ValiantTraveler
Member
I have finished Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition yesterday and it was a truly epic journey of brotherhood and tragedy.
With its gorgeous graphics, fascinating world, fun comabt, beautiful music, and gripping story, I enjoyed every hour of this game.
Plus Ardyn is an amazing villain
And that is why I wholeheartedly recommend FFXV to anyone who considers themselves a true gamer.
An incredible Final Fantasy and one of the best games ever made.
Don't let the haters dissuade you from playing this gem.
...........
Okay, now that I'm done with the
D.Final
impersonation (sorry, I really wanted to do it), allow me to elaborate on why I enjoyed this game so much despited its flaws:
- The world is fascinating and unlike the standard JRPG settings. I don't think we will see this "fantasy based on reality" concept attempted again any time soon. The blend of classical FF elements (monsters, airshps, crystal) and a world similar to ours was well crafted and made for a unique, immersive setting. While other RPGs are content with featuring generic RPGs environments, FFXV has the guts. The landscapes are gorgeous and I shudder to think of how much work went into them. The cities in particular were a joy to explore, I spent an hour in Altissia walking down every street and corner. While you can't enter buildings and talk to everyone, the city felt very lived-in. FFXV goes out of its way to simulate real life, except when you stand in the middle of the road and cars gently and patiently stop at a distance lol.
Unfortunately, there are so many locations you can't explore. Tenebrae was just a train station with a burning castle in the distance. Both Insomnia and the imperial capital are mainly just a bunch of buildings in the background. I know making them was impossible but a cutscene that shows the people and their daily life would have sufficed.
Similarly, the world of ruin is just a shot trip from Galdin quay to Hammerhead. Again, I know Square couldn't afford to expand on it and I'm pretty happy with what we have. But I still think an FMV cutscene would have done a great job of conveying the horror of the situation throughout the world.
- Driving the Regalia never got old for me, probably because in most other RPGs you mostly travel on foot. Gawking at the environments while listening to the various soundtracks made the long car trips worth it.
- The character animations are insanely detailed. Noctis and his bros in particular have so many varied gestures and they even make small sounds every now and then like real people. I love how they complain when Noctis draws a weapon right next to them.
- The writing and voice acting are excellent. Noctis, Ignis, and Ardyn in particular benefit from brilliant performances. The casting is perfect and goes a long way to make these characters believable. The dialogues are also very well written, especially the party banter and every scene that has Ardyn in it. Ardyn was a great villain, very charismatic and imposing.
- Most characters have very limited screentime, which is a shame because they are interesting. Too bad we don't see Iris, old man Cid, etc. in chapter 14. On the bright side, the four main characters are given plenty of scenes and dialogues to let you become attached to them. The whole game revolves around the four bros going on a journey and it totally delivers in that regard.
- The photos that Prompto takes create an emotional connection with the party that other games lack. Seeing the bros posing for a photo, hanging out together or caught on camera during random daily moments (fishing, sightseeing) made them human in a way that's not done in other games. It really feels like you're traveling with them and witnessing every small moment of the trip. Choosing one last photo to keep with you at the end of the game is the cherry on top.
- The game has some great set pieces and boss battles. The gondola traversing Altissia in that water lane was a jaw-dropping sequence. The Titan and Leviathan boss battles in particular were incredible. Yes, I know the old trailers had more impressive footage.
- Chapter 11 was an impressive feat of conveying story through gameplay. I won't go into spoilers but if you played the game, you know what I'm talking about.
- Chapter 14 was very satisfying despite an overly easy final boss. As rushed as the story was before, the conclusion was wrapped up very well imo. The logo change almost had me tearing up. Despite the missing story content, FFXV has emotional poignancy.
- The female NPCs are so hot. And so is Aranea.
- The combat is fun and well thought but ultimately devolves into button mashing and spamming potions/elixirs. Switching to the other party members was a cool addition but they didn't feel as effective as Noctis.
- The sidequests could have expanded on the worldbuiding but remain very basic RPG stuff. Some of the hunts were cool though.
- The music is arguably the best thing about this game:
About the DLCs, they did a good job of fleshing out Noct's companions and expanding on the world some more. The combat was hit or miss. Too bad they weren't inlucded in the day one edition, but playing them in the Royal Edition made me appreciate the story a lot more.
In conclusion: I had a blast with FFXV and I'm going to miss this game. Obviously, I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much had I played the day one edition alone. I think you have to be aware of the context of XV's tumultous development before playing it. Of course, even with the DLCs it is severly unfinished but even so, what it does right far outweighs what it fails to do.
Let me say this, had it been released in a 100% finished state, whilst drawing all of its potential (proper first act, you can explore the entire world and all cities from Insomnia to the Imperial capital, the entire story and lore are included, the combat is more polished), it would have wiped the floor with all the other RPGs of the generation. The tale of FFXV is that of a game too ambitious too succeed. It took a decade to reach a playbale, but still unfinished state. I dare say it was ahead of its time in terms of conceptual scope and I'm curious to see how FFXVI measures up.
