"A Final Fantasy for Fans and First-Timers" is the first thing you see whenever you boot up Final Fantasy XV. The very first thing, completely plain (white text, black background), before the main menu or anything. When you start a new game, you get an impeccably striking scene: The Boys (our heroes) are pushing their broken-down car through the desert while "Stand By Me" plays. They do some bickering as the sun is setting behind them. If you haven't seen it, I urge you to look up a video, because the scene is incredible.

One of the more memorable parts of FFXV are the interactions between our four heroes: Noctis (the player character), Ignis, Gladius and Prompto. We go everywhere together. We're cool anime-style protagonists with designer clothes and anime-style battle moves. They're always talking, making small talk when nothing's happening, or giving their two cents on story events. Of course, the most memorable segment is the completely shameless product placement miniquest. It comes out of the blue and Gladius talks to straightly about it, it's incredible. Unfortunately, there aren't that many lines, so they get old fairly quick.

FFXV strays very far from the typical Final Fantasy formula. Aside from the names of certain things (e.g. the revive item being a Phoenix Down, a mechanic called Cid), there's nothing immediately recognizable here- battles are realtime, and the setting is mundane. It takes a while for you to recognize this as a FF game. You meet a Chocobo farmer, and can then rent a Chocobo. As the story progresses, you meet Espers and there is talk of The Crystals, and it feels a little more FF-like, and you even realize the game plays like a passive, not an active game. What I mean by that is most action games require timing and reflex to properly attack and dodge. In FFXV, there is no timing required: attacking, dodging and parrying are all done by holding a button. So the designers wanted to make an action-style game that controls like a Final Fantasy, and they were successful in doing so.

The art of FFXV is strange but interesting? Much of the world is filled with just... regular people inhabiting this facsimile of the American Southwest. Simply clothed and living modestly, they're the opposite of our designer-clothing--clad, luxury-car--driving Boys, and while being a bit silly aesthetically, makes some narrative sense as we have been forced out of our life as royalty.

Battles in FFXV get old fast. When you first start, the automatic combos are really cool-looking and deliver satisfaction when you and your friend team up to pull off a combo. However, later on when fights get more difficult, you realize the only way to deal any sort of real damage is by initiating these "Link Combos" which can only be initiated by random when you attack an enemy's back (which for oddly-shaped enemies is often difficult to ascertain) or when you parry an enemy. I want to emphasize that these occurring is completely random, and sometimes they won't ever occur if your AI companions aren't close enough to you. It does not feel good when your only source of damage has a random occurrence. Also, as you might have ascertained, much of the gameplay devolves into wailing on an enemy's back or just waiting them to attack so you can parry it. It also never evolves over the 80 hours of game plus postgame.

The lowest point of FFXV is the endgame, where the game shifts abruptly from open world to linear. It's not that the linearity is the issue, but the emotions they evoke and actions you do make little sense when compared to the rest of the game, which you've been playing for about 40 hours now. It's also very short, lasting maybe 6 hours, before the game ends. As of the time of writing, they are still working on DLC to improve the ending, which is good, I guess?

The high point of FFXV actually occurs in the post-game. They spit you back into the open world, and there's additional dungeons and so on, but that's not what I'm interested in. There's a "special dungeon" which you get to in a "special way." This is nothing like the rest of the game, so I'm not sure you can even call it FFXV anymore (you're not even with your friends), but it's really intense and it feels rewarding to complete. Those 5 hours are my most memorable part of FFXV, and it's a shame it uses nothing mechanistically from FFXV and most players will probably not encounter it.

So is FFXV "A Final Fantasy for Fans and First-Timers"? The game starts light on traditional Final Fantasy content, and gets heavier as it goes on, which in theory should draw a player into the world of FF. Unfortunately the game also deteriorates as it goes on, which goes against the goal. Also given how different it is from the rest of the series, FFXV isn't a good starting point, but maybe SqEnix is taking FF in a new direction now (we'll see with the FF7 remake).

It took me 46 hours to complete the main story, and I spent 40 hours in the postgame (I completed the bonus dungeons and superboss, but not every sidequest).

Final Fantasy XV really is every bit of a lovable mess as I remember it to be. It was the first Final Fantasy game I actually completed and I still feel deeply conflicted over it. There's a lot to criticize here and it deserves pretty much all of it. The story has potential but is a total disaster with how it got spread out across many different pieces of media. The "open world" is very empty feeling and doesn't feel rewarding to engage with. Yet I still came away from my second playthrough feeling like I had a pretty good time. Let's talk about why that is.

