Final Fantasy XV: Platinum Demo Thread

Just finished playing it. Definitely not as panic inducing as expected, graphics are nice, music is really really nice, the game has charm etc......

I managed to find some hidden depth in the combat through the use of all dodge mechanics.

Dodge roll
Jumping
Phantom Dodge (L1)
Warm dodging (Triangle)

Unlike Duscae you can now warp freely around the field and enemy using Triangle. It's a massive improvement and adds a lot to battles.

Improvements to be had tho. Would recommend they do another free demo closer to release.
 
Not a great demo. Kid Noctis? Really? This demo does nothing but hurt the potential appeal to players that aren't necessarily interested in FFXV. Bland gameplay, sterile environments, graphics that are pretty meh honestly. Fighting grunts holding O was boring and unsatisfying. The demo feels like FFXIII and KH had a baby.

I get the sense that we were supposed to be feeling a sense of wonder as we played this demo, like look at the weather change, hey you will be driving vehicles (which control adequately at best - it wasnt fun driving), look you are an animal!

I hope they have a new demo before release, this seems like an awful representation of the game, aside from maybe the final battle.
 
I would have like to see the menu, map design, or a little bit of crafting system(if here is a one), or magic system, To see how deep everything can be other then a formal normal action RPG. Everything look soo simple right now that i really want to know more.
 
mcz117chief said:
Is there any other weapon unlock for young Noctis besides shinning hammer? Is there a shinning sword too?
Click to expand...

Not sure if there are any requirements to get it, but the sword is near the block castle around the first group of enemies you fight near the ramp.
I jumped down on it, but if you hug the wall you should be able to find it.
 
orioto said:
The demo looked like SE is more preoccupied by showcasing all its brand new techs, by making them run horribly on underpowered platforms, rather than making games, sense and telling stories..
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A lot of the trailers yesterday had lingering shots of time lapsed places.

I don't know how they wanted me to react... it looked good, but it wasn't impressive. AFAIK this engine could have the best lighting in the industry but it didn't look like a big deal.
 
First off: I think it was a not-so-smart decision to call this 'FFXV Platinum Demo' instead of 'FFXV Tech showcase' or 'Tech demo' since I'm seeing people all over the place talking about this as if it was a regular demo when it's not. Square Enix' constant obsession with giving every fart a special name kinda bites them in the ass with this.

That being said: I think for a tech showcase it was nicely structured and does its job. It's very cool to be able to walk through different settings and apply different weather and time conditions on them without loading times or anything between each change. While textures can be hit and miss and some of the geometry is lacking, the game can look pretty stunning at times due character models, shaders and their light tech. Every weather condition changes the entire vibe and doesn't feel just tacked on. I also like how when you switch to night everything gets dark for a second until lights slowly go on.

The biggest stinker though are the performance issues: yes, we can point at this and say "it's a demo!", but honestly I don't think that the performance will magically improve at release since the jumps from Duscae 1.0 to 2.0 and from 2.0 to this have been really small. With those visuals and the kind of gameplay I could easily live with 30 FPS but the game seems to run at a very unstable framerate. I guess at the end of the day this just shows how bad of an engine Luminous is when it seemingly only focuses on visuals instead of performance. I mean I saw the trailers and the game can look somewhere between great and breathtaking, but you are still creating an interactive videogame here.

I was very concerned about the combat system since a lot of people I trust said they dislike it but.. I kinda like it? Once you understand that this isn't Devil May Cry 5 and has its own rhythm I think it can work quite well. While stuff like throwing grenades or the camera + fixing the camera can be ridiculously clunky at times, I think being able to switch weapons mid-combo without much hassle and hold buttons instead of focusing mashing the correct buttons for specific combos is pretty good. Warping and fixing the camera should be shoulder buttons though since it can be annoying to have to look around so a warp point can show up and then having to move the same hand to the triangle button.
Magic moment was when I realized I could get on top of the building and then warp-dash into that iron golem like a fucking thunder and then activate my R1 + L1 attack to destroy that dude.

