Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae 2.0 |OT| This is a fantasy based on feedback.

I just came back from tour quest with Gladio and I see this

CHH8YmyUIAAqfoF.jpg:large

SE finally embraces that Yaoi fanbase.
 
Considering that the Expert Trials were as polished as the main story stuff, I wouldn't know how much more they can improve...

I think most people refer to the one off tasks when they mean side quests and not the expert trials and like Class Zero reserve side plots.
 
While the combat certainly feels faster now, I feel like they should still tone down the amount of enemies we encounter at a time. It's approaching Musou level now in terms of enemy count as they keep coming in swarm, making it chaotic, hard to play tactically and at our own pace.

I also hate that while you're fighting a tougher enemy, every few minutes a new dropship of robot soldiers will arrive that you have to take care of as well. Very annoying and only draws out the battles.
 
Not sure if it's a bug, but when I come near fallen ally to revive them, I just warp away instead. Like they got the priority in the wrong order.
 
Maybe I'm suffering Stockholm syndrome but I liked the more tactical nature of the first version of the battle stuff with the MP management and such. Now everything feels messy like too many cooks in the kitchen, they don't know what to do.

I'll start from the beginning and see if my opinion changes.
 
Maybe I'm suffering Stockholm syndrome but I liked the more tactical nature of the first version of the battle stuff with the MP management and such. Now everything feels messy like too many cooks in the kitchen, they don't know what to do.

I'll start from the beginning and see if my opinion changes.

LOL

VersusXIII combat - dead

Duscae 1.0 combat - dead
 
LOL

VersusXIII combat - dead

Duscae 1.0 combat - dead
Stella - dead

I really didn't have a problem with it outside of the lockon which seems to be largely untouched.
I don't think so. I am sure they have tweaked and it actually works now.

In 1.0, I had a hard time locking it in to enemies and it used to lock-on to enemies that I was never attacking. Hard-lock was the way to go in 1.0. 2.0 seems much better and easier to lock-on, and it functions as intended.

P.S I restarted the demo and played from the beginning so this might be another factor.
 
Stella - dead


I don't think so. I am sure they have tweaked and it actually works now.

In 1.0, I had a hard time locking it in to enemies and it used to lock-on to enemies that I was never attacking. Hard-lock was the way to go in 1.0. 2.0 seems much better and easier to lock-on, and it functions as intended.

P.S I restarted the demo and played from the beginning so this might be another factor.

Specifically meaning, it shouldn't be two buttons. It should be one.
 
I really didn't have a problem with it outside of the lockon which seems to be largely untouched.

To be frank, neither did I. But I mean, if they wanna make it easier, then whatever.

Still have faith in the gameplay designers who came up with KH2 Critical to be able to sort it all out close to release regardless how fast or slow this plays.

2.0 doesn't have the difficulty settings Tabata talked about, does it?
 
Maybe I'm suffering Stockholm syndrome but I liked the more tactical nature of the first version of the battle stuff with the MP management and such. Now everything feels messy like too many cooks in the kitchen, they don't know what to do.

I'll start from the beginning and see if my opinion changes.
MP management is just not very fun even if it looks like a good thing on paper. I can't even a shit with weapon abilities without being punished with stasis. It was limiting and tedious at best.
 
FFXV now a PS4 exclusive. Confirmed.

Please do a comparison between PS4 1.0 vs 2.0 for frame rate and any upgrades along the way :D
I am doing it for ps4 but I want to include XO and there doesn't seem to be any way to download it again. Type-0 is there but not FF15.
 
To be frank, neither did I. But I mean, if they wanna make it easier, then whatever.

Still have faith in the gameplay designers who came up with KH2 Critical to be able to sort it all out close to release regardless how fast or slow this plays.

2.0 doesn't have the difficulty settings Tabata talked about, does it?

I think it's way too easy now. The only difficulty comes when the game decides to drop 2 groups of soldiers on top of a mob you're already fighting.