The biggest strength of this game is its main cast, AKA "The Boys." As I made my way through the world of Eos they would banter back and forth about recent happenings in the story as well as some fun context-sensitive stuff, such as how cold the dungeon they were exploring was. There's such a massive quanitity of dialogue between them and so much of it felt tailored to where I was in the game that it never got annoying. It does a spectacular job of cementing them as a group of bros who are willing to put everything on the line for each other. As this friendship is a major theme of the game, it's a very good thing that this particular element was pulled off so successfully.

But oof, the events going on that they'll comment on are tough to follow. Having this be my second playthrough of the game helped a bit; I was able to pick up on some plot details I missed the first time. I also watched the accompanying film, Kingsglaive, which adds some additional context. This helped tremendously in the early hours of the game, but even still by the midpoint it just feels like so much is happening offscreen. Many literal world-shifting sequences are simply not given the breathing room or direct reflection from the cast that they deserve. This issue only compounds as the second half of the game keeps rolling.

But hey, at least the game looked pretty while it rapid fired crazy plot sequences at me. It's not quite my favorite of the franchise in terms of art direction, but I can't deny that the world of Final Fantasy XV feels premium and big budget. The cities have such a sense of scale, even if in reality you can't explore a huge part of them. It helps sell the setting, at least. Some eye candy can't hurt here and there. The character models also look pretty great. The main cast are all expressive and well animated, even if a little over-exaggerated sometimes with how they move. NPCs don't look too bad either.

There is of course the infamous Cup Noodle mission in this game. It's so odd. Part of me wants to like it because of how silly it is, but it just feels... I don't know, trashy? The way Gladiolus is always salivating over the truck and keeps going on about how "it's more than just soup" is just too much. If the Monster energy drinks in Death Stranding toed the line, this particular brand deal goes way over it.

Square Enix also clearly wanted to chase after the open world game concept, which was (and still sorta is) the hot thing at the time. I don't hate the open world in this game, as I did still have fun rolling around in the Regalia, but it's very lacking. It's mostly big empty fields with the occasional tiny item or some enemies scattered around. Totally not worth exploring. I do enjoy doing the hunt side quests, but they don't improve upon the ones present in Final Fantasy XII in any meaningful way and can feel tedious to deal with due to how large the world is.

The magic and equipment systems similarly feel undercooked. Magic is crafted from elemental resources you can collect from various draw points near campsites. There's basically no reason to use it though because very few monsters have a significant resistance to your melee attacks, which aren't limited by a resource, and it's clunky to stop and aim in combat. Equipment is basically a bunch of stat sticks with small differences. I found myself using whatever sword and accessories had the biggest number on them for like 95% of the game. There's very little incentive to switch.

The ascension skill tree is actually not bad, but it feels less exciting to progress than the similar skill trees present in X, XII, and XIII, which is a shame. Many of the upgrades don't feel all that worthwhile because of how situational they are. There's just not enough nuance to the combat system to make the different skills and stuff feel worth investing in.

This all feels like a gripefest but the highpoints are really high for me in Final Fantasy XV. The game is totally hard carried by Noctis, Gladiolus, Ignis, and Prompto's bromance to the point where even though the plot was a total shitshow I still felt myself getting teary-eyed at the end. The finale at least feels truly epic, especially with the bosses they added in for the Royal Edition of the game. I felt like I was able to put aside the mess that had come before and focus in on taking down the big baddy of the game once and for all.

This is a bit of a tough game to recommend, with all of its issues. It's an empty open world game and a JRPG with uninteresting character progression and a messy story. Yet it's strangely enjoyable in spite of these things. I could see myself returning to mess around with whatever postgame content there is, but probably not anytime soon.

As I’ve been happily plugging away at Final Fantasy XVI, I’ve also been playing its direct predecessor, 2016’s Final Fantasy XV. I originally wasn’t planning to, but I picked up the PC version of the game during the Steam Summer Sale and blew through the game on my Steam Deck. Oops!

Anyway, to this day, Final Fantasy XV is a title that I find very difficult to digest (So, sorry if I have a lot to say!). It had an infamously troubled development, beginning life as a Final Fantasy XIII spinoff for the PS3, spearheaded by Kingdom Hearts mastermind Tetsuya Nomura. After several years, development for the game was restarted under the watch of Hajime Tabata, who eventually became the sole director of the project and repurposed a lot of the original concepts into something that was barely recognizable to those who were following the title since its initial announcement. Ultimately, Versus XIII's promise of a dark and mature Final Fantasy would not become a reality until this year—and in a much different form—with Final Fantasy XVI.

Tabata has received his fair share of criticism from those who might dislike Final Fantasy XV, but I believe that without the change in leadership, the project likely would have faced outright cancellation. Final Fantasy XV becomes, in a way, a kintsugi piece—a work of art pieced together from the shattered remnants of Nomura's initial vision, with clearly visible cracks.

