So I beat Chapter 9 yesterday and the story turned from bad to one of the worst things I've ever seen in a video game. This is not an exaggeration. FFXV made me appreciate how bad a story in a video game is and that is in large part to context. I think gamers, myself included, often times complain about there's too much explanation or too much plot or too much they're telling us, etc etc. The list goes on. However, this is a much better alternative to what XV has done which is not tell us anything. There is minimal amount of context, things that are explained better in the chapter intro loading screen, and the amount of information relegated to random newspaper headlines or radio transmissions. Who the fuck thought this was okay?
To get into specific detail about Chapter 9 everything below here is end of chapter spoiler territory and beginning of Chapter 10.
First off the chapter pretty much starts with Cor whining to Noctis about how he wasn't able to protect Noctis. Yet Noctis is off to Altissia knowing there's going to be a fight with the empire but he doesn't tag along?.... Like Lulz? Did someone look through the script. If you're actually sorry why the fuck wouldn't you got to Altissia and you know actually protect your fucking king? Also the entirety of the chapter is absolute trash. Then we get to the Altissia and shit just gets worse. Immigration process is bad, meeting the prime minister or the president or whatever the fuck role that old lady was bad, then everything gets even worse. Apparently I'm playing FFX but the characters in the game are assholes cuz everyone seems to know what the fuck is going on how this world works but doesn't seem to explain anything at all. Rites and rituals and Oracles? Eh, things happen and apparently Noctis needs it for stuff. Archaean, Hydroaen, etc etc? Terminology being through around? Sure. Relationship with the empire? Just a random expose via a dialogue choice. Oh yeah, there's also the fact that the emperor who is doing everything is really evil, Iedolas, but the game tries to paint the picture that the Empire was something different 10 years ago (maybe not so evil)? Like This shit is all over the place and NOTHING is explained. There is literally no foundation to care. There is no foundation for anything outside of liking the brotherhood of the 4 main characters.
Then comes to the part I legit said out loud "Am I supposed to fucking care?" Luna gives a speech to the masses (and for fucks sake Square Enix, do some audio mixing and put on better music) which is absolute shit. The dialogue is supposed to be like Harvey Dent levels of speech in The Dark Knight except is absolutely fails because 1.) there is no context for the starscourge (which by the way they still haven't fucking explained minus the prologue lore tutorial) 2.) there is no build up to who Luna is and why we should care about her at all 3.) there is no fucking reason for us to care that Noctis cares about Luna cuz the relationship wasn't there in the game (saying they're betrothed and having Noctis make comments about him liking Luna doesn't count). Then comes the ultimate shitty payoff. Luna gets killed off by Ardyn. You have two problem characters in the same scene and shit goes off and I was like "uhh.. Kay? Lulz? I guess this happened." Ardyn has shown up consistently but nothing is ever explained about him at all. He does his own thing and I guess the emperor is fine with that? Like.. What IS his relationship with his empire. Literally no info. Not even a little bit. But he keeps showing up. Then we have Luna who we are supposed to care about who only made minimal appearances with also little to no info. Ardyn kills Luna and we're supposed to feel bad but we don't cuz who the fuck cares about a random nobody dying. I actually feel bad for the voice actress for the older Luna cuz as it stands now the younger Luna got more lines than older one did LMAO! Shit happens again except Ignis is now blind? Yo. SE, I get you didn't have enough time to do everything which is why you cut stuff out and relegated to DLC like Gladio randomly leaving (which I'm pretty sure was supposed to be a quest with everyone entirely rather than a solo adventure) and Ignis doing something and getting blinded. I'm sure the Prompto stuff is stuff that got cut too. However, if you're cutting that important stuff cuz you can't make it into a gameplay segment due to time constraints then you have to FUCKING SHOW US. Which brings me to a theory. I think the game before it became XV had important storypoints and setpieces already done. Certain things like the entirety of Altissia was probably something they definitely wanted to carry over. That being said it seems like they tried to fit other random plot stuff around it and build this horrible narrative. There was that 4chan rumor back that confirmed everything was true. One of the things was that the story kept changing even towards the end. I firmly believe this was true. There is a staggering lack of cutscenes, lines, story elements, etc. I can see this being one of the reasons why cutscenes simply don't exist. Just.. UGH. Oh yeah, in the beginning of chapter 10 the loading screen tells us that Cor told us there's a royal tomb in Nifelheim. LMAO. Thanks for telling us that in a loading screen?....
Altissia must've been the oldest part of the game and something that carried over from Versus cuz everything looked like absolute crap. The visuals are PS3 levels and everything between a half-baked city and a shitty boss fight tells me that they had no idea what the fuck they wanted to do. They had a cool idea and panicked on how to fit it into the story. Just floating around spamming attack with your Armiger missiles and not being able to dies is not fun. I literally had something on my attack button while I played Granblue Fantasy. Like holy shit is this bad.
