Notice me Senpai.
Final Fantasy XV - 50 min video
- Thread starter Exentryk
- Start date
Notice me Senpai.
Or a guy with a monkey tail. Or Vaan and his painted on abs (WHY HAVE THEY NOT FIXED THIS TEXTURE FOR THE HD VERSION!?). Or Blitzball. Or Quina.... especially Quina.
I love 9 & 10
So, is this one of those threads where every dissenting opinion is going to be picked apart.
I understand that everyone is different, but from my personal experience, teenagers today aren't really into the spikey haired goth thing. And judging from the dialogue, adults aren't likely to be into this either. So I don't know who that leaves, other than NeoGaf members.
Be reductive about it if you want but those earlier games defined the genre in their time. Wheras XV (much like XIII) feels like a game that came out 5 years too late in terms of design, presentation and just... Everything.
I'm still excited for it but I'd be lying if I said anything (non audio/visual) here looks impressive.
Astral Dog
Member
why are people so anxious for a 2017 delay? if they werent sure they would announce it already, at least its coming this year
I'm reiterating here my theory that it's a story-centric red herring/flash forward akin to DQ6's intro.
In DQ6, the game starts with a portion of the main cast assaulting "the" Dark Lord's castle. When you get to his throneroom, he manhandles everyone, turns them to stone and blows them up. The protagonist "wakes up" and you later find out that
it wasn't a dream - it was a mirror universe
just an underling.
I have a feeling that the game will give control back to the player to explore a (smaller) endgame, and Ifrit will just be another summon, the first one you acquire post-time skip, maybe put in place to "guard" the area he's in (is that even THE throne room?) before you head to the final zone.
The literary device here is it throws the player into some chaotic desperate situation immediately and makes them wonder "how do they end up at that point". Well written prequels use this device in reverse - they start off an origin story with some crazy, seemingly irreconcilable plot point from the main series, and you are interested in reading further to see how one becomes the other.
Glendemonium
Member
Meh, i'll still play it. Might make for some fun commentary for the character designs and VA.
Still not grasping the weight of the leaks, is this going to be like MGS2 where after the first act the game completely changes? If so that doesn't bother me at all, I can deal with it.
Still not grasping the weight of the leaks, is this going to be like MGS2 where after the first act the game completely changes? If so that doesn't bother me at all, I can deal with it.
-_- so it is the character design.......
Firstly, not this isn't "one of those threads"; if you don't explain yourself when making blanket statements, you will be criticized for doing so.
Also: You did watch the video right? Most of the characters just look like they have gelled hair, not cloud levels of spiky, i'd say. And trust me when I say: Nothing about these characters (outside of how their initial set of cloths are black) is goth... Not to mention you have plenty of clothing options in this game which are much more "normal".
-_-
That's fine if you dislike the art style. No one is saying you should like it. But simply generalizing by saying "This game is out of touch with people" is not exactly right. Again, most if not all the hands-on previews from Gamescom have been very positive.
Also consider this: You don't hold a monopoly on what "adult tastes" are like. And clearly you don't have much of a clue on what teenagers are into, these days.
...goth?
That would actually be really cool to see, but the intro still feels weird even with that idea in mind.
A Goth without eye liner? NO WAY.
lol that's perfect
NoctisVsStar
Member
Bro what are you even saying? "Neogaf Members" are you serious? "Goth" lol..
The game doesn't even appeal to "NeoGaf members"
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
Character design wise, the market its trying to pursue, as in the mainstream market. Literally hair styles, fashion, from ten years ago. Concerning the dialogue, no idea who they're tying to appeal to there. No one talks like this. I don't think there was ever a point when people talked like this. Standards for dialogue are already low enough as t is when it comes to Japanese games. FFXV is just another one to add to that pile. It's fine if you like it, doesn't necessarily mean it's good tho from a character design and writing standpoint.
I'm really happy to see a lot of people in this thread were pleasantly surprised by what they saw. I wish I could say the same.
To be clear, there's a lot to like here. The art direction is generally superb, the animations look great, the menu is sick, and the general vibe of being an awkward anime prince driving across a vast landscape in the gothmobile is pretty lovely in its juxtaposition.