So yeah, the visuals (especially character models, animations and lighting) promise a well-presented story and the combat has potential if they manage to iron out some issues. Like I said: the biggest problem I see with this title is its clunkyness and the massive performance issues.

But you know what: I appreciate this small taste of FFXV. I mean when do we get to toy around with tech demoes these days outside of shit like vanilla Destiny? Despite all the issues: this is a very cool gift for fans and I thank Tabata's team for doing this.
 
I downloaded this while I slept last night, and will give it a shot when I get home from work.

Unfortunately, based on things I'm reading in this thread, i'm concerned that they didn't significantly overhaul the battle system since Duscae, and it still lacks weight. I also hate that they stuck with the "hold circle to attack" thing.

Ah well, I'll give the demo a try at least, and see what I think afterwards. It's going to be a long day of work.
 
DarkLordMalik said:
Confirmed native 1080p

https://forum.beyond3d.com/posts/1903576/
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I think that guy doesn't know what he's doing. This is the screenshot he's using.

lNt7omA.jpg


I'm no pixel counter and yet simply by looking at the jaggies around Noctis I can tell it's not 1080p.
 
Was actually pretty excited for a new demo, since the previous one(s) always felt rough to me.

This is complete garbage. Framerate is totally bogus, for one, but actual mechanics are snore-inducing. The fight at the end seemed like it was trying to feel epic, but instead was completely bland and actually annoying to play. How anyone on the team thought they should follow up their rough-but-ambitious technical demo with this rougher and completely unambitious watering down of that previous demo was a good idea should probably be investigated for trying to undermine the game and company lol.

Disappointing.
 
man you guys made this seem like the worst thing ever.

It was a neat little demo IMO.

Combat is still missing some but I enjoyed my time with it. Like it much better that Dusque
 
jett said:
I think that guy doesn't know what he's doing. This is the screenshot he's using.

lNt7omA.jpg


I'm no pixel counter and yet simply by looking at the jaggies around Noctis I can tell it's not 1080p.
Click to expand...
He is the best pixel counter. Read his tag too.

Even DF has credited him in their article IIRC.
 
DarkLordMalik said:
He is the best pixel counter. Read his tag too.

Even DF has credited him in their article IIRC.
Click to expand...

That's odd then because a lot of these screens and even Squeenix's official captures just don't look 1080p. The image quality is abhorrent, just jaggy and smeary, the sign of an upscale.
 
Kinyou said:
What a strange demo. I would have rather tried episode duscae. The only part I enjoyed was when you actually got to fight that thing in the plaza.
Click to expand...

On my second playthrough I noticed collecting the orbs is actually kinda nice as well. The area where you're tiny has surprisingly many hidden little areas (in which you find more orbs and enemies and some plates).
Assuming there will be a similar incentive to explore the even bigger areas in the real game. Would be neat to have something like this in a big FF game.
 
They should absoltely remove this DEMO from the store if they don't want too much damage. The DEMO fails at everything, graphically is embarassing, framerate below 30, gameplay not delivered, story non-existent. I don't know what they were thinking. Ep.Duscae was doing so much better job.

Also... what a turn off "Altissia/Venice" is. From those awesome artwork to this blocky untextured mess. BLEAH
 
After finishing it twice, I have a comment or two.

1. The fact that I played any version of this game for the first time after waiting for it since 2006 has been a cathartic experience during my first playthrough.

2. The jaggedness I can forgive and at many times there are wonders to be seen - the room in particular looks very good, even though the magazines are a bit on the low quality, and whenever the game is running at night+rain it equals pretty. But the framerate bothers me greatly. I have zero problems with 30FPS as long as it IS 30FPS. For an action oriented game this is not a good thing and brings down the otherwise beautiful visuals. I am further worried because: 1. The game is 5-6 months away from release and this is a lot more representative of the final version than Duscae was. Duscae could have been forgiven for its FPS problems as it was a very early demo. I have not played it myself, but the fact that almost a year later this is still an issue after being pressed as one of the main gripes by the fans is not a good sign. 2. The FPS problems occured in what are essentially small maps compared to the big open spaces we will play in the future. If it is having this much trouble here, how in the world will it not dip severely in maps with so much more going on?

