User Reviews

I saw the debut trailer for Versus XIII back in 2006 and the quality of this game was thus in question to the last minute. The director change to Tabata undeniably saved this troubled production but it's very clear that he still needed another year to complete his ambitious vision. The game is divided in 2 parts. The first half is a fun road trip that put exploration first. The ultimately large game world is a bit more fractured into closed off "arenas" than i would have liked. You will need to rely on Chocobos or teleportation to get around, as your car can only go on roads and mostly drives itself. The slightly weird battle system frankly feels like a step backwards, as even the problematic XIII trilogy had a better ones. They should have gone with a true hack and slash battle style, instead of this "tactical" Kingdom Hearts approach, yet it works fine enough. The graphics, soundtrack and voice acting are great. As long as you use the superior Japanese VAs and i noticed that the translation takes many liberties, as the subtitles are based on the English script. Characterization is where the game shines, so on to the "boyband". All 4 are some of the best characters SE ever brought to life. The story is fairly engaging too, as long as you kept up with the media-tie ins, as neither the world nor the boy's backstories are properly explained. This half of the game barely features villains and i just kept going on hunts, went fishing or hunted the royal arms. Luna, her guardian and Aranea (i cheated her into my party) are further great female characters but the mechanic Cindy turned out to be the sexist otaku bait all expected in the end. None of them are seen all that often though. I ended up spending 60 hours till my quest log was all out of missions and on i traveled to the Venice equivalent of the game. The second half took me about 10 hours to complete but i will admit that i could 1-hit-kill half my enemies at this point due to being overpowered. Most of the game's surprisingly dark story is told here and what a skeleton it turned out to be! Characters randomly show up and disappear without warning. The open world returns to the "running down corridors" design of XIII and i had to look up a fan explanations to understand what even happened. And most imploringly why it happened. Meaning that SE published a 2nd Xenogears, with the difference that this borderline broken 2nd half was still fun. My investment in the characters ultimately made me focus on the good sides, even if i rarely played less complete games. The much dreaded Chapter 13 was actually a slightly flawed highlight (your 1 weapon is a bit too weak), as enough of it is finished to understand what happens and the survival horror atmosphere was a welcomes change of pace. The game's finale is thankfully a masterpiece, so the team at least focused on landing the ending. I then returned to the open world and spend a final 20 hours on doing endgame quests and getting my Platinum. I will never deny that the game shouldn't have been shipped in this from but the devs are focused on delivering the necessary patches and content to fill in some of the blank canvas. I lastly finished all offline FF games + most spin-offs. FF XV could have been a top 5 entry if the game was done but the finished product is still a modern RPG highlight and ultimately a success, after 10 years in development hell. 8,5/10

I have played nearly every installment of the Final Fantasy series. It was one of my favorite series of role playing games, that is until they decided to go online and then release games that just did not seem all that much like a Final Fantasy game. The last one I really enjoyed a lot was the tenth edition, I even liked its sequel; however, I never did play the eleventh game due to it being exclusively an online game. Then the twelfth game came out and I was rather disappointed as it still ranks as my least favorite. Granted, I am wanting to play it again to see if I may have misjudged it and ranked it poorly unfairly. Then came part thirteen and it was pretty, fast paced and devoid of a lot of things that make a role playing game, a role playing game. I also played through XIII-2 and it had more elements of a role playing game, but the story was just so congested in it. Then there was XIII: Lightening Returns which collapsed more story on top of what was already congested and made the game a timed game and I was unable to complete it due to this as it annoyed me. Did not play the fourteenth game due to it being another online one, I really wish these were not part of the main series and just called Final Fantasy Online. The last one I played is Final Fantasy-Type 0 which had great characters and fun combat, but the story was just a bit too hard to follow. Now there is this one which is by far my favorite since the tenth game. Sure, it is not turn based like the old days which I prefer, but at least the combat is action based and not that strange combination which is not really turn, but not really action either. The type usually found in online role playing games, the twelfth game was like this. No, in this one the combat is quick and you have a nice open world to explore for the most part. My main complaint about it, is that like Type-0 the story is not easy to follow. It is easier than Type-0 as it has a well defined villain, but a lot of stuff takes place off screen or you have to watch a movie or download a DLC to get everything. I just feel a game's story should be confined to the main game and you should not be required to purchase more stuff to get the full picture. Other than this it is a very fun, albeit depressing game.

