Developed by Square Enix

Release: 2016 (Xbox One and PS4)

Premise

Final Fantasy XV is an action RPG with open world elements from the long-running and recently mechanically diversified Final Fantasy series. After an abnormally long development cycle, the title was finally released onto current generation consoles with plans for minor DLC. The engines developed during the extreme production cycle are rumored to be part of future games in the series.

In FFXV, Noctis, the crown prince of a nation teetering on the brink of war, sets out with his bodyguards on a coming of age road trip to his own diplomatically necessitated marriage. However, things quickly take a dramatic turn, and what follows is a tumultuous series of events that threaten to destroy Noctis’ homeland and endanger its citizens. Thrust into the chaos unprepared, Noctis must journey to restore his country’s royal armory, rescue his bride-to-be, and defeat the evil that lurks in the shadows behind the conflict.

The Good

As with most games in the Final Fantasy series, the graphics push the limits of what is achievable with our available technology, and the score is filled with original orchestral themes. This entry is no exception in the visual department, with an absurd level of detail and quality granted to even the most minute of details. For example, Ignis, a member of Noctis’ guard, wears glasses with an identifiable in-game prescription, as the lenses are fully functional. The weird, creative designs in this installment’s world are also more or less par for the course with Final Fantasy, but the real gem is the game’s soundtrack, which incorporates hits from previous entries in the series. Though FFXV may be one of the series’ more limited soundtracks on its own, the addition of these older songs adds a hefty dose of nostalgia and makes for good traveling music.

The biggest shock to this reviewer, however, was the strength of the writing when it came to individual characters. Noctis, and his Crownsguard Ignis, Prompto, and Gladiolus, are given a surprising amount of depth. FFXV‘s desire to push the envelope with cutting edge visuals further manifests with each character having unique physical mannerisms that are the clear result of extensive motion capture and animation work. Even the RPG game elements help reinforce individual identities, as each character has special incomparable skills, such as Prompto’s Photography and Ignis’ Cooking, that help build up a sense of uniqueness. Though dialogue for certain repetitive actions can wear thin, for the most part each of the personalities of the characters shine through. The only caveat is that the English-voiced version dramatically alters this by repurposing dialogue to be more sarcastic and Whedon-esque, diluting the characters’ tendencies into generic pseudo-wit.

In another somewhat surprising twist, FFXV joins the small list of Final Fantasy games that utilize open world gameplay elements successfully. The overworld is a vast territory that incorporates a number of different biomes and is littered with midwest-style rest stops, motels, and diners. These stops generally serve as questing hubs with different flavors of cut-and-paste creature hunts and fetch quests, and will often contain restaurants where one can gain information about the surrounding area and eat status enhancing meals. Though the main story quest would convey a certain sense of urgency, Noctis can spend his time developing his fishing skills, exploring the wilderness aback a Chocobo, or cruising in his customizable Regalia supercar without consequence.

The Bad

FFXV is another attempt at shifting Final Fantasy towards action combat and away from its turn-based roots, this time with some real success. Combat at its core plays out as an alternation between offensive and defensive stances relying on two main buttons, and focuses less on precise timing and complicated inputs. Unfortunately, despite the simplicity in this system, fighting can frequently be unnecessarily difficult due to the nature of the game’s cluttered environments and targeting system. The camera cannot negotiate terrain and obstacles well, and targeting specific enemies in groups is a frustratingly consistent problem. Seemingly as a potential band-aid to both of these problems, a ‘wait mode’ that freezes combat while Noctis is not moving or acting was added as an optional feature, but enabling this feature defeats the purpose of an action RPG in this reviewer’s humble opinion. Additionally, the special moves that teammates can be commanded to use operate in an awkward way, often resulting in their effectiveness being greatly diminished.

Confusingly, there is a strong ‘cut-content’ vibe coming from FFXV. This feeling originates from two different components – sudden story shifts and bare-bones secondary locations. Though possibly simply due to poorly executed storytelling at times, the gaps in the story seems to hint at the presence of removed and incomplete content. This includes exposition dumps that assume knowledge of unintroduced concepts, unaccounted for absentee time, time-skips that aren’t plot justified, and interactions that, despite being part of the main story and featuring player decision-making, end up being of no consequence. Additionally, the two areas the player explores after the main zone exhibit progressively less content for no real reason. The first area visited has merely one questing hub, and the second area devolves further into a linear FFXIII-type experience. Inexplicably, the maps for these areas are detailed like that of the overworld, and several curious minds have discovered that they feature walkable terrain and strategically placed yet unused NPCs and buildings.

The Unique

Though clearly lacking in some areas, and somehow managing to feel like an incomplete game despite an unbelievable development period, FFXV succeeds in unexpected ways. The road trip atmosphere, the coming of age of our protagonist, and the camaraderie created from it, take hold of the spotlight and force players to experience an actual emotional connection with the characters and their plight throughout the story. If any readers have experienced gaming-inclined men and women struggling to hold back tears upon hearing this new version of “Stand By Me” that has been floating around, this is the game to blame.

In spite of its flaws, Final Fantasy XV is hard not to recommend to those sympathetic to the vices inherent in JRPGs. Though Final Fantasy remains as niche as ever, this is a good omen for the new direction of the franchise, the first since Square Enix decided to diverge from their classic formula.