In 1997, “SquareSoft released what would become its greatest masterpiece, “Final Fantasy VII”. The Playstation exclusive (at that time) video game exposed many a video gamer to the world of role playing games (RPGs) that might’ve looked either intimidating or boring, or both. I happened to be one of those gamers who, knowledgably, hadn’t experienced the joys of entering a fantasy world where I could be a knight, summon mythical creatures in battle, and save the world in one way or another. “Final Fantasy VII” made me a fan of the “Final Fantasy” franchise and encouraged me to enjoy a different video game genre that had gone unappreciated.
As the years progressed I grew more enamored in not only the series, but the genre as a whole with multiple years and even gaming generations hinging on the releases of “Final Fantasy” games – look no further for an example of this than the announcement of “Final Fantasy XIII” being released on both the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 consoles convincing me to buy the prior system at a more affordable price. Having been disappointed with “FF XII”, “Final Fantasy XIII” did the franchise a further injustice featuring style over substance, bland characters, and an overly convoluted story that would become even more unmanageable thanks to the release of two sequels (only “XIII-2” was played by yours truly). Ironically the underwhelming trilogy that was “Final Fantasy XIII” was to have a companion exclusive for the Playstation 3 titled “Final Fantasy Versus XIII” – an action RPG looked to present a darker side of the world seen in its namesake. Development woes that plagued “XII” and “XIII’ destroyed any chance of seeing “Versus” released on the console it was intended for as the game was eventual given the official numbered treatment and renamed “Final Fantasy XV”. Unlike the last two offline numbered “FFs”, I kept my emotions and expectations tempered – ready to enjoy what was delivered, but not expecting it to change my world as a gamer as its predecessors had done in the past.
Did I Complete “Final Fantasy XV”?
Though development problems hindered the game’s release, the outpouring of information pre-release gave gamers a good indication of what to expect when it came to all aspects of “Final Fantasy XV” including the refined combat system, the game’s lore and its characters such as the only person the player can control in battle, Noctis, Prince of Lucis and heir to the throne. With his trio of guardians and best friends, Noctis is sent from his home in hopes of marrying his childhood friend and Gods-blessed Oracle Lunafreya – with the wedding producing a peace treaty between Noctis’ home and Lunafreya’s land in the process. Jumping in the stylish “Regalia” – the game’s obvious version of a Cadillac – I took to the world alongside Noctis, progressing through the story at a rather slow pace thanks to the opening of the world to the player in only the third of fourteen chapters.
With multiple side quests, monster/beast hunts, random activities such as fishing, the amount of forward momentum in terms of what would be considered traditional progression was minimal for the first three dozen or so hours, but things picked up when I started embracing those warnings of entering a “point of no return”. By the time I reached the final chapter, my characters were pretty experienced both from a story perspective and the amount of things I had done to get them over-leveled (not intentionally, mind you). The final scenes and credits rolled, rewarding me with a digital certificate that noted I finished the story at eighty-nine hours – almost rivaling my first time plaything through “Final Fantasy X”. But I wasn’t done, taking on the post-game content that shockingly presents even greater challenges including acquiring legendary weapons, exploring dense dungeons and even taking down the mighty adamantoise. My play time post-story added at least another dozen hours before the platinum trophy popped and I found myself gleefully exhausted thanks to all of the time I had put into this one game.
Did “Final Fantasy XV” Live Up to the Hype?
Like every numbered, non-sequel “Final Fantasy” in the past, “Final Fantasy XV” switches things up from every perspective – be it the story, characters, and, most importantly when it comes to this entry, combat. Rather than embrace the turn-based foundation of past games, the developers behind “FF XV”, stemming from the game’s original planning stages, adopted a more action-oriented style of gameplay from battle to battle where the player controls only Noctis. Noctis can wield up to four different weapons at any time (which can be switched with the tap of the d-pad) including small & large swords, javelins, guns and magic – the latter being considered a “weapon” instead of a given a separate command option as the norm. Each weapon type produces different results both aesthetically and against enemies as weapon types will do various amounts of damage depending on the adversary’s weakness; such as javelins being the weakness of the various imperial soldiers one will fight countless times. This decision of making weapon types actually mean something in every battle is only a small part about the fast & furious action that comes from the combat system. Noctis can block, parry, counter and even warp onto (or into) various objects to swoop down for a perfectly timed “warp strike” that usually does double damage compared to a regular attack courtesy of Noctis’ magic points (what are used for such warp attacks).
