FINAL FANTASY XV

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Let's have us a little chat about FFXV, old beans.

I do say I'm rather unsure how I should feel about this game.
I've played most of the games in the series you know but I find myself not being too excited. Which is odd since the open world looks amazing, the combat seems jolly good, and the fact that their re imagining the old Amano designs for some enemies is breathtaking if I may say so.
But here's what concerns me; what's with the samey looking characters? I find it rather perplexing considering how diverse FF casts have been in the past. Where's the summoner girls, the talking dogs, the wacky old men, and the spoony bards.
Perhaps the character designs are the way they are because of the mafia theme they seem to have givin XV. That too concerns me, you see I've watched my fair share of Mafia films and although I've enjoyed those I never thought: oh this would be perfect for Final Fantasy.
I do hope I'm worried about nothing old chaps. I do really wish for it to be a great game.

What are your thoughts on the new Final Fantasy?

I don't know why I just wanted to talk like a Britsh guy. I love that accent, hope I didn't offend anyone.
Dudesoft
always a dudesoft, never a soft dude.
6309
I heavily dislike that they aren't using the tech demo world.
The characters looks generic as shit.
The gameplay looks rudimentary and painfully boring. However, I do love the idea of riding down the road in a car instead of a chocobo, and seeing giant monsters and summons around you? So shadow of colossus, I do like that.

On top of that, from what I'm seeing the monster designs are very retro FF based. I LOVE that too. If true, I might actually play that game and beat it. Haven't bothered with a FF since FFX really.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
I'm just weary that they've pushed it onto the PS4. Though, my desire to get a next-gen console is pretty much nil, so, I'm a bit biased here.
Trihan
"It's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly...timey wimey...stuff."
3359
I bought my XBox One specifically for two games: Kingdom Hearts 3 and this. Needless to say I'm looking forward to it.
I don't play Final Fantasy games that have a number higher than X attached to them. I guess that makes me a hipster/asshole.

Granted, I own XII, but it's not really fun and doesn't feel like the Final Fantasy I love. I played about 4-5 hours of it and honestly It's pretty much just a really bad MMO. I played XIII and set it on fire afterwards (I'm not joking, I threw it in a campfire). In my eyes "Final Fantasy" has been dead for quite some time now.
janussenpre
愛・おぼえていますか
1274
Needs more women.

I think a great rule for medium sized rpg casts is to include just enough men and women to be able to build an all gender party if that's how you want to roll.

FF7, 8, 10, 12 and 13 all adhered to this rule (although FF7's was later broken after Aerith gets iced).
In all of the trailers for the game I've only seen 2 women and I'm not even certain those 2 will be playable.
One looks like a typical damsel in distress.
The other woman actually is kinda interesting she is a female version of Cid named Cidney. She's a car mechanic though so chances are she won't join your team she'll probably just repair the car. By the way, why is the first female Cid automatically downgraded from airship pilot (the usual Cid job) to car mechanic.
Trihan
"It's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly...timey wimey...stuff."
3359
To be fair RedMask the traditional airship pilot role of Cid has been lampshaded and played with since FF8: he was a headmaster, then a regent, then the leader of an entire race (though to be fair he was also on an airship), then a doctor, then a soldier.
Solid point Trihan.
I know in FF6 he had nothing to do with airships but still it's the standard Cid role. By the way wasn't the school that FF8 Cid was in charge of turn into an airship? So he is still an airship guy in that game too.
Anyway doctor, soldier (wait which game was he a soldier?), and airship pilot aren't really comparable. Whereas being in charge of land vehicles rather than a vehicle that soars majestically through the sky can be compared I think.
Emo mafiosi. Meh.
Moving around the maps looks pretty in the trailer. The battle system doesn't seem to be anything amazing though.
I'll most probably give this one a watch on Youtube.
I don't doubt it will be a phenomenal game in its own right, although calling it a Final Fantasy game while looking at the past may have some people in an uproar.

