5 things that could ruin Final Fantasy XV
The Final Fantasy series has certainly seen its heyday by creating RPGs that mastered every aspect of fantastic gaming; from memorable characters and storytelling to musical scores that would make a behemoth purr.
But are we ever going to relive the glory days in next-gen gaming?
Final Fantasy XV definitely looks promising and, with Square Enix's pedigree, there is a seemingly endless amount of expectation weighing down the shoulders of this unlikely band of heroes. So, here are 5 things that could potentially destroy this highly anticipated title.
Unrelatable Characters
Let's start with an obvious one. The 4 main characters (Noctis, Ignis, Gladiolus, and Prompto) generally look like a very unsuccessful emo band who have borrowed their dad's car to scrounge for a gig. On top of this, each character is wearing an almost identical all-black outfit, which is about as dry and boring as the personality that they all seem to share. Therefore, it is difficult to anticipate how these characters will become likable and how they will develop throughout the game. From a series that has given us incredible character development arcs, such as Cecil, Cloud, Squall and Zidane, it is worrying to see such 2-dimensional robots in the previews.
Unengaging Plot
One aspect that the Final Fantasy series has always delivered is a rich and enthralling story with more twists and turns than an M. Night Shyamalan thriller. But, war? Crystals? A ragtag band of unlikely heroes on their journey to form a rebellion and thwart a tyrannical imperialistic state? This is not a new and innovative story and the developers have used this in countless entries in the past. It would be great to see a refreshing and engaging story, yet it is unlikely we will see a much-needed improvement with this title.
Frame Rate Issues
FFXV boasts a the most gorgeous landscape seen in a Square Enix game to date. It teases the Luminous Studio engine, which will make players stop in their tracks to bask in awe at the atmospheric bounty the game has to offer. The risk, however, is a game that requires a high-end, state of the art gaming PC to run at the full 60fps, thus leaving console gamers to struggle endlessly through the moments that have been destroyed by the lack of capacity to run the game the way the developers intended. FFXV looks incredible; hopefully all manner of gamers will be able to enjoy the experience.
Button Mashing Combat
While the combat and old time fan-favourite monsters look incredible, it does seem reminiscent of Kingdom Hearts-esque button mashing. FFXV is advertising itself as an Action RPG, yet the constant bombardment of the A/X button does not justify the use of the word 'Action' in the genre title. Also, although Noctis can teleport and throw fire, are the other characters going to have their own unique abilities that make them just as playable? Or is the combat going to be a glorified version of having Donald and Goofy dying every 30 seconds? The FFXV previews have yet to show the potential in-depth strategy and party balancing systems we have come to know and love; this is concerning.
Monsters - Too big?
Finally, it has become an assumption of recent RPGs that bigger must be better. This is not always the case. It feels great to take down a towering beast once in a while, but doing it too often can turn into a chore. Constantly butt-poking and hacking away at an enemies' legs for 20 minutes is not the strategy-filled experience that brings intrinsic gratification. The Final Fantasy series has a library of fiends that all have their own unique abilities and subsequent strategies that are required to beat them, but it looks like Square Enix are aiming to force the player through enormous beasts and sword-fodder imperial troops to drive the player through this world.
Are you worried about Final Fantasy XV? Share your thoughts in the comments, so we can all hope that the next entry in the series will be a return to form!
Behemoth
Characters
Combat
Stunning Visuals
Crap characters
Crap story
Crap levelling system
Crap music
Online multiplayer
Micro transactions
DLC
Lightning
Square Enix
Loading times
Crap graphics
Longevity
Replayability
Yawnability
etc...
1. The characters might dress in a sort of similar style, but their personalities are all very different and in my opinion relatable. From what I've seen and played, I feel like journying with these guys will be very entertaining. And especially a breath of fresh air after having to experience Hope and Vanille... Seriously...
2. The story seems to have quite some potential so far. Sure, the basis of the story may be a concept that has been frequently used, but it rarely remains the focus of the game. It may or may not be the focus in this case. We know next to nothing about the story save for some basic details, so it's too early to say anything.
However, it needn't be said but I'll do it anyway: the story one of, if not the, most important aspect(s) of the game.
3. This is very true. Big time framerate issues could ruin the experience big time. I'm not gonna say that demo ran smoothly. But save for a few area's the framerate was decent. The update seems to have improved it a bit as well. But this one is the leats of my worries though. I think/hope they'll at least manage this much.
4. "Or is the combat going to be a glorified version of having Donald and Goofy dying every 30 seconds?"
Frankly, this. This is what's most likely to happen with AI partners. I wouldn't call the gameplay button mashing, even without magic. If you go at mobs like you go at them in KH, you'll most likely get wiped out sooner or later. I must say that they really must make it easier for you to die, or at least remove the whole "downed" aspect. You can literally fight monsters for an hour without dying due to your party members reviving you (or you doing it yourself). They should just do the good old fashioned "out of HP = dead" thing as usual. --> Phoenix Down time!
That being said, you actually have to use your brain a bit when attacking enemies and plan your method of attack, keep an eye out for other opponents, etc. For example: Robocops land, you best switch to the Zweihander for the best attacks. But using this against the doggies isn't a good choice due to their nimbleness.
In short, I like the combat, and am really curious for the complete version.
