LogFAQs > #898306863

85. Final Fantasy XV
Original Release: 2016
Developer: Square Enix

Ladies and gents, I present to you the biggest disappointment of the decade. FFXV is a piece of work, as is Square Enix. I call it the fall of grace. But it's more than just a disappointment, it's an all-around lie. Square Enix took their fans for granted and crapped out a product not worthy of a mainline Final Fantasy, much less a spinoff.

But it's not just the quality of the game itself, it's the method utilized by the company to get there in the first place.

You see, I am a conspiracy theorist, and I believe the company was under a lot of pressure to release a new mainline FF after the divisive reactions of 13. Square wanted a product out fast and chose Versus XIII to be the new Final Fantasy, then threw Hajime Tabata at the helm and kept telling his team to release this gigantic beast of a thing in the fall of 2016, when it was nowhere near finished. Square knew this was not possible but they tried to make it work anyway. They were way over budget, so they decided to keep releasing remasters, remakes, gachas, and ports and overcharging consumers so they can work up enough money for their biggest title to date. But that wasn't enough. They were more paranoid than a coked up Tony Montana. They worried that Final Fantasy 15 would disappoint, and that if it did sales would go down, and they'd be in trouble. I mean, who wouldn't, after 13, and after the long wait?

So here's what they did. They relegated a large sum of money to their in-house marketing firm. They knew that to be able to sell this title, they would need all the hype in the world. They spent probably hundreds of thousands for FFXV Unleashed, held in the USA, that was a several-hours long event focused on showing off the game and (almost all) of its features. They sold the open world concept and the nice-looking graphics and level of detail to the public. They also announced a whole entire FFXV movie! With Ned Stark, Cersei, and Jesse Pinkman! I mean, what could go wrong, when they even gave us a release date? Past this event, Square seemingly released a limitless amount of information and updates via their Active Time Reports, a fancy term which basically meant, "Here's a bunch of info to get you excited." On top of this, they released the shittiest demo I've ever played, which is nothing more than a tech demo showcasing the battle system but telling you nothing about the story or anything else.

But the truth soon came to light. 2016 was not the time to release this game, because it wasn't even 50% complete, but they went ahead and did it anyway. The game is an obvious beta and there's no better way to describe it. Final Fantasy XV is soulless. Heartless. There's absolutely no love that came into making this game. Sakaguchi and the old Squaresoft teams poured their hearts, souls, and minds into making a game like FFVI, or FFIX, but those days are long gone. FFXV throws you out in an empty, boring open world (and by the way, at some point Tabata said they took inspiration from The Witcher 3 which was a horrible thing to say since this game's world doesn't even come close) with no prologue or anything. Oh, you want a prologue? Guess you gotta go watch the Kingsglaive movie, which was turned into a movie because turning it into a game would take years. You are Noctis Lucis Caelum, the Prince of Insomnia, on a road trip with your best buds and guardsmen Gladiolus Amicitia, Prompto Argentum, and Ignis...I can't even remember his last name. Boy, the naming conventions sure have changed. Apparently your goal is to marry the princess of Tenebrae, Luna, who shows up once or twice during the game but is labeled as the main heroine. Square also has a boner for Noctis, because they keep putting him everywhere these days as DLC or whatever, exemplified by Tekken 7's recent release which is simply called "Tekken 7: Noctis Lucis Caelum." Most people will look at that and say, "Who?"