Final Fantasy XV

This game is an over-valued demo for a potential Final Fantasy game. It's disengenuous and boring; you don't need to play more than fifteen minutes to see why it was stuck in development hell for so long and has only seen renewed life from desperate 'fans'.

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Final Fantasy XV is an ambitious and visually stunning RPG that offers a massive open world to explore and an engaging storyline that is full of twists and turns. The game's combat system is fluid and intuitive, with a real-time action-based approach that adds a sense of excitement to the battles. The characters are well-developed and endearing, with a great sense of camaraderie and chemistry between them. However, the game's pacing can be uneven at times, with certain sections feeling bloated or rushed. The side quests can also feel repetitive and lack depth, detracting from the overall experience. Additionally, some players may find the story to be convoluted and difficult to follow, especially if they are not familiar with the Final Fantasy series. Despite its flaws, Final Fantasy XV is still a solid RPG that is sure to please fans of the genre and the series alike.

Best Final Fantasy

FFXV is a "bad" game. The game has very high highs but very low lows. It's rigged with plotholes, lacking in combat, and has huge pacing issues but the themes, characters, and environment made me enjoy this game so much. The critics are right, the game is seriously flawed and has tremendous issues but it's still one of if not the funnest Final Fantasy experience I've ever had! Forget FFVII or other JRPGS that have "deep" stories and themes but sometimes forget the most important part of gaming: having fun. If you want to have fun, enjoy characters and concepts on their own, and have a laugh then FFXV is perfect!

What FFXV does really well

FFXV has very high highs that make you forgive the very low lows. FFXV's goal and as FFXV director, Hajime Tabata, himself says was to “Restore the outlook of FINAL FANTASY from that of a jaded champion, back to being an eager challenger, aiming
to be an RPG that could truly be called AAA standard." It's important to keep this vision of innovation and meeting the "AAA standard" when understanding FFXV because both its strengths and flaws stem from this objective.

In my opinion, FFXV's greatest strength is its worldbuilding and thematic approach. As a part of Hajime Tabata's vision to revive the FF franchise, FFXV has a very unique worldbuilding and thematic vision than other entries. Most FFs rely on the same steampunk or high fantasy setting which obviously stitches the franchise together and is interesting but can also be seriously bland and repetitive. Though FFX and FFXIII try to depart from this usual FF approach, FFXV tries something totally different and incredible: a high fantasy world in a contemporary modern setting. It's really refreshing to see regular cars, smartphones, civilians wearing jeans, and contemporary culture alongside Chocobos and monsters in FFXV. It's an awesome setting and aesthetic that also works perfectly alongside its themes of destiny, friendship, and coming of age. No other FF feels so relatable or so fitting for our reality than FFXV because of its setting and themes. This alone makes the game unique and an interesting addition to the franchise.

Alongside this worldbuilding and thematic approach are FFXV's protagonist and party members, which I believe are fantastic characters. FFXV's protagonist, Noctis, is also a key strength of the game. In a franchise with notoriously simple or overshadowed protagonists, Noctis is the opposite, he is both memorable and the center of the game. What I enjoy about Noctis' character is his growth from an immature prince to a confident king, which makes the game's conclusion satisfying and interesting. The rest of party may seem unoriginal, just the typical archetypes of the strong guy, Gladius, the smart guy, Ignis, and the funny guy, Prompto. While that's true, the fact is that these characters were meant to start off like normal unoriginal people. Just like Noctis, the party members also grow and develop as characters, discovering purpose and distinguishing themselves from their first appearances. As a whole, the party members and protagonist of FFXV are also interesting and compelling because they align with the setting and theme of modernity. This makes FFXV's characters much more identifiable than in other FF entries and makes the whole idea of friendship work very well.

FFXV's second greatest strength is its idea of freedom, enabled by both its open world gameplay and roadtrip theme. In no other Final Fantasy can you truly explore an open world with inumerable side quests, hunts, mini-games, and various items to collect. The open world system is built on the cycle of Car -> Outpost -> Quests -> Combat & Exploration -> Campfire. This system allows for replayability and a very unique type of grinding that other FF games usually end up making repetitive and very unimmersive. The game's mini-games like fishing or the endless recipes Ignis discovers along the way also enrich the gameplay and add to the replayability. So not only does this open world aspect create a totally different and intuitive FF experience but it also adds to the theme of freedom and the idea that the whole game is an extended roadtrip.

