After much struggle, I was able to find a spot that allowed Iris pantyshots during that special quest when you first meet her. She appears to be wearing lacy black boyshorts. No fancy textures for it though, just directly painted onto her character model.
I really don't think Luna actually touches him there. I'm guessing this event right here represents the point where she did in fact touch him right before she died, and started to "heal" him. From my understanding, and especially since it was the same hand, that healing factor just activated once more to disrupt him from being completely taken over by the deamons inside him.
I also really, really don't think that the after credits campfire scene is the afterlife. It just doesn't make any sense, especially when you pair that with the scene of Noctis asking Prompto for a single picture. At that point, they know whats going on. How? Because Noctis clearly told them right before they got there during the campfire.
Yeah! At first I thought, oh man, the power of ACQUAINTANCES is really gonna help me here, in some sort of TAG TEAM event where the freaking chef of Galdin Quay shows off her true power.
Yeah he wants a picture and ofcourse you can give Cindy or something but you're meant to give a picture where all 4 friends are posing. It wouldn't make sense if the bros are with him in the afterlife yet he needs a picture to remember them. Bros being dead defeats too much purpose, him entrusting the world to them, the picture... a lot basically.
After much struggle, I was able to find as spot that allowed Iris pantyshots during that special quest when you first meet her. She appears to be wearing lacy black boyshorts. No fancy textures for it though, just directly painted onto her character model.
I didn't even consider the fact that the guys died in some sort of last stand, so it's weird hearing people mention that.
Likewise, the camping scene was clearly a flashback to the forced camping you do when you leave Hammerhead for the final time. It also explains why the guys knew about the fact that Noct was going to sacrifice himself. Before you enter the throne room you're not really sure if they know, since there's some tension, but at the end when Noct parts from the guys for the last time, you clearly understand that they already know everything that's going to happen. The camp scene was the revelation about that.
Anyway, I think the game will stick with me due to the character relationships, as I already mentioned. Despite not being super invested in the overall story, I got a bit emotional at the end because I was invested in the characters.
Since they appear with Luna and Regis next to Noct when he finally destroys Ardyn inside the Crystal or wherever they are through the power of nakamas and love, I assumed they didn't survive the last stand.
After much struggle, I was able to find as spot that allowed Iris pantyshots during that special quest when you first meet her. She appears to be wearing lacy black boyshorts. No fancy textures for it though, just directly painted onto her character model.
FFXIII, Versus XIII, Agito XIII, and Haeresis XIII were never meant to take place on the same world. They were simply based on a common Fabula Nova Crystallis mythos.
Fabula Nova Crystallis means "new tales of the crystals", as opposed to the old tales of the crystals which were the older FF games (which certainly didn't take place on the same world, right?).
After much struggle, I was able to find as spot that allowed Iris pantyshots during that special quest when you first meet her. She appears to be wearing lacy black boyshorts. No fancy textures for it though, just directly painted onto her character model.
Pfft, Iris' panties are just painted on? No fancy shaders or frilly textures? Something something development hell, something something Tabata on crack, etc.
Maybe it is i guess it contains the daemon plague that would explain why the titan is trying to keep it up like that, i think so because of those black spikes piercing through the titan. It never is explained though so it's a wild guess.
So it took me 26 hours to beat the game. That's with pretty minimal but still SOME exploration, hunts and side-quests done (I got the "finish 10 side quests" trophy and still did quite a few after that, but not enough for 20). I didn't want another Witcher 3 situation where I do 100 hours of sidequests in between short spurts of main story advancement that makes me lose track of what the fuck is happening, so I decided to rush through the story first and then would explore the world more fully after seeing the story through.
Overall I've enjoyed most of my time with the game a lot, but that was more to do with how enjoyable I found traversing the world, some of the banter between the friends and a lot of the combat scenarios (though not all), less with story. The story I felt had potential up until Altissia, then it's fast forward time that left me pretty cold. The final chapter was epic but most everything except some stuff between the bros lacked impact due to how rushed it and almost everything building up to it were. The game has a lot of striking moments (destruction of Tenebrae, death of Luna, seeing the World of Ruin etc.) that lack impact because they just kind of happen and then that's that.
The story just feels so bare-bones except for the relationship & happenings between the bros (even that often feels a bit rushed, but at least there's a bit more substance in that aspect). I think it starts off ok and while there are flaws many have mentioned (like cutscenes ending abruptly, stuff that feels like we SHOULD HAVE seen but are just missing leaving things a bit confusing etc.), it still maintains some modicum of decent pacing & cohesiveness up until Altissia and I enjoyed a lot of the character interactions (except Bros <-> Ardyn, those were just weird most of the time).
