The Final Fantasy Thread

[The Littlest Shitlord]

I never paid much attention to XV at all, due to not having a PS4 and not being into action RPGs. Also, it just didn't look that interesting. How good is it, really? And how has it been received overall? I only just recently started getting back into Final Fantasy after being completely uninterested in it for 2 or 3 years.

 

[John Titor]

I tried FFXIV, but it was too WoW-ish for me to really love. The world and storyline weren't bad, but too many aspects of the gameplay felt overly artificial, contrived, and over-simplified, in contrast to the organic messiness of FFXI. Balance was greatly improved, but the cost was high. The itemization was so unbelievably bland and boring. I couldn't name a single piece of equipment of note that I ever earned because no such thing even exists. FFXIV's gear progression is a simple ladder going straight up, compared to FFXI's countless weird, unique items with specialized effects and uses that are a vast, sprawling shrub. FFXI's jobs felt more like professions that fantasy people actually did, where FFXIV's jobs are interchangeable components in a three-piece machine. FFXI's jobs keep every ability that they ever had, where FFXIV's jobs get completely overhauled with every expansion to the point where core gameplay mechanics like Tactical Points can just vanish one day. Elements and creature types are just lore with no significant gameplay effect. And so on. Still though the biggest problem was that I just don't have the time and obsessive focus to play MMORPGs like I used to.

I absolutely blame all this on powergamers.

 

[Shield Breaker]

It was hard to tell because of the graphics then. I interpreted it as more of a British comedy type situation where the dude is obviously a burly man in drag but no one notices because for some reason the British think that's hilarious.

This literally happens. One of the hooligans try groping him in the side room if he's not chosen, and they are like 'what a tight body, it almost feels like you've got muscles.'

 

[Stab You in the Back]

I never paid much attention to XV at all, due to not having a PS4 and not being into action RPGs. Also, it just didn't look that interesting. How good is it, really? And how has it been received overall? I only just recently started getting back into Final Fantasy after being completely uninterested in it for 2 or 3 years.

FFXV is a weird game, structurally. All the gameplay is frontloaded into the first half, while all the story is stuffed into the second half. You're going to spend a lot of time in the beginning trying to figure out what's going on. And when you do finally figure it out, the "game" portion is basically over.

Despite this, its still the most coherent Final Fantasy since FFVI.

 

[Night Owl]

^Basically; nothing happens, but then everything happens (I prefer the second half, but that's an unpopular opinion).

The story is extremely simple, especially for a FF game, but needlessly fragmented. All of the anime, movie and DLC could have easily fit in the game, especially in the first half where nothing happens.

 

[Dr. Geronimo]

FFXV is a weird game, structurally. All the gameplay is frontloaded into the first half, while all the story is stuffed into the second half. You're going to spend a lot of time in the beginning trying to figure out what's going on. And when you do finally figure it out, the "game" portion is basically over.

Despite this, its still the most coherent Final Fantasy since FFVI.

I disagree on the coherence part. I feel like FF9 and 10 were more coherent than you give them credit for.

 

[The Fair Lady]

XV is enjoyable, but considering it went through at least one massive rewrite and was stuck in developmental hell for years, its story comes off as disjointed and rushed. They throw in a timeskip for padding reasons I guess and IMO it really kills the final portion of the game. Also, like Night Owl said, it has a bunch of outside content that could've been included. You pretty much have to watch Kingsglaive and the anime to get the full backstory. It doesn't help that the majority of the DLC were cancelled, which really could've helped flesh out some of the characters.

 

[Tanner Glass]

Isn't that the one that's not even finished and never will be?

It's a gigantic clusterfuck - but there are a few flashes of greatness in it, which is why people are so conflicted about it. It is absolutely a giant mess from a narrative perspective (there's the game, the movie, the other game, the DLC that isn't coming, etc) and there's parts that are never going to come out.

It wasn't as bad as it should have been - to say the least.

 

[Dr. Geronimo]

It's a gigantic clusterfuck - but there are a few flashes of greatness in it, which is why people are so conflicted about it. It is absolutely a giant mess from a narrative perspective (there's the game, the movie, the other game, the DLC that isn't coming, etc) and there's parts that are never going to come out.

It wasn't as bad as it should have been - to say the least.

Personally the only redeemable quality for me is the music. To quote a user on another site: "Yoko Shimomura is a music MILF"

 

[Tanner Glass]

Personally the only redeemable quality for me is the music. To quote a user on another site: "Yoko Shimomura is a music MILF"

I personally came away liking a lot of the characters (Noctis and company, as well as the villain) as well as the world and the vibe - but the gameplay was pretty weak.

I didn't fully hate it (like FF13) and didn't fully love it (FF5, 6, 7, etc) - it had flashes but it felt really incomplete.

 

[Megaroad 2012]

Simomura is a hack fraud whose who career is aping other work and her work for XV was the weakest part, itself just being Basil Poledouris' Conan score during any decent moments.

 

[Burned Man]

I personally came away liking a lot of the characters (Noctis and company, as well as the villain) as well as the world and the vibe - but the gameplay was pretty weak.

I didn't fully hate it (like FF13) and didn't fully love it (FF5, 6, 7, etc) - it had flashes but it felt really incomplete.

I think that sums up my feelings on it too.

My brother got it when it came out and I'd watch him play it and would come back to see him in the next story sequence and just assume I missed important exposition and plot points when I was gone before he'd assure me I was more less on the same page despite missing hours of the game. I could tell it left a sour taste in his mouth and I never really felt like playing myself at the time.

