The Therapist Gamer

There's a decent chance that you've already decided if you'll like Final Fantasy 15 or not, but if you are on the fence I'd wager you'll like it.  Final Fantasy has has a rough go of things, I think, in that it's such an old series that if they keep the formula the same they risk alienating new players and if they update the series they risk alienating old players. Game mechanics have moved on in the past thirty years and I for one would be annoyed if each battle still took three minutes with about fifteen seconds of action. I don't think it's the worst thing in the world for JRPGs to evolve a bit.  I think the developers face a challenge in coming across as lukewarm; that is, they risk trying to please everybody without actually delivering on any sort of artistic vision.  I think Final Fantasy XV is a bit like Star Wars Episode VII in this regard - both needed to balance a variety of factors and ultimately did a great job (with a few issues here and there).

 

In this Final Fantasy game you only directly control one character.  I liked this.  He's able to do everything his companions can do, and to have you manage everybody would just be gameplay filler.  The combat occurs in real time without a wait system (although you can actually play in a game mode that does have a wait system, much like the old games), and you employ a variety of moves, weapons, and spells in each fight. There is less of a focus on magic in this game than in the others, as each spell you cast is individually crafted and requires a fair amount of material to construct.  In general I would describe the combat as fast paced and strategic.  This is different than most Final Fantasy games, but I think it's for the best.

 

The names of most of the characters are weird, so bear with me . . . You play as a prince named Noctis, who is betrothed to the princess of another kingdom.  He and his three friends begin a road trip over to his betrothed's kingdom, but on the way the car breaks down.  His buddies, who make up your battle crew, are Gladiolus, Ignis, and Prompto.  Gladiolus is formally your body guard and excels at brute force in combat.  Ignis is the smart guy who specializes in magic, and Prompto is the goofy guy who uses ranged weapons and machinery.  The four of you push your car to a service station and try to figure out what to do.  You complete a few quests in order to earn money to have the car fixed (why a prince has no money is a mystery).  While you make your way to your future wife's place, you see a vast army moving against your father's kingdom.  You hear on the news that your father has been killed.  And then you hear that you and your girlfriend have been killed as well.  Unsure of what is really going on, you set out on the bulk of your quest.  Along the way the kinda pouty prince must gain the characteristics necessary to become an honorable king.

 

I thought the main story and quest line was engaging and there are a myriad of side quests.  My favorite side quests were the hunts - you get a contract to take down a certain monster and get payment upon completion.  Some parts of the quest system seem a bit archaic; for example, you can only do one hunt at a time, and you don't automatically complete the hunt after killing the monster - you have to go back to the quest giver.  Additionally, although the side quests were good, a number of them lacked variety.  Amongst other things, there are half a dozen characters that give you the same type of side quests that get progressively more difficult, but I think the game would have been well served to have a few more of these types of characters supplying quests.  I can only search for so many dog tags before it feels stale!

 

As in all Final Fantasy games, the RPG elements and stats are expertly managed.  I can't imagine how complex it would be to design an experience, upgrade, weapon, and enemy system in such a way that it scaled appropriately with your progression through the game, but this is all expertly executed in FFXV.  Getting new weapons and equipment feels like the old Final Fantasy games where you'd stumble across a new town, check in with the shops, and feel a noticeable difference with your updated gear.

 

The experience system is fairly unique.  You get experience and items from each fight, but the experience is just placed in a bank - you don't actually gain levels out in the field.  Rather, your experience points are actually applied to your characters when you rest.  There are two main ways to do this - camping or staying at a hotel.  If you camp Ignis will cook a meal for the team; there are dozens of recipes to choose from and each give specific buffs to your team members for the next day.  Campgrounds are dotted throughout the landscape and are generally easily accessible while you're out on your travels.  If you stay at a hotel you don't get a stat-boosting meal, but you get an experience bonus.  The size of the bonus depends on where you stay; if you stay in a trailer then it'll cost you 100 bucks and you'll get a 1.2 multiplier applied to the XP you're banking, if you stay at a spa then it'll cost you 10,000 bucks and you'll get double the experience.  It's obviously pricey to stay at the spa, but if it's been awhile since you've slept (or maybe you just took down a huge boss), then maybe you'll want to save up and get double the experience you've earned.  I thought it was a good system and offered additional choices with minimal headache.

 

Your upgrade tree is divided into several different parts of gameplay, and you can apply AP points to anything you want from the start.  Of course, the more fantastic upgrades require obscene amounts of AP, and AP is only earned in specific ways.  Like the other aspects of the game design, this is well crafted and generally encourages you to have a well rounded team, but you could intensely focus your skill set in a specific direction if you wanted to.

 

As usual, the enemies have tons of variation in FFXV, and seeing the classic enemies with PS4 graphics is a treat.  The Marlboro's have never been as creepy!  As I played I was frequently impressed with the sheer number of different enemy types.  The enemies don't scale as you progress (weak enemies at the start will still be weak at the end, and strong enemies will easily kill you if you approach them to early), and there were a number of times when I was driving around and saw a massive monster and thought "Wow.  I wonder when I'll be ready to fight that?"  I really like that feeling in an RPG and I think it gives the player something to work towards.

 

I'm not particularly good at describing this sort of thing, but I think it must be said that the environment is absolutely beautiful.  It's hard to describe, but the world of Final Fantasy 15 is just so much more stunning than other open world games.  The design team is just exceptionally talented.  Every angle of every landscape is simply beautiful.  The lines and curves and colors had me constantly pressing the share button.

 

After you've completed the main story (which I thought was surprisingly good, if a bit self-indulgent/contrived), there is still plenty you can do.  Soon after beating the game, you are apprised of the ultimate hunting quest against a mountain-sized enemy.  However, the real challenge lies in exploring the secret vaults in various dungeons throughout the game.  After completing certain quests, you gain access to a series of vaults that you'll have come across but were unable to open.  In these vaults lie intense challenges with battle after battle, with one vault going 100 floors down to the final boss!  Not to mention the dreaded Tonberry's all along the way . . .

 

I can honestly say that Final Fantasy XV is one of the very few games that I've still wanted to play for hours after getting the platinum trophy.  And for me, that's saying something.  Though the game has a few issues there is something special about it that reminds you of how great video games can be.