Then you're just suddenly thrust into the Leviathan batturu. I mean, the game kinda builds up to getting to Altissia for the whole duration before that, but it would still have been better to have some more built-up & time IN Altissia before being thrust into the Leviathan battle. Then shit happens and you're thrown into a train that fast forwards through everything (except that damn Ch. 13 that goes on for-fucking-ever). Ch. 13 is actually somewhat decent from a story concept POV (learning of all the horrors that was being done in Niflheim), but that too kind of comes out of nowhere or not necessarily out of nowhere, but is introduced too suddenly and could have been better presented in the game.
Then there's the fact that so many characters are just missing who seemed like they could be important characters with at least some screentime in the game prior to release and during the years of hype. Surprisingly a character I thought would be a pretty throwaway one (the Dragoon lady, sorry, these characters are in the game so little that my brain just fails to remember their names) has more screentime/character development than Luna, her brother, the old evil scientist dude and a lot of others who were made up to be important.
This feels less like Tabata taking the intended Versus Saga and at least somewhat carefully editing that into something that can be told in a single game and more like they just cut cut cut cut cut cut cut stuff until it seemed like it's about the length of something they could do. Like, I feel there's the makings of a really good story (and it feels like it might at least partly deliver on it up until Altissia) and a lot of the characters have what seem like compelling story arcs (dragoon lady starting to doubt being involved with Niflheim, Luna's brother not actually being evil but just thinking Noctis is incompetent, evil scientist messing with daemons and ending up becoming one himself etc.), but many of those characters are barely in the game during the first part (which I could kind of understand) and then we hop on a magic train that shows us the cliff-notes of what happens and people just suddenly die or sacrifice themselves or become heroes of the people or turn into Beelzebubs (mostly off-screen) without having more than 5 minutes of screentime. I would have expected Niflheim's top brass to become more relevant once we started getting closer to Niflheim & the end-game, but those people just aren't in the game at all.
Prior to Altissia it feels like maybe 20-30% of the story is missing - so a lot but not so much it feels like you're missing most of the story - past Altissia it feels like 90% of the story is missing. Dragoon Lady's story arc is the best explored one and even that is a pretty bare-bones. Evil Scientist dude & the old Emperor are in the game for, what, 1-2 minutes? Do we even see them more than once prior to the reveal of their demises in Chapter 13? There was this abrupt cutscene maybe around Chapter 4-6 and then Niflheim is just devoid of any non-daemon life in Ch. 13 and shit has just happened without much building up to it. Are they a part of some sidequests I didn't do?
Sooo... Anyhoo, in conclusion, more or less enjoyable world, exploration & combat, occasionally surprisingly decent writing/dialogue, but rushed & unsatisfactory overall story that left me cold other than some of the the Bro Stuff, which was handled pretty decently.
I'd give this a 8/10. Despite feeling fairly negative of the overall story (neat concepts, lacking execution most of the time), the sense of place in the world is so great and thus exploring it and the combat are so enjoyable for me that a 7/10 would feel a bit too low for how much I enjoyed my time with the game.
Since they appear with Luna and Regis next to Noct when he finally destroys Ardyn inside the Crystal or wherever they are through the power of nakamas and love, I assumed they didn't survive the last stand.
See, I saw that as pretty symbolic. It's set up as a POV shot from Ardyn's perspective, but then when it switches back to a neutral perspective, it's just Noct. Likewise, Luna healing him is exactly what happened during her death scene, so I saw it as another symbolic reflection of what she did in order to weaken him, which just happens to come up and allow Noct to make the final blow.
Plus, he basically tells them "hey, you guys need to take care of the kingdom and the people for me" before he leaves them.
Maybe it is i guess it contains the daemon plague that would explain why the titan is trying to keep it up like that, i think so because of those black spikes piercing through the titan. It never is explained though so it's a wild guess.
After much struggle, I was able to find as spot that allowed Iris pantyshots during that special quest when you first meet her. She appears to be wearing lacy black boyshorts. No fancy textures for it though, just directly painted onto her character model.
So it took me 26 hours to beat the game. That's with pretty minimal but still SOME exploration, hunts and side-quests done (I got the "finish 10 side quests" trophy and still did quite a few after that, but not enough for 20). I didn't want another Witcher 3 situation where I do 100 hours of sidequests in between short spurts of main story advancement that makes me lose track of what the fuck is happening, so I decided to rush through the story first and then would explore the world more fully after seeing the story through.
Overall I've enjoyed most of my time with the game a lot, but that was more to do with how enjoyable I found traversing the world, some of the banter between the friends and a lot of the combat scenarios (though not all), less with story. The story I felt had potential up until Altissia, then it's fast forward time that left me pretty cold. The final chapter was epic but most everything except some stuff between the bros lacked impact due to how rushed it and almost everything building up to it were. The game has a lot of striking moments (destruction of Tenebrae, death of Luna, seeing the World of Ruin etc.) that lack impact because they just kind of happen and then that's that.
