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LTTP: FFXV - Price Error in your favor. Do pass go, do play FFXV

jdstorm

Banned
So many of us just bought this game thanks to Sony accidently making it ridiculously affordable yesterday. I thought id start this thread to chronicle my journey through this game, and give other gaffers a spoiler free place to talk about it.

Since Im still waiting for the FFXV download to complete. I made this. Its FFXVs Acolades trailer set to the theme song from Entourage. Contains spoilers

http://www.youtubemultiplier.com/58d359dbbf3d7-ffxv-feat-vince-chase.php

Edit: this isnt a price error thread. Its a LTTP thread. Heres the origional price error thread for anyone wondering. http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=1354364

Edit: There are some quite Indepth thoughts on the game later on. I think they are worth a read.
 
There was a pricing error yesterday on EU-region stores selling it for €13.99 or £9.99. I bought/downloaded it but haven't started playing really. Going to wait for the story patch and hope the licence doesn't get revoked :p
 

jdstorm

Banned
There was a pricing error yesterday on EU-region stores selling it for €13.99 or £9.99. I bought/downloaded it but haven't started playing really. Going to wait for the story patch and hope the licence doesn't get revoked :p

Already confirmed in another thread that it will be honored.
 

Bronetta

Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
The games a mixed bag. Theres some high points but then some low points.

One thing is certain: kickass soundtrack
 

WaterAstro

Member
Why would I buy FFXV when I can buy some Cup Noodles?

MPDxxKm.jpg
 

LotusHD

Banned
When I beat the game, I tried to be forgiving of its numerous faults, as it did do a few things right. But the more I think on it, the more my opinion of the game has soured.
 

jdstorm

Banned
Just finished the tutorial. So later GAF.

Quick thoughts
- Noctis has a great design.
- Control scheme C is the best.
-like the controls overall. Its seems a good balance between a turn based game and a full on action game
 

OuterLimits

Member
Kind of surprised the game is only $35 on Amazon now.(just bought it actually). The game is only 4 months from release, so wasn't expecting it to have reduced in price that much. Perhaps that is usual though for many games and I haven't been paying attention really.
 

ISee

Member
Great idea op.
Bought it yesterday and I'm playing on my pro with uncapped lite mode (35-55 fps). Granted it is not perfect, but it feels way better than 30 fps high mode with very bad framepacing.
I was very sceptical about FFXV on release but I like what I see so far. The first ff15 hour is already more engaging then the 6 hours I played ME:A (trial), at least to me.
 

jdstorm

Banned
Haven't updated this in a while. Im at around the end of Chapter 2 and just sidequesting now. So here are some breif thoughts

-The main song on the Nier Automata Soundtrack weight of the world is great. Im pretty much constantly listening to it when i drive around because it usually never finishes so it just restarts when i start driving again.

-im driving everywhere but letting Ignis do it. Sometimes it feels like being trapped in a last gen Elevator Loading Screen, but mostly i just enjoy journeying around.

-Really happy that i chose to play in french. The VAs are all great so far. Cindys VA combined with the localisation actually turns her quirky european who is comfortable with her own sexuality aka a human unlike the English which is mostly just fetishising the Daisy Duke archtype.

-not being fluent in french creates some issues though as i know enough to know the subtitles are incorrect but not enough to understand the neuance of what is being said.

-You can immediately tell this game had problems in the editing room when they do 3 seperate cold opens. The firt one is hugely unnessecary
Flash Forward to the future
The 2nd one is OK but feels like it would be better used as a flashback
After Regis dies, either in the hotel room or in the tomb talking to Cor.

-The third cold open that actually starts the game is great and fits really well, so cudos to Square for getting that part right.

-I really like this world and these characters. I could see myself spending a lot of time with this game.
 

Goldboy

Member
The games a mixed bag. Theres some high points but then some low points.

One thing is certain: kickass soundtrack

Pretty much. I'm so-so on the game as a whole. Some days I think it's amazing in spite of its flaws and others I think it was a huge waste of time. There's no denying that it has some very, very, high points though.
 