A game with such a tumultuous pre-release history is inevitably going to have some baggage, and boy does XV have it. This game has so much going on that it's difficult to break down, but I like to start by splitting the package up into two very distinct sections in its runtime: the open world section (Chapters 1-8) and the linear section (Chapters 9-14). Even within these two buckets there are a lot of peaks and valleys, but the juxtaposition of these two sections, and how they abrasively run into each other, contributes to the game's disjointed and unfinished feel.

Despite its cracks, though, Final Fantasy XV is also astoundingly beautiful and touching. It's a character-driven tale about the profound bonds we forge with our friends, and the sacrifices that we are willing to make for those that we hold dear. It is about duty, responsibility, and coming to terms with one's own destiny. These resonant themes are woven into numerous poignant moments that remain just as powerful today as they were upon the game's release in 2016.

CHAPTERS 1-8

I always found the open world portion of XV to be very enjoyable. This section of the game follows Noctis and entourage of emo BFFs as they deal with the fallout from events that are not well explained in-game, and are instead relegated to a prequel film called Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV. Even as someone who finished the game back when it was first released, I found the story to be occasionally incomprehensible during my replay, as you are thrust into pursuing ancient tombs and divine blessings without proper context. Despite the sense of aimlessness this creates, there's an immediate charm emanating from the characters that compensates for it.

Noctis is the prince and heir to the kingdom of Lucis, and he's on a mission to meet up with his childhood friend, pen pal and Oracle of Tenebrae Lunafreya, as part of an arranged marriage between their kingdoms. Noctis is a bit blasé about the situation, and is regularly called out for not taking his role as seriously as he should. Thankfully he's joined by his three best friends, Ignis, Gladiolus and Prompto, and the relationship between these four is the element that carries this entire game on its shoulders.

The dialogue can be goofy, and the tone is much more lighthearted than you would think. This section of the game is akin to a cozy road trip with your friends, as the group travels around the countryside not only completing quests, but also discovering a wide array of side activities like fishing, chocobo racing, photography and hunting.

There are certainly many quirky aspects to this game that might rub people the wrong way. While the open-world driving might conjure images of Grand Theft Auto, driving is actually much more restrictive than you'd imagine. You are mostly driven automatically to whatever destination you choose from a menu. Though you can take manual control if you desire, you can only drive off road by obtaining an upgrade to your car that was added in a post-release patch. Combat appears to be action-focused, but I find it much more enjoyable to enable the game's "Wait" mode, which lets you treat it like a tactical combat system by pausing time and letting you be more methodical about your decisions.

Combat in general is a weak point of the game. Noctis, who was the only playable character at launch, feels dismal to control. His actions have this weird delay to them, and the "ideal" way to play is to hold the attack button to have him automatically attack the enemy at his pre-determined pace. This is something that felt especially jarring coming from the polished and fluid combat of Final Fantasy XVI. One of the most frustrating aspects is the game's battle camera, which annoyingly puts itself in the worst positions possible when targeting specific enemies, a task that arises frequently. Noctis does have some variety to him, at least, as he has access to several weapon types such as one-handed swords, greatswords, lances and magic spells.

On the other hand, the game has a surprising amount of depth thanks to the Ascension system, which is basically a series of in-depth skill trees that let you specialize into many of the game's core systems. There are a lot of impactful abilities that you can gain, with one game-changer being the ability to play as your other party members, which made the combat much more enjoyable than I remember. I'll delve further into my thoughts on each character's playstyle when discussing the DLC content.

In the grand scheme of open world RPGs, XV is certainly not the best. In fact, the game is ridden with the jank and buggyness that was typical of the genre at the time. But this game remains enjoyable because it's also a very interesting and experimental take on the formula, largely attributable to the game's Final Fantasy DNA. Revisiting the game really was a pleasure, and its shortcomings become easily overshadowed when focusing on the overall experience rather than the isolated aspects that may fall short of greatness.

CHAPTERS 9-14

In Chapter 9, something pretty significant happens--you are taken out of the open world. While you can revisit it through your "memories" at rest points, from then on you can only advance the story in these more linear sections. Perhaps uncoincidentally, the pacing of the story greatly improves. Numerous major twists turn the experience on its head, and a darker mood pervades as the game hurtles towards its conclusion.

It is in this section of the game that the truly brilliant story moments occur, moments that, while at times still clumsily delivered, really made the game feel more cohesive. But at the same time, the gameplay also becomes much less interesting. The exploration is totally gone, replaced with small setpieces that are much less interesting than the open world. The intriguing dungeons of the game's initial section give way to monotonous hallways and bombastic combat encounters that expose the game's flawed combat system. It's a disappointing shift. The environments feel like scrapped bits that were cobbled together to give the narrative a satisfying conclusion, and that's it.

