Date played: December 10th and 11th
Platform: PS4
Final Fantasy XV is finally here! After years and years of development, a couple of name changes and many controversies, the next game in the revered franchise has been released. I've been a fan of the series for a very long time. My first experience was with FFVI, known as FFIII when it was first released in North America.
In the PS1 era, I spent a lot of time with FFVII, FFVIII and FFIX. Then on PS2, I played FFX. Later, on other platforms, I went back to FFIII, FFIV and FFV. I skipped FFXI and XII... I played XIII and I just didn't like it that much, so I also skipped XIV and all the XIII sequels.
I was very skeptical of XV, since I didn't like the last few games in the series, but so far, I'm very impressed. The game stars four young men; Noctis, Gladiolus, Ignis and Prompto. Noctis, the main hero, is the prince of the kingdom of Lucis. He sets out with his three friends to go to the kingdom of Altissia and find his fiance (I think?) Lunafreya.
Their fancy car, the Regalia, breaks down on the road so they push it to the nearby town of Hammerhead. That's where I met Cindy and Cid, a couple of mechanics. Cindy agrees to fix the car, but gives us a few jobs to complete while she works on the Regalia, and that's where the game really starts.
Final Fantasy XV is an open world, much like the older games in the series. While many areas are inaccessible for now, there's still a lot of land to explore. There are treasures, ingredients and other things to collect. There are many little towns, each with their own parking spot. There are plenty of campsites scattered around, which the party can use to rest. There's also fishing.
The Regalia is weird too. I can't actually drive it yet, and it can only stay on roads. It's also kind of slow. This makes travel a little bit tedious overall. Walking is also pretty damn slow, even when sprinting.
Each little town has a restaurant, and the cook will offer monster hunts. I spent a lot of my time with these and it was lots of fun. A big reason I enjoyed these is because I just love the combat in FFXV. After more than 6 hours with the game, I'm still wrapping my head around it,
At it's core, combat is relatively simple. There's a button to attack, a button to dodge and a button to "warp". Holding down attack will string a bunch of attacks together, while holding down dodge will avoid attacks while draining MP. Warp allows for some long range attacks at the cost of MP. It can also be used to retreat to safe spots to recover MP.
More damage is done when hitting from behind, and special link attacks can be triggered when fighting close to your party members. There are also multiple weapon types, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. There's also magic, but in this game, it's treated as a consumable item, so I typically use magic only on large groups of enemies.
Finally, there are special techniques that can be triggered. There is a tech bar that fills up during battle. When a special technique is used, it consumes a certain portion of the bar. These techniques are performed by Gladiolus, Ignis and Prompto. So far, Gladio has been all about big, strong attacks. Ignis is more support, offering buffs and healing. Prompto specializes in guns that hit a single target.
The story gets crazy real quick. After a few side quests and lots of exploration, shit hit the fan. Reports from newspapers and citizens state that the capital city of Lucis has been invaded by the forces of Niflheim. The reports also say that the King, Noctis and Lunafreya were killed in the attacks. Obviously, Noctis is still alive, but his father's and Lunafreya's fates are unknown.
The team of young men turn back and head towards Lucis to see what really happened. It turns out, the reports were mostly true... The king is dead, and Niflheim has successfully invaded Lucis. They turn back and try to meet with the man who gave them information on the attacks, though I'm not quite sure how he fits into the picture yet.
There's a ton of wonderful things happening in Final Fantasy XV. It's a big game, with lots to do and lots to discover. I can't wait to jump back in...
Platform: PS4
Final Fantasy XV is finally here! After years and years of development, a couple of name changes and many controversies, the next game in the revered franchise has been released. I've been a fan of the series for a very long time. My first experience was with FFVI, known as FFIII when it was first released in North America.
In the PS1 era, I spent a lot of time with FFVII, FFVIII and FFIX. Then on PS2, I played FFX. Later, on other platforms, I went back to FFIII, FFIV and FFV. I skipped FFXI and XII... I played XIII and I just didn't like it that much, so I also skipped XIV and all the XIII sequels.
I was very skeptical of XV, since I didn't like the last few games in the series, but so far, I'm very impressed. The game stars four young men; Noctis, Gladiolus, Ignis and Prompto. Noctis, the main hero, is the prince of the kingdom of Lucis. He sets out with his three friends to go to the kingdom of Altissia and find his fiance (I think?) Lunafreya.
Their fancy car, the Regalia, breaks down on the road so they push it to the nearby town of Hammerhead. That's where I met Cindy and Cid, a couple of mechanics. Cindy agrees to fix the car, but gives us a few jobs to complete while she works on the Regalia, and that's where the game really starts.
Final Fantasy XV is an open world, much like the older games in the series. While many areas are inaccessible for now, there's still a lot of land to explore. There are treasures, ingredients and other things to collect. There are many little towns, each with their own parking spot. There are plenty of campsites scattered around, which the party can use to rest. There's also fishing.
The Regalia is weird too. I can't actually drive it yet, and it can only stay on roads. It's also kind of slow. This makes travel a little bit tedious overall. Walking is also pretty damn slow, even when sprinting.
Each little town has a restaurant, and the cook will offer monster hunts. I spent a lot of my time with these and it was lots of fun. A big reason I enjoyed these is because I just love the combat in FFXV. After more than 6 hours with the game, I'm still wrapping my head around it,
At it's core, combat is relatively simple. There's a button to attack, a button to dodge and a button to "warp". Holding down attack will string a bunch of attacks together, while holding down dodge will avoid attacks while draining MP. Warp allows for some long range attacks at the cost of MP. It can also be used to retreat to safe spots to recover MP.
More damage is done when hitting from behind, and special link attacks can be triggered when fighting close to your party members. There are also multiple weapon types, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. There's also magic, but in this game, it's treated as a consumable item, so I typically use magic only on large groups of enemies.
Finally, there are special techniques that can be triggered. There is a tech bar that fills up during battle. When a special technique is used, it consumes a certain portion of the bar. These techniques are performed by Gladiolus, Ignis and Prompto. So far, Gladio has been all about big, strong attacks. Ignis is more support, offering buffs and healing. Prompto specializes in guns that hit a single target.
The story gets crazy real quick. After a few side quests and lots of exploration, shit hit the fan. Reports from newspapers and citizens state that the capital city of Lucis has been invaded by the forces of Niflheim. The reports also say that the King, Noctis and Lunafreya were killed in the attacks. Obviously, Noctis is still alive, but his father's and Lunafreya's fates are unknown.
The team of young men turn back and head towards Lucis to see what really happened. It turns out, the reports were mostly true... The king is dead, and Niflheim has successfully invaded Lucis. They turn back and try to meet with the man who gave them information on the attacks, though I'm not quite sure how he fits into the picture yet.
There's a ton of wonderful things happening in Final Fantasy XV. It's a big game, with lots to do and lots to discover. I can't wait to jump back in...
