The Reality of The Fantasy | Final Fantasy XV Review

Ten Years. For ten long years countless of fans and curious watchers waited, eager to get their hands on the prize. Each had their tale to tell about what Final Fantasy XV (then Final Fantasy XIII Versus) could be, would be, and what it should be. Now, after all that time, we know. One of the most anticipated video games of all-time has finally released.

The question that everyone is asking themselves and others is simple; Was it worth the wait?

The answer isn’t quite as simple.

Before we dive in let me tell you that this review and subsequent posts detailing other aspects of the game, will entail spoilers. That being said, I’ll aim to make this initial review as spoiler-free as possible. After this review I plan to go in-depth with story aspects of the game in a later post.

This review is divided up into five sections. If you’re eager to get straight to my score, scroll to the final section.

So, without (too much) further rambling, let us begin.

 

 

I. Expectations Change —

Final Fantasy XV (henceforth referred to as FFXV) began as XIII Versus and showed itself as having a nearly entirely different mythos than what the final product revealed. While certain aspects remained, many of the core ideas (including the lore, central characters) changed drastically during the transition from Versus to XV. The Goddess Etro, once central to the plot, became a staple of solely the FFXIII universe. The heroine of the title, Stella Nox Fleuret, was removed entirely (of which her role fell to the newly created Lunafreya Nox Fleuret). Various other changes, from character and world design to gameplay mechanics, also took place.

Many ideas, hopes, expectations, changed multiple times over in the ten long years since the game’s initial announcement. Even with all of that in mind, this review will be a place for me to get my thoughts on the game down in one form or the other despite the weight of ten long years still weighing down.

The incredibly long development time, which led many to assume the game had been silently scrapped, obviously involved a total rewrite of most of what we knew.

The “Fantasy Based on Reality” had become somewhat different.

 

II. The Beginning, Basic Gameplay —

FFXV follows the Crown Prince of Lucis, Noctis Lucis Caelum, and his entourage of both best friends and bodyguards – Ignis Scientia, Gladiolus Amicitia, and Prompto Argentum. The four are tasked with going on a roadtrip from the Crown City of Insominia set to culminate in Noctis’ wedding to Lunafreya Nox Fleuret in Altissia.

However, like in many RPGs before it, things don’t exactly go as planned.

Their preferred mode of transportation, The Regalia (a car belonging to Noctis’ father, King Regis) breaks down shortly after their departure. This leads the player to meeting the mechanic Cindy and her grandfather, the staple namesake of Cid.

It’s here that the game truly begins.

From the start the player is given a rather long leash, free to go and explore in (nearly) any way they see fit. While at first getting around is limited to foot travel, soon both the car and series regular Chocobos make their getting around far easier. This makes the vast number of sidequests, from hunting animals to helping stranded motorists, much easier to accomplish.

In addition, players are not bound by typical JRPG restraints in the forms of tutorials, as these are regulated to a menu accessible at any time where one can learn the basics of combat and even the world’s basic lore.

Gameplay is where many will find their primary excitement (and perhaps some frustration) due to the high speed combat system in place. At first the combat can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t take long to learn the ins and outs of using various weapon types and elemental magics to take advantage of your opponents and succeed. For those wanting a slower place there is a ‘wait mode’ combat option that allows for time to stop momentarily when the player isn’t moving. This gives a tactical way of approaching combat.

Admittedly, Wait Mode versus Active Mode is a strange system. In order to discern enemy weaknesses and strengths you are required to use wait mode (as scanning enemies using Libra is only accessible in wait mode) but the game makes this system appear as more of an optional aspect when in reality wait mode is required to play the game properly. The transition between the two modes is also not kind, as you are forced into navigating the full options menu each time you change it. This makes perhaps switching on the fly a less viable and more annoying option.