However, it's hard to ignore just how insipid and dumb it all is. Every scene hits with the subtlety of a Saturday morning cartoon. The constant one-liners are terrible, one JRPG cliche that the Tales series can keep to itself. Noctis and co. hit a roadblock, but good thing there's a dirt road running directly parallel to it that's just totally unmonitored. They have pretty much no reaction to having to fight robot super-soldiers. Nothing else needs to be said about Cindy.
And and forget how it looks — it also feels structured like a prototype, the barest of circumstances holding every sequence together.
The flash-forward opening feels like a promise to gamers who might be turned off by Final Fantasy's distinctly-Japanese aesthetic to just hang in there, you'll be this cool guy in the end! To see Noctis ten years in the future before the game even begins undermines the experience of being a part of his character development. It doesn't help that the scene is awkward, short, and not really impressive.
And after that brief introduction, it's ... busywork. Errand-running. This is the stuff that's supposed to give you downtime before story beats, but nothing's even happened yet. Even the main plotline is structured like busywork — go here, turn around, go to this point, go get the secret ghost sword and 400 XP! — etc. You could argue that this is reductionist and that any Final Fantasy could be described in those terms, but crucially, in those games you were discovering things. The world was full of mystery, characters were strange, locales were exotic, and dramatic plot developments were always just around the corner.
I have no doubt things will become more fantastical later in the game, but this is what qualifies as an introduction to what's supposed to be the saving grace of one of gaming's most-respected legacies? It looks like hour 7 of 45 or something, not the game's opening moments. It's easily the least-engaging of any FF opening ever.
Final Fantasy games, from an objective perspective, have rarely had great scripts, but they were ambitious for the medium. If this lukewarm introduction and predictable foreshadowing is representative of FFXV's "ambition", it's sad to say that the extremely-likeable Hajime Tabata's ambitions of succeeding FFVII are unlikely to be realized.
It's also, of course, hard to forget the promises of Versus and even XV's initial reveal trailer. I never followed Versus that closely, but the XV reveal trailer blew my mind. Sure, a lot of the appeal of it is visceral and somewhat shallow — the combination of music, art direction, and cinematography just sell it — but hasn't that always been a huge part of FF's identity, even if conveyed pretty crudely in earlier games?
That intangible atmosphere, that feeling of slight melancholy even in the brighter moments, is totally lacking from what we see here, and I don't think anyone should expect it to show up later on in a form that isn't totally ham-fisted.
The game looks fun, but it would be hard to play it without feeling disappointed. I sincerely believed it would be a turning point for Square-Enix and the Final Fantasy franchise.
(Sorry, I didn't mean for it to be this long when I started writing ...)
To be clear, there's a lot to like here. The art direction is generally superb, the animations look great, the menu is sick, and the general vibe of being an awkward anime prince driving across a vast landscape in the gothmobile is pretty lovely in its juxtaposition.
However, it's hard to ignore just how insipid and dumb it all is. Every scene hits with the subtlety of a Saturday morning cartoon. The constant one-liners are terrible, one JRPG cliche that the Tales series can keep to itself. Noctis and co. hit a roadblock, but good thing there's a dirt road running directly parallel to it that's just totally unmonitored. They have pretty much no reaction to having to fight robot super-soldiers. Nothing else needs to be said about Cindy.
And and forget how it looks — it also feels structured like a prototype, the barest of circumstances holding every sequence together.
The flash-forward opening feels like a promise to gamers who might be turned off by Final Fantasy's distinctly-Japanese aesthetic to just hang in there, you'll be this cool guy in the end! To see Noctis ten years in the future before the game even begins undermines the experience of being a part of his character development. It doesn't help that the scene is awkward, short, and not really impressive.
And after that brief introduction, it's ... busywork. Errand-running. This is the stuff that's supposed to give you downtime before story beats, but nothing's even happened yet. Even the main plotline is structured like busywork — go here, turn around, go to this point, go get the secret ghost sword and 400 XP! — etc. You could argue that this is reductionist and that any Final Fantasy could be described in those terms, but crucially, in those games you were discovering things. The world was full of mystery, characters were strange, locales were exotic, and dramatic plot developments were always just around the corner.