Thankfully, that conclusion itself is still grand and satisfying. By the end, I was awestruck by the entirety of the experience, and it's worth mentioning that some of the post-launch updates to the game's final chapters alleviate certain issues present in the original version of the game.

DLC

Of course, that wasn't the end of Final Fantasy XV. There are five DLC experiences that help expand the story to various degrees, and I played all of them.

The first DLC, Episode Gladiolus, offers the least story content of the bunch. It revolves around Gladio's quest to confront the enigmatic Blademaster and gain more power. You do get some additional details about Cor, but not really any important insight into Gladio's character. The episode primarily consists of a lengthy, linear dungeon featuring combat encounters that highlight Gladio's new combat system. As you would expect, Gladio has a heavier feel than Noctis, but his controls are not all that different from Noctis with a greatsword. In a nice departure from the easiness of the main game, Episode Gladiolus can also be pleasantly challenging.

Episode Prompto is the second DLC, and probably the weakest of the pack. Prompto has the most distinct combat style, having access to weapons that turn the game into a pseudo third-person shooter. While this has promise on paper, XV doesn't excel at being a competent shooter. The enemies are boring as heck, and the AI doesn't offer a good challenge. The story does give more breathing room to a certain detail about Prompto's past, but it doesn't really have any important revelations that make it a recommendable addition to the overall canon.

Episode Ignis, chronologically preceding Episode Prompto, takes place during a pivotal story moment in Altissia. This is the first of the DLCs that really helps positively augment the story of the main game, giving much needed additional depth to not only Ignis, but also Ravus. From a gameplay standpoint, this is where the DLCs become interesting. It unfolds within a small, explorable section of the city and introduces a delightful hookshot that allows swift access to rooftops. The episode has an interesting mechanic where you "reclaim" portions of the city by clearing the area of enemies. Iggy controls similarly to Noctis, but has a mechanic that lets you switch between elemental modes that prioritize single-target damage, area of effect damage, or mobility. This one is a must-play if you enjoy the main game.

The last of the episodic story DLCs is Episode Ardyn, and it's also the beefiest of the bunch. Not only does it do a great job of fleshing out one of the most important characters in the game, it also includes very important lore tidbits about the world itself that make the story feel more coherent.While this information should have been included in the main game, this DLC effectively remedies that oversight. The primary gameplay segment allows you to assume the role of Ardyn in a sizable portion of the city of Insomnia, building upon the gameplay concepts introduced in Episode Ignis. Ardyn can warp to rooftops similarly to Iggy's' hookshot, but he possesses additional mobility through a magical warp ability. The gameplay has you navigating to several points on the map to take on powerful enemies, and it's really quite fun. I'd say this is the most essential of the DLCs.

Last, but not least, is Comrades. This is the odd duck of the bunch, as it was FInal Fantasy XV's multiplayer mode. However, since the online functionality was discontinued in 2020, you can't match with random players, and have to play with AI partners instead. Comrades takes Final Fantasy XV’s core mechanics and presents them in a structure similar to Monster Hunter. You create a custom character who is recruited to take on missions from the hub city of Lestallum. You take on missions to hunt specific monsters in a group of four, and are rewarded with experience, gil and meteor shards. The main gameplay loop revolves around using these rewards to purchase items, upgrade weapons, and unlock additional outposts and missions by spending meteor shards. This is the only DLC of the bunch that I did not play to completion. Unlike the other DLCs, which can be completed in around an hour, Comrades is a much longer affair. Unfortunately, I found it less compelling without real companions to play with, and after around four hours, I decided to drop it.

CONCLUSION

Despite its many blemishes, I completely fell in love with Final Fantasy XV, and that love hasn't changed in the years since its release. If anything, it's grown thanks to Square Enix's commitment to refining and enhancing the experience. And while the resulting game is still far from perfect, it's definitely enough for me to consider it a worthy entry in this franchise. The narrative themes, the amazing music from Yoko Shimomura, and the mesmerizing world still carry the same impact as they did six or so years ago. Okay, now finally, back to playing Final Fantasy XVI.

I often found myself talking to the TV asking, "did you even play test your own game?" Who was in charge of camera design? Did the thought of occlusion detection occur? Having the trees become transparent when fighting in one of FFXV's many forests might have been a first thought.

Driving on rails is horrible. You're left with the choice of letting Ignis drive you, or driving yourself by.... holding down a button. At first I thought it was just because they spent so much time building the auto drive code that they just didn't put in regular driving code - this isn't GTA after all. However, there is a section later in the game where you drive OFF THE RAILS. So the code exists. SE just decided, Nah, you don't need to control your car.

Another insanity inducing bug is the game's desire to have you push X to pick something up or mount your chocobo, only to have you jump instead and then disappear the action prompt for a second, thus making our itchy trigger thumbs mash X again, thus jumping again.