Much later I stumbled upon Kingsglaive and watched it and then eventually Royal Edition was announced and my brother in his hype pre release decided to get the edition that came with the season pass. So I eventually got the royal edition for 5 bucks on sale and played through the entire game. Between all the updates, DLC chapters, Royal Edition and consuming every other piece of media including all of Comrades I was able to get invested enough in the world and characters enough to completely beat every quest,hunt, super boss, and deep dungeon. The only stuff I left was the deep sea fishing and the platforming puzzle dungeon because screw trying to make precise jumps in XV.

I think I give the game a lot of leeway just because it went through development hell and while what we got wasn't outstanding but it wasn't the steaming pile of shit it probably should have been either. I might have had different feelings if I played at launch rather then the most completed the game will ever be.

 

[Your Weird Fetish]

FFXV is a weird game, structurally. All the gameplay is frontloaded into the first half, while all the story is stuffed into the second half. You're going to spend a lot of time in the beginning trying to figure out what's going on. And when you do finally figure it out, the "game" portion is basically over.

Despite this, its still the most coherent Final Fantasy since FFVI.

I disagree on the coherence part. I feel like FF9 and 10 were more coherent than you give them credit for.

7 is also coherent as long as you don't miss the two optional scenes. 12 is also coherent if badly paced. Really only 8 was nonsensical. And maybe 13, I haven't played those.

 

[GethN7]

The weirdest thing for me is that FFXV introduced multiplayer gaming with that DLC set during the timeskip period and it actually is not bad, and I was expecting it to suck.

I do admit as a turn-based fan I really hated how dumbed down combat is and having to shotgun potions constantly, though the game had enough fun stuff I was able to get over that for the most part. The open-world was interesting when there was things to do, but boring when there wasn't anything to do.

Driving was cool but I had some bizarre bugs occur, like falling through a bridge and getting the car all jacked up for what appeared to be no reason at one point.

The anime and Kingsglaive are nice and fill in some holes, but it blows I had to hunt down both when they could have included them with the game.

Modding is interesting but it only goes so far before it gets kinda old again.

Overall, I'm not disappointed I bought the Royal Edition, I generally feel I got a good game for what I paid for, but I do hope whoever is doing the FFVII remake is constantly getting reminded of everything FFXV got wrong so they don't repeat it.

 

[Dr. Geronimo]

7 is also coherent as long as you don't miss the two optional scenes. 12 is also coherent if badly paced. Really only 8 was nonsensical. And maybe 13, I haven't played those.

7's translation can cause issues for some, so I don't blame people for calling it incoherent.

13 is one of those 'you need a wiki to understand' type of games. They throw so many terms and shit at you in the first hour that it feels like it's begging you to not play it.

8 is the one that I have played in the longest time, but I do remember that shit gets real crazy later on.

 

[Your Weird Fetish]

7's translation can cause issues for some, so I don't blame people for calling it incoherent.

13 is one of those 'you need a wiki to understand' type of games. They throw so many terms and shit at you in the first hour that it feels like it's begging you to not play it.

8 is the one that I have played in the longest time, but I do remember that shit gets real crazy later on.

"Sephiroth clone" is one of the most deceptive translation fuckups I've seen for sure.

 

[Burned Man]

The weirdest thing for me is that FFXV introduced multiplayer gaming with that DLC set during the timeskip period and it actually is not bad, and I was expecting it to suck.

Comrades the multiplayer DLC was fun enough since the combat was slightly different with how magic worked being more like magic and less like grenades and weapons types had unique quirks to set them apart from another. They also ended up adding a mission that has each player taking control of Noctis and friends as they fight their way to city at the end with each one controlling how they do in their respective DLCs and the music that plays is a medley of all their themes with the Comrades theme. It kind of comes back to the main games problems where its great and it works but at the same time it just leaves you wishing there was more then you got.

Comrades is also weird at the same time. You'd think it would be a no brainer to have the multiplayer mode for FFXV focus on Noctis's comrades and what they did during the long night rather then make a story about random Kingsglaive guys instead. All they needed to do was swap out Noctis for a playable Cor and you'd have a full 4 man roster.

Something I just remembered is that they ruined a feature in the Royal Edition because they made the Comrades DLC stand alone. In the Royal Edition your player Glaive complete with their stats and loadout could become a guest party member during a sidequest but now it can't load that data and loads up generic place holder guy instead.

Driving was cool but I had some bizarre bugs occur, like falling through a bridge and getting the car all jacked up for what appeared to be no reason at one point.

Did you ever get to try out the off road car they added in later? That thing made the game hilariously unstable. The game couldn't load as fast you could get around in it causing the framerate to chug or pieces of the ground not to load and strange texture formations to reach into the sky and cast shadows across the map.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

13 is one of those 'you need a wiki to understand' type of games. They throw so many terms and shit at you in the first hour that it feels like it's begging you to not play it.

It's so bad the game itself contains a fucking wiki.

I can't believe anyone on the development team though that was a good idea at all. It's not good storytelling to make the audience have to look up basic details about the world they're supposed to be inhabiting.

 

[AlexJonesGotMePregnant]

It's so bad the game itself contains a fucking wiki.

I can't believe anyone on the development team though that was a good idea at all. It's not good storytelling to make the audience have to look up basic details about the world they're supposed to be inhabiting.

But if you put it in a menu, you do't have to do actual storyboarding or care about consistency or delivery. It's offensive that you would assume professional game developers would do their job.

 

[Niggernerd]

I like the FF game where some midget goat man keeps saying "get up on the hydras back" until you finally beat the fucking thing.