Though a majority of the time Noctis’ allies – the eccentric wannabe pro photography Prompto, the highly intelligent chef Ignis who will not think twice about telling everyone the new dish he learned thanks to anything from picking up animal meat to eating at the local restaurant, and the muscle-bound survivalist Gladiolus – will be handling their portion of the combat on their own, the player can have Noctis shout out commands to perform “tech” attacks that are not only upgradeable via the “Ascension Grid” and the “AP” (ability points) earned from leveling up and even completing side quests, but can also produce double team scenarios. There are also “blindside” and “link strike” attacks that can provide quick double-teams; though are usually random occurrences when the player just so happens to end up colliding with an unprepared enemy. When it comes to adversaries, enemies in “Final Fantasy XV” are mostly upgraded versions of previous beasts seen in past “FFs” including behemoths, Marlboros, and even Yojimbo. The game’s day & night cycle affects the enemy output as night presents the arrival of the much stronger “daemon” enemies such as the shockingly fast Iron Giant. Even with that believed lack of creativity, the fact is for the first time in the series’ history do the larger than life ideas as to what and who these monsters are finally reach their potential while delivering impressive battles throughout the game no matter the level.
But the combat system isn’t perfect. Beyond the problematic situations created by a camera that can become unruly in closed spaces (such as a pair of late chapters in the game) and hit detection being iffy at times, the more supernatural portions usually connected with the action have been both dumbed down and downright disregarded: magic and summons. When it comes to the prior, magic is given a more alchemic touch by needing to be crafted. Taking the core elements of “FF” magic – fire, ice & thunder – the player can blend the three with each other or various items picked up by fallen enemies or purchased in shops. The results are mixed at best as a majority of the items produce the same spells no matter how much of the elements you throw in the figurative pot. In battle, magic proves to be problematic as casting a spell can not only hit enemies, but also allies too stupid to move out of the way even after Noctis warns them about what is going to happen if they don’t get away from their enemies. Eventually, using magic becomes more problematic than helpful outside of fights where only one or two enemies are around – thus making those “all” type of spells ineffective.
Then there’s the “disregarded” in “summon” attacks. While there are summons, the player can’t call them into combat at least once a battle at any time as one of the four summons (a fifth only makes one appearance throughout the entire game) that are obtained during the game will only come to help unleash battle-ending wrath under certain unexplained in-game conditions. Two of the summons, Leviathan and Titan, barely made appearances in my game, and definitely left me wanting to see the grandeur more often than not. Combat as a whole is definitely one of the best aspects about “FF XV” even when it becomes hindered by bad hit detection, the shoddy camera in close quarters, and the poor implementation of magic and summons.
But combat is only a small portion of what makes a “Final Fantasy” game great. The story, world, atmosphere and music usually leave people praising the game over all others in the genre. “FF XIII” struggled to produce the quality traits usually associated with “Final Fantasy” games. “XV”, however, does a better job of bringing everything once great about the franchise together, yet fails to fully attain greatness. Case in point – the story is an amalgamation of lore, friendship and destiny rolled into an extensive multimedia package featuring a five-episode anime, a two-hour full-length movie, and this game. To fully grasp everything about the world of “Final Fantasy XV” you have to invest in all three things. But what if you don’t? Well, that’s actually okay because “XV” the game has a sole story based around the concept of friendship between four likeable characters (well, mostly likeable if you ignore Gladio’s moments of apparent ‘roid rage) simply chatting it up during a trip from outpost to outpost either courtesy of the aforementioned Regalia (where you can listen to one of all the purchasable soundtracks from older games) or even chocobos that level up the longer one rides it, complementing each other on a battle well fought, and sleeping under the stars while camping (where everything from the experience points attained from battles and completing missions are tallied and distributed, Prompto’s pictures are looked at and either saved or deleted by the player, and realistic looking meals that are cooked by Ignis that can give the characters temporary status boosts).
