Current Events > So I've been replaying FFXV, this time on PC. It's... I dunno.

(+) Yeah! (+)

After all the DLC/updates/etc, it definitely feels like a more "complete" game than what I experienced when I beat the game on PS4 near launch, but it still feels like a game whose disparate parts were glued together at the last minute - which is probably exactly what it is.

There are things about it that are legitimately great - the combat can be pretty well done, the character banter is pretty good and low-key in a way that makes it work, and the visuals are really nice especially on PC.

But it still feels like a huge, unfinished mess.


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Also, Gladio and Ignis are the best

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So in other words: Final Fantasy 15 was a Mediocre Disappointment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8lvAq_yp_w

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I had fun with the game. It has problems but not every game needs to be perfect. Its worth a play through which is good enough

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My only issue was that I beat everything before going forward and leaving the continent and suddenly I was in a hallway simulator. I was hoping for complete open world but after I got used to it, I calmed down and enjoyed the rest.

It's a game you want to like so bad but it just kinda sucks.

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DarkRoast posted...

Also, Gladio and Ignis are the best

What about Stella?

dameon_reaper posted...

My only issue was that I beat everything before going forward and leaving the continent and suddenly I was in a hallway simulator. I was hoping for complete open world but after I got used to it, I calmed down and enjoyed the rest.

I'm completely out of the loop on the complaints people had with this game, but why in god's name would the developers think it is a good idea to go from being an open game to a linear game?

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Shadowplay posted...

I'm completely out of the loop on the complaints people had with this game, but why in god's name would the developers think it is a good idea to go from being an open game to a linear game?

Due Date.

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Shadowplay posted...

I'm completely out of the loop on the complaints people had with this game, but why in god's name would the developers think it is a good idea to go from being an open game to a linear game?

It was intentional tbh

Eliza3 posted...

It's a game you want to like so bad but it just kinda sucks.

Exactly.

The characters are pretty good. I actually really like Noctis being low-key and chill, which is a nice change of pace. The graphics are excellent. Soundtrack is good (when it's there). Even the combat feels pretty good.

But it just doesn't come together.

Also, far too much of the story is relegated to movies, text, etc. Ironically, it has exactly the opposite problem of nearly every other FF title.


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DarkRoast posted...

Exactly.

The characters are pretty good. I actually really like Noctis being low-key and chill, which is a nice change of pace. The graphics are excellent. Soundtrack is good (when it's there). Even the combat feels pretty good.

But it just doesn't come together.

Also, far too much of the story is relegated to movies, text, etc. Ironically, it has exactly the opposite problem of nearly every other FF title.

The game would've been better if they kept nomura and the ff versus 13 plot.

DB_Insider posted...

The game would've been better if they kept nomura and the ff versus 13 plot.

As ridiculous as that sounds, frankly I can't say I'd disagree.

Although to be fair he had a freaking decade to get it out and failed.


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DarkRoast posted...

As ridiculous as that sounds, frankly I can't say I'd disagree.

Although to be fair he had a freaking decade to get it out and failed.

Of course he had a freaking decade when those higher ups swamps him with all the other big titles project and spin off kh games that also had important plot to the story.

DB_Insider posted...

The game would've been better if they kept nomura and the ff versus 13 plot.

No, it would've never came out

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Blue_Inigo posted...

No, it would've never came out

Stella>>>Lunafreya

Nothing in the game is particularly well-thought out, but I still had fun with it.

It's...weird.

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Shadowplay posted...

I'm completely out of the loop on the complaints people had with this game, but why in god's name would the developers think it is a good idea to go from being an open game to a linear game?

It felt like they were trying to fix the complaints from FFXIII because FFXIII starts off the same way that FFXV eventually becomes and then ends up like how FFXV starts.

They started FFXV with the option of all the side quests and then put the rest of the story into several chapters which feels like one long corridor. It was unexpected and I didn't know it was coming and so I kept asking when I was going to get to the next hunter missions but they never came.

Also, people complained about the dreaded Chapter 13 but I honestly played it before the patch and it never bothered me. I wasn't even aware it sucked until after I beat the game.

Hayame Zero posted...

Nothing in the game is particularly well-thought out, but I still had fun with it.

It's...weird.

It's probably the hardest FF game to place, because it's just... kind of great and bad at the same time. It's not straight-up bad like FF13, nor an unpolished gem like FF12 and FF9.

The game itself is totally fine but the "Final Fantasy" within it is just... kind of not there, honestly.


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Ignis becomes badass zatoichi

DarkRoast posted...

huge, unfinished mess

it is

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DB_Insider posted...

Ignis becomes badass zatoichi

Its funny but when Ignis' problem arises, I was confused on how the rest of the game played, not realizing that I was pretty much near endgame at that point.

Not counting DLC campaigns, multiplayer nonsense and cosmetic crap, what has actually changed about the game since launch? I know chapter 13 got some changes to make it less cancerous, but which then defeats the entire purpose of the chapter, the ring got buffed or some such. Other than that I really have no clue what reason there would be for me to give it a second chance.
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They started FFXV with the option of all the side quests and then put the rest of the story into several chapters which feels like one long corridor. It was unexpected and I didn't know it was coming and so I kept asking when I was going to get to the next hunter missions but they never came.

Honestly, if you played the game doing most of the side quests and whatnot up to the point where you go to Altissia, you get the impression that the story hasn't really started yet.

Then you go to Altissia and you think things are starting to happen, but by that point the game is basically almost over. It's super jarring and weird. This is especially true if you played the game before all the patches and updates.

