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Final Fantasy XV |OT2| For Jared!

R

RangerX

Banned
Just hit chapter 13. I was expecting a lot worse than this tbh. Its dragging a bit sure but its a nice change of atmosphere.
 
M

Mister Megative

Banned
shark sandwich said:
I'm going by Metacritic score.

XV is a "success" in that Square-Enix actually managed to ship the damn thing and make it pretty good. But I absolutely stand by my statement that this could likely be the worst game in the main series by nearly every objective measure we can think of (average critical score, budget, development time, sales #s).
Click to expand...

Going by Metacritic score:

Captain America: TWS - 70
The Avengers- 69
Titanic- 74
The Empire Strikes Back- 80
Godfather part 2- 80
Avatar- 83
Shawshank Redemption (considered to be one of the best films ever) - 80
The Force Awakens- 81

Look, if people don't like something, they're well within their rights to do so. There are valid criticisms to be had regarding pretty much anything. But basing something's quality or success off a metacritic aggregate is problematic and inaccurate. For example, more than half of FFXV's reviews on Metacritic are between 100-85. The rest are mostly 8s, with a few outlying 6s. Metacritic's weighting system for outlet reviews is opaque and not understood; many questions have been raised about it, with no answers given.

Again, this doesn't invalidate whatever criticisms people may have about the game, for the most part; it's my GOTY and I recognize it's not perfect. Nothing is. But again, this is why most reviewers you'll meet HATE having to score their reviews, and HATE metacritic. It's heavily flawed and doesn't provide an accurate aggregate at all. I'd argue that if you liked the game, it succeeded. If you don't, then it didn't. Simple as that.

As for sales, well.....it shipped 5 million. That's what retailers bought. It's already made a ton of money for SE. Retailers base their purchase of games for sale based on preorder numbers and interest. They don't do that unless they're confident they can clear most of that stock. XV was Gamestop's most anticipated game of holiday 2016, and Nielsen had it listed as RIGHT below CoD and BF1 in terms of consumer anticipation. Here's now Nielsen broke it down in terms of consumer anticipation:

CoD: 96%
BF1: 96%
FFXV: 95%

That's pretty damn impressive. Now, one might say "I still hold FFXV as a critical failure (utterly ridiculous BTW) because of an 82 meta, FF should score better". Of course, that's not taking into account the MUCH harsher review scale levied by critics this gen, which is a GOOD thing. Deus Ex, Uncharted, Gears of War, FF, Fallout, Dishonored, Farcry.......these franchises are scoring a bit lower this gen. This isn't due to a dip in quality at all, but rather a recognition that too many games in 7th gen were handed 9.5s and 10s without a thought to very real issues present in these games. I don't think anyone can deny this. Issues such as framerate, bugs, glitches, camera etc. are no longer being given passes, and as a result, an 8 means something again. Did you know that last gen, pubs were reluctant to greenlight a new IP if they hadn't produced an 85+ metacritic game? Shameful. Last time I checked, 8.5 was a fucking DAMN good score. Someone on our podcast gave TLG 4/5 stars, which metacritic would consider an 8/10; it's his GOTY.

Anyway, I hope you see the point I'm trying to make.
 
Y

YankeeDonB

Member
Jennipeg said:
Ok fam, I'm taking on chapter 13, should I bother to hide at all? And is there a way for me to go back to the open world in this chapter? Because
i'm not in a good position to fight a boss, I could do with more items.
Click to expand...

Don't hide! Just use the dodge move a lot (which recovers mp). Dungeon will go way faster this way.
 
R

RDreamer

Member
shark sandwich said:
It's amazing to finally play this after being announced (in some form) over 10 years ago. Before PS3 even launched in America.

It's actually kind of sad. XII, XIII, XIV, and XV have all been huge clusterfucks in their own way. Imagine going back to your 2006 self and saying "XIII won't come out until 2009, Versus won't come out until 2016, and both of them will have obvious compromises made in order to get the games out the door."

Here's hoping that this is the end of the Final Fantasy dark ages. If anybody in S-E's upper management has half a brain, there is a team dedicated to analyzing the shit out of what went wrong over the last 10 years and making damn sure it doesn't happen again. And they've put together a company-wide initiative for all future games to have <=3 years development schedules.

