Final Fantasy XV (PS4 / XB1 / PC)

eXarc

eXarc

Trakanon Raider
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I think it's about time we get around to discussing this upcoming entry (again) into the franchise we all love, hate, and love some more.

?FFXV -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_XV
?E3 Reveal -
http://www.ign.com/videos/2013/06/11/final-fantasy-xv-e3-2013-trailer-e3-2013-sony-conference

When it was announced at E3 I lost my shit because it just looked so completely different from the past few Final Fantasies I couldn't believe it. I lost my shit in a good way, I mean. I really didn't enjoy the past 2 or 3 games because of so many different reasons, but as soon as I dug into the information and watched a couple trailers it's like they've opened my brain and made a Final Fantasy game directly from all of my personal wishes.

The characters appear to be well fleshed out behind a heavy curtain storyline as usual, however I really like the much more mature undertones this game seems to be carrying. I can actually get behind playing a character like Noctis - playing a little girl for 60 hours with ridiculously stupid dialouge in FF13 or whichever spinoff it was just didn't really do it for me. Not to mention the gameplay in Final Fantasy has been so linear lately it made me bored out of my skull. This game seems to be completely changing all that by going off the rails with destructible environments in MUCH larger battle areas than anything I've seen before in a typical Final Fantasy (speaking via the Battle Gameplay demo), flexible movement including double jumps, and being able to create/follow more than one path to a desired destination (FUCKING FINALLY OFF THE GODDAMN RAILS). It looks fluid & most of all, fucking FUN. The way the characters are interacting as a team in the battle demo is fucking awesome and exactly what I have been waiting for in a Final Fantasy setting. It all blends so well - they've said that all battles take place with absolutely no loading so that is a huge and also a positive change in my eyes. Open world with ground, car, airship & chocobo travel. They mention a Warp ability in the Battle System and I'm not familiar with it and can't seem to get a solid answer - can anyone clear this up? Is it something from the Kingdom Hearts series maybe? I'm curious if it will allow for evasive or maneuverability on the battefield or if it's something else completely. Even though I'm sure it's a bit 'made up' for the theatrical sense of being a sneak peek, I have to imagine it is demonstrating some real mechanics there. I don't see it being too far fetched to pull off exactly as it comes across in the demo as it does seem like the visceral playability is present, despite some cinematic tweaks as mentioned above for a major E3 reveal.

?Battle Gameplay Demo via IGN -
http://www.ign.com/videos/2013/06/11/final-fantasy-xv-battle-gameplay-first-look-e3-2013


As usual, FFXV is absolutely stunning graphics wise. The cutscenes are to die for and we've only had access to very little. Here's an interesting tidbit from the Wiki entry -Final Fantasy XV uses interactive cutscenes in the form of real-time events. The player keeps control during them as the gameplay is not interrupted, which will result in natural progressions and storytelling that is similar to that of first-person shooters. However, the game also features uncontrollable pre-rendered full motion videos (FMVs) for scenes in which player control would have little to no effect.

Apparently the game is connected to the Fabula Nova Crystallis lore of Final Fantasy (so basically it's going to have something to do with crystals) but takes place in it's own unique world - which I imagine they did so they could tell a brand new story and open the way for sequels which have been confirmed by the game's director. If anyone has some speculations as to why they chose this branch of lore in particular and what they could do with it, by all means. I'm interested in it, I just didn't care for XIII or XIII-2 too much. Lightning Returns is also a part of this as well, I believe.

?Fabula Nova Crystallis background information -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabula_Nova_Crystallis

?Multiple sequels from XV confirmed, source in link -
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/13/final-fantasy-xv-will-have-multiple-direct-sequels

?How FFXV became what it is today -
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/19/why-final-fantasy-versus-xiii-became-final-fantasy-xv

This is the game that has beenin development since 2006AKA Final Fantasy Versus XIII, so I am seriously hoping that Square Enix is pushing a golden egg out of their beautiful ass with this one and giving us all a reason to have faith restored in their team (if you've even lost it, I say this because I know some aren't too pleased with the past couple of years) as a developer of legendary RPGs for next generation consoles. This is one of the main points I'd like to talk about in the thread -are the character line ups, battle system, world travel & cinematic changes a positive one in your opinion?They've clearly taken a lot of time with this one, too much for many of us (hopefully worth every second), and I personally embrace everything different about this game in a much needed positive light. I'm absolutely stoked on FFXV's potential.
 
Pyros

Pyros

<Silver Donator>
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I'm satisfied the direction it's going, but I don't know if the game will be good. It is an interesting change though, the characters look pretty nice for once, the combat looks great, so I guess the story and content are what it's gonna come down to. Just have to wait a few more months. Can't be worse than FF12 or 13, even though I kinda liked 13 myself(not the story or characters but the combat, 12 was awful all around imo).
 
