{"id":20998,"date":"2017-01-28T14:53:57","date_gmt":"2017-01-28T04:53:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=20998"},"modified":"2017-01-28T14:53:57","modified_gmt":"2017-01-28T04:53:57","slug":"final-fantasy-xv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=20998","title":{"rendered":"Final Fantasy XV"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"finalfantasyxvposter\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Developer: \u00a0<\/strong>Square Enix
\nPublisher: \u00a0<\/strong>Square Enix
\nPlatform: \u00a0<\/strong>Playstation 4<\/p>\n

A<\/span>t long last, Prince Noctis has arrived.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Final Fantasy<\/em>\u00a0series was once the standard bearer for JRPGs and at the height of its popularity\u00a0during the lifecycle of the original Playstation, the\u00a0Final Fantasy<\/em>\u00a0brand enjoyed multi-million sales worldwide and the type of mindshare occupied today by the likes of\u00a0Skyrim<\/em> and\u00a0The Witcher 3<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But the last ten years have not been kind to Squaresoft and their flagship franchise.<\/p>\n

Final Fantasy XIII<\/em> was announced to much fanfare in 2006, being developed concurrently with a second game titled\u00a0Final Fantasy XIII Versus<\/em>. \u00a0Final Fantasy XIII<\/em>\u00a0eventually released\u00a0to markets\u00a0in 2009 to mixed reviews and disappointing sales in the West. \u00a0Meanwhile,\u00a0Final Fantasy XIII Versus<\/em> got delayed. \u00a0And delayed. \u00a0And delayed. \u00a0Eventually, the game was rebranded as Final Fantasy XV<\/em>\u00a0and had its development moved across from Playstation 3 to Playstation 4. \u00a0Years passed.<\/p>\n

Then, in December 2016, the game finally arrived, ten years after it was first announced.<\/p>\n

After all this time, was it worth the wait?<\/p>\n

\"finalfantasyxv\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In short,\u00a0Final Fantasy XV<\/em> is a mixed bag. \u00a0The game has both interesting ideas and disappointing shortcomings but one thing I will say is that at least this is a game that comes out swinging. \u00a0I think nothing could’ve been worse than if after all this time, Square Enix released a game that played it safe and felt similar to previous entries in the series (i.e a game that felt like it was designed\u00a0in 2006).<\/p>\n

In this instalment of Final Fantasy<\/em>, we follow the journey of Prince Noctis, the crown prince of Lucis, who is en route to Altissia with his friends Prompto, Ignis and Gladiolus, so that he may marry Lady Lunafreya of the nation state Accordo. \u00a0Along the way, they receive the alarming news that the Niflheim empire has invaded Noctis’ hometown and his father King Regis has been assassinated.<\/p>\n

The developers at Square Enix make their intentions known for Final Fantasy XV<\/em>\u00a0right from the outset with the splash screen ‘A game for fans and first-timers<\/em>‘ when the disc boots up. \u00a0What does that mean exactly? \u00a0Well, for longtime followers of the series, there is plenty of fan service to enjoy. \u00a0Series staples such as chocobos, moogles, Cid, Biggs, Wedge and all the trademark elemental spells that have been in every instalment of the series are back in\u00a0XV<\/em>. \u00a0One of the primary modes of transportation in\u00a0Final Fantasy XV<\/em> is the Regalia car. \u00a0As Noctis and his gang make pit stops at petrol stations dotted across Accordo, it’s possible to purchase CDs of previous\u00a0Final Fantasy<\/em> soundtracks and listen to them via the\u00a0CD player on your drive.<\/p>\n

As for what’s new? \u00a0Square Enix hasn’t been shy about shaking up some of the foundations of the series. \u00a0Final Fantasy XV<\/em> is a game that plays wildly different to its predecessors in many ways. \u00a0The combat is no longer turn based and plays more like an action RPG. \u00a0Having said that, it handles like no action RPG I can think of. \u00a0Attack and defence are each assigned to a single button which is simply held down to activate. \u00a0The player isn’t required to tap the buttons in any sort of sequence. \u00a0You just literally hold down the ‘attack’ or ‘defend’ button. \u00a0That’s it. \u00a0Oh, and you also have no control over the rest of your party. \u00a0Initially, the game feels startling in its simplicity.<\/p>\n

