Lol. I did mostly the same. Haven't hit 99 yet, 93 with rest at 99. Just no interest in those dungeons after doing the first, or that boring ass fight. Or finishing the fishing sidequest.
Not a knock on the game as I did quite a bit of stuff postgame and I'm usual one to never touch a game again once the credits roll. Just not into any of that stuff.
After 44 hours spent on Chapter 3 since I purchased FFXV Day 1, I finally decided to move on 2 days ago and just finished it with 54 hours of total playtime.
Thanks to this thread I kept bracing myself for all the rough spots/chapters and tried to find as much enjoyment as I could.
Glad to say that after staring at my screen for 10 minutes following the final cutscene, the only feeling I'm left with is satisfaction.
Despite the botched up storytelling, I have lots of love for the characters, the adventure, and "the little things" that, all things considered, are what make the game memorable to me.
I'd say FFXV is Roadtrip Fantasy I, a cool game about a bunch of friends killing monsters and taking selfies, trying to tell the story of Versus XIII, a dramatic tale of a prince desperate to comprehend his destiny. They don't work well mixed together.
I'm glad I decided to keep them separate (full roadtrip first, full story when I'm ready) rather than switch back and forth, because any sense of urgency/build-up would have been lost.
Still, no matter the flaws, I'm happy about the journey AND the destination. Some of these virtual memories won't fade for sure.
Here's to hoping the game's upcoming patches and DLCs improve upon what's already good, and fix, or at least don't repeat, some mistakes that were made.
Rght now I'm basically ruining the entire mood of chapter 14 with the song Colorful from Type-0 playing on the MP3 player, I was expecting that I wouldn't be given access to it at this point lol.
It'd fix a lot. Haven't beaten it but there's been hardly any good story there. Hopefully there's some big payoff at the end because right now it seems like useless padding.
Hopefully almost through chapter 13. Here are a couple thoughts on recent chapters
Oh my gosh Chapter 13 is not fun. At least I have the sword now. I kept thinking that it wouldn't be bad but wow the ring only section was the least enjoyable thing I've played in a while.
I was kinda disappointed with how fast chapters 9-12 went. 9 was a bit longer due to the available hunts and being able to explore the city, Leviathan was also a really cool fight. But Chapters 10-12 were so quick, all like half an hour or so each it felt like.
I felt worse for Ignis having his eyes messed up than I've felt for any game character in a long time. I really do love this cast and their interactions.
Also sorry if this has been asked tons of times but am I ever going to get the ability to add ingredients to my spells? I feel like I'm missing something.
Can anyone recommend side quests that are most worth my time? I'm in Chapter 6 and so inundated with quests and hunts that I can't decide what to actually focus on. Saving them all for the end seems like kind of a waste, but it's hard to say.
If the boss spawns in Daurell caverns and you leave without killing it
He'll never respawn
Making it impossible to finish the dungeon and locks you out of all the endgame dungeons
Hopefully almost through chapter 13. Here are a couple thoughts on recent chapters
Oh my gosh Chapter 13 is not fun. At least I have the sword now. I kept thinking that it wouldn't be bad but wow the ring only section was the least enjoyable thing I've played in a while.
I was kinda disappointed with how fast chapters 9-12 went. 9 was a bit longer due to the available hunts and being able to explore the city, Leviathan was also a really cool fight. But Chapters 10-12 were so quick, all like half an hour or so each it felt like.
I felt worse for Ignis having his eyes messed up than I've felt for any game character in a long time. I really do love this cast and their interactions.
Also sorry if this has been asked tons of times but am I ever going to get the ability to add ingredients to my spells? I feel like I'm missing something.
I thought you could early on. When making a spell you can add fire, ice etc and at the bottom blank slot a potion, food ingredient or treasure. Some really change the spells use. Or am I mistaking what you mean?
I thought you could early on. When making a spell you can add fire, ice etc and at the bottom blank slot a potion, food ingredient or treasure. Some really change the spells use. Or am I mistaking what you mean?
Haha it took me 40 hours before i noticed it, but instead of going straight down to "Craft" you can choose the bottom icon and select an ingredient, treasure or restorative to add its effects to your spells.
I'm pretty sure you can use it once you are first able to use elemancy. They don't really point it out though.