Vorph

Vorph

Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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No, I thought the game looked like shit when it was called Vs. XIII and hoped they were just going to cancel it after all those delays. The last thing I wanted was for it to become FFXV. Character line-up: looks like a boy band. Battle system: I hate Kingdom Hearts, and its combat being shoved into FF is a huge DO-NOT-WANT. The rest doesn't matter, those two things are deal-breakers. I have Lightning Returns pre-ordered, but I doubt I'll even bother to rent XV when it comes out.

Pyros_sl said:
12 was awful all around imo
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Blasphemy. XII IZJS is by far the best game in the series.
 
Malakriss

Malakriss

Golden Baronet of the Realm
12,342
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The development for FFXIII Versus basically became the test bed to make the engine for the PS4, so in terms of gameplay i expect great things. As far as story they started writing back in the days of 11-13 an considering that XII felt like another VII where the last 20% of the game felt rushed and didn't really offer any closure story-wise I am skeptical as to whether XV can deliver.
 
Raes

Raes

Vyemm Raider
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They need to make a sequel to The Last Remnant. That game was way better than the last several FF's. Not to mention the PC port was outstanding.
 
S

Sean_sl

shitlord
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It has been in development *far* too long, but I'm still confident that it will be gold. I love Kingdom Hearts and I have faith that Tetsuya Nomura will make a great game with FF15. If it was anyone else I would be uncertain, but since he is behind it I am not worried at all (especially with the title change from Vs13 to just plain 15).
 
Needless

Needless

Toe Sucker
9,169
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give me the ability to do some Vergil esque combos with Noctis' summoned swords and i'll be happy~
 
Soygen

Soygen

The Dirty Dozen For the Price of One
<Nazi Janitors>
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I voted "will wait to judge", but honestly, after FFXIII, I have almost no interest left in the series. There are so many better games coming out these days.
 
D

Droigan

Trakanon Raider
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Vorph_sl said:
Blasphemy. XII IZJS is by far the best game in the series.
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Maybe the international zodiac version was good, but FF 12, as it was, that was certainly not even close to the best FF game in my eyes.

The grid system, while seeming intricate at first, was horrible in the end. Every character was the same, with the same skills, very generic. Some skills were just better than others. This is the thing that was fixed in the Zodiac version though if I recall correctly (12 different maps of abilities instead of just the one). Without the zodiac version though, FF 12 had far, FAR, less customization options/differences in characters, than FF 10 with the sphere grid system.

However, my main problem with the game was the characters. They were horrible. Vaan and Panelo being what appears to be the main characters, but have about as much character progression in the entire damn story as ..... I don't even know. The npc doctor Hodji from FF 7 had more character progression than Vaan and Panelo combined, and he was a minor character in that game. I play all FF games, I did most of the hunts, leveled up, grinded some, and was at the very end when I just stopped playing. Had roughly 100 hours into it, but I never actually finished the game. I didn't care about the outcome, did not care about the characters (Baltheir was the best one), and just did not care about the game. One of the things that I liked most about the story in FF games was the story progression in terms of character development. FF 12 was just a mess when it came to that, and combine that with the non-zodiac version where even the skills of the characters became identical the game just became bland.
FF 12 reminded me too much of star wars, but not old star wars.

But, had way more hours invested in 12 than 13. I think I only got around halfway in FF 13. I like 13-2 much better than 13 for some reason.

As to 15, I will buy it like all others, but not sure about it. I wish they would try to add more fantasy to the games (FF 9 looks) rather than keep going the sci-fi/realism route. Little to nothing about FF 15 that reminds me of older FF games. And +1 to "Kingdom hearts combat, noooooooooooooooooooooooooo".
 
Xalara

Xalara

Golden Squire
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Droigan_sl said:
Maybe the international zodiac version was good, but FF 12, as it was, that was certainly not even close to the best FF game in my eyes.

The grid system, while seeming intricate at first, was horrible in the end. Every character was the same, with the same skills, very generic. Some skills were just better than others. This is the thing that was fixed in the Zodiac version though if I recall correctly (12 different maps of abilities instead of just the one). Without the zodiac version though, FF 12 had far, FAR, less customization options/differences in characters, than FF 10 with the sphere grid system.