However, I do wonder if it's being over-hyped for what the final outcome will be, and whether or not it can live up to the hype. Most importantly, I have concerns over the demo that will go out, allegedly months or years in advance of the final game, considering the full game is only 60% done.

If the demo comes and goes, that hype will die over time, especially if the length of time between the demo and final game get pushed into years instead of months.

That said, a demo should be there to build hype and showcase the final game, but comments seem to indicate otherwise:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/02/21/7-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-final-fantasy-xv-demo

1. You will only be able to walk and run. One of the main attractions in this game is the use of cars and potentially airships. You won't be able to demo the car mechanic, and airships are still undecided.

2. Progress of the demo won't import into the final product, and story elements will be at the end. So you play a 3 hour demo that won't be transported to the final game. Does that mean the demo is a prologue, or does it mean the player has to redo 3 hours worth of game play in the final version? Also, if story elements will be revealed at the end, what's to keep the player's attention for the first 3 hours of running around?

3. You won't be able to experiment with weapons in the demo. Since story seems to be vague, and it's not clear what the focus on the demo will be, and you can't play around with cars, and it's not known whether or not there will yet be airships, that really leaves combat. And considering this is promising to be a unique experience in the action rpg genre, you'd expect to have a bit more to play around with and experience in a demo. I can see limiting the amount of weapons, but not allowing any kind of experimentation at all seems folly.

4. The graphics and other technical elements will be even better in the final game. That's the exact quote on the article.

I realize a demo is not the final polish, but it should showcase the primary aspects that will encourage a player to buy the product and at least include some o the main themes its promising. Hopefully people go into the demo with an open mind and realize its a taste of things to come, but I fear the demo will only generate more hate.
I think it'd be pretty good. It's supposed to be be more "emotional" and darker than other Final Fantasies, not being a visual spectacle. I'd play it and enjoy it, but it turns out to be horrible considering the many years they've had to work on it, I will literally go to Gamestop and ask for a refund.

I really do hope Final Fantasy XVI goes back to its roots on being a magical high-fantasy spectacle with elements of Sci-Fi. I think Final Fantasy does a good job with that, mixing Fantasy with Sci-Fi.
Trihan
"It's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly...timey wimey...stuff."
3359
RedMask: FFXIII. He's the commander of the Wide-area Response Brigade.
I'm looking forward to it. I could overanalzyze and scrutinize the hell out of it I guess, but I won't; everything I've seen at first glance looks pretty promising. It's nice to feel the feeling of 'looking forward to a big name Final Fantasy title again, and it seems as if Square Enix is paying more attention to itself lately, so I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and maintain a healthy level of hype for this release.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
author=amerk
I don't doubt it will be a phenomenal game in its own right, although calling it a Final Fantasy game while looking at the past may have some people in an uproar.
To be fair this was also very widely said of Final Fantasy 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, and 13. And Tactics. And don't forget all those weird spin-off games like Final Fantasy Chrystal Chronicles: My Life as a Dark Lord.

Anyone who thinks the name "Final Fantasy" means anything other than "big budget Square Enix game" is kidding themselves.

That said, I really despise these kinds of extremely empty open world games, and also really despise games where the AI plays the game for you. I can't particularly think of a reason to purchase this game other than the fact that I run the Unofficial Squaresoft MUD and have street cred to maintain. There's no aspect of it whatsoever that appeals to me in any way, even slightly.
In my opinion, Square Enix has forgotten how to make enjoyable games and now only makes games that look beautiful. The last time I played a FF game and enjoyed it was FFX. I wish they would spend more of their development efforts on creating a fun gameplay experience and building an interesting story with deep characters. These last few games felt like they made a pretty tech demo, then slapped on a half-assed plot in the last two months and called it a game.