The story is a bit complicated when looked at as a whole; however, the main portion is about a prince and his three friends traveling the world in order for the prince to reclaim his thrown by gaining the powers of the former kings and the summons. The characters are what makes this one so fun as they are just a group of friends and they have funny conversations and remarks during the adventure. Your group travels everywhere in search of the power to expel the empire from the city of Insomnia; however, there is something far more sinister than a mere invasion as the days are getting shorter and during the night powerful creatures known as daemons appear to terrorize the populace. Soon Prince Noctis heads to a city where he was to be married and at this point the game does get rather depressing.

The game play features combat that is action based. During the game you only control Prince Noctis, but despite this it is still rather fun. The summons in this game are awesome as they usually wipe everything out! The first portion of the game is an open world where you travel here and there in search of the King's tombs and do other things such as side quests to gain experience. This one also does things a bit differently as you do not get experience upon defeating the enemies, but rather when you either camp or stay at a hotel or rest stop. You generally get more experience for staying at a hotel or rest stop; however, you can eat a meal when camping that provides buffs to your party. The game becomes a bit more straight forward though when you go to the city of Altissa which looks like Venice. After this the game's mood darkens significantly, but there is a rather cool portion of the game that features a train. Always enjoy trains in role playing games.

So, this game was my personal favorite Final Fantasy since the tenth game. I would have ranked it higher, but the story was a bit hard to follow at times due to the incessant need these days of games to have DLC packs and such. I also wish the tone of the game did not darken so much after the group left for Altissa as my life is at the lowest point imaginable and it really just caused me to feel worse. I was also disappointed that you are pretty much done with the open world once you leave for Altissa as I was thinking you would get more time to finish quests and such. I think you can go back in time or something and do it, but I just did not think that fit so I just went straight ahead. The game took me just over 60 hours to complete making it a relatively short game by today's standards and I completed a lot of side quests too so if you play straight through I imagine you could probably finish the game between 40 and 50 hours. So not as great as the Final Fantasy games back in the day, but better than all the recent ones.

This was definitely the most fun I've had playing through a Final Fantasy game. Scenery-8 Story-8 Character interaction-9 Uniqueness-9 Driving-0 Don't expect the driving to be anything resembling fun. Someone should have lost their job over that bungled mess. The story progresses WAY to fast, the fun in this game was the side quests and exploring.

One of the best games I've ever played, one of my most favorite and most memorable games I've ever played. I don't know what it is, I can't put my finger on it; The characters, the story, the bonding between said characters, the entire game itself, everything. I love it all. I will still love it 30 years from now. It will always make me cry too or at least on the verge of crying, don't forget that. Thank you to the creators for making this game. <3

After I finished final fantasy XV, I will never forget it. I've been playing Final Fantasy for 12 years, It's not just a game for me,It is a very precious memory in my life. When I first heard "Stand By ME"I just feel good,When the game is over, I feel very sad.Luna symbolizes the moon , Noctis symbolizes the night, The moon leads the night to look for light , "Somnues"Latin, An alias for flowers, Symbolizes love, sacrifice, respec, courage, Just like the love of both of them. They are really responsible for too much, But this is the king, isn't it? Yes, at the end of the game they went to another world. "No I won't be afraid,Just as long as you stand, stand by me, No I won't shed a tear,Just as long as you stand,stand by me" when the music is over, Final Fantasy XV is over. Thank you XV, brought me too much shock , No matter what, you are very precious in my heart.

Please play that game you won't be dissapointed.

Also I love prompto

This game has such a rich, complex story, and fair character development to boot. Unfortunately, not all of it is in the base game.

It's why so many feel the game is incomplete.

As a fan, I love extra content that adds to an already amazing experience. FFXV is not an example of that.

A few issues I had with the game: 1.) Sidequests need a reason to exist, even if it's shaky. Like the chocobo ranch or armiger quests. Otherwise, why would the protagonist postpone saving the world?