I bought it back then as well but I'm still hesitant to play it, seeing as they're still patching the shit out of the game.

But if I keep waiting I'm afraid I'll just forget about it at some point.
 

jdstorm

Banned
Pretty much. I'm so-so on the game as a whole. Some days I think it's amazing in spite of its flaws and others I think it was a huge waste of time. There's no denying that it has some very, very, high points though.

Yep. Square and Tabata did some incredible work with how they managed to mostly stick the landing on this game. But it sort of kills me that i can see the game they almost made but couldnt quite see in the editing room.

I assume that will lessen as i get further into the game and those paths start to deviate further away from each other. This isnt a complaint though, just a wish. The people at Square BD5 did such a good job getting it to this point though and deserve all the success they have had with this project to date.
 

jdstorm

Banned
Midway through chapter 3 now and i just had a great open world moment. I was sidequesting when i stumbled upon a hidden dungeon, not sure if the game would take me there later or not i decided to start working my way through it. At first most of the enemies were extremely low level, so i pushed forward. Then Bam an ultra powerful enemy that was over twice my level.

It was at this point that i realised i had forgotten to save in a while. I hadnt had the need to mostly driving around and getting free AP. Yet here i was standing before a mini boss type fight that was going to wipe me out.

I tried to fight it conventionally at first, but gradually my party started dropping like flies. A Mega Pheonix Down bought some respite, but i was getting anhilated fast. So at this point i did what any player that respects their time would do. I found the cheapest possible stratergy and gradually whittled down the enemys health from range. It worked and i managed to leave the area via fast travel soon after the fight ended. (Hitting the enemy with ranged attacks and quickly warping between two opposite points before the enemy got close enough to strike)

Other thoughts.
- Im really liking Noctis still. The fact that Noctis is this great is making it very easy to accept the game at face value. (And forgive some of its missteps)

-Its becoming increasingly more obvious that square never really had a handle on the story until very late in the process (if at all). The flashback structure is really good and with more time they might have been able to fit the more interesting parts of what they covered in Kingsglave into the game via longer cutscenes.

-The French Localization continues to be incredible. Whoever at Square who is responsible for it should get a promotion onto the writing staff of the next FF project if BD5 is doing it. (I hope Tabata decides to take another go at a FF title)

-This is especially true of Cidney. After watching a lot of preview footage and starting in english i started to dread these interactions. French Cidney and Noctis openly flirting has quickly become one of my favourite character interactions.

- I'm still liking the battle system, but whoever decided to put a map action on R1 to be accessible during battle made a mistake. Magic is such a chore to use and would greatly benefit from a skill wheel accessible by holding R1 to quickly craft and distribute on the fly or by tapping R1 to shoot.

-A
dyn
sucks. Really wish i could avoid this person, but they seem to be important.
 

AzureFlame

Member
Midway through chapter 3 now and i just had a great open world moment. I was sidequesting when i stumbled upon a hidden dungeon, not sure if the game would take me there later or not i decided to start working my way through it. At first most of the enemies were extremely low level, so i pushed forward. Then Bam an ultra powerful enemy that was over twice my level.

It was at this point that i realised i had forgotten to save in a while. I hadnt had the need to mostly driving around and getting free AP. Yet here i was standing before a mini boss type fight that was going to wipe me out.

I tried to fight it conventionally at first, but gradually my party started dropping like flies. A Mega Pheonix Down bought some respite, but i was getting anhilated fast. So at this point i did what any player that respects their time would do. I found the cheapest possible stratergy and gradually whittled down the enemys health from range. It worked and i managed to leave the area via fast travel soon after the fight ended. (Hitting the enemy with ranged attacks and quickly warping between two opposite points before the enemy got close enough to strike)

Other thoughts.
- Im really liking Noctis still. The fact that Noctis is this great is making it very easy to accept the game at face value. (And forgive some of its missteps)

-Its becoming increasingly more obvious that square never really had a handle on the story until very late in the process (if at all). The flashback structure is really good and with more time they might have been able to fit the more interesting parts of what they covered in Kingsglave into the game via longer cutscenes.

