Fantasy Finale XV

[skamakazi]

The game has gone gold! I am so conflicted because I want it to be amazing, some of the stuff about it looks amazing, but that platinum demo thing was awkward and stiff. Please be great!

[Roderick]

Back in 2013, when I started this thread (cue sarcastic, knowing laughter), I was pretty pumped for this. Everything I saw since then just seemed... people zooming around on the countryside in a science fiction-Audi. Frankly, I don't really know why I should care about this anymore. Maybe there's still a really good game in there, it just hasn't made itself known yet.

[skamakazi]

These made me excited by prospect of the game:

 

Omen Trailer

6 Summons so far

 

I'll wait for reviews but I want to believe!

[SuperBiasedMan]

  On 10/28/2016 at 1:19 PM, skamakazi said:

These made me excited by prospect of the game:

 

Omen Trailer

6 Summons so far

 

I'll wait for reviews but I want to believe!

That's not a trailer:

 

“Omen,” a short CG movie by Digic Pictures, inspired by FINAL FANTASY XV.

 

 

I'm curious about what a modern Final Fantasy looks like, given that it seems they're trying to pivot away from where the 13 trilogy went.

[skamakazi]

Jason Schreier (Kotaku) is playing a preview build and posting on Twitter about it, answering questions. Saw way better than either demo and after two hours gut reaction is it's real good. Positive sign.

 

Edit: Square Enix is calling Omen a CG trailer fwiw

[Travis]

This article gave me hope! There is a part 2 as well, I just haven't read it yet... http://www.usgamer.net/articles/final-fantasy-xv-travel-diary-day-one-against-all-odds

 

I will probably just wait until a deal comes around. All of the FF games in the last few years have plummeted to $20 quickly.

[mhiggy]

Looking forward to this, but I'm holding out hope for a PC version. Seems like Square Enix has been pretty good about releasing stuff on the PC lately. Plus I have plenty of JRPGs to play. Gotta finish TMS#FE before Persona 5!

[prettyunsmart]

So this is a game that is out already. I picked a copy up because I could really use some nostalgic escapism in my life right now for a number of reasons.

 

So far I've been driving around with my anime-bros, hunting fantasy creatures, playing the Gold Saucer theme on repeat, and cooking french fries for dinner every night. Would recommend. 

[Gwardinen]

Yeah I'm currently enjoying it too, though only a couple hours in so far. Also, the semi-prequel tie-in anime series on YouTube, called Brotherhood, is surprisingly not shit! 

[N1njaSquirrel]

Yeah, Brotherhood is good! I liked it a lot in the run up to release.

 

The CG film, however, I hear isn't so good. :/

 

I'm really enjoying this game. I like how driving is fixed, even though i did manage to wang my car on the first crossroads lol! Now prompto drives.

 

Also, it's a weirdly static open world. Maybe it's because i'm used to more action-based open-world affairs, but it's not very interactable. Items are just shiny shinys on the floor, and bar monsters and the occasional npc's, you can't really react to anything.

 

In many ways it reminds me of Yakuza's open world, beautiful yet untouchable.

 

Also sometimes I'm trying to pick up an item and it doesn't really do it despite being on top of it and I'm just a loon jumping on the same spot.

 

Still, this is a fun game, they clearly have put effort into other things, which work a lot better, like character interactions.

[pkirkner]

This is the first game in the PS4 / Xbox One generation that kind of makes me want to buy a console.

[SuperBiasedMan]

  On 11/30/2016 at 3:47 PM, pkirkner said:

This is the first game in the PS4 / Xbox One generation that kind of makes me want to buy a console.

I remain hopeful for a PC release, since the game seems to be positively received.

[prettyunsmart]

  On 11/30/2016 at 3:07 PM, N1njaSquirrel said:

Also, it's a weirdly static open world. Maybe it's because i'm used to more action-based open-world affairs, but it's not very interactable. Items are just shiny shinys on the floor, and bar monsters and the occasional npc's, you can't really react to anything.

