It has a lot of elements of older FF. But it's still not FF and it has a lot of unique things that make it clearly distinct from FF. The main things that make it similar to FF are the job names, abilities, and item names. The structure, battle system, and quest system are notably not particularly FF-ish. I think peoples comparisons of FF to BD kind of tarnish BD's name a bit, if you catch my meaning. It's a perfectly unique and great game in its own right. But no, it's not the Final Fantasy that people think it is. Basically, I want certain things from FF that I don't get with BD. BD is great, but it's not FF. I get and like completely different things between BD and FF.