-The French Localization continues to be incredible. Whoever at Square who is responsible for it should get a promotion onto the writing staff of the next FF project if BD5 is doing it. (I hope Tabata decides to take another go at a FF title)

-This is especially true of Cidney. After watching a lot of preview footage and starting in english i started to dread these interactions. French Cidney and Noctis openly flirting has quickly become one of my favourite character interactions.

- I'm still liking the battle system, but whoever decided to put a map action on R1 to be accessible during battle made a mistake. Magic is such a chore to use and would greatly benefit from a skill wheel accessible by holding R1 to quickly craft and distribute on the fly or by tapping R1 to shoot.

-A
dyn
sucks. Really wish i could avoid this person, but they seem to be important.


i would like to hear your opnion after finishing the game as well.
 
When I beat the game, I tried to be forgiving of its numerous faults, as it did do a few things right. But the more I think on it, the more my opinion of the game has soured.

pretty much this.. I still don't understand how this game gets so much praise especially in terms of characterization. Everyone talks about emotional payoff at the end but the game never properly establishes it. Noctis going super saiyan for certain battles was just clunky and it played like a single player mmo for much of the game. While none of the components ever came together, the were definitely some standout positives, namely the visuals, character designs and aspects of combat/animations. The game succeeds as a tech demo showcasing what square is capable of as a developer but ultimately the game fails, just not as spectacularly as FFXIII
 

EctoPrime

Member
Not a big fan of the game starting by dumping you outside Insomnia as the game clearly needed several hours of world building within it. Kingsglaive along with the brotherhood anime filled in some of the blanks but it seems much more was needed. With the amount of ingame chatter about Noctis hating vegetables it seems that the cgi sequence of Noctis eating soup with King Regis in one of the Versus XIII trailers was important but was left on the cutting room floor despite leaving in everything that calls back to it.

It also seems the Duscae demo story element of Prompto crashing the car was cut from the game and shifted to a Brotherhood episode.
 

jdstorm

Banned
Not a big fan of the game starting by dumping you outside Insomnia as the game clearly needed several hours of world building within it. Kingsglaive along with the brotherhood anime filled in some of the blanks but it seems much more was needed. With the amount of ingame chatter about Noctis hating vegetables it seems that the cgi sequence of Noctis eating soup with King Regis in one of the Versus XIII trailers was important but was left on the cutting room floor despite leaving in everything that calls back to it.

It also seems the Duscae demo story element of Prompto crashing the car was cut from the game and shifted to a Brotherhood episode.

I dont buy that at all. There are so many ways they could have achieved the result they got
Noctis and his friends safely escape the war between insomnia and the empire

For Example (Hypothetical that doesnt occur in the game but MAJOR EARLY GAME SPOILERS up to CH2s end)
Noctis and his friends could be on the road having their bachelor party, but the invasion/war's catalytic event happens at the wedding of Noctis and Luna which would be at the games Midpoint. That would have given the opening act room to breathe/throw in plenty of flashbacks.

This game seems to inspire a lot of thought about what it could or should be. Its not going to be those things. Its part of the reason i delayed playing this game so long.

Im trying to look at it with an open mind and thats helping a lot.
 

eXistor

Member
Man this was a shitty game in retrospect.

It had its share of problems, but the game was build on a rock-solid foundation and made FF relevant again if you ask me. If they keep FFXV as a base and build upon it for FFXVI, we could be looking at a masterpiece.

Something like FFXIII was shit from the start and no amount of polish could fix that broken foundation.
 

Crumpo

Member
I got my cheap copy downloaded and patched but haven't started yet...is there a consensus on the best pro mode to use?
 

jdstorm

Banned
Just got done with my first boss fight. Wow. This game is such a hot mess.... This is both the best and worst sequence i have played in the past few years. Square had so many legitimately good idea's for this title, so they threw them all in together and couldnt work out how to fit them all together or which ideas needed to be cut. I'm actively excited to see what else they are going to throw into the mix next.