The game, as most people say, is visually appealing, it definitely has that going for it. The story was 'okay'. It really felt like it rehashed many aspects from previous games, and I think they missed a huge opportunity at the end of the game to explore the surroundings (probably rushed by corporate greed needs - it had been 10 years).

I try to write this all off as the fact that I'm getting old and maybe I'm just becoming a codger, but I can't deny that the game just seems poorly executed. Add to that my firm belief that I didn't just play a FF game, I played Kingdom Hearts with an FF name. I've read reviews where people loved the action based fighting, and I don't mind it in and of itself, but if I wanted KH, I would have played KH. I know SE has always used the FF franchise to innovate and try new things, but can I please have my FF back?

During the year this game came out, I was watching a television show called “Supernatural” and I saw news of an upcoming game that had a cast of characters that reminded me of the show, which happened to be Final Fantasy XV. I liked the character design of Noctis in particular since he felt as if he was a character from that show that was dropped into an even more fantasy driven setting compared to the urban setting of the show. This game was the first experience I had with the role-playing game genre that wasn't a Nintendo property. In hindsight, it's kind of funny for me to say that some CW show was the catalyst for my love for the genre, but its true. You start the game pushing a busted up car, get it fixed at an auto-body shop, and later use it to travel across the map, all with a 4-man crew of bros that engage in some quirky small-talk and show deep loyalty to one another all while taking down monsters through their journey. In the show, the main characters are brothers who fight demons and monsters, and are often driving across the country in a vintage looking car, and also banter with each other... sounds kind of similar no?

I was introduced to a large open-world with several different locations, monsters, npcs, and quests to interact with. There's even stuff like fishing and chocobo riding, all of which I found pretty cute. Throughout my experience, what I personally found the most appealing was the soundtrack, to which I fell in love with a good chunk of the tracks. Omnis Lacrima and Somnus in particular left a strong impression on what I perceived to be me being thrown into a epic story filled with a lot of drama, all in tandem with a visually stellar game filled with explosions, beasts, magic, and last but not least, pretty looking guys and gals. It just goes to show how great of a composer Yoko Shimomura is and was absolutely my favorite part about the entire game. I look forward to eventually playing the Kingdom Hearts series as I often hear praise for her work on those soundtracks as well.

With those positives though come some downsides that I felt mixed on, which was largely on the combat, progression, storytelling, and characters. Several of the characters have some rather standard character arcs that I did not feel particularly attached to, the locations you visited, while gorgeous, were often a bit forgettable, and the combat in particular wasn't very engaging or challenging in spite of this being an action role-playing game. A lot of the content in this game was also spent on doing various quests that involve running around the giant map with not much else to do besides some npcs or enemies to defeat, or just fetching things or defeating some boss. Personally, several of the ideas that the designers had in mind weren’t fleshed out well enough for a 30 hour game. By the end of the game, I was a bit shocked by how underwhelming it all was, however I thought the main villain and his motivation for actions to be somewhat interesting.

What also disappointed me was the amount of DLC this game had received over time, which was mostly centered on each of the party members besides Noctis and giving them more stuff to do and explore as far as their characterization goes. To me, this felt as if the developers weren't able to meet the deadline set by the publishers, so a lot of the content they had scrapped earlier then was just repurposed into extra content. I eventually learned that this title was at first conceived as a part of the Final Fantasy XIII sub-series instead of a standalone game, which makes its shortcomings a bit more clear... but not only that, apparently this game was in development for 10 YEARS???

Square Enix has a lot of pride as a result of the success it had throughout the years and it may have played a role on why this game was stuck in development hell for so long. Some of the staff felt confident enough to revisit the concepts and make it an entry of the series separate from XIII game later on, and I think that partly may be the reason for why I felt that this title was as bland as it was, especially compared to several other role-playing games i would play later on in the future, some of which being in the exact same franchise. Overall, I had a fine experience with this game. It played a pivotal role towards introducing me to not only the expansive final fantasy series, but also several other RPG franchises, but it’s unlikely that I can recommend this game to anyone or revisit it outside of listening to the soundtrack. Kupo!

Upon launching the game you are always greeted with “A Final Fantasy for fans and first-timers” and I wondered a lot about what the purpose of this statement was. To me this is as much a warning as it is a welcome, for fans I can see a lot of positive and negative reactions to the game and be prepared for radical changes to the formula. I think what this message truly is supposed to mean is that this is a newFinal Fantasy game, and if you’re new or played before and didn’t like it, then you will probably like it. Personally I enjoyed it, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss some of the classic Final Fantasy staples such as the long story and turn based combat.