And I didn't see any difficulty options.
 
I hope they're working on big monster fights as more than just spamming attacks on the legs or whatever. It feels super tedious right now.

Unless they go full Dragon's Dogma/SotC, I'm not sure what else they *could* do, as those are the only two games I've played where I felt like "big monster" fights were actually interesting.
 
Damn, that Catoplebas battle looks kinda boring; sure, you have some beginner's equipment and there is no magic system implemented, but still.. looks like Dragonball Z combat with the air attacks, lol.

I was wondering: would the summon kill him instantly?
 
Played for a bit, up to 1st Deadeye encounter.
I was already satisfied with 1.0, this only improves it.
Still can't wait to see how it plays with all it's systems (Magic, Allies AI and who knows what) in place.

Things i liked:
-2-party side-quests; fun, let you discover things, if they add more dialogue between the two could add much more to the bonding aspect
-More mind-blowing animations, shit keeps getting better and better
-Those added sword strikes, goddayum
-Attack animation based on stick inclination
-Perfect evade
-Roll (still has to find it's purpose though)

Thngs i didn't liked:
-Generally feels a bit easier
-L1+O for Roll, it's kinda distracting having it on 2 buttons; i'd like for it to be double O press,
-Inability to target warp points
-Reduced MP costs; kinda goes against the whole system, but i'm sure they'll balance it come release
-Fight against dogs-like enemies (forgot the names once again) is still terrible, i can hardly follow them
-Giant yellow indicator for team attacks, plus those things are OP
-Having both Focus indicator and Map Marker on screen; choose to keep one of them, both are a bit redundant (the first imho is better and would lead to more exploration)
-Had a couple of times where it wouldn't load subtitles, never happened in 1.0
 
For the sake of curiosity, has anyone seen if the damage cap is 9,999 or 99,999? (I don't have a PS4, so can't check it myself).
 
As far as difficulty goes it doesn't feel much different to me(I never thought it was hard, just a bit frustrating). It's easier to get Noctis to do what you want him to do but that's a good thing.

Either way, I'm pretty optimistic all of this will be smoothed out to most peoples liking by the time the game releases in 2030.

Side Note: I did notice some audio problems. That was pretty bad. lol
 
I think the same way it was quite hard to get a gauge of how long combat would take from just playing 1.0 without its team attacks, etc., it's similarly hard to gauge how hard or easy the final game is gonna be without core systems like magic, gear and leveling (beyond bigger numbers) in place.

Could go either way, really. Demo is very much feature-incomplete, even though it gives a vague idea of many other core systems.
 
I'll echo the sentiment that the boss/large monster battles is a mess right now. Against Behemoth, I'll keep trapped between its legs, making it hard to know what I'm doing. Attacking it also shows little visual/audio feedback. There's no body parts that can be cut, and the beast cannot be interact with, like Dragon's Dogma or SoTC. Against Catoblepas, well, I haven't really give it a fair chance, but it's pure bullet sponge right now with stupid amount of HP that it either takes hours of air combo like how Chozen took it down, or via Ramuh.
 
Did they add in some extra lines of banter between the characters?

I've been enjoying some things they've been saying I hadn't heard before.
 
I started from scratch, doing the combo training and cave dungeon.

I feel like there's been some massive improvement to combat, but there's a deal breaker: everything is a mess unless your fighting on a relatively flat surface with good luminosity.

The opposite of that would be the hill going from the camp to the dungeon, for instance - a dark and heavy mess.
 
I don't mind some of the fights feeling a little crazy and sporadic but it would help if they could add a bit of weight to some of the enemy's.

I'm cool with very elusive enemy's but perhaps not in such a high number and they should be using that speed to attack you as well.
 
Maybe I'm suffering Stockholm syndrome but I liked the more tactical nature of the first version of the battle stuff with the MP management and such. Now everything feels messy like too many cooks in the kitchen, they don't know what to do.

I'll start from the beginning and see if my opinion changes.