Gameplay
Playing this game not far removed from playing the Prince of Persia series for the first time makes it really obvious how influential those games were on modern design. FFXVs closest relatives seem to be Assasins Creed 2 (before they ditched the dungeon/tomb aspects) and Uncharted style big barely interactive set pice moments and both of those series mechanically seem to have evolved from the Prince of Persia series. Conceptually the idea is sound but building a game at that scope requires time and resources that had already been wasted. There are already some rough edges showing, it probably gets worse later. However i hope Square persist with this and have another go, because with more time and itteration they seem to have tapped into something special.

This is especially true of the combat system. Its a combat system that combines Assasins Creeds hitscan weapons and press Parry/Counter to instantly win, with a more floaty version of Mass Effect 3's Novaguard awesomeness,a push stick to awesome approach to directional attatcks and regular encounters that would be a miniboss in other games. Its a very frustrating system when underleveled but overlevelled the degree to which it makes ariel combat accessible isnt something thats normally attempted and it mostly succeeds.(Aside from the magic system)

Story
Umm... so. Remember when 90s sitcoms did episodes about how there were missunderstandings because no one had mobile phones? FFXV somehow managed to include that experience in a world with mobile phones. The plot point linked to that reasoning is unfortunately quite important and it works about as well as you would expect. FFXVs best ideas largely make up for it, however most seem to be incompatible with eachother that the whole is very disjointed. Still i like that it is trying to be unique and have an oppinion. Im 100% ready to follow this game wherever its going to go.

Notes
- A
rdyn
is the worst. Hes clearly a homage to a former FF character MAJOR SPOILERS
FFVI's Keifka
and much of the game's structure seems to be buit upon what that entry did. In practice however A comes across as they type of Villan that has plagued many a recent superhero film and he somehow manages to embue the worst qualitues of 2012 film villans who were overly obsessed with the protagonist and 2015/16 Vilans who were inneffective characters whos sole purpose was to get the two Heroes to fight each other since the plot and merchandise demanded it.

- So Hurley from lost is an NPC. Thats kinda neat

-French Translation team keeps doing all they can to make this game a cohesive experience. Heres a small slightly paraphrased example kept out of context to avoid spoilers.

Noctis and Prompto have a heartfelt conversation about how they became friends. This is the final line.

English: Prompto: Hey thanks for sticking by a loser like me (hopefuly sarcastic)
French: Prompto: Merci Noct (Thank you Noctis)

in a tone that indicates earnest gratitude but in a reserved masculine way because men dont express deep emotions like this comfortably.

- I like how the car radio plays old FF music, but since its a modern world there should be a few more liscenced tracks with lyrics. Hopefully i just havent found them yet.

- The Arrangement of "A Fleeting Dream" (FFX) for one of the MMOs. (Cant remember which) just makes me further love that track.

-Is it just me or does the FFX version of A Fleeting Dream sound like Stairway to Heaven? (Led Zeplin)

-French Cidney calling Noctis "Ma Prince" as a term of endearment whenever they greet is great. Its much better then the Americanised "Hey Prince could y'all do something for little o'l me" or something to that effect that exists in the english version.
 

black070

Member
Let myself get caught into the hype and bought the deluxe edition at launch.. deleted the game as soon as I completed and have no motivation or will to redownload it for any of the DLC.
 

SomTervo

Member
Noctis and Prompto have a heartfelt conversation about how they became friends. This is the final line.

English: Prompto: Hey thanks for sticking by a loser like me
French: Prompto: Merci Noct

in a tone that indicates earnest gratitude but in a reserved masculine way because men dont express deep emotions like this comfortably.

Huh. Yeah. The second line is just flat-out better writing.

Let myself get caught into the hype and bought the deluxe edition at launch.. deleted the game as soon as I completed and have no motivation or will to redownload it for any of the DLC.

Worst feeling ever.

I've managed to avoid this pitfall ever since being perma-burned by Destiny, buying it digital at launch.
 

sam777

Member
Well I got the £10 deal and have finished the game already. It was my first FF game and I enjoyed it, so it was money well spent for me.
 