I have no doubt things will become more fantastical later in the game, but this is what qualifies as an introduction to what's supposed to be the saving grace of one of gaming's most-respected legacies? It looks like hour 7 of 45 or something, not the game's opening moments. It's easily the least-engaging of any FF opening ever.
Final Fantasy games, from an objective perspective, have rarely had great scripts, but they were ambitious for the medium. If this lukewarm introduction and predictable foreshadowing is representative of FFXV's "ambition", it's sad to say that the extremely-likeable Hajime Tabata's ambitions of succeeding FFVII are unlikely to be realized.
It's also, of course, hard to forget the promises of Versus and even XV's initial reveal trailer. I never followed Versus that closely, but the XV reveal trailer blew my mind. Sure, a lot of the appeal of it is visceral and somewhat shallow — the combination of music, art direction, and cinematography just sell it — but hasn't that always been a huge part of FF's identity, even if conveyed pretty crudely in earlier games?
That intangible atmosphere, that feeling of slight melancholy even in the brighter moments, is totally lacking from what we see here, and I don't think anyone should expect it to show up later on in a form that isn't totally ham-fisted.
The game looks fun, but it would be hard to play it without feeling disappointed. I sincerely believed it would be a turning point for Square-Enix and the Final Fantasy franchise.
(Sorry, I didn't mean for it to be this long when I started writing ...)
Glendemonium
Member
I don't see the designs as "goth" but more punk mixed with elements of goth. FF games since 7 always had some pretty out there hairstyles. There is a Gaijin Goomba video with a guest from Japan that even explains that no one really dresses like that, save for maybe fashion runway models.
Nothing's really wrong with the dialogue, though. It sounds like your typical fantasy Japanese dialogue.
I would hate for this game to have "realistic" dialogue, since the tone is anything but realistic. The more outlandish, the better.
Also, there are PLENTY of people who enjoy the cheesy anime-style dialogue. So the whole "it is out of touch" is pure nonsense.
Is the game already out on your time period? Did it truly fail to be a turning point for Square? D:
Yeah it wouldn't make sense to delay for 2 months now and then delay it again once November hits.
That's just ruining your games marketing twice. And the 2nd time will be devastating.
I really don't think people will care in the long run honestly. I think you're honestly going to get more discussion about the dialogue and hairstyles and stuff here more so than the general public would.
To me, these two statements are opposed to each other.
It actually does look like Japanese fashion from around 10 years ago though. They look like they'd be right at home in a Host Club.
That's fine. At least now you are not generalizing about what people might and might not like.
pelicansurf
Needs a Holiday on Gallifrey
Will it though? The people who are going to buy this game are going to buy it even if it's delayed for another year.
7DollarHagane
Banned
I didn't watch the whole thing but skipped around, it looks so good and I hope it's a great game come november.
It will be a nice christmas game to binge on in january. Just like FF7 was back then.
It will be a nice christmas game to binge on in january. Just like FF7 was back then.
For a lot of people, that's a pretty ignorant statement. Its basically dismissing every single Japanese game every created generally speaking on the basis of having fantasy dialogue with a Japanese flavor.
And considering these genres got popular off of that same type of spirit, i would feel it very sad to have games decide to come around to the non Japanese script writing standard you seem to be pointing to just to win players like yourself over.
This is not me saying anything about FF15's quality and how it handles its own specific storytelling, but in general.
CrimsonCrescendo
Banned
.
Nocturno999
Member
Character design is really out of touch. SE still think their fanbase are at their teens.
ULTROS!
People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
You'll only be disappointed if you have crazy expectations like super incredible graphics with 100 towns and a story that's better than Xenogears and characters more charming than the Persona 4 investigation team that draws in people to create strange fanfic.
Mediking
Member
I've been staying away from FFXV threads due to spoilers and I have some grave news... I'm no longer the director of FFXVI. My vision is too "risky", too "wild" and apparently somewhat too "lewd".
After watching this, I can confidently say that I'm really, REALLY excited for FFXV. Moreso now than I ever was before.
