An enjoyable game with lots of potential, that was too ambitious for its own good. Final Fantasy XV is a (mostly) open world ARPG that spread itself too thin by trying to do too many things, affecting every part of the game.
For an action RPG, the combat is pretty shallow, being mostly button-mashing circle to execute an attack and triangle to warp to the next enemy. There are various set pieces, especially near the latter half of the game. While they are mostly visually nice to see, they force you through some patronizing quick time events. At those points I'd rather just put the controller down and let the set pieces play out.
The worlds that the game crafts are stunning, though fairly barren as it has a handful of large maps, which are the main open world, several multi-floor dungeons, and the two cities that appear in the final chapters. And as vast as these worlds may be, they are equally overly restrictive. Some small ledges you can't hop over or drop down, forcing you to walk all the way around. In cities and some select segments, you are forced to move at a light jog, making it feel like it takes forever to get from one point to another.
As for traversing the open world, initially driving is very restrictive, being forced to stay on the main road, making you have to run (with limited running stamina) if its in the middle of a field. Thankfully, after some side quests, chocobos are unlocked to make that travel a bit easier, as well as an upgrade to the car that allows you to drive almost anywhere.
Button prompts throughout the game though are a nightmare. With jumping being tied to the same button as the action button, it is a terrible time trying to pick stuff up / activating some objects. Additionally, picking stuff up also takes way too long. You can only pick items up one at a time, and it has to play the entire animation with some additional load time right after before you can pick up the next thing.
The story crafted needs too much backstory for all of its characters, most of which are supplemented through DLCs or by other means such as movies and novels. As such, only playing the game will leave you with many questions like what are the motives, rules of the world, or why you're even doing what you're asked to.
SPOILER SECTION:
[
The best parts of the game revolve around the open world, but once it gets to the latter 2/3rd of the game, it takes a big nose dive until the final chapter.
Chapters 10 through 13, a section which drags on for far too long, forces you to traverse Niflheim, with all of it being just narrow corridors into small rooms. Prior to this though, Noctis is separated from Gladiolus and Ignis, and without warning, the game forces you to decide between two paths. At least they added the option to play the alternate path in the main menu.
The game completely flips on its head by making this the most restrictive section of the game, and completely changing tone into a weak horror game. The corridors are littered with repetitive jump scares and loud music. It definitely overstayed its welcome.
]
For an action RPG, the combat is pretty shallow, being mostly button-mashing circle to execute an attack and triangle to warp to the next enemy. There are various set pieces, especially near the latter half of the game. While they are mostly visually nice to see, they force you through some patronizing quick time events. At those points I'd rather just put the controller down and let the set pieces play out.
The worlds that the game crafts are stunning, though fairly barren as it has a handful of large maps, which are the main open world, several multi-floor dungeons, and the two cities that appear in the final chapters. And as vast as these worlds may be, they are equally overly restrictive. Some small ledges you can't hop over or drop down, forcing you to walk all the way around. In cities and some select segments, you are forced to move at a light jog, making it feel like it takes forever to get from one point to another.
As for traversing the open world, initially driving is very restrictive, being forced to stay on the main road, making you have to run (with limited running stamina) if its in the middle of a field. Thankfully, after some side quests, chocobos are unlocked to make that travel a bit easier, as well as an upgrade to the car that allows you to drive almost anywhere.
Button prompts throughout the game though are a nightmare. With jumping being tied to the same button as the action button, it is a terrible time trying to pick stuff up / activating some objects. Additionally, picking stuff up also takes way too long. You can only pick items up one at a time, and it has to play the entire animation with some additional load time right after before you can pick up the next thing.
The story crafted needs too much backstory for all of its characters, most of which are supplemented through DLCs or by other means such as movies and novels. As such, only playing the game will leave you with many questions like what are the motives, rules of the world, or why you're even doing what you're asked to.
SPOILER SECTION:
[
The best parts of the game revolve around the open world, but once it gets to the latter 2/3rd of the game, it takes a big nose dive until the final chapter.
Chapters 10 through 13, a section which drags on for far too long, forces you to traverse Niflheim, with all of it being just narrow corridors into small rooms. Prior to this though, Noctis is separated from Gladiolus and Ignis, and without warning, the game forces you to decide between two paths. At least they added the option to play the alternate path in the main menu.
The game completely flips on its head by making this the most restrictive section of the game, and completely changing tone into a weak horror game. The corridors are littered with repetitive jump scares and loud music. It definitely overstayed its welcome.
]