Airan

Member
Just started it last night. I've been spoiled by Nier Automata's combat and movement system. Stamina bar in games must die a horrible death. Noctis' dodge is on ME Andromeda levels of stiffness - there is no gradual momentum shift, just a jolt in one direction and then you stay in position as he awkwardly finishes the roll animation.

However, I do love all the minor procedural animation details, I gotta respect the effort they put into that. Hope they get to reuse the tech in future games.
 
I'm having fun. Wish the soundtrack available for the car was better, and the story has basically no narrative flow whatsoever. Graphics are average even on the Pro, which is a bummer.

No way would I ever be happy spending full price on this, but for 10 pounds? Amazing.
 

-SG

Member
Probably worth that great sale price, but yeah, I forced myself to finish it as a Final Fantasy fan, then promptly deleted and sold it as soon as I finished it. I did not enjoy it.
 

lazydom

Member
I'm not sure I'm enjoying the game, although I'm only in chapter one. Side quests all seem like busy work, and the main quest is just "go here". Is there eventually a decent storyline​? Don't want to commit myself if there's no story, as I don't have a huge amount of free time for gaming.
 
Huh. Yeah. The second line is just flat-out better writing.

Fun fact: This is one of the very few japanese games were the individual european translations are all directly translated from the japanese script, instead of being based on the english translation, for whatever that is worth.
 

jdstorm

Banned
Fun fact: This is one of the very few japanese games were the individual european translations are all directly translated from the japanese script, instead of being based on the english translation, for whatever that is worth.

Thats really cool. Do you know if the Origional Japanese translation is closer to the English or French translation?

I have been thinking about this title most of today, trying to work out why it seemed to work so well for me. My conclusion was that it works because its somewhat of an absurdist blockbuster and unintentional comedy. FFXV to me feels like a Michael Bay directed mashup of Romeo +Juliet and Hamlet set in the Final Fantasy universe, staring the cast of Entourage. At this point im smiling from ear to ear cracking action film one liners with the boys just waiting for the next over the top set piece. At this point if Optimus Prime showed up riding a Thunderjaw, or if we had to team up with Ben Affleck to stop an asteroid i wouldn't be shocked.

I mean i have just fought Chapter 4/5 Boss spoilers
A god that looks like Mass Effect 2s human reaper cosplaying Kratos.

Then thats quickly followed by.Chapter 5 Boss/Mission Spoilers
Where the gang goes through a Metal Gear style stealth mission through a base full of Mechs to rescue their impounded car. They get caught and wipe out the base with a lightning strike from the heavens. Yet somehow the Regalia is undamaged.

Notes
-Given his resemblence to Entourage's Jonny Drama i have now started calling Gladios Gladdy Drama.

-Yesterday i was playing a walking simulator section where Gladios was explaining the purpose of the Kings Shield while walking through an area that gave you elemental fire damage. I only had one pair of fire resistant clothes/underwear which i had placed on Noctis. This meant that Gladios gave this whole key speech with his ass on fire while Noctis was unscathed. I'm sure this wasn't the developers intent, but it was hillarious.

-Luna's
brother
is such an
ass
. To quote Arnold. I'm going to kill you last

Edit: Today i found a cheap copy of Hamlet and I'm reading it thanks to this game. Im almost done with act 1 and there is a lot of common DNA so far to the point where it almost certainly has to be intentional.
 

Toe-Knee

Member
I bought it for £9.99 played it for a couple of hours then deleted it. Went back and got the platinum in ff7.
 
Woo what an amazing price error. I copped this before it even launched on Newegg (Xbox One) for $35. Seems like this game has had some wild errors and it's the gift that keeps on giving (not for SE)
 
Chapter 13 really was a shit-show and
Ardyn
was not a fully fleshed out final boss at all. It felt so clunky and rushed––but I expect no less considering the game's shit-show of a development process. Tabata did all that he could in the time given; Square had to release it and it's the game we have. So much lost potential; so much to love but so much to hate.

Edit:
I really loved Ifrit's presentation though––wish he was a summon.
 
Thats really cool. Do you know if the Origional Japanese translation is closer to the English or French translation?