Story

I have mixed opinions about the story, I’ll start with the negatives. For a Final Fantasy game, it’s quite short on content, I pretty much 100% cleared the game in ~45 hours and I wasn’t trying to rush it. If you ignored the side quests, which you absolutely can because they are mostly tedious and dull, I’m sure this game could be easily finished in 20 hours. In most story driven games I find an open world to greatly detract from the pacing of the story, and whilst that does happen here it’s not the worst example of incorporating modern open world mechanics in a story driven game and only seems out of place in one section. The story starts very strong, however the last third of the game is quite predictable and definitely the weakest part. The friendly and enemy tertiary characters lack substance, especially if you don’t play the DLCs.

The relatively small amount of story here is very good, and feels much like a Final Fantasy game which is great. The secondary characters are amazing, and when expanded upon with the anime, movie and side DLCs it comes together to form a very intricate and engaging story about the characters and their relationship. The main villain is quite interesting and superbly voice acted, though they never feel particularly dangerous. The FMVs as usual are absolutely beautiful.

Overall the fairly short main story is very good, and with some tweaks to the open world and questing it could’ve been amazing. I personally enjoyed the additional content, but I can see how this would annoy people and an argument could be made that it is lazy storytelling. The secondary characters are the absolute highlight.

Gameplay

Final Fantasy XV is the most radical departure from the mainline Final Fantasy games, except maybe the MMOs. The game adopts a full action approach similar to Crisis Core and you only have control over the main character. This system took me quite a long time to get used to, and was a shock at first, however overall the system works well. I will miss the turn based style of previous games, but it’s not up to me to decide. I can see this approach achieving more widespread success in the long-term.

In addition to the combat another area that is vastly different is the quest system. I can’t remember exactly if Final Fantasy XIII was the same, however XV has a very traditional western style quest log. This quest log stores main, side and hunting quests and you can set a quest to focus on and it will mark it on your map. To me this is one of the least Final Fantasy characteristics of this game, and it really detracted from the game overall. In the past quests were not so explicit and it was fun to talk to various characters about rumour or requests, or explore dungeons at your own free will. I feel this quest log greatly dumbs down the experience and negates the player’s own desire for exploration.

The passive upgrade trees were quite interesting, and is a good implementation of player choice and customizability. There is a large variance between the playstyles of the different upgrade trees, which adds to replayability. Levelling up is very underwhelming compared to previous games, and in general seems less important now for the most part due to the more skill based combat. There is a limited selection of equipment, and this was definitely the biggest disappointment in regards to the character progression.

Boss fights were a mixed bag. There are several memorable and awesome set pieces in great locales, however the mechanics are very basic and it’s easy to just hack and slash your way to victory. Another gripe I have with the boss battles is how getting their health bar to 0 does not result in the death of the boss, and often you have to wait for a scripted event to actually kill the boss, worst case scenario for me was about half a minute after I had gotten their health down, this takes away a lot of the enjoyment when defeating bosses.

Overall the game is very easy. My hunch is that they had to balance it for people who didn’t do the side content, whereas I did all the side content. I only died a couple of times and that was very within my first 10 hours when I was doing something I was underleveled to do, after that the game become a breeze.

Presentation

The graphics of the game are absolutely beautiful, it has that classic Final Fantasy style and the character models are brilliantly detailed with topnotch animations. Another standout in regards to graphics is the spell effects, all round the game has brilliant elemental effects. The performance was not as good as I was expecting, and my PC struggled to maintain a 60 FPS on medium-high settings at 1440p, I also encountered semi-regular stuttering. The music is very good overall, and I love that you can listen to old Final Fantasy (and Nier) soundtracks, this was a nice bonus for fans to experience some nostalgia.

I haven't played a game in awhile that managed to put so much emotion and camaraderie in the most simple of quests. Hunting frogs, taking photos, going fishing...fighting for the sake of the empire. All of it just feels like a fun adventure with a stellar group of characters that make what seems like a tired old JRPG into a fresh and thrilling encounter.

Switching between open-world areas and short-but-sweet cinematic segments, Final Fantasy XV seems like a mess on paper but manages to encourage exploring every single nook and cranny without being so punishingly boring or vague. Trailing through the breadcrumbs of every quest the game has to offer is a wonderful way to progress through the story, which starts off eh and ends with a bang.

Combat is swift, seeming awkward at first but lending itself to a unique action system that pushes the player to blindside and warp at every opportunity, with some interesting side tactics like crafting spells and taking advantage of teammates.

What seemed buggy to many before is definitely fixed up by now, and XV is a large and ambitious enterprise, seeming to fall short but picking right back up again with a solid, heartfelt, and engaging adventure.

And believe me, even Chapter 13 is good.

8/10

I just want to get my thoughts out there so here are points, in no order or anything, with some general thoughts on Final Fantasy. I also don't care how bad the writing or English is because I want to go to bed.