As bad as the last decade has been, I give S-E huge credit for keeping the series alive. It's a miracle Final Fantasy still exists as a AAA series and not just some mobile piece of shit.
Click to expand...

This is the saddest part for me as an FF fan. I still actually like XII, XIII, and now XV, but at the same time you can't help but know there's something missing. You can tell the games should be so much better. You can see the gem that needs to be polished and it's so frustrating to watch over all this time. I really hope, like you said, that we're out of the dark ages and they're able to focus and pull out something that at least feels like the vision they had. Hell, even if I don't really like it as much that's really all I want.
 
K

komorebi

Member
shark sandwich said:
LOL that is the one area where this bromance road trip fell short. Not nearly enough locker room talk..
Click to expand...

I thought this too, game needed some more actual guy talk and locker room jabs. But these days people are so overly emotional that someone would probably get offended and write an "amirite?" click piece haha
 
S

stenbumling

Unconfirmed Member
One of the strangest AAA-games I have ever played. It's a mess. Sometimes a beautiful mess, but more often a mind-boggling what-the-hell-were-they-thinking kind of mess. I honestly get kind of angry just thinking about this game, to the point that I cannot summon any enthusiasm whatsoever for another Final Fantasy-game.
I will be first in line to preach the glorious return of Final Fantasy within seconds of any kind of XVI-related news.

It's not all bad, though.
  • The world and the bros are definitely the high points here. Despite my exponentially growing hatred for the game and longing for it to just be over,
    the camping scene after the credits surprised me in the best way possible
    . Iggy is my man.
  • The battle system is also very gratifying, once you get the hang of it. The camera is janky as hell, but I ended up getting used to it.
  • Although the original score is super good, running through Duscae with Blue Fields, Cosmo Canyon or Crossing Those Hills playing filled me with pure, nostalgic joy. Reminded me that I have to replay VIII and IX.
  • Jared. I know, the joke has worn incredibly thin by now,
    and Talcott even kind of elaborate on his "role" in the story in Chapter 14
    , but the whole ordeal brought me so much laughter. Inadvertently one of my favorite moments. It perfectly incapsulates everything wrong with this game. Thanks GAF.
  • Some dungeons were great. The only endgame content I ever tried was the (in)famous Pitioss Ruins,
    the platforming dungeon
    . It was awesome, but I had not enough patience to finish it.
 
L

LiK

Member
I think most of the "locker room" talk is Prompto's comments about the female characters he likes even tho they're super inoffensive.
 
Y

YankeeDonB

Member
shark sandwich said:
It's amazing to finally play this after being announced (in some form) over 10 years ago. Before PS3 even launched in America.

It's actually kind of sad. XII, XIII, XIV, and XV have all been huge clusterfucks in their own way. Imagine going back to your 2006 self and saying "XIII won't come out until 2009, Versus won't come out until 2016, and both of them will have obvious compromises made in order to get the games out the door."

Here's hoping that this is the end of the Final Fantasy dark ages. If anybody in S-E's upper management has half a brain, there is a team dedicated to analyzing the shit out of what went wrong over the last 10 years and making damn sure it doesn't happen again. And they've put together a company-wide initiative for all future games to have <=3 years development schedules.

As bad as the last decade has been, I give S-E huge credit for keeping the series alive. It's a miracle Final Fantasy still exists as a AAA series and not just some mobile piece of shit.
Click to expand...

This is a glass half full interpretation, and I largely agree with it.

I've enjoyed XII, XIII, XIVRR, and now XV in varying degrees for varying reasons. There's a lot of innovative gameplay and world building in each of these titles. Now they just need to bring it home by wedding that to a compelling and coherent single person narrative.
 
J

Jennipeg

Member
Ok so when I get seen by an axe guy what do I do?
I can't run because it's the same button as death, and he just uses the ring. I've just died twice because I can't get away and the ring is too fucking slow.
 
N

Newman96

Member
Need help on the final Chapter...
I'm being told to head for the Citadel but I just seem to be running in circles..there's a lot of really strong enemies here that are kicking my arse as well.
 