Another interesting point of contention in FFXV is its infamous combat system which I find shallows but simultaneously fun. Its action real-time combat system draws from hack and slash games and some aspects of FFXII's open world integration. Even though it sounds absurd to say it's both shallow and fun, it really is. I had a blast warp striking as Noctis or shooting with an RPG at monsters as Prompto but in the end the combat is extremely one-dimmensional. Even though it's one-dimmensional and can be pretty shallow, it's a combat system that isn't about being complex or difficult, it's about being as quick and efficient as possible. In normal battles, you even earn grades for battles, with one of the grades actually being "speed". So even though it's a simple and one-dimmensional combat system where you just have to press "attack" and "dodge" at the right times, it's backed up by the incredible graphics and grade system that somehow makes this system fun.

So, in short, FFXV follows through with Hajime Tabata's original concept for the game, it's a very beautiful, innovative, and modern take on FF. The original vision of destiny and freedom, built on its open-world gameplay and characters, make FFXV a different but very interesting FF.


What FFXV doesn't do well

FFXV has a lot of problems. Hajime Tabata says "Nothing aboutthis project did not present a challenge" and it shows in a lot of ways. However, despite the various flaws, I believe most come down to overambition and poor execution rather than fundamental issues with the game's vision and core concepts.

The biggest issue with FFXV for me was its very confusing, incomplete, and oddly paced story. Without getting into spoilers, the story itself is not bad but only when you've played all the DLC, read the wiki a dozen times, and picked up on all the lines of dialogue. Particulalry towards the second half of the game, the story becomes very confusing, feels rushed, and is ultimately incomplete without additional content. You can't understand the antagonist or much of the lore without the DLCs or wiki which is very frustrating and damaging for the game. There are some great moments in the story, particulalry the first half of the game and the very very end, but its sometimes hard to ignore its flaws. Even though it's a shame that FFXV was rushed towards the end, the characters, gameplay, and concepts on their own sometimes overshadow the plotholes so you can perfectly have fun while ignoring the story in FFXV.

Another key issue with FFXV is how it reduces the open-world aspect towards the second-half of the game. Some later chapters in the game felt like unfinished and rushed sequences of dialogue and scenes to just progress with the story, with no access to any of the previous open world features. While it's understandable that roadtrips and the camping system aren't easily translatable in urban cities, making the gameplay linear and removing the main open world features seriously dimminishes the FFXV experience.

Ultimately both of the serious flaws in FFXV come down to the game's rushed development towards the end of the game. It's a shame that the story's pacing and gameplay had to be dropped in order to release the game and then later patched up by DLCs and extra content.

Conclusion

In short, had FFXV been thoroughly completed and polished upon release with a comprehensive but coherent story and consistent gameplay, I'm conviced it would have been one of if not the best FF. Even though it had serious flaws, I still had so much fun playing FFXV for its characters, themes, and gameplay. FFXV is an example of what a modern FF will and can be so it's definetly worth checking out.

If I was writing this on release in 2016 I'd probably give this game at most a 3, however in 2021 with the release of the Royal/Windows editions there have been several QOL as well as story improvements.

I'll start with arguably the most important aspect; gameplay. While it isn't as complex as other action RPGs, it is still very cinematic and interactive enough to keep you engaged. I'd highly recommend playing with the HUD off as it allows you to pay attention to the gorgeous visuals and monster design rather than just staring at numbers. Playing HUDless honestly raised the game's score by an entire point for me. It allows you to actually learn monster attack patterns and have to pay attention to the surprisingly detailed audio cues your party members give when certain things happen in combat. Once you get to post game and unlock Armiger Unleashed the combat really opens up and allows you to input semi-complex button combos. Overall I'd say it's serviceable, maybe a little above average if only for how cinematic it is.

Now for my favorite part of the game, the atmosphere. The entire game feels just like hanging out with your group of close friends. There are a plethora of quiet moments that feel real, like when you and your party members are driving in complete silence with the radio on. The environments are gorgeous with some decent variety (mountains, forests, plains, etc). All three of your friends have distinct and likeable personalities, as well as some nice background lore if you care to look.

Finally I'll cover what many would consider to be the weakest aspect of the game, the story. With the release of the Royal edition and added cutscenes and content, I think the story is actually quite decent with some genuinely sad and touching moments. People look at the big picture of the narrative when they really should be looking at the characters. At its heart FFXV is a character driven story, and the characters are a delight to watch. Overall I think FFXV accomplished everything it set out to do story wise, and the actual narrative is engaging enough to be worth finishing.