Final Fantasy 15 Review: A band of brothers

Final Fantasy 15 was the first game that pushed me to surpass over 100 hours of gameplay. But as the credits rolled, I found myself with a mixed bag of emotions.

The story begins with Noctis and his three companions departing Insomia to meet his Fiancé, Luna, in Altessia. During my travels through the world of Eos, I found myself losing sight of the story. Even after clearing the game, I only had a vague understanding of the plot points. Being disappointed with the lackluster story execution, I went online and started researching, and to my surprise, FFXV had the most intricate story line I have ever read. It's important that you pay attention to the word "read", as many of the crucial narrative details were not explained at face value. Instead the developer conveyed background information through a series of books, found in the open world; expecting players to piece together the details. However, this means that gamers are likely to miss these subtle hints. Honestly, I didn't understand the importance of these notes; hence I continued exploring the world and completely missed these details. It would have helped if players could collect and view these documents for analysis. These notes should be arranged in chronological order, letting you know if you missed a document and identifying where to find it.

Another gripe I had was that character motivations were muddled. Ravus's (minor antagonist) actions were completely irrational. Furthermore, several lines of dialogue pivotal to the plot are incomprehensible due to the lack of context, taking players out of the moment. If it wasn't for YouTube, I would have never connected the dots. Director Tabata addressed this issue and announced that free cut scenes will be added to flesh out the story; stating that, "we're hoping to delve deeper into the story, adding scenes that will give you new insight into character motivations, such as why Ravus walked the path he did".

Some of the game's missing details are found in the movie Kingsglaive, FFXV's prequel. My grievance with this is that having the story covered in multiple mediums creates a disjointed experience, where only the most hardcore fans would go to the lengths of watching the movie and the free anime "Brotherhood" to understand the social dynamics between characters and the story. For example, as Noctis is leaving Insomia, his father, King Regis catches up with him and exchanges words of encouragement. As the game progresses, we're told that King Regis dies in an attack by a rival kingdom. In Kingsglaive, we see the confrontation unfold and there is exposition clarifying that Regis knew an attack was coming. In the "Dawn" trailer we see Regis grieving for his son, despite Noctis sleeping soundly in his arms, which causes players to question the source of his anguish. While playing the game we discover that Noctis is destined to sacrifice his life to end the demon scourge. Online discussions have inferred that Regis knew of Noctis's impending death due to the prediction of an oracle, Luna. Only in hindsight, do gamers realize the significance of that moment between Regis and Noctis. The king was prolonging his last moments with his son due to the impending attack. He also knew that Noctis will sacrifice his life to end the apocalypse. While this is a powerful moment, players don't understand its significance. It's only after studying trailers, Kingsglaive, and forums that gamers understand Regis's burden. Luna's death was another missed opportunity. We couldn't feel what Noctis felt, because the depth of their relationship was never established, and as such these moments don't hold weight, despite stunning visual presentation.

Throughout my 100+ hour play through, I didn't experience any game breaking bugs. Only two glitches were encountered and a quick application restart allowed me to continue. The dungeons were particularly fun, each with its own unique personality. I particularly enjoyed conversations between characters expressed in these areas. However, this was not the case during open world exploration, where dialogue was recycled and became tiresome. The reason I'm so harsh on FFXV is because it failed to meet its potential due to poor story execution. After sinking a ton of money into FFXV's 10 year development, I'm sure upper management had a say in the game's direction. Rumors have been circulating that content seen in trailers were cut, late in the development cycle, to reduce the age rating, making the game more accessible. With cost and deadlines in mind, Tabata would have to make do with what he had, resulting in a disjointed story. Regardless of my opinion, the game was a success; breaking even in the first 24 hours, selling 5 million copies.

Despite all my harsh criticism, Tabata and his development team did a phenomenal job with the limited time and resources at their disposal. It's a miracle this game even saw the light of day and I sincerely enjoyed my experience. I heard the director wanted to create a new IP. I look forward to his next project.