V

valkyre

Member
Newman96 said:
Need help on the final Chapter...
I'm being told to head for the Citadel but I just seem to be running in circles..there's a lot of really strong enemies here that are kicking my arse as well.
Click to expand...

Just go to the question mark and ignore everything else. Dont worry about the difficulty.
 
L

LiK

Member
Jennipeg said:
Ok so when I get seen by an axe guy what do I do?
I can't run because it's the same button as death, and he just uses the ring. I've just died twice because I can't get away and the ring is too fucking slow.
Click to expand...

Use Holy against them. Works the best. Might take a while depending on your current level and MP skills.
I killed them all.

Newman96 said:
Need help on the final Chapter...
I'm being told to head for the Citadel but I just seem to be running in circles..there's a lot of really strong enemies here that are kicking my arse as well.
Click to expand...

You'll need to look for a second entrance to the subway. Similar tot he one in the first area with a rest spot. Easily missed.
 
K

Kyoufu

Member
Jennipeg said:
Ok so when I get seen by an axe guy what do I do?
I can't run because it's the same button as death, and he just uses the ring. I've just died twice because I can't get away and the ring is too fucking slow.
Click to expand...

Hold square to use Holy (it triggers after evading an attack) or you can use Alterma (R1 + Triangle) to get rid of them in one swoop.
 
J

Jennipeg

Member
LiK said:
Use Holy against them. Works the best. Might take a while depending on your current level and MP skills.
I killed them all.



You'll need to look for a second entrance to the subway. Similar tot he one in the first area with a rest spot. Easily missed.
Click to expand...

Kyoufu said:
Hold square to use Holy (it triggers after evading an attack) or you can use Alterma (R1 + Triangle) to get rid of them in one swoop.
Click to expand...

Thanks guys, I'll give it a try.

Ok, I think I've got it. Wait mode was killing me, switching back to active helped.
 
Ivory Samoan

Ivory Samoan

Gold Member
So I'm getting a Pro tomorrow, anyone got any idea when that Pro patch will be dropping with the 60fps mode?

I don't notice frame pacing at all it seems, so I'm prob keen on the High settings too to try it out on my new KS8000.
 
U

ultron87

Member
Finished Chapter 9. All of the spoilers for that.

I saw that death coming for awhile, since Luna was way too competent and good at her job and would've been in the way of Noctis and friends bumbling their way around the world, but it still super sucks. From what I can tell, her entire function in the story was to carry a ring and be Noctis' wingwoman for some gods. There wasn't any exploration into why she did anything that she did or what she was about.

She was just doing her predestined job and then gets killed after she's done it. Or maybe she wasn't done since there are other gods left? I have no idea since they still haven't explained why Noctis needs the power of the gods besides randomly getting to win a fight by blowing up the entire immediate vicinity with a summon.
 
S

shark sandwich

tenuously links anime, pedophile and incels
LongMuckDong said:
So I'm getting a Pro tomorrow, anyone got any idea when that Pro patch will be dropping with the 60fps mode?

I don't notice frame pacing at all it seems, so I'm prob keen on the High settings too to try it out on my new KS8000.
Click to expand...
No word whatsoever on the patch. Some people are speculating that we won't get it in December.

FWIW the frame pacing didn't bother me at all playing in the high resolution Pro mode.
 
T

Tyaren

Member
LongMuckDong said:
So I'm getting a Pro tomorrow, anyone got any idea when that Pro patch will be dropping with the 60fps mode?

I don't notice frame pacing at all it seems, so I'm prob keen on the High settings too to try it out on my new KS8000.
Click to expand...

shark sandwich said:
No word whatsoever on the patch. Some people are speculating that we won't get it in December.

FWIW the frame pacing didn't bother me at all playing in the high resolution Pro mode.
Click to expand...

Just play in the Pro High setting. ;) The game is a real eye treat in there. I'm in my second playthrough, so the framepacing issues don't bother me at all obviously.
A tip though: When you start the game don't do the tutorial first. Because after you did the tutorial and jump from it straight to the game, there is really some noticable judder for some reason. Some that called the High mode unplayable just triggered that weird bug by doing the tutorial first.
 