On the negative end of the spectrum, the characters, both lead and minor, rarely have any growth or development; let alone scenes to help push the character specific narratives forward. It’s when the game moves beyond the relationship of Noctis and his crew that things fall apart. Almost everything about the story after chapter two is so poorly told and, most noticeably, rushed to the point that the player won’t have a chance to emotionally digest a majority of what and why things are happening before being ushered to the next, all-too-short chapter if said gamer just plays the game for its story – meaning the game will most likely last barely twenty-five hours for that player. Even the game’s final chapter feels like a big wasted opportunity as the chance to recreate one of the most infamous moments in “Final Fantasy” history (right down to using the same name) is short-changed in less than twenty minutes. No matter what fans of the franchise will tell you, a majority of the “Final Fantasy” stories are not fantastic or innovative. But the majority of those prior ones were also told in a fitting, majestic manner that made one not realize the shortcomings including badly flawed characters and unnecessary twists. Other than Ardyn’s motivations and actions during the game’s final third, nothing about “XV’s” narrative is memorable in a positive manner.
One of the biggest reasons the game’s story feels even barer is the fact the world – Eros – itself is so big; and, just like the grandiose lore when only focusing on the game itself, Eros can prove to be incredibly bland outside of its looks. A majority of Eros appears fantastic from the dusty plains outside of Hammerhead to the Venice-like area of Altissia that would’ve been perfect for “Final Fantasy IX”. But once the looks fade into the background it becomes obvious “the extras” are barebones as they come. Side quests are nothing more than fetch quests that don’t offer any memorable new characters, narrative moments or even choices. In a world that games like “The Witcher 3” exist where side quests actually feel as important and memorable as the main missions, side quests where the player simply is told to “go there, pick up some dog tags/frogs/food, deliver, and do it all over again” are just not enough anymore. There are also dungeons and a variety of hunts to take part in, but, like the other side quests, they eventually bleed into one another to create a long blur of mediocrity. On the other hand are the more playful activities such as fishing (awesome), pinball playing (also awesome) and even betting in a monster battle arena where one can purchase high-end weapons, tools, and accessories (shockingly awesome as well – remember quantity over anything except gigantoad). Chocobo racing is also in the game, but nowhere near as entertaining as what was offered in “Final Fantasy VII”. There’s so much stuff to keep a player occupied outside of the story, but the longevity and fun will definitely vary from gamer to gamer.
Music in “Final Fantasy XV” doesn’t get enough praise. Thanks to the implementation of old “FF” OSTs, a lot of gamers will probably ignore the greatness produced by Yoko Shimomura including the incredibly catchy chocobo theme, Noctis’ theme, and the sweeping exploration/battle piece “Valse di Fantastica”. After being highly disappointed with both “Final Fantasy XII” & “XIII’s” musical offerings, “XV’s” soundtrack definitely harkens back to the days of delivering memorable sounds throughout. Unfortunately, the dubbed voice acting is more stifled and uninspired outside of Darin De Paul as Ardyn – reaching stereotypical anime levels of bad.
There’s so much to enjoy about “Final Fantasy XV”, be it the surprisingly stellar combat, memorable soundtrack, and enjoyable lead characters. But for every positive there’s a strong negative including a poorly told story, a barren world, archaic side quest presentation, and the overall feeling that there’s so much more left on the cutting room floor than what was given to everyone who purchased this latest installment in a franchise that has seen better days.
Should You Play “Final Fantasy XV”?
It’s crazy in the end just how much this game reminds me of “Final Fantasy VIII” – a game that used fundamental changes to the gameplay and narrative to create something that is either loved or hated with no middle ground. “Final Fantasy XV” is going to be this generation’s “VIII” as it does things so differently compared to its counterparts that it’ll either turn gamers against it or have them defending it for being better than a lot of games that have suffered from “developmental hell”. But “XV’s” unfulfilled nature is what essentially hurts it more than any fan’s opinion or developmental cycle ever could as the storytelling, side quest offerings, and even character arc moments are lacking when all the potential is there for something better. Combat, while incredibly enjoyable, can become too easy once the party starts over-leveling thanks to no fault of the player other than simply enjoying what “FF XV” has to offer. “Final Fantasy XV” isn’t a disappointment, but actually is as strange as that may sound. It delivers an unbelievable experience in various ways, yet feels hollow and will leave you wanting more from a franchise that used to deliver hearty offerings in every installment.
