Video Game: Final Fantasy XV

Video+Game%3A+Final+Fantasy+XV

Reviewed on PS4

For a series that has existed for nearly as long as gaming itself, it’s rather admirable that Square has managed to continuously churn out quality Final Fantasy entries so consistently.

The fifteenth installment follows the adventures of Prince Noctis Lucis Caellum and three of his friends as they journey to fight evil and take back his kingdom.

This entry in the series marks a departure from the traditional turn-based style of combat in favor of a real time combat style, much like the Kingdom Hearts series. Although this has been met with some criticism, the combat flows very effectively. Leaving behind a turn based system allows for more inventive and fun mechanics. Things like warp attacks and on the fly weapon switching add a sense of urgency and excitement. For those who prefer the turn based system, there is the wait mode, where time passes only when you move or attack.

Magic also has changed from a continuous ability to craftable consumables, which may come as a shock to some, but works well within the context of the game. Magic attacks devastate your enemies and can be crafted with items to provide healing or experience buffs to you and your party.

While some excellent design choices have been made as far as combat mechanics and a beautiful environment, there are some serious issues with basic gameplay mechanics. The design team at Square has opted to make the interaction button the same as the jump button, making Noctis jump around like a moron at least twice before he manages to pick up the potion on the ground. They’ve chose to make the car you spend so much time travelling in on rails, limiting the freedom of the open world. However, they did choose to let you access nearly any area via chocobos, as is tradition in the Final Fantasy series, as well as allowing you to fast-travel instantly to any location you have previously visited.  

The various activities presented in the game, from dungeon crawling to fishing, will keep you occupied and distracted from how ridiculously nonsensical the main story is. Although there’s a nearly endless list of side quests to do, they are all rather shallow, with most of them being fetching an item for someone or running a simple errand. Oftentimes, the side activities, like the hunts or chocobo races, provide more entertainment value than the actual quests in the game.

The most enjoyable activity comes in the form of the dungeons, where you find rare weapons and battle larger-than-life bosses for large payouts of gil (the game’s currency) and XP. Many of the dungeons feature secret doors that may only be unlocked after finishing the game and acquiring a key from a peculiar old woman. Although these secret post-game dungeons are rather bland, they present a genuine challenge and add some re-playability to the game.

Although throughout your journey you acquire powerful weapons and construct lasting friendships with your companions, most of the things you do in the main story missions seem to take place for absolutely no reason: you see characters randomly switch allegiances, and the main villain’s motives are never clear. To really comprehend any exposition, you have to watch a poorly rated movie and anime series.  While the overarching story is incredibly convoluted and confusing, the story missions are still a joy to play, with a few exceptions. Unfortunately, one of these extremely painful sequences comes towards the end, and sees Noctis lose nearly all his abilities, including basic movement abilities, and is forced to walk through corridors for roughly two hours. Certain key points of the main story are even locked behind paid DLC to be released at a later time.

The game is also ripe with weird kinds of product placement, including an entire mission based around a brand of microwavable cup ramen, and I found myself rolling my eyes nearly every time the gang whipped out their “Coleman” brand camping gear when I would rest to tally up my XP.

Square Enix has also just recently rolled out a new update for the game, adding timed quests which are only available for a short while but give out massive XP, AP and gil rewards, as well as increasing the character level cap from 99 to 120.

While the main storyline of the game may be somewhat of a mess, the fun and exciting gameplay, interesting open world exploration, and likable characters make it easily worth playing.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10