The story just feels so bare-bones except for the relationship & happenings between the bros (even that often feels a bit rushed, but at least there's a bit more substance in that aspect). I think it starts off ok and while there are flaws many have mentioned (like cutscenes ending abruptly, stuff that feels like we SHOULD HAVE seen but are just missing leaving things a bit confusing etc.), it still maintains some modicum of decent pacing & cohesiveness up until Altissia and I enjoyed a lot of the character interactions (except Bros <-> Ardyn, those were just weird most of the time).
Then you're just suddenly thrust into the Leviathan batturu. I mean, the game kinda builds up to getting to Altissia for the whole duration before that, but it would still have been better to have some more built-up & time IN Altissia before being thrust into the Leviathan battle. Then shit happens and you're thrown into a train that fast forwards through everything (except that damn Ch. 13 that goes on for-fucking-ever). Ch. 13 is actually somewhat decent from a story concept POV (learning of all the horrors that was being done in Niflheim), but that too kind of comes out of nowhere or not necessarily out of nowhere, but is introduced too suddenly and could have been better presented in the game.
Then there's the fact that so many characters are just missing who seemed like they could be important characters with at least some screentime in the game prior to release and during the years of hype. Surprisingly a character I thought would be a pretty throwaway one (the Dragoon lady, sorry, these characters are in the game so little that my brain just fails to remember their names) has more screentime/character development than Luna, her brother, the old evil scientist dude and a lot of others who were made up to be important.
This feels less like Tabata taking the intended Versus Saga and at least somewhat carefully editing that into something that can be told in a single game and more like they just cut cut cut cut cut cut cut stuff until it seemed like it's about the length of something they could do. Like, I feel there's the makings of a really good story (and it feels like it might at least partly deliver on it up until Altissia) and a lot of the characters have what seem like compelling story arcs (dragoon lady starting to doubt being involved with Niflheim, Luna's brother not actually being evil but just thinking Noctis is incompetent, evil scientist messing with daemons and ending up becoming one himself etc.), but many of those characters are barely in the game during the first part (which I could kind of understand) and then we hop on a magic train that shows us the cliff-notes of what happens and people just suddenly die or sacrifice themselves or become heroes of the people or turn into Beelzebubs (mostly off-screen) without having more than 5 minutes of screentime. I would have expected Niflheim's top brass to become more relevant once we started getting closer to Niflheim & the end-game, but those people just aren't in the game at all.
Prior to Altissia it feels like maybe 20-30% of the story is missing - so a lot but not so much it feels like you're missing most of the story - past Altissia it feels like 90% of the story is missing. Dragoon Lady's story arc is the best explored one and even that is a pretty bare-bones. Evil Scientist dude & the old Emperor are in the game for, what, 1-2 minutes? Do we even see them more than once prior to the reveal of their demises in Chapter 13? There was this abrupt cutscene maybe around Chapter 4-6 and then Niflheim is just devoid of any non-daemon life in Ch. 13 and shit has just happened without much building up to it. Are they a part of some sidequests I didn't do?
Sooo... Anyhoo, in conclusion, more or less enjoyable world, exploration & combat, occasionally surprisingly decent writing/dialogue, but rushed & unsatisfactory overall story that left me cold other than some of the the Bro Stuff, which was handled pretty decently.
I'd give this a 8/10. Despite feeling fairly negative of the overall story (neat concepts, lacking execution most of the time), the sense of place in the world is so great and thus exploring it and the combat are so enjoyable for me that a 7/10 would feel a bit too low for how much I enjoyed my time with the game.
See, I saw that as pretty symbolic. It's set up as a POV shot from Ardyn's perspective, but then when it switches back to a neutral perspective, it's just Noct. Likewise, Luna healing him is exactly what happened during her death scene, so I saw it as another symbolic reflection of what she did in order to weaken him, which just happens to come up and allow Noct to make the final blow.
Plus, he basically tells them "hey, you guys need to take care of the kingdom and the people for me" before he leaves them.
After much struggle, I was able to find as spot that allowed Iris pantyshots during that special quest when you first meet her. She appears to be wearing lacy black boyshorts. No fancy textures for it though, just directly painted onto her character model.
I don't feel like Noctis is a very likeable character. He's a man-child for 90% of the story and his grown-up self is decent but there isn't enough time with him to really resonate with me.
Disappointed that he never ends up doing anything as badass as the first Versus trailer when he mows down all of those soldiers in front of the Insomnia Citadel.