Fuck everything about this game. This is a BAD game. Narratively.
It's disjointed and incomplete, but the way the game reveals the relationships of the bros and hides snippets of development around the open world is great.
I'll have to disagree with you, while I do acknowledge the overall story is a mess, the game does far too many things right.
Pretty sure there's nothing more comfy than driving to the Balamb Garden track from VIII.
I really love their interpretation of a modern world through the lens of Final Fantasy's style and recurring elements. I really like just being in the world. I haven't even gotten past chapter three yet.
so has anyone else had problems with save file corruption? If my experience was a one in a million fluke then fine, I'll continue and make up for the hour or two I lost. If I can expect this to happen again in my playthrough then I'm waiting for a patch or three.
So I beat Chapter 9 yesterday and the story turned from bad to one of the worst things I've ever seen in a video game. This is not an exaggeration. FFXV made me appreciate how bad a story in a video game is and that is in large part to context. I think gamers, myself included, often times complain about there's too much explanation or too much plot or too much they're telling us, etc etc. The list goes on. However, this is a much better alternative to what XV has done which is not tell us anything. There is minimal amount of context, things that are explained better in the chapter intro loading screen, and the amount of information relegated to random newspaper headlines or radio transmissions. Who the fuck thought this was okay?
To get into specific detail about Chapter 9 everything below here is end of chapter spoiler territory and beginning of Chapter 10.
Fuck everything about this game. This is a BAD game. Narratively.
so has anyone else had problems with save file corruption? If my experience was a one in a million fluke then fine, I'll continue and make up for the hour or two I lost. If I can expect this to happen again in my playthrough then I'm waiting for a patch or three.
The boat trip to Altissia and entering the city while Cid talked about was nice, Altissia was amazing even though I expected more to do. The treaty scene with Camelia was classic FF and then the scenes that lead to the ritual were some of the best in the game. I also loved the fight with Leviathan even though I can understand why people might hate it (those hallways... lol)
But then, the rest of Chapter 9 onward got me like...
Who greenlighted Luna's role in the story? Who thought this was a good idea? Like, it's not only disrespectful to people who have followed the game since the Versus days, but it even doesn't respect people who only watched Kingsglaive. That was terrible and while I don't mind her death, it wasn't done well. She had no exposure other than those three great scenes (the speech, the soldiers scene and then the ritual).
I just finished the game but I don't even know what to think of the rest of the characters. The ending was one of the best in the series but the only thing I can think of right now is that maybe they should have canceled Versus and started anew. I loved the ride until release, I trusted the team and most of them did what they could with the time they had, but it hurts to see how some things ended up in the final game. All I can say is that I'm glad that we can finally move on from this universe and these characters. Long live king Noctis.
So I beat the game and doing the post game stuff. Where is the best place to get weapons after beating the game? The weapons I have right now, I feel as though, they're nowhere good enough for the Costlemark Tower Dungeon.
It's disjointed and incomplete, but the way the game reveals the relationships of the bros and hides snippets of development around the open world is great.
I'll have to disagree with you, while I do acknowledge the overall story is a mess, the game does far too many things right.
There's tonnes of character interactions that develop the relationship between the brothers hidden in the game. It's absolutely one of XV's biggest strengths.
You know... part of makes me wonder... This game was announced in 2013, right? How did a game end up in this state? Like... we have other games made in the same amount of time that didn't turn out half-baked or this levels of bad narratively. I'm sort of baffled. I'm sure they even had a lot of material from Versus to gleam on. Does SE just not know how to do HD development still?
I just finished the game but I don't even know what to think of the rest of the characters. The ending was one of the best in the series but the only thing I can think of right now is that maybe they should have canceled Versus and started anew. I loved the ride until release, I trusted the team and most of them did what they could with the time they had, but it hurts to see how some things ended up in the final game. All I can say is that I'm glad that we can finally move on from this universe and these characters. Long live king Noctis.
Fuck this game for throwing the goddamn soldiers when you're fighting something else. I was fighting this frog thing in Duscae, level 34 against my level 13. I was going slowly getting the frog's HP down and all of a sudden some 8 soldiers level 16 jump in and fuck our shit.
Having enemies spawn right in your face when fighting other enemies is some massive bullshit. Screw your ugly ass face SQEX!
Well, maybe the sporadic approach is better...but still, for certain scenes it would be the perfect goosebump-giver. Not to mention a couple times where I'd hear a piano chord that sounded ready to transition into it and it ended up being something else.
Yeah, I meant, that 3rd slot technically isn't letting you equip him with the Adamantite Bracelet. It's letting you equip the least beneficial accessory.