Funny that the game i waited 10 years to play, will be the first game I platinum. Granted, it's an easier platinum than most, still it caught me off guard when I realized I had about 70% of the trophies when I beat the game the other day and only have 7 trophies left.
It takes time to get used to. Dont worry about trying to replicate that gif, he unlocked a bunch of air abilities (one of which costs 333 AP) so he can dodge around in the air like that.
Just focus on trying to get behind enemies and attack their blind side, try not to be overly aggressive, be ready to dodge and parry if there are enemies around you, enable wait mode and scan enemies to see what their weaknesses are.
You'll get used to it, its a brand new battle system, you arent going to master it right away. Im 88 hours in and im still learning things here and there.
I think the "Mind the Trap" quest from that boy in Lestallum broke me.
I usually have high tolerance for various kinds of bullshits in RPGs, JRPGs especially, but that quest just broke me. I was actually angry that someone from Square was stupid and idiotic enough to decide that quests like these---where you have to run around looking for objects to fill that 0/5 -insert whatever item here- inside a huge circular area are fun, and to include them in the game en masse.
I sort of like the sealed dungeons. They push the combat further than anywhere else in the game. They obviously don't aspire to be anything but combat trials.
So I'm on Chapter 8, is there any point from here on out where it's just the four characters and it isn't prodding me on to continue doing story missions, or is this what everyone was referring to the last half being super linear. I'd like to take a break at some point.
Also, where the hell do you get better weapons? I feel like I've had this stupid flame tongue since the first chapter.
It takes time to get used to. Dont worry about trying to replicate that gif, he unlocked a bunch of air abilities (one of which costs 333 AP) so he can dodge around in the air like that.
Just focus on trying to get behind enemies and attack their blind side, try not to be overly aggressive, be ready to dodge and parry if there are enemies around you, enable wait mode and scan enemies to see what their weaknesses are.
You'll get used to it, its a brand new battle system, you arent going to master it right away. Im 88 hours in and im still learning things here and there.
The dodge/blocking is so frustrating b/c the attack animations are so long compared to the button press.
It's insanely hard to get behind the soldiers when there's 16 of them or whatever. And it seems like whenever I fight them when they land if I use magic there's other mobs around that agro in b/c of the magic.
The dodge/blocking is so frustrating b/c the attack animations are so long compared to the button press.
It's insanely hard to get behind the soldiers when there's 16 of them or whatever. And it seems like whenever I fight them when they land if I use magic there's other mobs around that agro in b/c of the magic.
I was lucky, I didn't encounter any Coeurls there, although centipede-like enemies do appear every now and then.
They didn't even mark where the trap were and they weren't obvious looking too unless you get close. I guess I should count my blessings that I didn't do it at night, couldn't even imagine the nightmare, urghhh.
There are a lot of spoilers in this post, I will do my best to either talk around them or spoiler them up but be warned.
FFXV is my GOTY. Strong opening I know but that doesn't make it perfect or even the "best" game I played all year...but damn sure its the one that will stick with me for a long ass time. The "experience" so to speak trumped all other games I played this year. I was looking forward to Versus for a long ass time. I love Nomura and his asthetics. That game was damn near a lock to be my shit. So I was a bit miffed with all of the changes and the fact that I wasn't going to get that. FFXV is not what I wanted....and thats ok. What FFXV is, in the end is a very good game with a great main cast, fun battle system and some good ideas....with some flaws.
Story
---------------
The story is a mess or rather told poorly, The base idea of Prince reclaiming his throne via collecting powers and shit, is a great set up...but one they kinda squandered. The story needed more side stories that would ideally flesh out the other bros at the very least...this would have helped the flow of the game a lot more but more importantly the story. The problem is that this is a story that probably was written for multiple games and got cut down to fit one and it suffers for it. BUT what is here is super interesting and is propped up by its main cast (i.e the main 4)
. Noctis is not the Sasuke clone I expected, he's emo when it calls for it but there is never that moment of why would any one put up with this dude's shit. he's likable and you understand his plight. Prompto has some depth beyond comic relief , although this is another problem as most of this depth is gained either outside the game or
via a weird throw in at the last minute....