I've wanted to love a Final Fantasy again for a very long time. A very long time. I'm one of these guys who have been with it since it was supposed to be an actual final fantasy, and I count 6 and 7 as two of my favourite games of all-time, with 4, 9 and even 10 being amazing experiences. 8 was great in a lot of ways but the Junction system pissed me off. 5 was... fun. But I haven't actually been in love with the series since, and I wanted FFXV to bring me back in.

There are moments I truly love and feel that adoration for Final Fantasy again. There are also times it pisses me off. There are mechanics that work incredibly well, and then there are elements that try to shit on those systems. It's a frustrating game that is sometimes rewarding. What a bunch of ups and downs. Ultimately, it's not what I needed it to be, but as a whole it's a damn good game.

- The combat is a lot of fun. Sometimes the camera is wonky and annoying, but Square has done a great thing here with their action RPG, making a system that could have been deeper but didn't really need to be. It works, and that's what matters. It reminds me a lot of The Last Story, actually, which isn't a bad thing.

- Leveling up is different. You have to sleep to get all your experience, and it has a sphere grid type thing where you put AP into stuff. On that note, you can customize what weapons you're using since Noct can use anything, but only up to 4 different types at a time.

- I'm not sure how I feel about magic. You craft it and you can use items to make it stronger, but it has a limited use. It is incredibly powerful and dangerous (even to yourself), so it does actually do a better job than most games in the series of making magic seem like something truly devastating, rather than something you can continuously cast. Narratively speaking, it's neat, but gameplay wise... not my fave.

- But the summons are neat. Again, uses are limited, but it actually makes them seem even cooler, so I'm okay with it.

- I like how many risks they have taken with an old property, while throwing in plenty of nostalgia items to keep old fans entertained and giddy. However, sometimes they are trying to do too much and don't flesh out everything.

- Oh yeah, driving around in your car listening to old FF soundtracks, yeeeeees.

- It's also two games in one, kind of like Metal Gear Solid 5 was. The first half is open world: you drive around in your car, do side-quests, explore a little bit, level up, buy shit, hunt shit, cook shit, fish shit, photograph shit, find shit. I don't think the side-quests are especially interesting, but I have to accept the fact that not every game is The Witcher 3 (yes, I know that game had repetitive quests too, but there were also amazing side-quests thrown in there with stories that are better than most games... hell, even some of the minor quests had people who had some actual background). But they work for people who aren't sick of open worlds, which I kind of am. Still, it gave me something to do and does give a certain satisfaction when they're completed.

- On that same wavelength, the main story quest is actually pretty simple for the first half. You need to find some super weapons, you meet a couple characters that may or may not be the main villain, you learn that shit has gone sideways. There are moments where Square was trying to craft a compelling story, but it's clear that they were focusing on the gameplay; in that way I feel it is MGS5. I actually don't like that. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the first half because I did, but Final Fantasy used to be about the story, regardless of what people seem to be saying these days. What story was there was not told as well as it could be, with plot holes, jumping around and seemingly cutting out important pieces of information that we should have known, and a lack of depth. I'm not kidding, there were a lot of times where something happened and I was like, "Um, why is this going on?" The old games usually took time to build their tales, this did not. I even laughed out loud occasionally at how amateurish it could be. There are definitely times where it was memorable, like in some of the flashbacks, but for half of the game I was just enjoying how the game played.

- Then the game gets linear. A lot of games in the series are basically linear, though they give an illusion of freedom; there are obviously exceptions. From Chapter 9 on, you spend a lot of time on a train, and the game pushes you along. I was... not in love necessarily with how they were doing it, but I was okay with it. I was fine because they amped up the story and suddenly I gave a shit about what was going on.

- Up until that point, the story was meh (as I said), but I forgot to touch on how great the relationship between the characters is. Seriously, this is one of the most organic friendships in the series, one of the few times where they truly felt like brothers. We've had great casts, great interactions between characters, but I don't know if we've had anything quite like this. They talk like friends, act like friends, and they are the backbone to this. That's why the game can get away with kinda poorly telling its relatively shallow story, because the characters are strong.

- So I was solid on an 8 or an 8.5 (down from a 9, because after you play for a while, some of the problems really surface), which is respectable. Then Chapter 13 hit. Everything bad that you have heard is true: it's a long-ass dungeon that isn't in the least bit entertaining, and it isn't until the end of the lengthy chapter that things get decent. It knocked the game down to a 7. I briefly hated the game, why was I playing this?

- Then the game redeemed itself because the final bit is awesome. Great environment, incredible boss battles and memorable moments within said battles, and an ending that makes a person cry. This is the Final Fantasy I wanted, and if the rest of the game could have built more organically to this moment, it would have been truly special. The other chapters from 9 on, outside of 13, did do a good job of ramping things up, but I still wish the first half would have had a little bit more of it. They flirted with it, but they just moved on from things quickly. They let the story fester more here, and the final chapter managed to bring it back up to an 8.