I remember my friend accurately describing the game's story as "85% of the time you're just trying to drive to the coast, and the last 15% is the entire story"

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DB_Insider posted...

Stella>>>Lunafreya

Stella doesn't even exist. She is a character design and nothing more

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DeadBankerDream posted...

Not counting DLC campaigns, multiplayer nonsense and cosmetic crap, what has actually changed about the game since launch? I know chapter 13 got some changes to make it less cancerous, but which then defeats the entire purpose of the chapter, the ring got buffed or some such. Other than that I really have no clue what reason there would be for me to give it a second chance.

New cutscenes in some chapters

new playable part with Gladio

Extra side quests

When you say extra side quests, do you mean something with more meat than "go find the dog tags" or "go find the frogs"?

Because that was the fucking pits.
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DarkRoast posted...

They started FFXV with the option of all the side quests and then put the rest of the story into several chapters which feels like one long corridor. It was unexpected and I didn't know it was coming and so I kept asking when I was going to get to the next hunter missions but they never came.

Honestly, if you played the game doing most of the side quests and whatnot up to the point where you go to Altissia, you get the impression that the story hasn't really started yet.

Then you go to Altissia and you think things are starting to happen, but by that point the game is basically almost over. It's super jarring and weird. This is especially true if you played the game before all the patches and updates.

yeaaaaaaaah! That's how it felt. I played for hours but it felt like nothing really happened. They were just waiting on you to get to that point and then BOOM, all of a sudden, everything's happening and a couple of hours later, game's over. I'm in the camp that enjoyed the game but that really did confuse me.

DeadBankerDream posted...

When you say extra side quests, do you mean something with more meat than "go find the dog tags" or "go find the frogs"?

Because that was the fucking pits.

I don't know my bro, it was perceived as minor in the list so likely just basic stuff and not at all important. Probably not a game you'd go back to play for the changes unless you enjoyed it originally, anyway

Blue_Inigo posted...

Stella doesn't even exist. She is a character design and nothing more

Are u telling me that those stella videos floating around are fake?

Even if thats the truth, her brief appearance in the teaser trailer was enough to show me what kind of person she was than any of all lunafreyas cutscenes combined.

DB_Insider posted...

Are u telling me that those stella videos floating around are fake?

Even if thats the truth, her brief appearance in the teaser trailer was enough to show me what kind of person she was than any of all lunafreyas cutscenes combined.

You saw a smidge of an unrealized concept, which is what vs13 was in a nutshell. None of that told you anything about her. Nomura fucked around for nearly 10 years and couldn't figure out how to make a game out of whatever his crazy brain was thinking. Tabata had to come in and make an actual game out of these concepts

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One of the weirdest things about FFXV is that I can't call it a "bad game" because it really isn't. It's more accurate to describe it as a sort-of shell of an unfinished good game. It has everything it realistically needs to be a really good game but the story itself is left out, and it feels so weird because of it.

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Blue_Inigo posted...

You saw a smidge of an unrealized concept, which is what vs13 was in a nutshell. None of that told you anything about her. Nomura fucked around for nearly 10 years and couldn't figure out how to make a game out of whatever his crazy brain was thinking. Tabata had to come in and make an actual game out of these concepts

Nahnahnah cant hear u! Nomura is god! Nomura is life!

FF15 is a bad game for a number of reason, most of all that the gameplay is beyond trash. Honestly the story at it's core really is one of its lesser issues. There are things I like about it, sure, but the overall experience is just... terrible.

A shell of a game is a term I've used to describe it myself, but I don't take that to say that it is only missing a story. It's missing a lot of things, like good NPCs, an open world worth exploring, a worthwhile loot system, etc.
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DarkRoast posted...

One of the weirdest things about FFXV is that I can't call it a "bad game" because it really isn't. It's more accurate to describe it as a sort-of shell of an unfinished good game. It has everything it realistically needs to be a really good game but the story itself is left out, and it feels so weird because of it.

There's a LOT of good story ideas there, but it's just handled so bizarrely. And the ending is fantastic imo...but is hampered by the fact that nothing was built upon until near the end of the game.

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The best part of the game is being able to play every final fantasy soundtrack. Yeah that is what stuck out the most. Especially when I bought the MP3 player and was able to listen to the music anywhere and not just in the car. That shouldn't be the best part of the game yet it is.

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creativerealms posted...

The best part of the game is being able to play every final fantasy soundtrack. Yeah that is what stuck out the most. Especially when I bought the MP3 player and was able to listen to the music anywhere and not just in the car. That shouldn't be the best part of the game yet it is.

I honestly wish that was something when I played it. I beat the game way before any patches were introduced.

DeadBankerDream posted...

When you say extra side quests, do you mean something with more meat than "go find the dog tags" or "go find the frogs"?

Because that was the fucking pits.

All the extra quests that I can think of were weekly timed quests that were basically the same thing as the monster hunts you could do in the base game.

And then some extra running around in Insomnia once you got to the end, since they made the city more like an actual dungeon in a patch.

DarkRoast posted...

it still feels like a game whose disparate parts were glued together at the last minute - which is probably exactly what it is.

That's basically what it is, yeah.

The game already had cut corners upon launch because they were forced to release it by the end of 2016, and even though they knew what needed to be added back in after fan feedback they didn't really have the funds to fix everything - or even fix the small things in major ways. So everything feels like bandaid fixes via extra cutscenes to fill in plot holes and cosmetic changes.

The DLC episodes helped flesh out some characters, but they also feel disjointed from the main game anyway. It's just a clunky experience overall.

Like said above, it's a game you want to like but it's just not good.

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