What else? \u00a0XP is no longer attained at the end of a battle. \u00a0Instead it is stacked up and is unlocked at the end of each day.<\/p>\n

There is a gameplay loop that is entirely new to the\u00a0Final Fantasy\u00a0<\/em>series. \u00a0The game has a day\/night cycle. \u00a0Each day, Noctis and his party hit the road and complete tasks. \u00a0They could be story related missions, monster hunts, fishing challenges or one of the other myriad of\u00a0distractions that the game offers. \u00a0At the end of the day, the party finds somewhere to sleep. \u00a0Depend on whats close by, they may choose to stay in a hotel or camp under the stars. \u00a0At this point the player can revisit the highlights of the day thanks to Prompto who takes photos throughout the duration of the game and shares them on his smartphone. \u00a0Lastly, Ignis is the team’s designated chef and he will often serve a meal to the party which can buff their stats for the next day. \u00a0This food is presented in lovingly\u00a0rendered artwork made by Square Enix’s development team. \u00a0It looks so good that I wouldn’t be surprised if at least one of the years in development was spent exclusively on creating digital servings of lamb cutlets, curry, ramen and croquettes.<\/p>\n

\"finalfantasyxvcharacters\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And that gameplay loop? \u00a0Its fresh, unique and I loved it. \u00a0There is a leisurely pace to\u00a0Final Fantasy XV<\/em> that initially feels outrageous but I actually really warmed too. \u00a0Much of that\u00a0cross country navigation is spent on the road. \u00a0The playable character Noctis is generally not encouraged to drive and nor is the journey especially interactive. \u00a0Ignis takes the wheel and the rest of the gang just chill in the Regalia. \u00a0Sometimes they chat. \u00a0Sometimes they read a book or have a nap. \u00a0You might want to browse through\u00a0the CD collection and listen to some of your favourite tunes from past\u00a0Final Fantasy\u00a0<\/em>games. \u00a0Take your time. \u00a0Sometimes, it can be up to ten minutes (real time) before you arrive at your destination. \u00a0Check your phone or make a sandwich if you want.<\/p>\n

Once you arrive at your destination, there’s usually some monsters to dispatch, some fish to catch and maybe some loot to be uncovered. \u00a0Then it’s back on the road, rinse and repeat until nightfall.<\/p>\n

I’ve thought a bit about why I liked this style of gameplay so much and I think it’s because it feels like a holiday. \u00a0Noctis and his friends and generally pretty cheerful company to keep. \u00a0They like seeing the sights, trying new food and chatting about anything and everything. \u00a0The game captures the feeling of being on a road trip with your mates in a way that no other game has done before.<\/p>\n

Final Fantasy XV<\/em> also has a very clear sense of identity that becomes apparent very early on. \u00a0This may be the first ever RPG about millennials. \u00a0Noctis and his friends all carry their smart phones with them. \u00a0They enjoy posing for selfies and photographing their food. \u00a0They talk in a distinctively millennial fashion. \u00a0Their relationships with one another and how they open up to each other is much different from Final Fantasy<\/em> games of the past.<\/p>\n

I appreciate that a ‘millennial Final Fantasy’ might sound like kryptonite to some prospective players but I actually enjoyed it. \u00a0The sense of camaraderie that the four main characters have in this game is one of its strongest assets.<\/p>\n

Having said that, one of the weakest aspects of\u00a0Final Fantasy XV<\/em> – and this is kind of a big deal in an RPG – is its story. \u00a0It’s paradoxically hard to follow and yet tissue thin in substance. \u00a0I have read that there is plenty of additional context and meaning provided to the story for anyone who sits through the feature length film Kingsglaive:\u00a0Final Fantasy\u00a0<\/em>but I think thats a pretty lousy way to communicate the story to your audience. \u00a0I suspect anyone who doesn’t watch the film will struggle to develop any kind of connection with King Regis or Lady Lunafreya, both of whom are pivotal to the story. \u00a0King Regis and Lady Lunafreya are in the game for a disappointingly brief period of time and their character’s feel very undercooked compared to the four main characters.<\/p>\n