R

Ricker

Member
Tyaren said:
Just play in the Pro High setting. ;) The game is a real eye treat in there. I'm in my second playthrough, so the framepacing issues don't bother me at all obviously.
A tip though: When you start the game don't do the tutorial first. Because after you did the tutorial and jump from it straight to the game, there is really some noticable judder for some reason. Some that called the High mode unplayable just triggered that weird bug by doing the tutorial first.
Click to expand...

What about changing it back to Lite,save and exit,come back and change it back to high...should work.
 
K

Koozek

Member
Tyaren said:
Just play in the Pro High setting. ;) The game is a real eye treat in there. I'm in my second playthrough, so the framepacing issues don't bother me at all obviously.
A tip though: When you start the game don't do the tutorial first. Because after you did the tutorial and jump from it straight to the game, there is really some noticable judder for some reason. Some that called the High mode unplayable just triggered that weird bug by doing the tutorial first.
Click to expand...
Waiiiit a minute. Is that maybe the reason why even I found it unplayable and I'm normally not that sensitive to performance/framerate issues (except for screen-tearing)?

Ricker said:
What about changing it back to Lite,save and exit,come back and change it back to high...should work.
Click to expand...
I switched to Lite after 30min for the rest of the game, but didn't notice it getting better after trying High out again out of interest.
 
Y

YankeeDonB

Member
Jennipeg said:
Thanks guys, I'll give it a try.

Ok, I think I've got it. Wait mode was killing me, switching back to active helped.
Click to expand...

Yes, active, well timed dodge is key to making this portion manageable. I'd been working on my perfect dodges for some time before this section, so found it a nice skill check...
 
A

AkirraKrylon

Member
Mister Megative said:
Going by Metacritic score:

Captain America: TWS - 70
The Avengers- 69
Titanic- 74
The Empire Strikes Back- 80
Godfather part 2- 80
Avatar- 83
Shawshank Redemption (considered to be one of the best films ever) - 80
The Force Awakens- 81

Look, if people don't like something, they're well within their rights to do so. There are valid criticisms to be had regarding pretty much anything. But basing something's quality or success off a metacritic aggregate is problematic and inaccurate. For example, more than half of FFXV's reviews on Metacritic are between 100-85. The rest are mostly 8s, with a few outlying 6s. Metacritic's weighting system for outlet reviews is opaque and not understood; many questions have been raised about it, with no answers given.

Again, this doesn't invalidate whatever criticisms people may have about the game, for the most part; it's my GOTY and I recognize it's not perfect. Nothing is. But again, this is why most reviewers you'll meet HATE having to score their reviews, and HATE metacritic. It's heavily flawed and doesn't provide an accurate aggregate at all. I'd argue that if you liked the game, it succeeded. If you don't, then it didn't. Simple as that.

As for sales, well.....it shipped 5 million. That's what retailers bought. It's already made a ton of money for SE. Retailers base their purchase of games for sale based on preorder numbers and interest. They don't do that unless they're confident they can clear most of that stock. XV was Gamestop's most anticipated game of holiday 2016, and Nielsen had it listed as RIGHT below CoD and BF1 in terms of consumer anticipation. Here's now Nielsen broke it down in terms of consumer anticipation:

CoD: 96%
BF1: 96%
FFXV: 95%

That's pretty damn impressive. Now, one might say "I still hold FFXV as a critical failure (utterly ridiculous BTW) because of an 82 meta, FF should score better". Of course, that's not taking into account the MUCH harsher review scale levied by critics this gen, which is a GOOD thing. Deus Ex, Uncharted, Gears of War, FF, Fallout, Dishonored, Farcry.......these franchises are scoring a bit lower this gen. This isn't due to a dip in quality at all, but rather a recognition that too many games in 7th gen were handed 9.5s and 10s without a thought to very real issues present in these games. I don't think anyone can deny this. Issues such as framerate, bugs, glitches, camera etc. are no longer being given passes, and as a result, an 8 means something again. Did you know that last gen, pubs were reluctant to greenlight a new IP if they hadn't produced an 85+ metacritic game? Shameful. Last time I checked, 8.5 was a fucking DAMN good score. Someone on our podcast gave TLG 4/5 stars, which metacritic would consider an 8/10; it's his GOTY.

