Support NeoGAF

[Lights and Waves]

Shit, yeah, I'm seeing the FNC origins.

Quick questions:

1. Why has no one before Noctis gotten rid of the scourge?
2. Why was Ardyn banned when he really solved the problem, which the kings and oracles roles were created in the first place? Or what were those even for?
3. Why don't the gods just protect Eos and get rid of the scourge themeselves? I mean, the Crystal and all that came from them.
4. Why didn't Shiva or the others just kill Ifrit themselves, anyway?

If you think about it with FNC in mind, things get a lot more complex.

Summons are Etro's emissaries in the world of the humans. They can't protect the world as they're just there to assist l'Cie that are in crisis. Ifrit could have been an eidolon that was rebelling against Etro.

The mission of the evil fal'Cie in FFXIII was to cause a catastrophic number of human deaths all at once, thus overwhelming the gate to the unseen realm, thus forcing Etro to reveal herself and her location.

The daemons in this game are trying to kill humans. By creating the starscourage, Ifit could have been trying to kill as many humans possible in order to locate Etro and access the unseem realm.

 

[Ray Down]

I have many questions about the story and I probably will read this 207 page thread later but I need to ask 1 question :

how is Luna and Noctis alive at the end?

They aren't, in afterlife.

 

[Edzi]

If you find it, let me know. It was this thread that alerted me to that scene, actually.

Hopefully someone else in this thread can shed some light on it, since it seems like a rather important thing for the guys to actually say.

 

[TissueBox]

Guys I wrote another thing

This time about Ardyn

This is a good read. An essential for a quick summary of and look at Ardyn's backstory and motivation from what's been gathered so far.

EDIT: While I'm not that crazy about Ardyn, I do see the similarities between the likes of Kefka, etc. He has the twinkling eye and troubled heart combo that's hard not to love.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

how is Luna and Noctis alive at the end?

They aren't. It's either the afterlife, their final dream before death, or a what-if scene à la Titanic ending.

 

[Valonquar]

I took a Prompto selfie with a giraffe butt in the background into the afterlife. Luna was like "Fuck this shit, I'm reincarnating now"

 

[yunbuns]

Final Fantasy XV:Character Information from Key Development Staff

 Ignis isn’t particularly keen on cooking, but as a duty to perform, he takes it seriously.”

– Hajime Tabata

Lol Ignis literally loses his shit every time he finds a new recipe but he doesn't like cooking?

 

[Lunafreya Nox Fleuret]

They aren't. It's either the afterlife, their final dream before death, or a what-if scene à la Titanic ending.

This seems to be the idea but I wouldn't even be surprised if SE says they are alive, lol.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

This seems to be the idea but I wouldn't even be surprised if SE says they are alive, lol.

That's actually their reincarnations after Lightning rebooted the world in XIII-3.

 

[Tyaren]

Guys I wrote another thing

This time about Ardyn

Liked this, great work!

 

[Ray Down]

This seems to be the idea but I wouldn't even be surprised if SE says they are alive, lol.

With post release scene's they will!

That's actually their reincarnations after Lightning rebooted the world in XIII-3.

Or this.

 

[Ishida]

 Ignis isn’t particularly keen on cooking, but as a duty to perform, he takes it seriously.”

– Hajime Tabata

Lol Ignis literally loses his shit every time he finds a new recipe but he doesn't like cooking?

If I found ways to make my job easier, despite me not liking such job, I would lose my shit also.

 

[OrionX]

This seems to be the idea but I wouldn't even be surprised if SE says they are alive, lol.

I did find it odd that after the events of Altissia, I remember hearing on the radio that Luna's body was never found... Then when I saw her hanging in the throne room, I thought Ardyn had fished her out of the ocean and brought her there, lol, but it was just another of his illusions.

They dead tho. It was made pretty clear that Noct's sacrifice was required, and that he had to come to terms with that.

 

[Falk]

Final Fantasy XV:Character Information from Key Development Staff

I read to the end, saw "About Joey" and was subconsciously expecting the staff to be talking about Joey as well.

 

[Zimmy64]

1. Ifrit let the Starscourge loose because of his hatred for humans. Only two times though. For the first time when Ardyn was around and thousands of years later when Noctis was around. This time in collaboration with Ardyn.

2. No, only Ardyn and Noctis were Chosen Ones by the gods. The other Lucian Kings were just inheritors of the crystal and ring.

3. No, just Noctis had to fight Ardyn, the one and only Accursed.

4. Yes.

5. We don't really know. It probably took Ardyn some time to get all wheels into position. Infiltrate the Empire and become the Chancellor, make a deal with Ifrit to bring about a new Starscourge, wait for the next Chosen One aka Noctis, defeat Lucis... There was a lot to plan for Ardyn. And he did well. He achieved everything he wanted in the end.

