World of Final Fantasy review - The Final Fantasy / Pokemon hybrid you've always wanted

What happens when you combine Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and Pokemon? World of Final Fantasy, that's what.

As twins Lann and Reynn, you're thrust into the fractured world of Grymoire on a quest to restore your memories by collecting fragments of the past.

Along the way, you also have to capture creatures of all shapes and sizes - called mirages - then delicately stack them on their heads.

Mirages can be likened to Pokemon in that you have to first weaken them, then capture them in a transparent orb.

Once you've done that, you can send the out into battle to earn XP and new abilities from a Mirage Board, which reminded me of the Sphere Grid in Final Fantasy X.

You can even transmogrify the Mirages to help them achieve their final form. For instance, you gain a Choco-Chick early in the game, but you can't ride it until you've levelled it up to a full Chocobo.

But here's where things get interesting. All Mirages are either small, medium, or large in size and therefore must be stacked in a certain way.

When in human form, only small or medium-sized Mirages can be stacked on Lann or Reynn's head. However, when they shrink down to miniature size, they can stand on a large Mirage while having a small one balancing on their head.

Once in a stack, everyone's health and abilities are combined, but you can also fight mobs separately to spread out turns and ensure you don't all get downed in a single blow.

While this can have benefits with strengths and resistances, you'll also need to consider if a Mirage's weakness is causing the rest of the stack to go down far too easily.

World of Final Fantasy is incredibly faithful to the franchise in many ways, but it also puts a unique spin on the established turn-based mechanics to create a refreshing, compelling experience.

That being said, there's a lot to digest. And that's part of the problem with World of Final Fantasy - it can be overly convoluted. In Chapter 6, you're still learning about new features and areas in the game. The information overload wears you out after a while.

There's also a lot of side content on offer as well, such as puzzle switches which specify weight and elemental resistance and Prism Cases which feature boss-like Mirages.

You can even discover hidden pathways which can only be found by Mirages strolling along beside you. Basically, you’ll need to do a lot of back-tracking if you want to make the most of everything.

However, there is something here for every Final Fantasy fan. Familiar faces, spaces, and items have been cleverly meshed together to deliver a magical journey anyone can enjoy.