In my 50 hours of playing and completing the story, I've only seen the game over screen once. That damn Regalia F-type lol! I need to work on my landings.
Also, I think this will be the first game I, 1) actively work to get plat trophy and 2) completely max out all stats and skills etc. I really enjoy the world SE has created. But, not yet ready to rank this FF among the others yet until. Gotta wait until some time passes from the hype.
Disappointed that he never ends up doing anything as badass as the first Versus trailer when he mows down all of those soldiers in front of the Insomnia Citadel.
That first Versus trailer was so try-hard/edgelord that I literally ignored the game for the next 10 years, only tuning back in like a month away from release.
Glad I tuned in, though, because now I legit love FFXV.
After much struggle, I was able to find as spot that allowed Iris pantyshots during that special quest when you first meet her. She appears to be wearing lacy black boyshorts. No fancy textures for it though, just directly painted onto her character model.
My Japanese isn't the greatest but:
どこまでも広がる世界、どこまでもいける世界
Means something like:
A boundless world that you can travel anywhere in.
I'm pretty sure that first picture isn't in the game. haha
Pfft, Iris' panties are just painted on? No fancy shaders or frilly textures? Something something development hell, something something Tabata on crack, etc.
That may or may not be the case. However, they certainly went through a lot of trouble to make it difficult see, so they clearly did not intend to player to see anything at all. I'm assuming they stylized it just a bit in case someone found a way. Kind of amusing to think that FF Type-0 had way more effort invested into this sort of thing than XV does (coincidentally, both are Tabata games).
That first Versus trailer was so try-hard/edgelord that I literally ignored the game for the next 10 years, only tuning back in like a month away from release.
Glad I tuned in, though, because now I legit love FFXV.
Ironically, that was what a lot of people liked about it. Nomura had stated at one point that despite Noctis's outward persona and appearance(which he obviously knew was like every badass edgelord out there), he wanted to try something much different and more subtle than characters in previous Final Fantasy main characters, and that he didn't know how people would react to Noctis's inward personality as they got to know him in Versus, and so he was nervous about that.
When Tabata took over, it felt like Noctis became much more of a 'normal dude' pretty quickly, which is perfectly fine i thought, despite clashing with his appearance, but i always wondered what Nomura's pictured version of Noctis would have been.
The game is pretty controversial in Japan. There are review takedowns by Nintendo fans, people really annoyed with the issues we've constantly been laying out in here, and also niconicois filled with bug videos from the final game, and that tents to influence viewpoints as well in a negative direction
His name is very quickly passed over so it's easy to miss.
I think most of the "who?" reactions are like mine, just mocking the game's pathetic attempt at drama. I knew who Jared was, but when he was killed off I did have a little moment of "who?" because I couldn't believe they were killing him off and wondered if someone else with a similar name had been introduced.
Ironically, that was what a lot of people liked about it. Nomura had stated at one point that despite Noctis's outward persona and appearance(which he obviously knew was like every badass edgelord out there), he wanted to try something much different and more subtle than characters in previous Final Fantasy main characters, and that he didn't know how people would react to Noctis's inward personality as they got to know him in Versus, and so he was nervous about that.
When Tabata took over, it felt like Noctis became much more of a 'normal dude' pretty quickly, which is perfectly fine i thought, despite clashing with his appearance, but i always wondered what Nomura's pictured version of Noctis would have been.
My Japanese isn't the greatest but:
どこまでも広がる世界、どこまでもいける世界
Means something like:
A boundless world that you can travel anywhere in.
I'm pretty sure that first picture isn't in the game. haha
Yeah he wants a picture and ofcourse you can give Cindy or something but you're meant to give a picture where all 4 friends are posing. It wouldn't make sense if the bros are with him in the afterlife yet he needs a picture to remember them. Bros being dead defeats too much purpose, him entrusting the world to them, the picture... a lot basically.
Alright, let’s get this out of the way. For the most part on implementation and getting shit actually done and running, FFXV actually does more right than wrong. That being said I heard the phrase “the game has done more right than wrong overall as a game” numerous times both in real life and on this board and I want to clarify that this is simply not a true statement. Also just because a game does more right than wrong doesn’t automatically make it a great nor a good game. It simply means it passed the checkmark of being a passable game. That is all. Having said this, I want to say that my time with the game was not completely pointless. We can all live with liking bad games or shows or music or whatnot. There are certain things in life we know are bad but we enjoy (like fast food from time to time). XV is one of those games for me. But I want to specifically lay out why XV is not a good game and I’m going to lay it out in two simple topics: narrative and game design.