Leveling characters in order to improve their combat stats is a new style for the series. Experience from slain enemies is accumulated in a pool, and this pool is only awarded to you when you rest/make camp or progress to the next chapter. At first I wasn’t a fan of this, but as I progressed through the game I found myself enjoying the strategy of holding onto XP for level jumps later on. The system also allows for some incredibly easy power leveling, thanks to certain rest stops that will give bonuses to the XP earned (up to 3x) albeit for a large sum of Gil to stay at their establishment.

This system is complimented by the Ascension Grid, a more simplified version of past systems such as the Sphere Grid (FFX). Here you are able to spend AP (Ability Points) to unlock stat boosts, passive effects, combat maneuvers, and more. AP is earned through various tasks, leveling up, and even from certain quests. Personally, I still hold more indifference for the AP system. While some skills and abilities are fun or useful to unlock, the Ascension Grid as a whole feels too grindy. There are some tricks to quick AP, but for the most expensive of upgrades prepare yourself for hours of mindlessly grinding. Luckily there is nothing needed for the main game that feels terribly out of reach or grind worthy.

An important note for leveling, equipment – higher stats don’t automatically equate to being better. As I myself learned moreso near the end of my adventure, it is more important to have weapons and magic that are strong against your current enemy rather than simply having better stats. Leveling is also an interesting system, as Strength and HP growth curves in an interesting way and other stats barely grow at all at high levels. I highly recommend looking into stat growth guides, to get an idea for leveling plans and equipment.

The open world aspect granted right off the bat can at first seem daunting, overwhelming for those that strive to complete games 100%. Luckily most all content from start to finish is available to the player from the beginning to post-game, aside from a mere handful of scenes or quests. At the same time, early chapters will place artificial gates (and some literal) to stop progression into larger areas until story objectives are clear. Meaning there’s a nice, noticeable division of quests throughout the game to complete at your leisure.

With that in mind, it is important to note that the open world aspect seems a clear decision by the developers. FFXV was intended to be about half open world, half linear. Clearly as a way to show Square Enix listened to complaints regarding Final Fantasy XIII, what many fans consider a blemish on the Final Fantasy series due to its overwhelmingly linear nature.

Unfortunately, this idea of open world versus linear gameplay seems to become rather disjointed.

 

III. Open World, Linear Story, & Overall Development —

As you progress through the game there comes an obvious point of “Go here to continue the linear story” in which you leave your primary environment to venture to various other locations, moving along what remains of the main story. Luckily a new gameplay mechanic, allowing you to return to the open world when resting, is introduced. However, the linear sections of the game in which the most story-heavy segments take place feel far more like a different game than what you have played to that point.

Once you step into continuing the main story you are figuratively (and for a portion, quite literally) on the rails for the long haul. While the ability to return to the open world remains throughout a majority of this, the way the game forces you into certain situations or segments feels far too artificial or out of place.

Past Final Fantasy titles have always been linear for the most part, but for many of them there was still a sense of freedom. In FFXV this sense of freedom is stripped away, and instead replaced with a severe sense of restriction.

Chapters for the latter half of the game frequently remove base gameplay mechanics that players have come to learn and evolve. From the way in which you carry out combat or traverse, to your party members and their own abilities, the game takes many of these away a multitude of times. It creates a sense of “Why did I bother learning/leveling that specific skill if I can’t use it when it matters” instead of being an obstacle to overcome that is fun or fulfilling.

Some of these aspects could be forgiven, as many other games both in and out of the genre employ similar tactics, but it’s the way in which they are applied that is the issue.

Many a times a game will use these methods to focus on story or character development rather than gameplay based on player action. In FFXV these typically amount to cheapened emotional tricks or forcing exposition on the player that can hardly be (properly) cared about – due to a lack of development beforehand.

Chapters 9 through 14 are the most story rich of the adventure and as such are the most linear, but without proper build up or an appropriate delivery they come up short on most fronts.