Maybe you need to step back and just distance yourself from the entire game hype cycle for a year or so. Play other stuff, just ignore the developments on XV for a while. If they keep changing stuff and putting out bite sized controlled pieces of info or demos to focus test the audience, it might not be worth the trouble to get attached to any of it until the game is actually... coming out. >_<
 
Maybe you need to step back and just distance yourself from the entire game hype cycle for a year or so. Play other stuff, just ignore the developments on XV for a while. If they keep changing stuff and putting out bite sized controlled pieces of info or demos to focus test the audience, it might not be worth the trouble to get attached to any of it until the game is actually... coming out. >_<

Seriously good advice
 
I spent a little time with the demo last night.

Cons:

1) I honestly can't tell if the framerate is improved, and removing certain blurs has actually made it seem like a grainier picture.

2) It still takes way too long to kill things. Am I slapping these buffalos with a pool noodle?

3) It takes too long to navigate the field. Is Noct actually sprinting? In a dead sprint like he seems to be animated doing, you can run a hell of a lot faster than that.


Pros:
1) The team attacks help with Con #2 and I can imagine becoming a visual feast, but I also imagine them getting hella repetitive if that's one of the better ways to bring down foes. Cautiously optimistic

2) The camera/controls seem improved but obviously need more work.

Ultimately if the game is fun to play and doesn't chug, I'll be happy. If the framerate is as bad as it is in the demo right now at launch, I'll probably wait to see if there's a PC release, as much as I'd like to play it on a 60 inch TV than a 24 inch monitor.
 
Playing a bit the 2.0 demo, and did a couple of quests. I started a fresh game first, but it crashed after fighting one enemy group. Then when I loaded my save, it loaded the old save with level 50 characters. So I just continued with that one.

- Dodge roll is nice, but it's still not responsive. It needs to cancel whatever action you're in when you press dodge roll.
- Fighting enemies felt a bit better, but there are still too many of them. It becomes a musou game at times.
- Crosslinks are freaking QTEs. Why SE, why? It completely ruins the flow of combat.
- The Lock-on felt improved, but it needs to be one button to hardlock. None of this R1 first and then R3. Look at Kingdom Hearts lock on seriously. Also, if I'm hardlocked on an enemy and I kill it, move the hardlock automatically to the next nearest enemy.
- Framerate needs work.
- Game crashed twice (seems more buggy than 1.0).

I don't mind if they have to lower resolution to get the framerate up. Just give us steady 30. But this game is so beautiful, I wish they'd do a simultaneous release for PC so it can played in all its glory at 60 fps.

Anyway, downed the Catoblepas without summon use. Guess the devs didn't really want us to beat it considering the functioning of airborne attacks, its damage to us, and our damage to it.

CHI3KtNWkAAgdop.png
 
Another thing I newly appreciated about the demo coming off a huge open world game (W3) was how well this chunk of Duscae is laid out. Very seldom need the map because it's all a giant bowl, and a quick look around lets you figure out where you are in relation to everything else. That despite the large area. No onscreen minimap, and it really doesn't need one.
 
Playing a bit the 2.0 demo, and did a couple of quests. I started a fresh game first, but it crashed after fighting one enemy group. Then when I loaded my save, it loaded the old save with level 50 characters. So I just continued with that one.

- Dodge roll is nice, but it's still not responsive. It needs to cancel whatever action you're in when you press dodge roll.
- Fighting enemies felt a bit better, but there are still too many of them. It becomes a musou game at times.
- Crosslinks are freaking QTEs. Why SE, why? It completely ruins the flow of combat.
- The Lock-on felt improved, but it needs to be one button to hardlock. None of this R1 first and then R3. Look at Kingdom Hearts lock on seriously.
- Framerate needs work.
- Game crashed twice (seems more buggy than 1.0).

I don't mind if they have to lower resolution to get the framerate up. Just give us steady 30. But this game is so beautiful, I wish they'd do a simultaneous release for PC so it can played in all its glory at 60 fps.