 

I've been thinking about that too. Mostly, I realized that the emptiness of the open world and the fixed-track nature of the driving seem closely connected, at least for me. The world is a pretty background, but is mostly empty space between points of interest.

 

Realizing that let me get comfortable letting the AI characters drive, and just zoning out while watching the landscape. Sometimes I'll stop the car if I pass a treasure or quest I missed, but there's something relaxing about ceding control and just enjoying the view.

[Gwardinen]

I suppose in a sense that fits with the road trip aesthetic and theme they're shooting for. On a road trip you don't explore every corner of the places you drive though - you just look out the window at the landscape rolling by until you get to your next stop.

 

On the other hand the fact that you constantly go back to certain outposts breaks that feeling again.

[prettyunsmart]

If the credits of this game don't roll over a montage of all of the photos you save during the game, I'm going to be super disappointed. 

[Vulpes Absurda]

It's a shame about some of the more blatantly sexist outfits in this game because I am enjoying homoerotic boyband simulator 2016 way more then I expected.

[Professor Video Games]

  On 12/2/2016 at 4:04 AM, Vulpes Absurda said:

It's a shame about some of the more blatantly sexist outfits in this game because I am enjoying homoerotic boyband simulator 2016 way more then I expected.

 

 I have no idea what you're talking about.

 

https://twitter.com/OhHeyDJ/status/803834390728085504

 

[Vulpes Absurda]

This game is a hot mess but all in all having beaten it I can now say, It's alright.

[prettyunsmart]

  On 12/4/2016 at 10:38 PM, Vulpes Absurda said:

This game is a hot mess but all in all having beaten it I can now say, It's alright.

 

I've reached a point with it where I don't think I want to do any more side content as it all seems to be relatively uninteresting. I still am into the characters and the world, but I don't know if I want to do every hunt or find every batch of frogs that a random NPC wants me to find. If I want to give up on all of that stuff and just follow the main story, will I be OK from what you say in your play through?

[Vulpes Absurda]

As long as Noctis is at least level 40 and you stock up on potions and phoenix downs you should be fine. The game gives you enough endgame gear that you don't need to worry about buying anything but items.

[Ethtrip]

**SPOILER FOR FIRST COUPLE HOURS OF GAME**

 

I'm not that far into the game and i knew very little about the game before going in, but was anyone else disappointed when the Empire invaded? It's not like it wasn't expected but I was excited for a Final Fantasy game that centered around a fun adventure with character growth being the main focus without distraction of some generic invading empire story.

[N1njaSquirrel]

Not really. It might have been cliched but you need an event in order to have characters grow, I guess. tbh I wish the story just made an ounce more sense. i'm on like chapter 6 and i have no idea who's a friendly or not

 

  Reveal hidden contents

I'm just in the temple with the lance lady. I thought she was evil? wtf is happening?

[lunch]

I've never had such a steep decline in my enjoyment of a game. The first few chapters are wonderful, with gorgeous art direction, a lovely world, and in spite of the thin, uninteresting plot, both narratively and presentationally, really excellent character interactions. Chapter 9 onward suddenly decides to focus on a story that the last eight chapters (which were about twenty hours for me) never laid the foundation for. I'm now at the infamous Chapter 13, and for the first time I find myself actually speaking aloud as though a developer on the game were in the room with me, asking how someone could turn a game I adored into a terrible Dreamcast survival horror game where I'm hiding in crevices, tracking down keycards, and running around the same drab environments. The scantily clad female characters and fey villain, versus the occasionally overbearing machismo of the party (namely Gladiolus), is also fairly off-putting. I really wish I could strip out the entire story of this game and just explore this world and engage in its combat. It's a shame.

[Zeusthecat]

Did anyone else end up playing this game and enjoying it?

 

I just hit the 142 hour mark last night and I fucking love it. Of course the middling second half of the story is a distant memory at this point but generally I think it's fantastic and the end game is probably the most engaging of any Final Fantasy I've played. I'd say this is probably my third favorite Final Fantasy behind 6 and 10.

[Roderick]

I hear that Square Enix are going to add free driving across the countryside in an upcoming patch. That's pretty cool!