This lack of development within the game of both characters and story is a symptom, or perhaps the cause, of the compilation of material outside of FFXV. From the Kingsglaive feature film to the Brotherhood anime, and the multitude of shorts or teasers, much of what the player experiences in the game is reliant on them being familiar with the FFXV compilation. As such, the average player who has not absorbed this other material will be far less likely to care for or fully understand the story unfolding before them.

Relying on players watching other movies or tv shows in order to understand and appreciate the video game they purchased is both poor game design and poor decision making from the higher ups at Square Enix.

The sad truth is that much of the story, many of the characters, are all incredibly well-crafted and thoughtfully developed. However, it takes digging through a full length film, a five-episode anime series, art books and teasers, in order to see this. In addition, much of the exposition (particularly a few twists near the end of the game) are so sudden and lackluster, with no time to digest, that they fall to the wayside and are simply disregarded.

Thus the lack of faithful gameplay throughout and proper development lead the linear sections of the game to feel incredibly hollow. The player is left wanting more, wondering if that’s really all to it.

There is also such a severe divide between the open world and linear sides to the game that they truly feel like they were developed by entirely different teams. Playing through the open world of FFXV is exciting, fun, always with more to explore (in a similar vein to Skyrim or Witcher 3). Not to mention that the story moments in the early chapters feel far more fleshed out, even without taking into account your personal experience with the world around you.

In contrast the linear sections feel rushed, hampering players in the most peculiar of ways. One chapter in particular is so drastically different, in a most frustrating and questionable sense, that it leaves the player wondering what it is they are playing. In all my years of gaming, with both good and bad experiences alike, I am hard pressed to think of a level in a game that felt so disjointed and disconnected from the rest of it.

 

IV. (A Few Of) The Little Things —

One thing I see from message boards across the internet is when someone criticizes the details of something they tend to be called a whiner or to stop nitpicking and enjoy the experience. This is somewhat contradictory, considering that the details of something can stack up enough and alter your enjoyment of the game. FFXV suffers from some of this.

As there’s been a somewhat negative tone throughout this, let me clarify something – I love Final Fantasy. It is my favorite game series, has served as an inspiration to me, and continued to be a dominate force in my life. I also want to clarify that Final Fantasy XV does a lot of good things, does some great things, but it also has done some highly questionable things – of which a ten-year development cycle should have surely addressed.

Let’s start with one I see a number of people complaining about – the inability to take on multiple hunts at once. I can nearly let this one slide as other games have done it as well, but FFXV boasts a somewhat severe technical issue with load times. Load times in FFXV may be the worst of any game I have played to this day, but I got over them for the most part. These load times can, however, make frequently traveling back and forth from one place to the other quite a chore. Because of this it makes the inability to take on multiple hunts at once a very time consuming process, mostly due to load times more than anything else.

Another rather strange design choice is Chocobo renting. Once you unlock the ability to ride/rent Chocobos, you must pay (50 gil a day for up to 7 days game-time at once) to use them. At first I didn’t think much of it, but then I discovered how you can name your Chocobo, level them up, recolor them, race them, feed them. It then became highly questionable as to why the player must frequently re-rent this same Chocobo. I’m fine if you want to put a price on the Chocobo, but I feel a one-time sum of Gil to purchase your feathered friend would have been a better option than having to re-rent him over and over again.

Some other minor aspects go back to the Active and Wait modes for combat, with Wait mode have access to something specifically needed in order to do well in combat. A quick button to switch between Active and Wait mode would be an ideal addition for a patch later on.

Speaking of buttons, the control schemes are an interesting bunch.

Square Enix should patch in the ability for custom control settings, as I do feel it would make a huge difference. I myself played for about 15 hours on the normal setup, but switched to control scheme C when the inability to attack/block and move the camera became a frustrating aspect. However, this didn’t solve the entire problem, as any button mashing events are far more difficult with a trigger than a face button.

At the same time, even with other details being questionable, there’s a lot done right here.

