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Final Fantasy XV - Review Thread [Second wave of reviews coming in]
- Thread starter dc89
- Start date
Who thought this?
It should have been known that after year 5 that this game was troubled. Most people hoped for a serviceable game, and in my opinion we got something much better. Not without issues. And boy are there issues. But I'm lovin' it.
And this is how you self-disappoint yourself.
Honestly I'll be happy if the game just ends up being good and fun and memorable, it doesn't need to be a 10/10 masterpiece crafted by god's golden hammer.
To be fair, I think tastes have just changed too much too. FFX would get the 80s these days. FFVIII would certainly not be in the 90 scores like it was at release.
The games are becoming too polarizing. Not BAD, but polarizing. FF12 is some people's favorite game ever and some people hate the changes to the bitter end. FF13 really is solid, even if it's my least favorite mainline installment. I think FFXIV is a top-tier Final Fantasy game, but the nature of being an MMO limits its appeal and many are turned off instantly by that approach, regardless of how much it does right.
FFXV is similar thus far to me. It's got problem... but so did the old games. Depending on what you like, it's either amazing or disappointing related to what your priorities are.
... But I do wish FFXIV would stop having a monopoly on sensible, good storytelling. At this point, I just go into a Square Enix game expecting the plot to suck.
And? It's a much better game than FFXIII in my experience thus far. I hated FFXIII. This game has more personality in the first few hours than Lightning had in three whole games.
phant0m
Member
More complex than combat in the Witcher 3, imo. Which was just "sword 1 for humans, sword 2 for monsters; mash square/triangle and throw in a sign if you want"
The combo stuff you can do with your buddies is pretty neat, though their spell-crafting element is a bit weird (it's OK though)
I think a lot of what held this game back was the dev hell and what Tabata felt was necessary to ship the game in a specific time period. The fact that there were so many unfinished ideas and half baked things involved that it brought down a lot of what was good about the concept itself.
I mean they linerized the latter half and most of the characters disappear, its pretty convenient
I think a lot of people are trying to make the argument that what people like about FF is just inherently not all that appealing anymore, which i think is not true. The story could have been great had certain things been cleaned up or fixed and put more focus on, and then we'd be talking less about the issues
I mean they linerized the latter half and most of the characters disappear, its pretty convenient
I think a lot of people are trying to make the argument that what people like about FF is just inherently not all that appealing anymore, which i think is not true. The story could have been great had certain things been cleaned up or fixed and put more focus on, and then we'd be talking less about the issues
Shifty1897
Member
Maybe it's because I played through Witcher 3 on the hard difficulty, but I always found the combat deep and challenging enough.
From the 4 hours I've played so far, FFXV's combat is flashier but a little more simplistic. Some enemies are weak to different kinds of weapons or elementia, but most of the time you just switch around tactics when fighting a new enemy until you see orange damage numbers popping off instead of white or purple. That's how you know you found a weakness. Then just block/parry as much as you can and warp to safety as needed.
From the 4 hours I've played so far, FFXV's combat is flashier but a little more simplistic. Some enemies are weak to different kinds of weapons or elementia, but most of the time you just switch around tactics when fighting a new enemy until you see orange damage numbers popping off instead of white or purple. That's how you know you found a weakness. Then just block/parry as much as you can and warp to safety as needed.
Well that's your deal for having ludicrous, completely unfounded expectations.
If I expect Halo 6 to be the greatest game ever made, it doesn't mean that the developers are now bound to that. It means I'm delusional because there's no reason whatsoever to have anything close to that expectation.
Nocturno999
Member
My expectations were low after their endless amounts of bad spin offs and the XIII series.
They still couldn't bring a competent video game.
It's very simple and the magic/summon system is paltry.
Game needs a hard mode, combat system overhaul and more monster spawns.
R3birthFl4me
Neo Member
People that are saying 15 is a shit game, need to start playing some really shitty games to understand what the true meaning of shit means.
AkirraKrylon
Member
Let me say that I think this game is 9/10, top 3 FF games for me, I absolutely love it, etc.
That being said:
I am looking forward to the DLC episodes because I can't get enough of the lore/backstory of this game.
Knowing the entire story and all the in's/out's of it all I am really looking forward to starting a new game and really taking my time with it.
That being said:
- They needed to flesh out the story more. Namely
Ardyn's origin/backstory, the true purpose of the ring/Lucis line, and the scourge of the stars. They are easily the most important and most interesting parts of the story.
- They missed a huge opportunity in not allowing you to explore the
World of Ruin. Even if it was a short chapter or two, they really should have let you wander around the Lucis region while the scourge of the stars was at its worst. Would have been terrifying and amazing.
- They needed to pace the second half better. Once you are past
Leviathan/Altissia everything is full speed to the ending. I thought the chapters were well done but they could/should have spaced it out better.
I am looking forward to the DLC episodes because I can't get enough of the lore/backstory of this game.
Knowing the entire story and all the in's/out's of it all I am really looking forward to starting a new game and really taking my time with it.
brandonh83
Banned
People do this with everything, especially movies.
orthodoxy1095
Banned
I'm literally playing a single-player Final Fantsy with shitty MMO fetch quests littering the world right now.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
Name any other game that has been in dev for so long and actually turned out to be great. Fact is FFXV is gaming first success story when dev cycles are changed and exceed near a decade in total.
Its not even the same game as it once was and placing 90 as the lowest bar is hilariously silly.
Days like these...
Have a Blessed Day
Yes it was and yes they did. What alternate reality are you living in or are you just damage controlling?
It seems you missed the last year when every thread talking about Final Fantasy XV quickly went to shit, because most of gaf thought it was going to be a disaster.
Yeah, there was a time when it was considered the saviour of Final Fantasy, after Final Fantasy XIII, but that was 6 years ago.