2.) Instead of a "slideshow", events of "Kingsglaive" should have been a side quest/story chapter.

3.) Cast needs more in-game development. Anime is great, novels too--but game should reference that.

It's a solid game, but you really have to invest some time in and out of it.

The game starts in the middle of the entire FFXV narrative. So at a bare minimum, I recommend watching the anime OVAs and Kingsglaive movie before playing the game.

This is a tough one. I've loved the FF series through its highs and lows and I've actually come to really appreciate this entry over time. I first got it when released in 2016 and it was clear that it was unfinished. The plot was choppy and confusing, some of the mechanics were sloppy, and the level of polish really varied throughout the game. However, the relationship between Noct and the boys has always been compelling.

Many of these issues have been addressed over time with DLCs, the spin-off anime, and the CGI film. I've seen them all because I always felt there was some interesting source material here worth exploring and watching them really does elucidate a lot. The problem is, people shouldn't be asked to do that. FF7, for example, still had a confusing narrative, but the plot was intact and all the spin-offs served to enrich the story, not complete it.

In terms of the technical issues, the development was clearly an ironically epic journey. This game was ambitious, and I'm surprised how good it looked at times in 2016. Patches and 60 fps updates makes it run much more beautifully now but the variability in polish during different game areas and occasional sloppy combat is still present. However all this being said, they aimed for the stars and I'm sure took notes on what worked and what didn't.

In the end, this is a unique entry with heart but it just wasn't fully fleshed out. There's a rich lore that unfortunately demands an unreasonable amount of time and money for fans to be able to fully appreciate it. However, Square Enix has shown consistent evidence of listening to their fans (example, making this an open world entry after the feedback that FFXIII was too linear). I have hope that this will lay the groundwork for future entries to be technically better but hopefully also more cohesive from a plot standpoint.

I am a fan of Final Fantasy for over 15 years. This is the game I'm looking forward to playing, but when I finish the game and do a lot of side quests, I feel Final Fantasy 15 not as good as the previous Final Fantasy releases.

Worldmap is very large, but only one city (Altissia), a town (Lestallum) a city of main story (Insomnia), the rest are mostly gas stations, this is not good with a version of the Final Fantasy game. In the Final Fantasy versions 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 and many other versions, the number of cities is numerous and wide, accompanied by a wide variety of side quests. Maps of Final Fantasy 15 are mostly desert, rocky, prairie and not exciting. The side missions are also very monotonous, repetitive. The Ability System is very similar to Final Fantasy 10. The way to absorb element ( Fire, Ice, Lighting ) is borrowed from Final Fantasy 8, and a lot of things of the Final Fantasy 15 reminds me to old Final Fantasy releases.

The summon method is not good and very random. Summons seem useless in this game, they only have a role to contribute to the content of the game.

The game content is really short and less interesting. The plot is predictable. I was excited when buy this game to play, but when I was playing with 200 hours of play, I felt unhappy, and I evaluated the game with a score of 7/10.

Sorry for my bad English .

A great game, but unfortunately the stories have numerous faults and unanswered questions, in the second part of the game, which seems to have been done in a hurried way, without delivering what it has promised in its previous traillers. Many characters are simply downgraded and barely appear in the game, and a lot of fact is not explained, I think this is perhaps because the focus is the gameplay and not the incredible story that was developed for this game, something that makes gamers Old school may hate it by having the most faulty history of all the end fantasys made to this day. I believe the creators were forced to deliver incomplete content, even including the Kingsglaive movie and the anime episodes. I just believe that just a new movie or a great update (I mean really big!) Can fill the story with the expectation created not only for the years, but for the traillers that create a great expectation for all fans.

This game's great and all, but how is this Final Fantasy 15? Wasn't the first Final Fantasy supposed to be the "Final" fantasy?

I mean, how long is this final fantasy and why is it taking more than 15+ games to end it? Like, might as well just rename the franchise to just "Fantasy", because it's been 15 games and we can all tell that it's definitely not Final.

Anime Hair/10

FFXV gets a lot of things right. The world is stunning, the music (as usual) is exquisite, and the character and monster designs are awesome. Sadly, the game is bogged down by an excessive amount of empty space and wasted potential.

