Board 8 > Final Fantasy XV was great!

(+) Yeah! (+)

Really good story of bros that look out for each other, Noctis' three friends were well written, unique and very cool. Visuals were pretty (well, that's the one thing even the epic failure that was FFXIII got right), the whole gimmick with photos was enjoyable, as well as a bunch of other gimmicks like cooking. They could've fleshed out the Empire more, and some chapters were rushed, the flow of the story wasn't great. But it's no big deal. The story was beautiful, the romance with Lunafrena was beautiful, and the game carried the right messages of love, honour, friendship, duty. Life. A huge slap in the face of the intellectually lost Western games that get released in recent years.

The Japanese know what truly matters.

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I played it for a few hours and then gave up. Just couldn't be bothered with it.

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Yeah if FFXV can brag about anything it's the four main characters

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I think it was ok. I didnt love it but it wasnt the worst ff Ive played.
I think the bros were actually really generic though. Tough guy, smart older guy and young insecure guy.

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It had its moments, but overall I can't say I liked it that much. Enough to finish the game at least, but many parts were tedious, weirdly paced etc. It was better than XIII, but I feel like the problem is that in 2016 there were already plenty of better open world RPG's and XV really had that typical problem open world games often have in terms of how to tell and progress the story. It felt disjointed to me, and the gameplay wasn't good enough to compensate. Actually, I felt the game showed that the FF series was starting to lag behind in the world of games.

The setting and much of the soundtrack were great though, and at least you have choices to make unlike in XIII.

I always liked it, probably in my top 5 FF games.

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Noctis was my favorite FF protagonist since Squall

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Top 2 Final Fantasy imo

Story wasn't great but the bros are excellent and gameplay was fun. Noctis is a top 2 FF protagonist

Also top-tier fishing mini-game

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Also has a groovy chocobo song

I want to ride my chocobo all day!

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As far as main characters go, Cloud > Terra > Noctis > the rest.

I would agree that the bros fit nicely into their tropes, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It was executed quite well here, so I consider it a plus.

Didn't even fish aside from the first time... There's a lot more fun to be derived from this game, but alas I haven't the time. I'll probably play the DLC episodes, though.

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Lunafreya deserved a bit more, but otherwise I agree

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FFXV is one of the most "mixed bag" games I've ever played! It's obviously a miracle the game exists at all because of its legendarily bad management for most of its existence and the fact that the final product had probably at best a year and a half of meaningful development.

That said, there are some things in here that are legitimately top tier. The bros are some of the best characters ever in a Final Fantasy and the game 100% sells their friendship. They similarly nail the road trip theme with a ludicrous amount of love put into things like the animations for setting up camp, cooking, fishing, etc. If the entire game was as good as these high points, it would quite possibly easily be my favorite Final Fantasy game.

But the rest is... not very good. The storytelling is some of the most bafflingly bad I've ever seen in a big budget JRPG (no doubt a symptom of how rushed the game was) and "cut corners" doesn't even begin to describe the sections past the open world. Luna was one of the biggest victims of this rush and basically ended up being a non-character so it's interesting to see you call out the "romance" with her as a high point! Iris was a thousand times better anyway, fight me.

The Episode Ignis and (especially) Episode Ardyn dlcs were absolutely god tier and part of me wishes we could have seen more of this world realized with an appropriate development schedule, but alas, Tabata is gone and that ship has thoroughly sunk at this point.

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I agree with the bros it wasnt meant as purely criticism just that they were generic. Generic doesnt necessarily mean bad and I actually like tough guy and smart guy though I was never really a fan of loud insecure guy.
Iris>Luna

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FFXV could have been great if it were actually a full game.

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The bros were good, but everything after you leave the main continent feels rushed and half finished.

That being said I did really enjoy the game when it was on said first continent and I hope 7 remake part II apes it somewhat.

I don't see what you see in the story. Lunafreya was a background character that I basically felt nothing for because you're only told she's awesome. I like the scenes she's in but as a character there's very little attachment.

That basically goes for every character and plot line besides the four bros, which I agree carried the game hard on their backs. I still didn't even like how they were utilized when the "main" story kicks in, but most of the game is just palling around in the open world so it doesn't ruin the experience or anything.


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Also yeah I definitely disagree that the Luna romance was done well

In fact, I'd say that the plot overall really sucks. On paper it sounds good but it's executed worse than any other mainline Final Fantasy game.

Eh, it has good points. The combat is snappy enough. The ending is cool. But man is it broken. I know they eventually patched it and added a lot but I guess my initial experience wasn't good enough for me to want to try again.

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Xiahou Shake posted...