Are you serious!? Any game with that long a dev cycle has massive red warning signs all over it. I don't know where you guys are getting the impression its a good thing from. It's completely blowing my mind.
I personally think it's a fantastic game but a long re-cycled development cycle is NOT a good thing.
Maintenance
Member
Yup, many people saying "92 metascore", "94", "90+".
If FFXV isn't a "competent video game" to you, you need to lower your expectations of what video games should be.
Many also saying 70 or less.
Just read this thread for reference about what people here on gaf expected one month ago
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1302823
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1302823
Riposte
Member
That also describes a bunch of games. My point is if those quests made up the majority of the game's main quest (until post-release updates, expansion).
If a game gets 10 years of dev time, that means it will be at least 3 times as good as games with the normal 3 year dev cycle!
^ I have a feeling there may be people who actually think this.
They have evolved to a higher form of gaming. They don't actually PLAY anything, just skip straight to bitching on the 'net
Really streamlined the process.
84 brings it in line with Deus Ex, down from Tomb Raider's and FF14's scores as far as current gen Square retail games go.
Still quite strong overall.
I also updated the title since most sites got the game only two days before launch and are now getting their reviews out, instead of just the publications Square Enix was willing to give notably early access to.
Still quite strong overall.
I also updated the title since most sites got the game only two days before launch and are now getting their reviews out, instead of just the publications Square Enix was willing to give notably early access to.
Wrong way to look at it... was shelved probably a year after it started, and started up again about 2 or 3 years ago.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
This post is beautifully ironic
Really curious how Stormblood will pan out.
Usually MMO expansions can do quite well if they can deliver a good leveling experience and initial endgame impression since most places will put up reviews within 5 days of launch.
If the rumors of it having a much larger budget than Heavensward are true, that should favor it strongly.
orthodoxy1095
Banned
It is certainly very unusual, but not necessarily the "Duke Nukem" doom that many of us have a gut reaction to.
Just in this year you have the example of Owlboy taking a decade because the small team threw out their game multiple times and the creator suffered from wrestling with depression.
Prey took 11 years, Diablo III was something like 11 years, TF2 took 9 years, Starcraft II and L.A. Noire took 7 years, Shenmue took 6 years, yada yada.
It'll be fun to see how TLG finally turns out after all these years.
When Stormblood, Dissidia Arcade, and FFXII HD will have the best metacrtics for FF games this gen. <3
PseudoViper
Member
So did anyone from here play it? If so, what's your opinion?
Pros:
World looks fantastic.
Combat is the best I've ever played in a JRPG.
Characters are fun and interesting.
All of the music I've heard so far is great.
Cons:
Slow start.
NPCs are dull and sidequests don't amount to much more than fetch quests.
You'll be doing a lot of driving. (A pro for me because I just like looking at the world but I know it's a con for some).
I'd give it a 8.5/10 at the moment if I had to assign a score.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=221994463&postcount=112
:/ Looking back on that thread, it didn't fulfill my base most low standard expectation at all. So its strange that i'm still generally satisfied with the result
That's a pretty big claim considering how many action JRPG's there are out there...
If Heavensward was reviewed now rather than at its launch, it would have been lambasted for how fucking awful its endgame raids ended up, the overly empty zones (the excuse at launch was "they left them empty on purpose to add to them later" - LOL) and the numerous dead-on-arrival content like Diadem or Lords of Verminion, and oversight in supporting existing content like Triple Triad, which might have broken tournaments for three whole years if it persists into Stormblood.
Shadow_FFVI
Member
I can't believe my Amazon pre order of FF XV hasnt arrived.
Astral Dog
Member
You should had know better with SE, after the first few years.
Though i understand if the hype rise up again on 2013
nogoodnamesleft
Banned
Just curious as someone who doesn't preorder-why do you preorder? Do you get bonuses with amazon or something. Why not buy it for (most likely) cheaper at retail?
Astral Dog
Member
This is the sanest way of looking at this, enjoy it people
I didn't say "it's the best JRPG combat of all time", I said it's the best I've played, unless I'm counting something like Dark Souls as a JRPG.
I preordered off Amazon for a final total of $30ish USD.
Cid Highwind
Banned
I got my copy today. I'm enjoying it so far but it is a pretty slow start.
I like what I'm hearing though. It just needs to be a good game people can enjoy and bring some relevancy back to the franchise. I'm hearing (and seeing, though admittedly I'm only a few hours in) great things about the characters and combat, which will take this game a lot further than where XIII got in the public eye.
I like what I'm hearing though. It just needs to be a good game people can enjoy and bring some relevancy back to the franchise. I'm hearing (and seeing, though admittedly I'm only a few hours in) great things about the characters and combat, which will take this game a lot further than where XIII got in the public eye.
SoraanTribal
Member
Yup. I ended up buying a copy at gamestop yesterday. Gonna return the amazon one when it finally arrives. I'm having my doubts about preordering from Amazon again. I haven't liked the customer service I've gotten the last couple weeks.
Amazon Prime discounts mainly. I also generally can't actually go out to stores on release day due to working second shift and starting at 1pm....so
Shadow_FFVI
Member
I have a similar reason. Now I'm unsure my copy of The Last Guardian will arrive on time.
I expected a complete train wreck of a game and have been pleasantly surprised so far. Reviews seem pretty spot on: plot shows all the signs of a game in development hell, but the game mechanics have gotten a lot of love in that time. Technicnology wise it's not exactly cutting edge, but at least it's respectable. Mid-80s sounds about right to me.
orthodoxy1095
Banned
Preorder from Amazon or Best Buy, get the game for less than retail with Prime ($47.99), finish quick, trade it back for a $10-12 loss.
Rinse and repeat.