Literally my only real major complaint was the Stand By Me song, hilariously enough. It just seems really out of place and frankly, redundant. You get the essence of the song through the actions of the characters...why ham it up with really hammy lyrics trying to describe this when we can see it for ourselves? idk in general I'm not much of a fan of theme songs with lyrics especially used in contexts like these, more times than not it breaks my immersion.
The other cons are stuff that have been brought up and frankly I can get over (relating to the graphics mostly). So long as it runs well and plays as fun as it looks, I'm fine.
THANK YOU TABATA & TEAM
Now...to hibernate until November 29th!
Literally my only real major complaint was the Stand By Me song, hilariously enough. It just seems really out of place and frankly, redundant. You get the essence of the song through the actions of the characters...why ham it up with really hammy lyrics trying to describe this when we can see it for ourselves? idk in general I'm not much of a fan of theme songs with lyrics especially used in contexts like these, more times than not it breaks my immersion.
The other cons are stuff that have been brought up and frankly I can get over (relating to the graphics mostly). So long as it runs well and plays as fun as it looks, I'm fine.
THANK YOU TABATA & TEAM
Now...to hibernate until November 29th!
theofficefan99
Junior Member
I'm glad I'm not insanely picky with visuals like a lot of people on here.
I think the game looks great, and I think it's especially impressive given the insane scope of the game.
I'm pretty convinced that the game will definitely take me more than 80+ hours on my first playthrough. I'm not the type of person that'll want to do every single bit of optional content but I think with this game it's different.
FFVII and VIII were relatively good with their sidequests. VIII's are a tad overwhelming but it has quality optional dungeons with quality rewards, fun sidequests with good rewards. IX I never really bothered with the optional content. X's optional content was ridiculous so I never bothered. XIII's was lazy so I never bothered with more than a few hunts.
XII is the game I want to draw a comparison towards. It's the biggest FF world aside from XV. With that game, I didn't bother to do much side content. First playthrough I did the Demonsbane sidequest along with another one, but I didn't have fun because it was so drawn-out and the RNG was ridiculous. I also explored the Necrohol of Nabudis but I didn't bother trying to get any of the Espers in there because the requirements were tedious. Along with that, I didn't do any hunts past the point where I could finally purchase Bubble, because I didn't have fun with the combat.
With FFXV though... as far as I know, it won't have stupid RNG stuff, and the combat is leagues more fun than FFXII's, at least in my opinion.
I always want to take my sweet time with every FF I play, and I'll have no trouble doing that with XV. The combat is fun, the world is interesting and beautiful, and there's going to be a shitload of optional areas/dungeons, probably a decent amount of optional bosses, and great rewards.
So in my eyes XV is pretty much FFXII done right, with a more Final Fantasy-esque storyline. Seeing that preview video where the girl said it reminded her most of FFX made me really happy, because Final Fantasy X is definitely of the top echelon of FF games in my eyes.
PS: Guys, this is obviously not the full opening! Parts were cut out. I'm pretty sure Chapter 0 is longer than 2 minutes, plus there's that CGI video we've seen of Regis sending Noctis and co. off. That's undoubtedly at the end of Chapter 0/Beginning of Chapter 1.
I think the game looks great, and I think it's especially impressive given the insane scope of the game.
I'm pretty convinced that the game will definitely take me more than 80+ hours on my first playthrough. I'm not the type of person that'll want to do every single bit of optional content but I think with this game it's different.
FFVII and VIII were relatively good with their sidequests. VIII's are a tad overwhelming but it has quality optional dungeons with quality rewards, fun sidequests with good rewards. IX I never really bothered with the optional content. X's optional content was ridiculous so I never bothered. XIII's was lazy so I never bothered with more than a few hunts.
XII is the game I want to draw a comparison towards. It's the biggest FF world aside from XV. With that game, I didn't bother to do much side content. First playthrough I did the Demonsbane sidequest along with another one, but I didn't have fun because it was so drawn-out and the RNG was ridiculous. I also explored the Necrohol of Nabudis but I didn't bother trying to get any of the Espers in there because the requirements were tedious. Along with that, I didn't do any hunts past the point where I could finally purchase Bubble, because I didn't have fun with the combat.
With FFXV though... as far as I know, it won't have stupid RNG stuff, and the combat is leagues more fun than FFXII's, at least in my opinion.