So, final thoughts: it's a great game. It's not a classic FF. They took chances that didn't always worked, pooped all over one chapter, and then ended it with a bang. Oh, and when the typical Final Fantasy ending music hits at the end, I raised my first in triumph. It felt like I deserved it.

ACTION RPG - Noctis and his three friends go on an adventure to stop the impending invasion of daemons.

PROS:

++ Main cast. My love for this game really boils down to the main four characters: Noctis, Gladiolus, Ignis, and Prompto. If these four were insufferable and annoying, my score would drastically drop. But thankfully, that's not the case. I truly fell in love with their friendship with one another. As the game went on, you truly started caring for each one. They all brought something to the table, on and off the field. Their quips and banter with each other sounded organic and realistic and often made me chuckle. The four are very "anime-esque" which I love, and their dynamic with each other really reminded me of some of the main characters in One Piece (Zoro/Gladiolus, Usopp/Prompto, Sanji/Ignis). Suffice it to say, I got really emotional at the end when Noctis sacrificed himself and had to say farewell to the three. And the epilogue around their last campfire when he told them how much he appreciated their loyalty almost made me cry. Though I wasn't too invested in the overall plot, I was however incredibly invested in the well-being and friendship of the main 4. When all is said and done, it truly felt like I went on an adventure with my best friends. All those campfire food eaten, group photos taken, car rides, and battles together will be fondly remembered.

++ Flashy, frenetic combat. For the first few hours, I really bounced off the combat. But after making two main changes (changing to control scheme B, and turning on Wait Mode) the combat finally clicked. Up to the very end, I always found the battles to be fun. Warp-striking, phasing, parrying, link-strikes, special abilities, and all the different weapon types made combat incredibly flashy and fun to play. The camera can be unruly at times, but for the most part it worked well during combat. It was especially fun fighting bigger enemies or when you have to handle a large crowd of enemies. It isn't the most demanding or difficult combat system, but it's fun nonetheless.

++ Gorgeous visuals. Apart from the basic looking NPCs, the rest of the world looked great. I found myself often pausing to just take in the beautiful vistas.

++ The Astral Six. The setpieces that revolve around the Six were quite jawdropping. The fight with Titan, the first time I summoned Ramuh and he scorched everything beneath him, the fight with Leviathan, when Titan, Ramuh, Leviathan, Shiva, and Bahamut work together to take down Ifrit's barrier, and also the final fight with Ifrit. I wasn't able to summon them often, but when I did, my jaw was always on the floor afterwards.

++ Music. Great soundtrack, and on top of this, you get to listen to the soundtrack of the other FF games while riding the Regalia.

++ Bestiary. I loved the design of the enemies, specifically all the mini-bosses scattered around the world. They were also fun to fight, and there is enough diversity that you won't see the same enemy again and again.

++ Sense of exploration. Though I'm not a fan of most of the side quests, I really liked exploring this open world. Most open worlds are not that compelling to explore, but I found myself just roaming around on my Chocobo, and exploring the world in FFXV.

CONS:

-- Confusing story. Underneath it all, I think there was an interesting story to unravel. But the story was told in such a confusing way. I didn't understand many of the plot points and revelations since I had no clue what was even going on. Looking into it, it seems that you need to watch the movie, read the book, and play all the DLC's at certain times, in order for the story to make cohesive sense. I'm never a big fan of having to consume outside sources of lore in order to understand a game's story. A game should stand on its own.

-- Late-game grind. I tend to compartmentalize and play through the main story first, then do side activities. But when I did that for this game, I was way underleveled for the final mission. So I had to disregard the story (which I don't like doing) in order to grind for EXP and level up. I know it's not unique with this game, and that grinding is a staple of JRPGs, but I'm not the biggest fan of it.

-- Texture pop-in. I played the game on "lite" mode which prioritized smooth framerate. But while using this setting, textures pop in and out during in-game cutscenes. It's not gamebreaking, but it was annoying since it was present the entire game.

-- Overwhelming introduction. The game does a poor job of explaining all the different game mechanics. It feels like everything is thrown on you at once and I felt overwhelmed by all the different systems. If it had eased the player in gradually, it would have been a better experience.

-- Chapter 13. I understand the purpose of this chapter: to make Noctis feel powerless and helpless without his friends. But did it have to go on for so long? That chapter was boring and tedious and was 1 hour longer than it needed to be.

-- Side Characters. Besides the main villain Ardyn, and Noctis' ally Cor, none of the side characters were all that memorable because none of their backstories are truly explored. Ardyn, Cor, and Ravus all had so much potential that they didn't tap into.