Still, the\u00a0Final Fantasy Road Trip <\/em>experience\u00a0would still have been enough for me to give this game a wholehearted recommendation but unfortunately, things really take a turn for the worse around Chapter Seven. \u00a0At that point, the game abruptly strips away a lot of the game’s best assets. \u00a0Access to the open world is taken away. \u00a0All of a sudden, Noctis is forced to strike out on his own for an extended period of time. \u00a0Most of this back half of Final Fantasy<\/em> XV<\/em> is spent in the corridors of buildings fighting identical enemies and looking for key cards. \u00a0It’s bland, devoid of creativity and more than a little tedious.<\/p>\n

I wish there was more of the open road. \u00a0And more environments to explore. \u00a0Not unlike\u00a0Final Fantasy XIII<\/em> which also had a generous amount of time in development, one of the most puzzling aspects of\u00a0Final Fantasy XV<\/em> is just how bereft of content it feels like it has. \u00a0Fans of\u00a0Final Fantasy VII<\/em> will remember there were many different continents to explore, each with their own cities and different terrain. \u00a0By the end of the adventure you had climbed mountains, travelled through forests and crossed vast deserts. \u00a0In\u00a0Final Fantasy XV<\/em> there are effectively only two major cities and the rest of the terrain is mostly grassy plains dotted with tiny petrol stations and roadside diners.<\/p>\n

It makes me wonder why Square Enix have struggled since the Playstation 2 days to create content in a timely fashion for their most recent games. \u00a0Comparatively smaller development studios such as CD Projekt in Poland have created enourmous worlds to explore in their\u00a0Witcher<\/em> series and they are doing it with a fraction of the budget, staff and time. \u00a0Is it mismanagement at Square? \u00a0Is it a talent drain? \u00a0What is going on here?<\/p>\n

Overall, Final Fantasy XV<\/em> is a likeable game but it is not without some major shortcomings and a real lack of content in the second half of the story. \u00a0It has great ideas but what seems crazy for a game ten years in development is that it also feels like they ran out of time<\/em>. \u00a0For instance, there are items in the shops that you can buy that cure status ailments such as paralysis, confusion and sleep. \u00a0The only problem is, I didn’t encounter a single enemy in the game that actually inflicted these types of attacks on me. \u00a0There are two chapters near the end of the game where the only instruction is to ‘explore the train’ while it travels from point A to point B. \u00a0I completed a good amount of side missions (over fifty by my count) and yet by the time the end credits rolled, I had only clocked in slightly over 30 hours of gameplay. \u00a0This feels like one of the shortest and slightest\u00a0Final Fantasy\u00a0<\/em>games I’ve played and thats despite the fact that long periods of the game are spent riding in non-interactive car trips.<\/p>\n

There are great ideas at the heart of\u00a0Final Fantasy XV<\/em>. \u00a0Concepts that modernize the JRPG and can make Final Fantasy<\/em>\u00a0feel fresh and relevant for today’s audiences. \u00a0But it’s a pity that the grind to release these games in a timely fashion seems so difficult for Square Enix. \u00a0Until they\u00a0works out how to produce their games in a more efficient and timely fashion, I can’t ever see them attaining the heights that they once reached twenty years ago.<\/p>\n

Here’s hoping the next\u00a0Final Fantasy\u00a0<\/em>game I write about isn’t released in 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prince Noctis and his three friends travel to the city of Altissia where Noctis is to be wed. On the journey, they learn that a rival empire has attacked the homeland and King Regis has been slain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":21000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[500,2196,1702,1933],"class_list":["post-20998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gaming","tag-final-fantasy","tag-final-fantasy-xv","tag-playstation-4","tag-squaresoft"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20998"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21010,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20998\/revisions\/21010"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}