I always have been a strong advocate for having female playable party members as well, but I have to say I grew to love the bro-venture. The aspects of making camp, such a simple idea, added so much character to the game in ways I could never have imagined. From Ignis’ cooking to Prompto’s photography, the latter of which is one of my favorite ideas in the whole game, have been marvelous. The ability to listen to past game music in your car is also a favorite of mine, as was the discovery of the MP3 player key-item that lets you listen to music while walking around.

Of course, the game music itself is extraordinary. Yoko Shimomura crafted a masterpiece with Final Fantasy XV and she should be commended, as she carries the torch that Nobuo Uematsu lit so brilliantly so long ago. No matter my feelings on the game as a whole, the music stands out as an absolute dream.

Interactions between characters is a huge strength of the game from beginning to end, and I can really buy into the friendship that our main characters have, even with some development not being polished. They sold me on the ‘bros’ a lot faster than I expected and they made the journey all the more enjoyable.

 

V. In Conclusion —

There is a lot, and I mean a lot, I want to break down from this game. Unfortunately, this is already so much longer than I planned and I wanted to wrap it up with some final thoughts and give it a score. With that in mind I plan to break down specific story elements and gameplay aspects in upcoming posts, which will each be far more spoiler intense. So we’ll save more specifics for next time.

For Final Fantasy XV as a whole, though, my heart and mind are at odds.

The game handles the open world very well, and while it’s no Skyrim or Witcher 3 it certainly makes a case to be in the conversation even if it is on a smaller scale. Early chapters from beginning to end were a joy to undertake and I found myself getting lost for hours and hours on end traveling the world before I even began to think about moving the story along.

However, once I decided to take the leap, I became underwhelmed. The final 6 chapters of the game are the most story rich and are fully linear, pushing you along to the finish, but the journey at hand never quite reached the hype you expect.

As someone who immersed himself in the universe of XV through the film, teasers, anime, I cared for these characters and cherished each of their stories. As a player of Final Fantasy XV itself, though, I found myself questioning if I was supposed to care about the events happening around me later in the game or not. I wondered if the characters mattered or if their revelations were meaningful. I even fell for the cheap emotional tricks employed at times solely because I knew these characters from outside the game, not what the game itself had developed for me.

Final Fantasy XV hits its stride almost immediately but it then slams into a wall.

If you are experienced with the FFXV Universe – you’ve seen the film, anime, teasers – you will find much of the game satisfactory, even moreso, albeit with a lackluster ending.

The adventure of Prince Noctis and his friends is a great one, filled with wonderful bonds that can never be broken no matter the lingering darkness that creeps along behind them.

Characters, while underdeveloped, strike a chord unlike many other games. There is a history, a story behind everything and everyone, even if you sadly don’t get to experience it for yourself throughout the course of the game.

My heart yearns to love Final Fantasy XV more than I should, but my mind has pulled me ever so slightly back down to earth.

Should you play it?

Yes, absolutely – but do watch the movie, anime.

Was it worth the ten-year wait?

Not exactly, no, but even so it’s an experience I recommend and one that you yourself will find your own answer to as you progress. The Reality of The Fantasy is one that you must discover for yourself.

Scores (out of 10)

Story » 6.5
The story is overall fantastic, but delivery is poor and requires outside media to fully enjoy.

Gameplay » 7.0
Details here and there are frustrating, but it is great fun to play across the board.

Characters » 7.0
Much like story, fantastic characters, but poor development in-game and required viewing of other media hurts.

Graphics » 9.0
The game is gorgeous, one of the best looking out there.

Music » 10.0
Yoko Shimomura has the OST of the year in my book. Each and every piece is stunning. Inclusion of old FF songs as MP3’s was an amazing idea.

FINAL SCORE » 7.0/10
Final Fantasy XV does so much right but then has some of the most questionable design moves littered in throughout. At the end of the day all of the potential there will never be, but it is a good experience overall and an improvement in gameplay over recent entries in the series. Here’s hoping for better character and story development in the coming games to match the improved direction of gameplay.