3. The minute the combat was announced as "hold button" I was "no, please don't". And it is playing exactly how I envisioned it. Not to say there isn't depth to the system but I simply don't like that it is a thing. Holding Square for defence, sure, fine. Holding circle for attack? No. Just no. Sure, I can button mash (which I did) to get the same results and a bit of that "Versus-KH like feel", but that should have been a thing from the start. Why go for complete positional control for everything and then pull what is basically an auto-battle? I seriously hope this is just for one of the combat options we were told about and that there is no hold button bullshit in the other option. Aside from this, it's fine for the most part and once I manipulated the space and timing a little bit it clicked a lot better.

4. Artstyle, design and music get top marks. Appealing to the eye, classy and very much FF.
 
The demo didn't really change my mind on the game either way. I'm in the camp of buying it anyway because it's Final Fantasy.

The combat felt terrible because of how slow he moves. I expected faster movement and attacks akin to a Tales or Star Ocean game. He's kind of plodding. And the roll dodge feels really clunky and slow.

The first negative reaction I had was when jumping for the first time. Is it just me or is there a distinct delay? It was really off-putting.

Then there were those weird QTE prompts. Not sure if it wanted me to hit square once or to hold it or to keep pressing it to defend. I know holding it is how you do it normally but the graphic wasn't clear. And why was I only able to use the fireball spell once in the last fight? Even when my MP looked full. And the warping is too slow to be useful. He goes through a lengthy animation to stop what he's doing, materialize a sword, throw it, then warp to it. Everything just felt off.
 
Combat's actually not that bad. Simple, yes, but you still have to be active and engaged or you get hit hard. Could see how it can be really fun in the full game.
 
That was lame as shit.

They should have seriously just put the Duscae demo up for everyone, with updated gameplay. I would have gladly played through that again.

Anyways, I can't wait to play the actual game.
 
Played through it last night. Took me about 45 minutes. I enjoyed it overall. It's a strange demo for sure but it was very cute and the music was great. I liked playing around with the time of day and weather settings. Lighting was fantastic.

Visually it's very inconsistent and performance can be awful, especially when you cast Meteorain and during the final battle segments. If they can get the performance and IQ sorted out I think it could look excellent.

Combat wise I liked it more than I expected. I didn't bother to hold the attack button, I just pressed it for each attack, which felt a lot better. I wish we could switch Square and Circle though, I think it would feel better for the control layout. Controls also felt kind of sluggish to respond for movement, not sure if it was the framerate or if it was just a long animation start up. The flashy attacks and the teleporting looked and felt great.
 
Perfo said:
They should absoltely remove this DEMO from the store if they don't want too much damage. The DEMO fails at everything, graphically is embarassing, framerate below 30, gameplay not delivered, story non-existent. I don't know what they were thinking. Ep.Duscae was doing so much better job.

Also... what a turn off "Altissia/Venice" is. From those awesome artwork to this blocky untextured mess. BLEAH
Click to expand...

All they need to do is change the name from Platinum Demo to Tech Demo, which is what ii obviously is. It's weird they released it at all to be honest, it's very clear that people will play it and think it's what's the game is gonna be like, as proven by this very thread.
 
Disappointing demo. Didn't have frame rate issues like many others, but the overall "tech demo" didn't really do much to get me excited for XV.

Hope they are thinking of releasing a proper demo closer to release.
 
jett said:
That's odd then because a lot of these screens and even Squeenix's official captures just don't look 1080p. The image quality is abhorrent, just jaggy and smeary, the sign of an upscale.
Click to expand...

Square's official screens look nothing like the actual game, they look way worse for some reason.
The only REALLY bad jaggies are the jaggies on hair, which seems to be a side effect of the technique they're using for hair.
 
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