I won't be getting FFXV. At least not until it's been out for a long time and costs $20 or less. And even then I probably won't play it. I'm having to force myself to finish FFXIII right now after I started it nearly half a year ago.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
I would say the same thing except the game I would cite would be FF9. I'm not really sure why people like FF10. The characters are all extremely unlikable and the plot is horrid, and everyone in the entire game dresses like they're extras in Mad Max: Beach Volleyball. The battles feel like kindergarten until you're almost at the final dungeon, possibly to make up for the unapproachably convoluted sphere grid, that despite its supposed promise of character customization ends up doing little more than making you manually level up in the menu after every single battle. And for all the complaints about the linearity of Final Hallway 13, let's not forget that FF10 did that bit first.

The only saving grace of FF10 was that some sort of wonderful fantastic bug caused me to randomly find a bracelet for Yuna with the No Encounters attribute in Besaid Temple, less than five hours into the game. Walkthroughs insist that this attribute can never be found on random gear and can only be synthesized through tremendous effort. Hahaha. Screw you, walkthroughs.

Anyway, I dunno. The last one with an honestly fun overall gameplay experience was none of them. All of them have fun aspects of their gameplay experiences. FF5 and FF9 have really good skill-learning systems that make it really satisfying to collect all the best abilities. FF7 gives you a great deal of character customization in a way that results in you always making three characters that play differently from each-other, despite having the same building blocks for all of them. FF10's CTB system removed all the waiting inherent to the terrible ATB system and attempted to make you think about your turn order strategically (and arguably succeeded for the middle third of the game). FF13 has fast, well-balanced battles and successfully solved the problem with infinite XP grind. FF12's gambit system isn't fun to play but the way it lets you prove your superior intelligence by beating the system is admittedly satisfying. FF8 has, um... triple triad. FF3 has... that one dungeon where you have to be a frog...? *strokes chin*

I'm sure FF15's gameplay will have redeeming aspects. Somewhere.
author=Roots
I won't be getting FFXV. At least not until it's been out for a long time and costs $20 or less. And even then I probably won't play it. I'm having to force myself to finish FFXIII right now after I started it nearly half a year ago.

Even if the general consensus is that its actually good? It could happen; I genuinely believe that there is a good chance that SE is learning from its mistakes.

author=LockeZ
And for all the complaints about the linearity of Final Hallway 13, let's not forget that FF10 did that bit first.

Oh please, FFX and FFXIII are different ballgames when it comes to that factor, they're definitely not the same linear games.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
I really think the only reason FF13 feels any more linear than FF10 is because the camera always points forward. Mind you I'm not saying that's an excuse; the feeling of linearity is far more important than the actual linearity. That split second you spend noticing the ladder that goes up to the cliff and realizing that cliff has an exit leading to the next map is absolutely necessary to create the feeling that you're exploring rather than just moving. When the direction forward is always "hold joystick up", it removes the illusion that the zone isn't a single linear path (with a small number of 5 second long branches with treasure chests at the ends of them). But it's still just an illusion. An illusion that definitely improves the gameplay experience, but still an illusion.

In fact the linearity of FF10 is a huge deal for story reasons, just like it is in FF13; Yuna has a destiny that has been laid out for her by others. The moment she decides to abandon it, the game opens up, just as FF13 opens up the moment you finally escape your pursuers.

I didn't mind the linearity. I mostly prefer it, in fact. I don't enjoy having to find the gameplay before I can play it, or having to traverse a bunch of meaningless empty space, and that's what the open world gameplay in FF15 looks like to me. It's more Skyrim crap. The level of nonlinearity in FF12 is about the maximum I can handle. FF10 and FF13 are actually at about the amount of linearity I want in my games.
I posted this somewhere else before, so I'll just quote myself;

In FFXIII, before Gran Pulse, you can't go back to anywhere, ever once you're finished with it. Gran Pulse is the only area near the end of the game that has any measure of exploration.

X's execution was a bit less linear as well. The aspect of towns, interactable NPCs, and even Blitzball were enjoyable distractions from the main plot.