That makes sense. The Starscourge still messes with me. I thought there was somewhere in the game that mentioned it being a recurred thing. Isn't it every oracle's duty to prevent the Starscourge. If there's only two does it mean that only Luna and however the oracle was back in Ardyn's original time actually did anything and the other oracles were just chilling. The way I understand it is that there is a new starscourge every time there is a new King but the oracle always stops it before it really becomes much of anything (with the obvious two exceptions being the one in Ardyn's time and the one Ardyn caused).

Not specifically responding to you but regarding the whole Ardyn final boss phase not becoming a demigod thing I'm torn. On one hand I think the game really could have used a third phase for Ardyn. The fight was good but it only took me about 80% of the way there.

I was hoping for a final epic phase with blasting Orchestrated Latin Opera like FFVI and FFVII. I really wanted Ardyn to get his own One-Winged Angel or Dancing Mad (Call it The Fallen King, Scourge of the Stars, Defying the Crystal, The End of Lucis, or something cool like that). I don't remember his final theme being bad but I don't remember much about it at all.

I actually thought/hoped that the final battle would take place between Ardyn and Noctis in the afterlife instead of the game just showing the cutscene of Ardyn dying. Anyway I think you can do a final demigod Ardyn without having a giant snake monster, twenty heads, five hands, Eldritch Abomination which I agree is played out by now and wouldn't fit Ardyn's character.

On an unrelated tangent I really want Noctis and especially Ardyn to show up in Kingdom Hearts III now. I think Ardyn's caracter could be modified really well/interestingly to fight the Kingdom Hearts Mythos considering its emphasis of Darkness. They could put something in there about how Ardyn's heart absorbed the Heartless making his heart immortal or something like that.

 

[Koozek]

1. No king before Noctis was actually a "Chosen One" by the gods. Only Ardyn, thousands of years ago, and he shared that destiny. Only they could defeat the Starscourge.

2. We only know what happened back then from Ardyn's point of view, which might be slightly biased. He told us, that the gods forsake him after they saw him as tainted/corrupted by absorbing all demons in his body, which made him also super powerful. I'd be turned off by that too, lol. And the king Izunia was apparently jealous of Ardyn's fame and power and role as the Chosen One. That's why that king also stole Ardyn's name for his own line.

3. No idea...maybe it's just a game to them? Let the humans fight it out.

4. Why would gods kill each other over mere humans?

Mhh, I see. Thanks!

If you think about it with FNC in mind, things get a lot more complex.

Summons are Etro's emissaries in the world of the humans. They can't protect the world as they're just there to assist l'Cie that are in crisis. Ifrit could have been an eidolon that was rebelling against Etro.

The mission of the evil fal'Cie in FFXIII was to cause a catastrophic number of human deaths all at once, thus overwhelming the gate to the unseen realm, thus forcing Etro to reveal herself and her location.

The daemons in this game are trying to kill humans. By creating the starscourage, Ifit could have been trying to kill as many humans possible in order to locate Etro and access the unseem realm.

 

[Imp the Dimp]

The story chapters are the weakest thing about FFXV. Literally everything else is more fun and less frustrating (in terms of how annoying the lack of a cohesive narrative is; I prefer storyless hunts over terribly told stories).

 

[sssssszzzzz]

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with FF XV, even though I agree on the game's many flaws. Some of them are minor, others not.

The story feels patchy and not well fleshed out, espacially characters like Luna, Ravus, even Cor. XV had the ingredients to be one of the series strongest plots, so that's sad.

The design choices for the train rade and in Chapter XIII are... questionable. It also goes on for way too long, and only gets better once Noctis finds his friends again. Everything after that was pretty good to me though. The ending made me sad, we all guessed Noctis had to sacrifice himself, but actually all four protagnists die. The camp scene in the middle of the credits made me sad.

It was kinda hard for me after the credits to jump back right into happier days of the roadtrip, completing fetchquests in light-hearted spirit again. It just felt kinda wrong. Will probably still find my way back into this world, espacially because I heard so many good things about the dungeons I haven't played yet.

My last complaint would be how much useless effort went into Altissia, please?! Unless the area gets a DLC, this feels like such a shameful waste of time, given how great this place looks.

As such, it was one hell of a experience, I really feel connected to the four protagonists in a way that has rarely happened in a game, but I just can't overlook the game's plot holes and design issues. There was potential to be at the very top of the Final Fantasy series, now we have a very good game, but no new FF VII.