5. I agree on this. After all, we know what the most terrifying thing is in the FF universe. It isn't Titan planning to smash us to pieces, it isn't Ultima Weapon trying to show us that it deserves its name and it isn't Bahamut-Zero planning to nuke us.
...
It's the bloody Tonberry. They still haunt me in my dreams...
Now on a serious note, I don't mind constantly fighting against gigantic bosses, but it must be more than just hackingat their feet à la Dark Souls. Especially with the teleportation they have to make unique ways to approach and fight each and every one of them. I mean, just look at the awesomeness that is Shadow of the Colossus.
Personally, I'm trying not to get hyped. I'm trying to stay as realistc and neutral as possible, but from what I've seen, I must say that I feel optimistic about the game.
The only thing that I'm really not looking forward to is the aftermath. Knowing full well how divided and venomous our fanbase is, I can already see that regardless of it's actual quality and critical praise, It will get a lot of undeserved hate. They will probably put it on the same level as FFXIII. That prospect saddens me deeply. And as long as they don't switch back to turn based, this will keep on happening. But I guess that's a bit of topic, and is subject for another discussion/blog.
Oh well. Thanks for sharing your doubts and fears. It was interesting to read.
All Girls Adventure free DLC. That would be Great.
- Plot -
Imperialism still exist today, whether people like it or not. It's a continuous fight until oppression, tyranny, no longer make some people rich and powerful.
- Frame Rate -
FFXV is Immersive, more than MGSV, Witcher 3, Fallout 4. Signifies Square Enix Graphical Prowess/Lust for Immersive World.
Beautiful Amazing Realistic Graphics with Global Illumination which no other game come close, 24fps Cinematic Experience is Great, Okay, Fine and Well.
- Combat -
Airship Battles, All-Girls DLC, Luna, Cidny, Gentiana, Firing All Cannons! Dodging Enemy Fire! Luna Dragoon Airship sinking Spear Attack! Gentiana...probably a Black mage, calling in Meteor raining down on the enemy airships!
Dragoon Luna can Warp too, Jumping on many Airships, sinking them one by one. Awesomely Great!
Warp anywhere free DLC would be awesome, Full Everywhere Exploration.
- Monsters -
Shadow of Colossus gameplay, More of That. Giant Summons Battle, Giant Monster vs Giant Monster, like Godzilla. Probably as Free DLC.
epicness (not sure if that's a word) of monsters and there powers are what make FF a FF
I really really hope they break away from the tired and annoying trend of making higher level monsters just palette swaps of lower level monsters. You'd think in 2015 jrpgs would break away from that and include more monster variety especially since Final fantasy has a huge catalogue of monsters to draw from or even make new ones if they have to.
More Npc/object interactability aka shenmue and other games of the past. This gen seems like npc's just dole out quests or stand there and look pretty. why cant they have lives of their own like majoras mask, give tidbits of lore to the games story and actually be influenced by your choices like western rpgs. Let us explore inside of buildings etc. I dont see any reason why they cant do all these things other than size, but you know what, back in the day we had 3 disc games. If they need to make it 5 discs id gladly pay a lil more for that immersion.
Character customizability. Don't lock characters into a role of caster tank etc.That way if you hate a certain character you can customize another to your liking.
Music- The score on this one seems to be shaping up nicely. I know tons of gamers these days for some reason don't give a shit about music and treat it as a backdrop to just talk over or ignore but I love my game soundtracks personally. Music was a huge reason why I loved games like chrono trigger, Neir, Vagrant story, etc.
Replayability. Speaking of Nier above, I really hope they add multiple endings or something of a town building element like white knight chronicles or suikoden. this is not likely going to happen but one can dream. Beyond collectibles and levelling to max, modes like this kept me playing games like this in the past.
multiplayer co-op. let a friend on our friends list jump in if they have the game and take control of one of the characters. that would be frickin awesome.
1. The characters all wear black because they are in mourning. The guys are going on a road trip after one of the main characters fathers die. I wasn't able to witness much of the characters individual personalities, but I know they plan to release a lot more of that at the March ATR.
2. I don't know too much about the plot, but we did witness a scene involving a flashback of a girl apparently falling off a cliff, and we also learned about some new side characters. Everything we saw piqued my interest, even if it was vague.
3. N/A (we don't really know about frame rate issues until the games gets farther along)
4. We were able to witness a lot of fight scenes, but obviously we didn't see what controls were used. The demo I tried for the prequel was enjoyable, and I have faith the "button mashing" might not be as bad as you think.
5. While there are a lot of large monsters, there are also more variety than you might think. We watched the four characters drive around in their car on "auto mode" (I wish they had shown us manual!) and you could stop anywhere you wanted. It was the first time I had seen a truly open world FF game that didn't involve only an open world map. The director showed us some weird walrus-looking bad guys that we could fight, which weren't big at all.
I get the issues a lot of people have with this game. I had (and still have) some myself. However, the thing that impressed me the most about the whole FFVX PAX experience was when I actually got to talk (through translation) to the Tabata and Nomura. They asked what I thought of the ATR and I responded "It was better than I expected." Instead of just moving onto the next person, Tabata wanted to know why it was better than I expected, and also what I was looking forward to the most/what I wanted to see the most in the game. I think that a staff who is actually invested and interested in what their customers think is rare and also extremely valuable. I have all the faith these guys are going to pull off something amazing!