I always want to take my sweet time with every FF I play, and I'll have no trouble doing that with XV. The combat is fun, the world is interesting and beautiful, and there's going to be a shitload of optional areas/dungeons, probably a decent amount of optional bosses, and great rewards.
So in my eyes XV is pretty much FFXII done right, with a more Final Fantasy-esque storyline. Seeing that preview video where the girl said it reminded her most of FFX made me really happy, because Final Fantasy X is definitely of the top echelon of FF games in my eyes.
PS: Guys, this is obviously not the full opening! Parts were cut out. I'm pretty sure Chapter 0 is longer than 2 minutes, plus there's that CGI video we've seen of Regis sending Noctis and co. off. That's undoubtedly at the end of Chapter 0/Beginning of Chapter 1.
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
Exactly the issue.
There's literally no downside to having conversations written like a conversation between human beings instead of by people who at worst don't talk to other people or don't draw from life in anyway shape or form, there's nothing being gained by the conversations and acting in this game being as bad as they are, it's to the detriment of the project and since it's coming out in November it's gonna have A LOT of competition.
Plenty of people but again, doesn't mean it's good. It's cringeworthy, the first line in the entire game is "Stay cool." Like I can't.
The general public is probably put off by it in general as opposed to being engrossed by it. At best, I expect them to tolerate it. As that's the best I can do is tolerate it and ponder why the hell a fantasy based on reality has such stilted conversations compared to similar media.
That's not really an "issue", though... There is nothing inherently wrong about Japanese dialogue in a Japanese game. It doesn't even sound bad.
Also, what exactly is wrong with "stay cool"?.
like are people really complaining about FF characters having super spiky and stylized hair?
i mean it kinda comes with the territory, no?
also the dialogue doesn't seem that bad to me.
i am really confused by some of the complaints.
but I am sure that just because I have shit taste..oh wait let me sugercoat that a bit more..i am sure its because i am used to lesser writing than many of the beastlords in here.
the game looks rough in some spots. Hopefully it gets cleaned up in the two months. But many of the other complaints really feel like nitpicking.
inb4 "its almost like people have different opinions herp derp"
i mean it kinda comes with the territory, no?
also the dialogue doesn't seem that bad to me.
i am really confused by some of the complaints.
but I am sure that just because I have shit taste..oh wait let me sugercoat that a bit more..i am sure its because i am used to lesser writing than many of the beastlords in here.
the game looks rough in some spots. Hopefully it gets cleaned up in the two months. But many of the other complaints really feel like nitpicking.
inb4 "its almost like people have different opinions herp derp"
Agreed. Definitely getting some good Final Fantasy VIII vibes from it.
(I love VIII).
Broken_Anima
Member
What?! o . O He looks really handsome:
He looks like Charlie Sheen...
Astral Dog
Member
it depends, the design is what makes the main characters stand out from the rest of the crowd/game population,, for better or worse, without them the whole game would look (even) more generic.
we cant be sure if a jrpg can appeal to a wide audience on this day and age, but surely its an interesting experiment.
As for the dialogue, true but its videogames/final fantasy, many games with terrible, maybe even worse dialogue have been successful and popular before.
What is your definition of in touch character design for grizzled old men?
Japanese character designs are what they are..love them or hate them, i hate this expectation from some that their standards for cultural appropriation should apply to every single thing out there.
theofficefan99
Junior Member
The only line that bothered me was "we'll play hide and seek with him!" Like... no one in the universe would react to the situation like that. It's a problem when the dialogue just makes you go: "No one would ever say that/act like that."
I don't think the dialogue is terrible, but it is disappointing that SE's localizations have kind of gotten worse the past few years.
It's not unbearable, and there are some moments where the dialogue is nice and flows smoothly. But the dialogue IMO does require some suspension of disbelief to enjoy. However, if it doesn't completely hamper the experience I don't think it'll be much of an issue.
Garrett Hawke
Member
I think it's very strange to try and claim that clunky, unnatural dialogue between people who don't sound like they're even talking to each other or speak in total non sequiturs is a "Japanese" thing. Watch any Ghibli film; they all feature unnatural fantasy dialogue and yet it has a flow and an eloquence to it.