FFXV is one of the most "mixed bag" games I've ever played! It's obviously a miracle the game exists at all because of its legendarily bad management for most of its existence and the fact that the final product had probably at best a year and a half of meaningful development.

That said, there are some things in here that are legitimately top tier. The bros are some of the best characters ever in a Final Fantasy and the game 100% sells their friendship. They similarly nail the road trip theme with a ludicrous amount of love put into things like the animations for setting up camp, cooking, fishing, etc. If the entire game was as good as these high points, it would quite possibly easily be my favorite Final Fantasy game.

But the rest is... not very good. The storytelling is some of the most bafflingly bad I've ever seen in a big budget JRPG (no doubt a symptom of how rushed the game was) and "cut corners" doesn't even begin to describe the sections past the open world. Luna was one of the biggest victims of this rush and basically ended up being a non-character so it's interesting to see you call out the "romance" with her as a high point! Iris was a thousand times better anyway, fight me.

The Episode Ignis and (especially) Episode Ardyn dlcs were absolutely god tier and part of me wishes we could have seen more of this world realized with an appropriate development schedule, but alas, Tabata is gone and that ship has thoroughly sunk at this point.

I really disagree with Luna being a "non-character." They built her up quite well, even if her time with Noctis was limited. The memories of little Noctis and Luna were really good.

Iris was cute, sure, but Luna is much more complete as a character. Iris' whole point is that she's young and therefore not completely formed as a personality.

colliding posted...

Also yeah I definitely disagree that the Luna romance was done well

In fact, I'd say that the plot overall really sucks. On paper it sounds good but it's executed worse than any other mainline Final Fantasy game.

You can't do worse than XIII if you try.

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Episode Gladiolus time! Let's do this!

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I enjoyed it a lot too. It's not perfect, there are definitely issues with the story and pacing, but I think it was a pretty fun game.

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Beat Episode Gladiolus. It was good, but too short.

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ViolentAbacus posted...

I always liked it, probably in my top 5 FF games.

No one responded to your post in the other topic because no one cared. You don't need to make a whole new topic for it just to get attention.

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This topic is older, I just copy/pasted my impressions in the other one.

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Started Episode Prompto! Looks like it'll be more interesting.

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Episode Prompto was longer and better. Also, it let me team up with one of the coolest characters from the main game, Aranea.

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Started Episode Ignis. Looks promising, it's probably the best episode. Ortishie is a beautiful city - sure, it's basically Venezia, but it was breathtaking at first sight. One thing Square are still very solid at, even FFXIII looked great. And Ignis' gameplay is more fun compared to Gladio and Prompto's.

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I think the episodes get better and better. Are you playing Ardyn later too?

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Vlado posted...

Ortishie is a beautiful city

is this localized differently where you live? i think it's called Altissia here

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I'm playing in Japanese.

BlackDra90n posted...

I think the episodes get better and better. Are you playing Ardyn later too?

Sure.

Anyway, this one was also too short... And while in the Gladiolus one you could actually get a game over, in Prompto and Ignis it's pretty much impossible because you get way more potions than you will need.

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Was going to play the multiplayer, and actually did for an hour, but apparently it takes 30 hours to beat... I think I'll pass. Started Episode Ardyn, looks kind of cool, although it's disappointing that he slept for thousands of years instead of being active and working out his plan gradually. Look like this episode'll diminish his villainous image.

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So, in Episode Ardyn you get to learn more about the world of FFXV... Right on time, Square, adding this extra info 3 years after the game originally released.

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I actually lost that QTE... I suppose I should retry.

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Hated it. Without a doubt my least favorite post-NES FF.

The only character I liked was Prompto, and even he was tropey as hell. Noctis is Squall without a soul (or a compelling character arc). The other two are completely forgettable. All I remember about Gladio is him being a protective tough guy. Ignis had a British accent.

Worst character: Lunafreya because she was heavily underdeveloped to the point that I felt absolutely nothing when she died.

Story was abysmal. Pacing was laughably uneven. Battle system was decent. Open world was half-baked and bland (though to be fair, I dislike most open world games). Music/graphics were great.


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Blah, I failed the QTE again and just went along and beat the episode. It was rather short again. The ending was really unsatisfying, and contradicts the choice made beforehand. Kind of lame, like Square just couldn't make up their mind about how villainous they wanted Ardyn to remain after this episode.

And with this, I'm done with this game. Will probably play Death Stranding next.

plasmabeam posted...

Worst character: Lunafreya because she was heavily underdeveloped

They could've put more effort into her, not to mention her homeland where things were obviously super rushed, but what they managed to do with her was quite good, she fits her role well. I really liked her.

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