I don't know, I don't speak french. I can tell you that the german translation is more literal than the english one, but the german dub is atrocious, so that's not good.
 

jdstorm

Banned
I don't know, I don't speak french. I can tell you that the german translation is more literal than the english one, but the german dub is atrocious, so that's not good.

How is the German more litteral then the English? If you wouldn't mind posting a translation(can be paraphrased) of a non spoilery German line (along with its translation) and then what the line in the English localization is that would be much appreciated.

Also do you happen to speak japanese as well?
 

jdstorm

Banned
When people talked about this game having high highs and low lows they must have been talking about chapter 6 and 7 as some of the high points. From the new and interesting characters that you get to meet, to locations that serve as a nice palate cleanse from the large amounts of grassland, desert and open highway. This game is now runing on all cylinders. There is also a breif structural change where the game takes you on a linear path but offers you regular chances to branch off it on other similar linear paths. This is especially effective because the main characters arent under time pressure. Other games often put you in situations where you need to "do the most important thing that has ever needed to be done as soon as possible or everything will be destroyed" then ask you to go around collecting fish or spaceships or something else just as trivial. Meanwhile FFXV mostly keeps things breezy with time pressure non existant and it makes the experience much more enjoyable.

This structure is something that will hopefully begin to peliferate modern open world design, because it seems very worth following. Its essentially saying the world is open and you could go anywhere, but we are going here for X reason. Then the game will assumedly open up the whole map once the player has finished the game and wants to go back and finish everything.

Notes
-Now that this game has transformed itself back into a really good Final Fantasy game, the "Why didnt they just do X" part of my brain is in overdrive. Everytime
Ardyn
appears on screen i keep yelling "You should be
Luna
* at my TV"

-Then i remember that the release date was likely the most coherent the script ever was, and it took an incredible amount of effort by BD5 to get this game from a buggy disaster that was a narrative train wreck to a missed opportunity at a top 5 Final Fantasy title. Hopefully BD5 want to make FFXVI because if they can itterate on what works mechanically in FFXV and have a coherent narative this team has a 95 meta critic game within them.

-The magic system is growing on me now that im learning a few simple tricks such as eat food that makes you fireproof then spam fira everywhere with 0 repercussions. It would still work much better if magic was a radial menu mapped to R1. We dont need a combat map. Or if you want to keep a quick map option map it to L2+R1. Having 4 weapons to swap between is > 3

-In saying that, having to resource manage magic isnt very fun, a more traditional recharging magic meter would be better. Noctis current MP meter could rely on the stamina meter and if its too hard to keep sprint seperate just give us unlimited sprint, no one walks in open world games.

-not sure if its just my sound setup, but player footsteps seem unusually loud. Its a bit of a mood killer in tense quiet moments.

- Does anyone know if the origonal Japanese script is largely the same as the English localization or does it have significant tonal differences?

-Prompto and
Iris
being friendly in front of Gladious was cute, hillarious, and obviously intentional. This game has so much heart when it gets things right.

-Hoping Prompto takes a good photo of Noctis fishing soon.

-First NPC Hurley and now a secret vault door in a dark cave. Did BD5 like LOST or is this just coincadental?

*
Stella
 

jimminy1403

Neo Member
I got this with the mistake price - $19.95 Australian. Just finished the main story, it took me about 40 hours.

This was so, so much better than I was expecting. I've played FF games since FF7, and this is possibly my favorite.

It still whacks you in the face with most things as only video games know how to do, but it's understated for a Final Fantasy game. I was very impressed. I liked all the main characters. I liked the villain. It had amazing set pieces. The open world was wondeful.

When I was in
the train
section it just felt like Final Fantasy.

Fantastic game. Going to see how I go post-game but I almost never get far with that in any game.

The bloody loading times though!! An absolute shocker. Quick travel was never quick because of it (hmm quick travel a minute away or just do the ride in-game which will be quicker??) Also Cidney is so out of place and booby wtf.

Edit: I should add I did chapter 13 post after the recent patch so maybe this made me feel better about it
 
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