 

[Deckard Chapel]

I may be in the minority here with my opinion, but FFXV is my favorite FF so far.

It has everything a FF needs and the game simply oozes nostalgia and fun.

Sure the narrative is lacking in some areas, but the DLC's will hopefully fix that.

 

[Pygrus]

I may be in the minority here with my opinion, but FFXV is my favorite FF so far.

It has everything a FF needs and the game simply oozes nostalgia and fun.

Sure the narrative is lacking in some areas, but the DLC's will hopefully fix that.

The narrative really holds it back for me, but it's still in my top 5 FF's.

It does have my favorite combat system out of any FF though.

Hopefully the game sells well and Square gives us an even better game next time.

 

[Ishida]

I may be in the minority here with my opinion, but FFXV is my favorite FF so far.

It has everything a FF needs and the game simply oozes nostalgia and fun.

Sure the narrative is lacking in some areas, but the DLC's will hopefully fix that.

It's not my favorite, but it's definitely the best one since X.

 

[Deckard Chapel]

It's not my favorite, but it's definitely the best one since X.

What in your opinion puts X above XV?

I've been playing FFXV every day since November 29th and I haven't done that in a long time. I get excited about the game as I think about it during the day and I can't wait to get home to play it - like I did when I was in high school or as a child!

I've already beaten the game, but the post-game content is like a game in itself!

 

[Ishida]

What in your opinion puts X above XV?

I've been playing FFXV every day since November 29th and I haven't done that for a game in forever!

I've already beaten the game, but the post-game content is like a game in itself!

The story, mostly. I think the overall plot and the narrative of X is vastly superior to XV's.

XII had great narrative but the story was boring as all fuck, and the characters were coma-inducing levels of boring. The gameplay system was also.. Meh...

XIII's narrative was bad and the story was... Yeah, it was also bad. The cast was pretty boring also. Gameplay system was great, though.

XV's narrative is poor, but the story itself is absolutely great, and the cast is extremely charming. The gameplay system is astoundingly good. I can't get enough of it. I think so far it is my favorite in the entire franchise.

 

[Deckard Chapel]

The gameplay system is astoundingly good. I can't get enough of it. I think so far it is my favorite in the entire franchise.

It's my favorite too.

 

[Lunafreya Nox Fleuret]

I did find it odd that after the events of Altissia, I remember hearing on the radio that Luna's body was never found... Then when I saw her hanging in the throne room, I thought Ardyn had fished her out of the ocean and brought her there, lol, but it was just another of his illusions.

They dead tho. It was made pretty clear that Noct's sacrifice was required, and that he had to come to terms with that.

I just assumed the body was never found since it was in Noctis's vision. It was kind of Luna's last words to Noct before she kicked the bucket, right? Her actual body may have just been consumed by Astral energy. Although it is clear, maybe SE really wants it ambiguous? I dunno, it is an interesting thought.

 

[yunbuns]

If I found ways to make my job easier, despite me not liking such job, I would lose my shit also.

Good point.

Also I found this on tumblr. Really nice that they put these in.

[IMG]https://68.media.tumblr.com/23b7b827904ec738751253695fee8829/tumblr_oi4unfEBpa1w09s4co3_1280.png[/IMG][IMG]https://68.media.tumblr.com/09f91d4c1df48b3e843e24ae08cc5dc6/tumblr_oi4unfEBpa1w09s4co1_1280.png[/IMG]
[IMG]https://68.media.tumblr.com/e02c0d6185f09f1b0892f702cc0bddd3/tumblr_oi4unfEBpa1w09s4co4_1280.png[/IMG][IMG]https://68.media.tumblr.com/d3a2dfbc3e162b6587d6eb650fe4ee9e/tumblr_oi4unfEBpa1w09s4co2_1280.png[/IMG]

Source.

[IMG]https://68.media.tumblr.com/1d0339c5a982948e670391b21f97153b/tumblr_oht14yJ9Fk1uqouabo3_500.gif[/IMG][IMG]https://68.media.tumblr.com/1ff4bdfdd829df767d77463ce58cfa5f/tumblr_oht14yJ9Fk1uqouabo4_500.gif[/IMG][IMG]https://68.media.tumblr.com/298f65344025da8cc4a8b32d930c6c36/tumblr_oht14yJ9Fk1uqouabo2_500.gif[/IMG]

Source.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Man KG Luna looks sooooo good

Also I didn't know you could put images in code tags. That'll be useful.

 

[Ran rp]

Also I didn't know you could put images in code tags. That'll be useful.

please don't koozek it abuse it

 

[Lunafreya Nox Fleuret]

How did Maria even survive if the house was burning down? Crazy.

