"Famitsu" and "Dengeki PlayStation" both praised the story, with "Famitsu" saying it "vividly portrays the fact that this is a deep, intense "Final Fantasy" experience, something beyond just a side story". Gaming website PlayStation LifeStyle's Heath Hindman was impressed by the darker presentation, calling it "powerful and well done throughout", and was impressed with the characters despite some awkward introductory scenes. Erren Van Duine, writing for RPG Site, said that fans would appreciate the scale of the narrative, and praised the handling of the "Fabula Nova Crystallis" mythos. She did note that some plot points seemed only included for the sake of convenience, and that the ending forced a second playthrough to see the whole story.