The story at is core and in terms of pretext and plotpoints are absolutely great. It has a makings for a great story. The ascension of a young and naive prince, brotherhood between friends as they travel, an empire that has dabbled to deep with science, a legend and prophecy in the making for centuries. All of these are great story elements that stand on its own and together create something intricate that can easily be enjoyed by anyone immersed in old tales. Unfortunately where the story falls short is simply the execution. The ideas I listed above are only few of the interesting plot elements and points in the game. XV simply put juggles way too many narrative ideas and doesn't allow the game's flow to bridge all these elements together in a coherent manner. Let's use the example Starscourge. It's never mentioned in the game outside of the tutorial segment. It's not used once. At all. However, this is a central conflict to the game that the protagonists fight against but is put into the background as the game focuses more on the actions to prevent the Starscourge. Which brings us to a narrative dissonance. There is so much emphasis on the action itself that the game never explains why that action is important. It's a simple thing to note that Noctis, while attempting to gain vengeance, is also juggling with his destiny to end the Starscourge, which brings eternal night, and in order to accomplish this he must gather the strength of the Astrals. There are numerous instances where this is happening whether it be the Ring of the Lucii or Luna's involvement with the legends. It's just terrible execution. I hear the terminology that the game has terrible writing. The writing is actually not that bad. The problem is that a lot of the writing is non-existent. This isn't necessarily bad writing but just really bad storyboarding. What happens is people remove entire panels and segments from a storyboard and it becomes difficult to stitch elements of the plot together to make something coherent. This is what most likely happened in regards to the conflict with the Nifelheim Empire. There was supposed to be a conflict but there simply wasn't enough time to develop this conflict in the game so the game cut it out entirely. Instead the invasion of Insomnia is used to propel the entirety Noctis' journey. It no longer becomes a story of vengeance and ascension (though the game would like you to believe it is) but a story of a legacy of lies and a main consumed by hatred. So essentially what I'm summarizing is that there are too many plot elements, not enough time for those elements to be baked, not enough time for those elements to be explained, and simply a terribly storyboarded narrative. Even the last cutscene made me go "why is all of this action important?" It just doesn't make sense. Things happen and the viewer is expected to know what is going on.
I could write an entire paper about how the game hamfists a shitty female protagonist but I will briefly summarize how I feel about Luna. This character is clearly meant to evoke a certain emotion and that much is clear because the game constantly tries to reinforce the importance of Luna to Noctis (though the game doesn't spend nearly enough time giving her screentime). Just as a conjecture, my guess is that the CG scene was already done for Luna dying but most likely they didn't have the time to do everything in regards to her, just like everything else. That point aside, Luna fails to evoke an emotion but more importantly conflicts with the central and only emotional theme in the entire game: brotherhood and brotherly love. You travel with Noctis, Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto this entire game. Whether you hated Prompto's lines or hated Gladio's douchieness or enjoyed Ignis quips or etc, the game made you feel soemthing about this game. Throughout the game you see a pre-existing bond between these characters get stronger. They were close friends that were most likely somewhat superficial, like most common friendships are, but over the struggles and harsh times they encounter they become more open and become a tighter group. While even this plot and theme is half-baked it's the only aspect of the story that truly evoked a strong emotion in the game. I will say that I legit teared up when Noctis gave a speech to his friends at the end of the game about how he felt. The game is extremely touching in reinforcing that they did struggle and through their share of joyful and painful moments, they did start and end the journey together. As a complementing theme to the aforementioned theme is "stand." Regis reinforces the idea to Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto that they don't guide or help Noctis but merely standing by him. Even Luna as she struggles to face her fate reinforces the idea of not necessarily wanting to help Noctis but stand by him. Then comes the end of the game where finally Noctis reinforces the idea to his friends to stand tall. The theme of standing amongst each other is really strong as it is togetherness and comradery that ultimately prevails. Back to the original point of brotherhood, this stands direct contrast to the romantic relationship (or lack thereof) between Noctis and Luna. Luna ultimately exists to progress the plot forward. There is nothing of consequence that really happens whether Luna is there or not. The game could've easily been re-written in some way where Noctis journeys to bind with the Astrals. The game tries to reinforce the romance between the two when the game should've really spent more time building upon the relationship of the four male protagonists. I teared up only twice in the game. Once in the post credits camping scene. The second is when Noctis asks Prompto to take a photo with him to the final battle. Holy shit what a feels moment. The game has you take pictures and I never really went back and took at them. I only saved the ones that I thought were memorable for me. However, that scene where you go through all of the pictures you saved up to that point was a whirlwind of emotions that makes you feel like you really came far with the four characters. Just... amazing (i chose the first picture if you care).
I can go more into why the story fails and succeeds but I think these two solid ways exemplify the major issues the game has.