 

[MissDeviling]

XV's narrative is poor, but the story itself is absolutely great, and the cast is extremely charming. The gameplay system is astoundingly good. I can't get enough of it. I think so far it is my favorite in the entire franchise.

Such a damn shame that the story is told so poorly. Ravus could have been a fascinating character who initially was against you, but then works together with you in his own way (this wasn't communicated well in the game). They could have hinted more about the Starscourge and thus Prompto's background. The past about Noctis and Ardyn's ancestors should have been fleshed out more too.

All such missed opportunities. The execution just wasn't there.

 

[jiggle]

Old noctis really got hit with the ugly stick after he shaved didn't he
Yikes

 

[Edzi]

Old noctis really got hit with the ugly stick after he shaved didn't he
Yikes

Uhhh, you consider that ugly? Not really sure what to say lol.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Old noctis really got hit with the ugly stick after he shaved didn't he
Yikes

What kind of standards for beauty do you have

Liked this, great work!

This is a good read. An essential for a quick summary of and look at Ardyn's backstory and motivation from what's been gathered so far.

That was really well written. That basically sums up why Ardyn's one of my favorite villains in the series. You have to read into some of his backstory, but he definitely has a tragic story to tell, like a lot of characters in the game. And I love the fact that most of the time he masks that darkness with a charming exterior.

Thanks!

Note to game journalists reading this thread: hire me

 

[Ishida]

Old noctis really got hit with the ugly stick after he shaved didn't he
Yikes

I think he looks fantastic. Probably the best design for a main character in a FF game.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Shaved old Noctis look fine to me although he looks more like a typical Nomura character (even though Nomura didn't design him lol). He reminds me of Machina from Type-0.

 

[yunbuns]

Old noctis really got hit with the ugly stick after he shaved didn't he
Yikes

 

[Dimmle]

Oh hey, so who exactly were the four individuals chained up in the throne room? That was pretty chilling.

 

[yunbuns]

Oh hey, so who exactly were the four individuals chained up in the throne room? That was pretty chilling.

Luna, Regis, Ravus, and Nyx (from Kingsglaive).

 

[Dimmle]

Luna, Regis, Ravus, and Nyx (from Kingsglaive).

Nyx was Aaron Paul?

 

[Koozek]

please don't koozek it abuse it

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/pMy1O4g.png[/IMG]

 

[HeelPower]

Good point.

Also I found this on tumblr. Really nice that they put these in.

LOL

I am....rather impressed by this detail of consistency here.I thought they completely pulled this character out of thin air.I didn't see that coming.

+1 TBT.

 

[Lunafreya Nox Fleuret]

I still don't know why Nyx was there in the throne room since he never met Noctis.

 

[jiggle]

I'm the only one that found him weird looking?
They attached this square, more masculine jaw, to his old face
The top just didn't match the bottom at all
It's really jarring

 

[Dimmle]

The transmedia focus was definitely to this game's detriment.

 

[HeelPower]

I'm the only one that found him weird looking?
They attached this square, more masculine jaw, to his old face
The top just didn't match the bottom at all
It's really jarring

His head's way too big for his body on his old outfit.

Its clear that his head was made bigger after timeskip so that he can comfortably wear the bigger shoulder pads/cape at the end ,but it looked weird on his old outfit.

 

[Jonnax]

Oh hey, so who exactly were the four individuals chained up in the throne room? That was pretty chilling.

Luna, Ravus, Nyx and Regis.

People that died for Noctis's sake.

Likely an illusion.

 

[yunbuns]

The battle theme in Zegnautus Keep and Insomina is so good. I love that specific melody they both share.

Nyx was Aaron Paul?

Yes.

I am....rather impressed by this detail of consistency here.I thought they completely pulled this character out of thin air.I didn't see that coming.

Me too. I thought she was just a random NPC they had pulled out of nowhere.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

I still don't know why Nyx was there in the throne room since he never met Noctis.

Just for Ardyn's own satisfaction IMO.

Also Noctis can still see it's a member of Kingsglaive even if he doesn't know the person.

 

[Ishida]

I still don't know why Nyx was there in the throne room since he never met Noctis.

Nyx used the powers and favors of the Lucian line through the Ring.

Ardyn hates the Lucian line and everything related to them.

 

[HeelPower]

Its not hard to think that Noctis knew Nyx.

Nyx worked for his dad,not unlikely that Noctis saw Regis in Audience with Nyx,that Regis mentioned Nyx to Noctis.That they both met & talked even in passing at one point in their lives.

Noctis knew Glauca(Nyx's boss),not unlikely he knew Nyx.