Anyway, downned the Catoblepas without summon use. Guess the devs didn't really want us to beat it considering the functioning of airborne attacks, its damage to us, and our damage to it.

CHI3KtNWkAAgdop.png

Agreed for the most part, but how do you suggest crosslink to be done? Because I thought about it for some time, and still couldn't come up with a system that's intuitive enough to use, yet doesn't resort to context sensitive button prompts.

Also Arkeband brought up a good con. It currently takes way too long to navigate through the plains. I know the final version would have a car, but Noctis's sprint isn't fast enough to traverse through places where the car can't go, and not to mention the annoying fatigue animation. Need a chocobo. One that can be summoned anytime, anywhere.
 
Agreed for the most part, but how do you suggest crosslink to be done? Because I thought about it for some time, and still couldn't come up with a system that's intuitive enough to use, yet doesn't resort to context sensitive button prompts.

Also Arkeband brought up a good con. It currently takes way too long to navigate through the plains. I know the final version would have a car, but Noctis's sprint isn't fast enough to traverse through places where the car can't go, and not to mention the annoying fatigue animation. Need a chocobo. One that can be summoned anytime, anywhere.

So you think you can ride this chocobo?
 
Another thing I newly appreciated about the demo coming off a huge open world game (W3) was how well this chunk of Duscae is laid out. Very seldom need the map because it's all a giant bowl, and a quick look around lets you figure out where you are in relation to everything else. That despite the large area. No onscreen minimap, and it really doesn't need one.

This is why I don't care if they do zones instead of a true open world. This game doesn't need to be like The Witcher 3 or Skyrim, just give me some big zones like Duscae with interesting things to do, great graphics to make the exploration enjoyable, a detailend fauna and flora and (hidden) dungeons. I want the world to feel alive, not just big.
 
I'm enjoying the updates to 2.0. Battles are easier to control now, and I love perfect dodges. Camera is much improved as well and I felt like I could keep up with the enemies running around.

I don't mind if they have to lower resolution to get the framerate up. Just give us steady 30.

Please no. The game is already at 900p and it shows. Any less than that and it'll really ruin the great art and atmosphere they've got going on.

I would love 1080p at a stable 30fps when the game launches, but honestly I'm expecting it to stay at 900p at ~30fps.
 
This is why I don't care if they do zones instead of a true open world. This game doesn't need to be like The Witcher 3 or Skyrim, just give me some big zones like Duscae with interesting things to do, great graphics to make the exploration enjoyable, a detailend fauna and flora and (hidden) dungeons. I want the world to feel alive, not just big.

Agreed. Another nice thing about Duscae is enemy persistence coupled with draw distance. Go up on a rock and you can see a distant herd of Garulas or the Catoblepas grazing. Helps the world feel more alive/coherent as you run around.
 
Agreed for the most part, but how do you suggest crosslink to be done? Because I thought about it for some time, and still couldn't come up with a system that's intuitive enough to use, yet doesn't resort to context sensitive button prompts.

Also Arkeband brought up a good con. It currently takes way too long to navigate through the plains. I know the final version would have a car, but Noctis's sprint isn't fast enough to traverse through places where the car can't go, and not to mention the annoying fatigue animation. Need a chocobo. One that can be summoned anytime, anywhere.

I don't think these crosslinks are needed at all. Just give us a gambit system to control the AI. Give the player more damage so it can pretty much control the whole fight himself, with AI being support, rather than being part of the main damage dealing.
I know this goes against what they are trying to design though, so its futile.

Perhaps do the following. Select a target and then press some combination of buttons to initiate a group attack. That gives YOU the control of WHEN and against WHO a group attack should be initiated. And it wouldn't require QTEs as you initiate the attack with a single press of some buttons (R2+X+O or whatever).


Regarding slow running, an instant Chocobo would be ideal. It works great with Roach in Witcher 3.
 
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