. Ignis turns into best bro as time goes on. Gladio is a shit at one point but while I hate him for that...it makes sense. Its sign of good characters when their flaws add to them and make sense. The side cast does not fare as well sadly.
Luna, while I'm not as outraged as some were, is a non-enitity for most of the plot. This is "fine" because she doesn't need to be more than that...but the game builds her up as much more (again more side story action would have been huge). Araeana is best girl....but I wish she did more. I legit forgot Cor existed until the end....like what is his deal? As for the villians, the main badguy was good if not great...i do wish they got more airtime but they were threatening enough.
But the common theme is that everything could have used more time in the oven. What is here is fine but you can see how it all could have been improved.
Gameplay
------------------
the gameplay is great IMO. Dragons Dogma is one of my favorite games ever. Xenoblade X was my GOTY last year. So I love games in which you travel around large areas killing shit with good - great combat. The combat never got old for me and traveling around the world is what I love about games. The feel of adventure is huge for me and it hits it. That being said, nothing is perfect. That second half is uneven at best. Some of the set pieces are amazing, others make you wonder what Tabata was drinking at the time. Chapter 13 is bad, not end your life bad, but bad nonetheless. It drags too much and the game loses a lot of what made it great...and considering the game ends in like 2 hours after that...it is a bad ending stretch for sure. The final fights do make up for it in spectacle tho. People hate the summoning system and I see why but I legit summoned every summon at least once and it was cool. Not cool on the magic system tho...its too unwiedly and your bros are too stupid to get out of the way.
People praise the dungeons and while yeah they get the feel down, I didn't like them personally. The slow walk was annoying and the layouts where confusing (*which is probably the point....) plus the battle system works better in open fields than it does in cramped corridors. The sidequests in general are weak MMO affairs. Again this is where the game could have used more side stories.
Thats a lot of complaints but the game had my hooked. I very rarely beat many games sadly..my attention span is too short (I didn't beat the afforementioned XCX) but this had this "one more mission" feel to it for sure.
Technical Stuff
-----------------------
I'm no graphic whore so eh. Game looks great at times and looks rough as shit at others. The soundtrack is gdlk. The main theme (??) is one of my favorites, everytime it would start in the field I'd stop to make sure it played for while. Its a very sparse soundtrack tho. Can't think of a bad track tho.
The VA is also worth commenting on. Not the best overall but damn some people put in work. Noctis voice is perfect. He hit the lazy nature well. He hit the "everything is bad" nature well. Some of the angsty parts were rough but thats probably how it should sound. Prompto's VA also does a great job at the more tender moments. Ignis' VA is fine. Gladio is the weakest of the 4. The side cast all do a bang up job (Cid has one scene that is daaaaamn good). And the main bad guy...woooo he gets it done. Very impressed after a shaky first impression.
Closing
-----------------
I just listed off a lot of negatives above. So how the fuck is this my GOTY? I can barely explain it myself (as you might be able to see) but damn I loved this game. All of the flaws everyone lists are true and if those are a gamebreaker for you then you probably should pass. The bottom line is that the game ironically needed more time. But it never was going to get that time. And I'm ok with that. What IS here is great as a whole IMO. What a ride it was. It wasn't Versus and that sucks but what IS here was a pretty great consolation.
Hopefully SE builds upon this (maybe not the same battle system or set up) for their future projects.
In terms of using Magic, is there any good way to not actually hit your bros?
Everybody and their mothers suggested Ignis' regroup, but the trouble is, it regroups to his location instead of Noct's, and since I can't control Ignis, more often than not when I use regroup Ignis is in the middle of cluster of enemies that I intended to use magic to in the first place and thus all four of us are regrouped in a location that I don't want -______________________-
In terms of using Magic, is there any good way to not actually hit your bros?
Everybody and their mothers suggested Ignis' regroup, but the trouble is, it regroups to his location instead of Noct's, and since I can't control Ignis, more often than not when I use regroup Ignis is in the middle of cluster of enemies that I intended to use magic to in the first place and thus all four of us are regrouped in a location that I don't want -______________________-
I dunno. I played 101 hours of this game and not once did I care about my bros getting hit by magic. They take far less damage than enemies do, so I never cared. You can equip them with element resist accessories and/or eat food to nullify elemental damage but... I don't see it as a problem.