However, my main problem with the game was the characters. They were horrible. Vaan and Panelo being what appears to be the main characters, but have about as much character progression in the entire damn story as ..... I don't even know. The npc doctor Hodji from FF 7 had more character progression than Vaan and Panelo combined, and he was a minor character in that game. I play all FF games, I did most of the hunts, leveled up, grinded some, and was at the very end when I just stopped playing. Had roughly 100 hours into it, but I never actually finished the game. I didn't care about the outcome, did not care about the characters (Baltheir was the best one), and just did not care about the game. One of the things that I liked most about the story in FF games was the story progression in terms of character development. FF 12 was just a mess when it came to that, and combine that with the non-zodiac version where even the skills of the characters became identical the game just became bland.
FF 12 reminded me too much of star wars, but not old star wars.

But, had way more hours invested in 12 than 13. I think I only got around halfway in FF 13. I like 13-2 much better than 13 for some reason.

As to 15, I will buy it like all others, but not sure about it. I wish they would try to add more fantasy to the games (FF 9 looks) rather than keep going the sci-fi/realism route. Little to nothing about FF 15 that reminds me of older FF games. And +1 to "Kingdom hearts combat, noooooooooooooooooooooooooo".
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A couple of things: In a lot of Final Fantasy games most of the characters end up more or less the same by the end so that point is moot. As for Vaan and Penelo, AFAIK Basch was supposed to be the main character but it didn't focus test well with their target demographic. As such Vaan and Penelo were added later in development. Still doesn't excuse how crappy they were. That said, as much as people dump on FFXII it's probably the more influential of the recent Final Fantasy's thanks to the gambit system, and it's overall a pretty awesome game. It just isn't as recognized as the others since the story more or less falls off a cliff in the last stretch of the game.

I'm cautiously optimistic about FFXV. Many of the problems with FFXII, FFXIII, and FFXIV have to do with terrible management decisions and the execs at Square-Enix seem to have realized this and fixed it (see: FFXIV). The big litmus test for FFXV will be FFXIII: Lightning Returns.
 
Chris

Chris

Potato del Grande
18,206
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FF12 is fine until your quest for the WMD magicite crystal ends with a newly introduced NPC destroying it in front of you after a 100 floor dungeon (did the NPCs take an airship!?), making the whole thing pointless. Then the story ends after a very short dungeon/boss fight and the combat progression stops since everyone has everything now. What fucking fuck?

That is the bit of the game where the twist is supposed to happen and the end game starts - things are so epic that there is no turning back. Kefka shows up to wreck everything just because, Seprioth summons the Meteor, Lunatic Pandora activates, Yunalesca is killed.

I was expecting Ashe to destroy the crystal then we go after the creepy rhyming god creatures manipulating everyone, or that Cid would take it and be the final bad guy with his actually real "imaginary friend" nuking everyone. I did not expect a single end boss on a tiny airship who actually only killed his father (yeah not a big deal for a whole final fantasy game), but I was looking forward to fighting Venat after which doesn't happen either. Why would they not do any of that!? What the fuck is wrong with them?


Ah well it could have been worse, it could have been FF13. Because you improve on an open world with MMOlite zones with fucking linear corridors for literally the entire game. At least FF12 had some good core game mechanics with the zones being good and the battle system only having a poor end game, for me FF13 has no redeeming features.
 
T

turbo

Molten Core Raider
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Is it too much to ask for a game where characters have DISTINCT abilities/advantages etc? Anymore almost every damn game I play every character is about equal with such little variety in the end. I want a game with trade offs depending on what class you take, with unique skills to certain classes and yes, omg...maybe a bit of overpowered characters. Fuck balance if it means I have to play bland characters that are all the same. I liked games where I may pick a seemingly less powerful character due to liking him/her at a deeper level and striving to find ways to take advantage of them.

As long as they get off the rails I'll at least maybe give it a try but anymore its still more enjoyable to replay FFIII & FFT then the garbage that comes out these days. Maybe I am just jaded...

I am loving me some Disgaea D2 at the moment and by the time i've grinded out to beat the last boss the new X-Com xpac should be out. That was a game i took a gamble on and never turned back, such a fun and very challenging game for the PS3. Hopefully they improve on the expansion.
 
A

an accordion_sl

shitlord
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They just need to use FFX's system again. Distinct and somewhat locked in, with the ability to swap in party members anytime during a fight.
 
S

Sean_sl

shitlord
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an accordion_sl said:
They just need to use FFX's system again. Distinct and somewhat locked in, with the ability to swap in party members anytime during a fight.
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I really loved FFX's combat and gameplay systems. It's the only FF game where I actually felt that I used and cared about all of the characters (except Khimari). In games with larger parties where you just only use a set group of the best characters and sit everyone else out I end up not giving a shit about those extra people at all in the game. In FFX pretty much all of the cast mattered a lot more to me due to how the gameplay was structured and I think it added a lot to the experience.

I can't wait for the FFX HD remake to be released, really looking forward to playing through it again.
 
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