In terms of gameplay, the game suffers immensely from pacing. Obviously this is due to narrative reasons. That being said I wish this game was linear like FFXIII. I don't mean this in terms of map design but in terms of moving the plot forward from one point to the next. The problem with open world games is that there is no sense of urgency and there is no sense of importance when significant things happen. When the Empire invades Insomnia and Noctis is quick to get revenge but has the option to spend the next dozen or so hours just scouring the world... it's just wrong... on so many levels. The game would've really sealed how important things happening are. Alas, this is not the case and as a result the game's play and flow just doesn't sit right and isn't a neatly woven experience. Additionally the game's open world while beautiful to look at is just not fun to travel. The dungeons themselves are great and so are the environments itself but the practicality of traveling through shrubs that block you too frequently and a camera that is dogshit leaves little be desired. Xenoblade had it right years ago. What the fuck XV. Quests are also bad but this is expected to be honest.....
The combat is an absolute mess and disaster. I'm a super fan when it comes to action oriented combat. I abhor the mess that XV has become. One is partially because the game doesn't challenge you to the point where you actually utilize the toolsets you have properly and the encounters suck. Let's break this out into multiple segments. We'll talk about the fundamentals attacks, how they function, and what impacts it has. Then we'll go over combat options you have at your arsenal. Then we'll go over encounter design and how that relates to the two topics that preceded it.
The combat is a simple attack with a button (which creates Blitzes) with a rhythmic press here and there for strong finisher (which are referred to as Finishers). The idea is great as you can continue to whale on the enemy until they are dead with the occasional Finishers to break and appendage. Then you have the warp strike which will allow you to make you very mobile. The dodge and parry are relegated to simple defense and attack buttons. Then you also have the ability to throw magic here and there. All of this on paper sounds great. Unfortunately this doesn't well because the game the game is way too inconsistent in execution. The animations for attacks are super clunky and doesn't have the finesse of something like Kingdom Hearts. It's difficult, annoying, and cumbersome to swap weapons in a Blitz string. The magic damages your own allies (albeit not much). The parry system is stupidly broken and overpowered. It's not good. The combat system itself is not balanced nor playtested clearly. This is what is called a passable action combat system. KH2 perfected combat 10 years ago. Come on Square.
Then you have the combat options available, primarily managed through the Ascension Grid. The Ascension Grid is awesome by the way but fails when compared to XIII's Crystarium. While Crystarium was extremely linear, you knew exactly what you were getting with each role and how they affected combat. The execution of the Crystarium in relation to the progression of the game is why it ultimately sucked. Here in the Ascension Grid there aren't too many things that truly change how you play. In XIII if you invest in the Medic class then you know exactly what you're focusing on. Here you just deck out certain categories... not changing how you play. You're still going to mash Blitzes and it doesn't really change how Blitzes work. That's SOOOOO boring. Also the game offers too much combat options in the beginning. You get four weapon slots from the get go. You get magic from the get go. You get Limits from the get go. LIke... holy shit. Have these designers played a game where you felt like you were getting legit stronger over the course of the game?
Then we come to the encounter design. LMAO. This shit is so inexcusably bad I have to hold myself back. Between the shitty enemies (and numbers) that are being thrown at you with the craptastic lock-on system, I don't know how people are giving the combat praise. I'm not the world's greatest player but I'm definitely not the worst. I'm better than the average considering I blew through Bloodborne with absolutely no trouble minus Father G. because I had an issue of stubbornness and pride at the same time. The game is dead easy. This game gives you encounters where it simply doesn't offer you a variety of ways to deal with it. Let's get gangbanged by 8 wolves and they stagger you all the time. This sounds fun. I guess I'll just warp out and just air-juggle since they can't hit me. I know this isn't the only option available but Lmao. Seriously? This is your idea of fun? Let's use KH2 when getting swarmed by enemy. I have numerous Drive forms to use, I have numerous magic, I have summons, I have allies that actually do shit and can be customized to use certain actions. Like.. HOLY SHIT.
The combat is not good.
Ultimately at the end of the day none of this probably matters. I enjoyed the overall experience despite bad gameplay and bad story. I legit teared up in the end so I guess that means something. However, for the people who want justify that this game is good from an objective standpoint I wanted to take the time to explain why I feel so strongly in the opposite manner.
I think it hit me a bit harder than most people because I was more intent on overhearing conversations and whatnot. So as I went to Lestallum I felt this weird foreboding feeling, and then I head an NPC say "poor kid, to have his grandpa killed right in front of him like that" my mind went "oh shit, didn't expect that".
So I honestly don't think Jared's death is about Jared and being sad for him, its more about Talcott. The problem then lies in that I thought Talcott was a nothing character at that point and really didn't feel for him much lol
XIII ran into numerous issues one of which was it gimped the combat system for too long. Here you run into the issue of the game giving you way too much.