With its gorgeous graphics, fascinating world, fun comabt, beautiful music, and gripping story, I enjoyed every hour of this game.
Plus Ardyn is an amazing villain
And that is why I wholeheartedly recommend FFXV to anyone who considers themselves a true gamer.
An incredible Final Fantasy and one of the best games ever made.
Don't let the haters dissuade you from playing this gem.
...........
Okay, now that I'm done with the
D.Final
impersonation (sorry, I really wanted to do it), allow me to elaborate on why I enjoyed this game so much despited its flaws:- The world is fascinating and unlike the standard JRPG settings. I don't think we will see this "fantasy based on reality" concept attempted again any time soon. The blend of classical FF elements (monsters, airshps, crystal) and a world similar to ours was well crafted and made for a unique, immersive setting. While other RPGs are content with featuring generic RPGs environments, FFXV has the guts. The landscapes are gorgeous and I shudder to think of how much work went into them. The cities in particular were a joy to explore, I spent an hour in Altissia walking down every street and corner. While you can't enter buildings and talk to everyone, the city felt very lived-in. FFXV goes out of its way to simulate real life, except when you stand in the middle of the road and cars gently and patiently stop at a distance lol.
Unfortunately, there are so many locations you can't explore. Tenebrae was just a train station with a burning castle in the distance. Both Insomnia and the imperial capital are mainly just a bunch of buildings in the background. I know making them was impossible but a cutscene that shows the people and their daily life would have sufficed.
Similarly, the world of ruin is just a shot trip from Galdin quay to Hammerhead. Again, I know Square couldn't afford to expand on it and I'm pretty happy with what we have. But I still think an FMV cutscene would have done a great job of conveying the horror of the situation throughout the world.
- Driving the Regalia never got old for me, probably because in most other RPGs you mostly travel on foot. Gawking at the environments while listening to the various soundtracks made the long car trips worth it.
- The character animations are insanely detailed. Noctis and his bros in particular have so many varied gestures and they even make small sounds every now and then like real people. I love how they complain when Noctis draws a weapon right next to them.
- The writing and voice acting are excellent. Noctis, Ignis, and Ardyn in particular benefit from brilliant performances. The casting is perfect and goes a long way to make these characters believable. The dialogues are also very well written, especially the party banter and every scene that has Ardyn in it. Ardyn was a great villain, very charismatic and imposing.
- Most characters have very limited screentime, which is a shame because they are interesting. Too bad we don't see Iris, old man Cid, etc. in chapter 14. On the bright side, the four main characters are given plenty of scenes and dialogues to let you become attached to them. The whole game revolves around the four bros going on a journey and it totally delivers in that regard.
- The photos that Prompto takes create an emotional connection with the party that other games lack. Seeing the bros posing for a photo, hanging out together or caught on camera during random daily moments (fishing, sightseeing) made them human in a way that's not done in other games. It really feels like you're traveling with them and witnessing every small moment of the trip. Choosing one last photo to keep with you at the end of the game is the cherry on top.
- The game has some great set pieces and boss battles. The gondola traversing Altissia in that water lane was a jaw-dropping sequence. The Titan and Leviathan boss battles in particular were incredible. Yes, I know the old trailers had more impressive footage.
- Chapter 11 was an impressive feat of conveying story through gameplay. I won't go into spoilers but if you played the game, you know what I'm talking about.
- Chapter 14 was very satisfying despite an overly easy final boss. As rushed as the story was before, the conclusion was wrapped up very well imo. The logo change almost had me tearing up. Despite the missing story content, FFXV has emotional poignancy.
- The female NPCs are so hot. And so is Aranea.
- The combat is fun and well thought but ultimately devolves into button mashing and spamming potions/elixirs. Switching to the other party members was a cool addition but they didn't feel as effective as Noctis.
- The sidequests could have expanded on the worldbuiding but remain very basic RPG stuff. Some of the hunts were cool though.
- The music is arguably the best thing about this game:
About the DLCs, they did a good job of fleshing out Noct's companions and expanding on the world some more. The combat was hit or miss. Too bad they weren't inlucded in the day one edition, but playing them in the Royal Edition made me appreciate the story a lot more.
In conclusion: I had a blast with FFXV and I'm going to miss this game. Obviously, I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much had I played the day one edition alone. I think you have to be aware of the context of XV's tumultous development before playing it. Of course, even with the DLCs it is severly unfinished but even so, what it does right far outweighs what it fails to do.
Let me say this, had it been released in a 100% finished state, whilst drawing all of its potential (proper first act, you can explore the entire world and all cities from Insomnia to the Imperial capital, the entire story and lore are included, the combat is more polished), it would have wiped the floor with all the other RPGs of the generation. The tale of FFXV is that of a game too ambitious too succeed. It took a decade to reach a playbale, but still unfinished state. I dare say it was ahead of its time in terms of conceptual scope and I'm curious to see how FFXVI measures up.