You know... part of makes me wonder... This game was announced in 2013, right? How did a game end up in this state? Like... we have other games made in the same amount of time that didn't turn out half-baked or this levels of bad narratively. I'm sort of baffled. I'm sure they even had a lot of material from Versus to gleam on. Does SE just not know how to do HD development still?
It's funny how even though I wanted this game for the story and thought I wouldn't care about the side content, chapter 9 bothered me so badly I now look forward to finishing her main quest as quickly as possible so I can get back to the main enjoyable aspect of the game.
For anyone who has beaten it when you finish the game can you decide to play as the
You know... part of makes me wonder... This game was announced in 2013, right? How did a game end up in this state? Like... we have other games made in the same amount of time that didn't turn out half-baked or this levels of bad narratively. I'm sort of baffled. I'm sure they even had a lot of material from Versus to gleam on. Does SE just not know how to do HD development still?
Yeah, I meant, that 3rd slot technically isn't letting you equip him with the Adamantite Bracelet. It's letting you equip the least beneficial accessory.
Fair point, it might better to eat the loss on Attack and equip him with AB. I want to use a Ribbon on him and Ignis to boost survivability but I would lose out on any Strength/Defense stats.
However what are the good alternatives? Unlimited airdance doesn't seem particularly useful.
On that note, it's annoying there are only three ribbons in the game.
It's funny how even though I wanted this game for the story and thought I wouldn't care about the side content, chapter 9 bothered me so badly I now look forward to finishing her main quest as quickly as possible so I can get back to the main enjoyable aspect of the game.
For anyone who has beaten it when you finish the game can you decide to play as the
Fuck this game for throwing the goddamn soldiers when you're fighting something else. I was fighting this frog thing in Duscae, level 34 against my level 13. I was going slowly getting the frog's HP down and all of a sudden some 8 soldiers level 16 jump in and fuck our shit.
Having enemies spawn right in your face when fighting other enemies is some massive bullshit. Screw your ugly ass face SQEX!
It really, really feels like a lot of the development time wasn't making assets, but getting them to work at an acceptable performance level.
I mean, look at screenshots from March. Look at the Gamescom master.
In many ways, FFXV feels a lot like a proof-of-concept/tech demo that was a lot of valuable experience on what is and isn't possible for the style of traversal/game loop/terrain/etc. like Assassin's Creed except unlike Assassin's Creed there won't be an AC2 to fully capitalize on those lessons.
Lestallum and Altissia also look like they could do with a contrast bump but that's probably from getting used to how they looked in JF15 and E32013 trailers respectively.
It'd be hilarious if the final fantasy 7 remake ends up reviewing higher and a better game. Where the remake of an old game with a new battle system and prettier modern graphics ends up as a better modern final fantasy
Edit:I heard there's someone who trades you coins for better weapons. Where is this person?
Heading into Chapter 14, got too late couldn't finish it off. Ooof through Chapter 13
the whole prison being weaponless sneaking around part was sooooo long and boooring, could have done without all of that. Seems like they are rushing to the end at this point, just having a train take you to places they wish they had the time to flesh out and make open world, shame.
It'd be hilarious if the final fantasy 7 remake ends up reviewing higher and a better game. Where the remake of an old game with a new battle system and prettier modern graphics ends up as a better modern final fantasy
If it does, it'll be because the FF VII remake had a relatively smooth production that didn't have constant retooling and a staff change midway through.
Can anyone give me a run down on the general consensus of this game right now that there has been time for the dust to settle for a bit. I will have D2 finished by the end of this week and will want to pick something new up soon and I really cant tell if I will like this or not.
what ended up good, what bad and what kinda just OK?
So I am convinced that this dungeon is where all the in-game glitches were sent away to.
As if terrible encounter designs weren't bad enough, this dungein basically completely broke for me...
Here are glitches I've encountered
Red Giant's magnet move getting stuck infinitely. I had to cheeze him with ranged attacks, as he just stood there, sucking everything in. I didn't record it unfortunately.
Naga-type enemy's water attack getting stuck. Happened to me TWICE. I recorded one of them : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLAp4eIEVM4
Inability to use magic. For one encounter, I randomly could not cast magic. Pressing attack while it was in my hand did absolutely nothing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qw1Xwpl2nM
I leveled up from lvl 38 to 60 in one boost, and it has made absolutely no difference to Ignis and Prompto being wiped out all the time. And there's nothing I can do about it.
At this stage Noctis has 6.5k HP and Prompto still has 3k. The balance here is completely off. All Ignis is good for is one 'Enhancement' per battle before he dies. (Although to be fair that's one fantastic ability.)
I wish they had spent more time balancing this battle system for your other party members.