Late reply since I was at work. I don't see anything pointing to that fact. Rings can be taken on/off so I don't think him not wearing a ring means a lot. It seemed pretty clear that when you leave Hammerhead in the World of Ruin that they force you to one final camp night. All you see at the time is them chowing down on their last meal. At the end of the game it flashes back to Noctis talking about how he has accepted his fate but that he is having trouble accepting that they are putting themselves at risk for him.
To other people's point of them not dying during the 10 year wait: I think it only means that they fought what they could individually handle. Storming the citadel and going into the most dangerous area of the world is probably a stark difference than slaughtering random daemons. It's like the difference between wandering the overworld and picking off weak prey versus diving to the depths of some dungeon and getting ambushed and overwhelmed.
Perhaps some of the DLC will occur after the ending and some of these questions will be definitively answered?
There are some pretty meaningful decisions coming out of the Ascension grid. Buffing regen actually helps you stay in combat longer*. Buffing your teammates actually makes them (somewhat more) useful. Going all-in on airstep virtually changes the way you approach combat especially with a spear. As off-kilter as the magic system is, investing in magic lets you 5x9999 enemies. Focusing on Warp Strike or Blindside damage makes playstyles actively going on those more effective.
It's not your typical Final Fantasy progression, but there really are some meaningful upgrades in there.
In terms of actual combat flow I think the game works best when it's the party of 4 against a medium sized enemy. There were quite a few boss battles that fit that bill, culminating in Ifrit. To be fair, there were also quite a lot of boss battles that didn't fit the bill, including Titan and Leviathan (which were more set pieces than they were showcases of the battle system) and the final Ardyn 1v1.
Adamantoise is also kind of a pointless slog and a test of perserverence more than anything
Sure, camera and lock-on could use a bit more work, but I don't think I feel cheated on the combat, as there were enough systems and nuance that you feel challenged to do better regardless of how easy or hard the encounters were, and things like blindsides and parries did make for a rhythm where doing better meant something.
*I think if anything, it's the item system that sours it a little for me. There's no opportunity cost to spamming items (except I'm told, Costlemark Sealed Dungeon, which I now want to try out) so it really boils down to how much you're willing to $$$ to get through encounters.
edit: Speaking of the sealed dungeons, I think I'm actually enjoying these the most out of all the content in the game because it just throws you encounter after encounter to the point you can read the tells before they happen, and perfect moves. They also seem to be a sweet spot in number of enemies (except when you get 4 bombs, 3 of which explode creating a giant cacophony of like 2 dozen enemies), lack warp points for MP cheesing, and are in rooms that are reasonably sized that the camera issues aren't super distracting.
Didn't Nomura (Versus era) say that everybody was guessing wrong regarding Noctis's personality? That everybody was pegging him as a character an "emo" character type aligned with Cloud(solemn AC Cloud and some "moody/tude" early Cloud, not "Let's mosey" late-game Cloud) and Squall, but that Noctis was going to be more reserved, even shy around strangers, but be "open", friendly and loyal to those he knew? That's kinda what he was, personality-wise, in the final game.
Prompto ended up taking a lot of butt shots of noctis in my game for some reason, none of them showed up tprwards the ending where you had to choose one lol.
There are some pretty meaningful decisions coming out of the Ascension grid. Buffing regen actually helps you stay in combat longer*. Buffing your teammates actually makes them (somewhat more) useful. Going all-in on airstep virtually changes the way you approach combat especially with a spear. As off-kilter as the magic system is, investing in magic lets you 5x9999 enemies. Focusing on Warp Strike or Blindside damage makes playstyles actively going on those more effective.
It's not your typical Final Fantasy progression, but there really are some meaningful upgrades in there.
In terms of actual combat flow I think the game works best when it's the party of 4 against a medium sized enemy. There were quite a few boss battles that fit that bill, culminating in Ifrit. To be fair, there were also quite a lot of boss battles that didn't fit the bill, including Titan and Leviathan (which were more set pieces than they were showcases of the battle system) and the final Ardyn 1v1.
Adamantoise is also kind of a pointless slog and a test of perserverence more than anything
Sure, camera and lock-on could use a bit more work, but I don't think I feel cheated on the combat, as there were enough systems and nuance that you feel challenged to do better regardless of how easy or hard the encounters were, and things like blindsides and parries did make for a rhythm where doing better meant something.
