel me to come back. While I'm sure I could get into specializing my character and hooking up with friends to take on the wealth of extra challenges, I was left with the feeling that they'll be largely the same as the ones I've already completed.

Final Fantasy Explorers does the hardest things well and fails to achieve the easiest ones. It's a game that could have been great, but it just ok.

Final Fantasy Explorers has a litany of pacing issues, particularly when it comes to its quests and, visually, it feels like a DS-era game at times. But players who are willing to jump in with both feet will find a lot to love, and that goes double if you're planning to play through the adventure with a friend.

The sheer number of quests and the complexity of customization will keep you busy for hours. If you like that sort of thing, that is. Even though its economy leaves a bit to be desired, it's not clunky enough to dissuade you from working hard to earn items and craft your ultimate armor.

Final Fantasy Explorers feels like an entry point for the genre rather than a true rival to Capcom's crown - it's accessible and enjoyable, but the shallow nature of the gameplay might leave seasoned players feeling a little cold after extended play.

Final Fantasy Explorers is layered with systems and mechanics, some of which are great and others that aren’t. It all works best when it’s dripping with nostalgia, which might not make for an amazing game, but it makes for a good time if you’re a fan of Final Fantasy. It doesn’t have the nuance or depth of a Monster Hunter game, but it’s a decent, enjoyable experience that is well worth checking out, especially if you can play locally or online.

For a few hours at least, Final Fantasy Explorers is a charming little adventure that’s fun to play alone with your monster buddies or with real-life friends. But repetitive quests, the lack of a serious challenge until late in the story and a poor travel system eventually broke the charm spell that Explorers had cast upon me.

Final Fantasy Explorers is a fun, if shallow, cooperative adventure, but the game pales in comparison to the titles it mimics. [Issue #20 – March/April 2016, p.73]

Is it a shame to get “inspired” by Capcom’s Monster Hunter? No. It is even more accessible than its inspiration. But it also lacks the depth.

Final Fantasy Explorers could have been a nice mix between MMORPG and JRPG. But first of all, it's not worthy the 3DS from a technical point of view. The game is also too easy, too repetitive and lacks some strategical ingredients to be really playable on a long-term basis.

Some life-long players of the franchise may not feel like Explorers has enough Final Fantasy for them. It has a lot — and lets you customize much of it along the way — but it just doesn’t have that “magic feeling” I get when playing a Final Fantasy and knowing that game’s world is at stake.

We are a little bit disappointed with FF Explorers. It feels like it lacks some ambition, but if you like the franchise and the kind of gameplay it relies on, you can find some fun here.

Final Fantasy Explorers is okay. It’s neither a worthy heir to Phantasy Star Online‘s crown nor is it a successful Final Fantasy title in its own right. I mean, did I even mention the story? Yeah, that wasn’t an accident. If you’re desperate for more hunting then you could do worse, but it’s an easy pass for everyone else.

It takes a while for Explorers to really open up and reveal that shining crystal at its centre, but once it does, you can forgive the game its shortcomings and take it for what it is: a respectful homage to both Monster Hunter and Final Fantasy legacies.

Dull encounters mean a great Job system never gets a chance to shine.

Presenting itself as a large dose of fan service, with fun combat sequences and a very good cooperative component, it fails when it starts to get too repetitive and simplistic and its level of challenge comes off as not balanced enough. This intersection between Final Fantasy and Monster Hunter will mostly satisfy the fans of the former but disappoint those of the latter.

Final Fantasy Explorers is a cool concept, but it is ruined by the boring combat and repetitive missions. Even the fanservice can't save a game that makes you fall asleep as soon as you start playing.

Final Fantasy Explorers most certainly isn’t the game that will turn those who have always wondered what Final Fantasy is all about onto the franchise. It does at least provide something new to play on the legions of 3DSes out there, at a time when owners have been particularly ill-served. For confirmed fans it offers a nice, gentle, if non-archetypal, means of re-entering the Final Fantasy universe, whetting their appetites for Final Fantasy XV and VII.

If you're planning some solo monster slaying and don't know your Cloud from your Squall; your Lightning from your Yuna, then you might want to check out something like Monster Hunter instead. However, if you still blubber like a baby every time someone mentions the name Aeris, then Final Fantasy Explorer's exceptional level of fan service will warm you up like a Chocobo onesie.

Final Fantasy Explorers may not be the best spin-off that the series has received, but with the level of fan service and solid gameplay, it still might be worth a look for those who are fans of both Monster Hunter and Final Fantasy.

Final Fantasy Explorers certainly has the potential to grow into worthy Monster Hunter alternative, but its first attempt is a little way off.

Final Fantasy Explorers just feels shallow. It’s not that it is a bad game, it’s just painfully average in almost every respect.

Even though all of its individual pieces did their job, there wasn’t much that made me want to keep playing Final Fantasy Explorers. Even scenic landscapes and potent sentimentality can’t save the game from bland combat and repetitive missions.

While the combat system is enjoyable as you have the ability to change your classes, upgrade and discover new abilities, arm yourself with new gear or craft new ones, there is an ultimate feeling of emptiness to the game.

There’s no denying that Monster Hunter is leagues above the quality of Explorers, but for what it is, this inaugural Final Fantasy spin on the Capcom formula is a satisfying play.