Anyway, I hope you see the point I'm trying to make.
Click to expand...



I definitely see your point. I think there are people who have legitimate gripes with the game and I understand where they are coming from....but then you get a huge faction of folks that like to shit on games for...whatever reason. I'll never understand that sentiment, I just stay away from games I don't like.

Anyway, here are some numbers on FFXV's meta scores:

2 100's
1 95
2 92's
25 90's

3 88's
12 85's
1 82
19 80's

1 79
4 75's
1 73
4 70's

5 60's

-------------
30/80 Reviews scored 90 or better.

45/80 Reviews scored 85 or better.

65/80 Reviews scored 80 or better.
-------------


I don't get how people can say it "scored badly" but *shrug*.

Still my GOTY.
 
K

Koozek

Member
YankeeDonB said:
lol, this was a big disappointment to me :-( How far he fell from his original inclusion in the fab five.
Click to expand...
Lol, he was the character I looked forward to the most since 2013 and I almost forgot he existed after I beat the game. What was he doing the whole time? Cor DLC incoming? :D
 
I

Ishida

Banned
YankeeDonB said:
lol, this was a big disappointment to me :-( How far he fell from his original inclusion in the fab five.
Click to expand...

Koozek said:
Lol, he was the character I looked forward to the most since 2013 and I almost forgot he existed after I beat the game. What was he doing the whole time? Cor DLC incoming? :D
Click to expand...

I'm the opposite, actually. I never gave two shits about Cor during pre-release. So his short time in the game was like... "meh" to me.
 
Y

YankeeDonB

Member
Ha ha. "World going to shit? Eh. Immortal shogun going to sit right here and have himself another beer."

I would play the shit out of Cor DLC, that's for sure. With this battle system, a high risk/high reward, Cyan-esque slow in-scabbard power-charge into Iai strike would be sweet.
 
F

Ferr986

Member
Tyaren said:
Just play in the Pro High setting. ;) The game is a real eye treat in there. I'm in my second playthrough, so the framepacing issues don't bother me at all obviously.
A tip though: When you start the game don't do the tutorial first. Because after you did the tutorial and jump from it straight to the game, there is really some noticable judder for some reason. Some that called the High mode unplayable just triggered that weird bug by doing the tutorial first.
Click to expand...

I disagree, atleast in my case, skipped the tutorial and High mode was still a judering mess to me.
 
M

Mister Megative

Banned
AkirraKrylon said:
I definitely see your point. I think there are people who have legitimate gripes with the game and I understand where they are coming from....but then you get a huge faction of folks that like to shit on games for...whatever reason. I'll never understand that sentiment, I just stay away from games I don't like.

Anyway, here are some numbers on FFXV's meta scores:

2 100's
1 95
2 92's
25 90's

3 88's
12 85's
1 82
19 80's

1 79
4 75's
1 73
4 70's

5 60's

-------------
30/80 Reviews scored 90 or better.

45/80 Reviews scored 85 or better.

65/80 Reviews scored 80 or better.
-------------


I don't get how people can say it "scored badly" but *shrug*.

Still my GOTY.
Click to expand...

It scored great. If metacritic's system of weighting wasn't completely jacked the meta would be higher, and people who need purchase validation would feel better.
 
W

WickedLaharl

Member
Mailbox said:
She's being handed over to the empire. Those are magitek troopers. The speech is to calm the citizenry.
As for the waking of Leviathan, there are multiple parties at play with this: Luna wants to give Noctis power, Ravus wants to kill Leviathan so that Luna doesn't die, and Ardyn wants everyone in this situation to suffer which basically entails Noctis killing Leviathan and gaining the blessing. Either way someone wants Leviathan to be summoned for some reason or another, and to do this requires civilian evacuation and a notion of its happening, hence the speech.
Click to expand...


I'm on chapter 10 how the fuck are you supposed to figure all this out. Is it explained later?
 
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