Open world RPGs are a difficult thing to perfect. Games like Skyrim are able to incorporate a massive map because of the sheer content and substance within. While FFXV definitely has the geographic size to compete, much of the gameplay is spent simply traversing from point A to point B in silence. While enemy encounters are relatively common, they don't do quite enough to liven up some of the game's downtime. Longer distance journeys in the game are made via driving a car, which can take several minutes and get long-winded very quickly.

The combat system is entertaining, but it can become a bit monotonous as character attacks are made by simply holding down a button. It's helped by item usage and special moves with team members, but it still feels a bit like the game is playing itself.

Despite these drawbacks, FFXV shines in its worldbuilding and story. The voice acting is top-notch, and in Final Fantasy fashion, the player is taken on a thrilling and emotional adventure. Dungeon exploration is great, and the boss battles are wondrous spectacles to behold.

Ultimately, Final Fantasy XV is a mixed bag. It will definitely please die-hard fans of the genre and series, but newcomers and casual fans may have difficulty with the monotonous world travel and sparseness of some of its environments. Either way, it's worth a try.

Christmas 2016 was promicing and I got Final Fantasy 15 from my loving sister. However when I popped it it in their was something novel. That eventually wore off. Hahahah!

STORY

Final Fantasy 15 is starts with a medius rez where we play as 4 boys fighting with daddy. It then fades into the 4 boys have a duty. They must protect the kingdom from the evil Kingdom. It starts with the boys pushing a Regalia. Then they go off into the world. They do boring quests.

What I hate about this video game is it's story. It's lack their of ambition. It's a fantasy set in a modern day world yet is still fantasy. IT'S STILL A FICTIONAL WORLD THAT DOESN'T EXIST! It couldn't be any different than FF8 but duller. It could be set in New York like Parasite Eve and could be a billion times more creative. This world is like America but with medieval castles and spells.

The characters are fairly boring douchey **** boys from Entourage. They wall wear bland leather clothing. Even if they wear different clothing which does not make a difference they are still boring nobs. The girl is boring.

Everything is so un-epic that I lost complete interest.

GAMEPLAY

Here's a missed opportunity. Well FF15 doesn't have the best combat but it's different and in real time so it's a win win. You fight with many cool weapons and powers. You hack and slash. You can customize your friends. It maybe mapped to one button but ah hell it's pretty sick.

Exploring the world is pretty dull as well as towns.

Chocobo rides are preferable to driving seeing that the car just might as well be an automatic marker train that gets you from one point to another.

You choice mean nothing.

The quests are kinda bland.

Dungeons are kinda meh. Linear.

There are endless things you can do though that aren't the game.

GRAPHICS

Probably one of the shining things about this game and the only good part. The characters are all very high poly and have very good animations. Feels like a cutscene from Earlier FF titles like 8 or 12. Pretty particle effects and hair. Minus the dithering.

The world is kind of pretty but it seems dull at times.

There is a very nice art direction to it. A clean interface

SOUND

I rather like the soundtrack. Tons of revised tunes from previous FF games to sound more modern and sweeping.

Voice actors are a little annoying.

CONCLUSION

LMFO get 7 or Persona 5. Peace I'm out.

Combat is boring, items respawn which makes clearing the map impossible, characters that are super annoying, no real sense of progression or exploration unless you enjoy driving around in a car and taking pictures for a side quests.

Do yourself a favor and stick to final fantasy 1-10, actually I even liked final fantasy 12. I'm done with Final Fantasy games if this is what I have to look forward to.

Final Fantasy XV is just about every bit as terrible as Final Fantasy XIII. I can't decide which is more abhorrent. The story is nonsensical and stupid, the script is extremely juvenile, there're almost constant advertising plugs being shoved in your face almost constantly for products like Coleman , Cup Noodles and American Express that have no place in a Final Fantasy game, the paid DLCs are badly made and are like afterthoughts to slap a band aid on this ill conceived disaster of a game, the characters are 1 dimensional at best, paper thin at worst, the combat and magic system is garbage, the world building makes no sense, the game is way too easy, side quests are a waste of time, character design is unimaginative and bland, summons are practically useless, there are interminable load times so frequently. This game is fecal matter!