*I think if anything, it's the item system that sours it a little for me. There's no opportunity cost to spamming items (except I'm told, Costlemark Sealed Dungeon, which I now want to try out) so it really boils down to how much you're willing to $$$ to get through encounters.
edit: Speaking of the sealed dungeons, I think I'm actually enjoying these the most out of all the content in the game because it just throws you encounter after encounter to the point you can read the tells before they happen, and perfect moves. They also seem to be a sweet spot in number of enemies (except when you get 4 bombs, 3 of which explode creating a giant cacophony of like 2 dozen enemies), lack warp points for MP cheesing, and are in rooms that are reasonably sized that the camera issues aren't super distracting.
I can see that but I didn't find that the Ascension Grid had too many things on there that really changed gameplay all that much. I'll give you the aerial combat but honestly outside of that things were mostly passive stuff or just things taht don't necessarily account for something that you're doing 99% of the time in combat. Actually attacking.
After much struggle, I was able to find as spot that allowed Iris pantyshots during that special quest when you first meet her. She appears to be wearing lacy black boyshorts. No fancy textures for it though, just directly painted onto her character model.
I believe that most of the game, namely the sidequests and the main story are targeted for the first timers/casual players/"just wanna play the game" kind of people because it's not difficult and it's easy to over level.
Once you explore the option of going to get the platinum, the optional content gets challenging, but not too hard (beating Adamantoise is long and boring but not hard, the initial Costlemark dungeon is a pain, but nothing incredibly difficult if you don't come in prepared). I'd say this targets the people who are more adept to games but aren't willing to go all out.
Then there's the Sealed Dungeon for those who truly want a much more hardcore experience that require long playthroughs and retrying several parts.
I'd say SE was able to balance a lot of the things here to target a large range of demographics.
After much struggle, I was able to find as spot that allowed Iris pantyshots during that special quest when you first meet her. She appears to be wearing lacy black boyshorts. No fancy textures for it though, just directly painted onto her character model.
I can see that but I didn't find that the Ascension Grid had too many things on there that really changed gameplay all that much. I'll give you the aerial combat but honestly outside of that things were mostly passive stuff or just things taht don't necessarily account for something that you're doing 99% of the time in combat. Actually attacking.
Then I doubt if you truly tested out and tried the combat system. Sure you can say that you got by without them but that would hold true for many other games..even within FF. FF combat has never really been on the hard side outside of Lightning Returns and more on how efficiently you can fight and for that you'd need to make use of all you have. I would not have wanted to play FFXV where I had to unlock warp strike or unlock magic and such...that's a tired old formula and it's not the only way to approach progression.
The techniques, teamwork, recovery and combat skill tree essentially change the game in significant way allowing you to tackle enemies in different way and all leading to quicker kills while also allowing you to stay healthy throughout. Then there are the Royal arms, all unique weapons with their unique moveset with their unique effects that you acquire over time.
I can see that but I didn't find that the Ascension Grid had too many things on there that really changed gameplay all that much. I'll give you the aerial combat but honestly outside of that things were mostly passive stuff or just things taht don't necessarily account for something that you're doing 99% of the time in combat. Actually attacking.
- Some bro techniques are game changes. Dawnhammer for single target damage, Gravisphere for crowd control, Regroup for healing, etc. - many of the damaging ones require you to go deeper into the 99AP nodes to really shine.
- Some teamwork moves change up the dynamic. Ignis dropping Noctis a hi-potion for example, or flinch/stagger assist while defending,
- Magic becomes far more useful when going into the magic grid. Friendly fire is merely a setback.
- Link Strikes and Warpstrikes are far more effective when getting their branches maxed out. Ditto Blindside
- Going down the Impervious branch and taking it lets you go more on the offensive since you can regain HP retroactively if timed properly
- Airstep, obviously
- Various First Aid nodes keep bros in battle longer
None of these discourage you from attacking, (obviously, since attacking still does damage), but if you're solely just attacking, you aren't taking full advantage of Links, Magic, etc to begin with, which are what these nodes enhance.
Of course, there are a bunch of passive like the stat gains and increasing combo damage, but overall they're expensive enough you'll have to pick and choose.
And again, that being said quite a bit of these (especially w.r.t survivability) are completely negated by the nonexistent opportunity cost of items. Heck, in every JRPG ever, all members dead means a game over. Here, it means "do you want to use a Phoenix Down y/n"
At the end of Kingsglaive, Luna leaves Insomnia to give the ring to Noct, right? Using the Audi, wouldn't she get to Hammerhead only hours later than the bros?
Am I missing the part where Luna, from the end of Kingsglaive (wich ends on the same day that the game starts, right?) goes from delivering the ring to finding the gods to help Noct bro?
Help me!
PS: Why is Luna the only person in all EOS without Noctis cell number?
At the end of Kingsglaive, Luna leaves Insomnia to give the ring to Noct, right? Using the Audi, wouldn't she get to Hammerhead only hours later than the bros?
Am I missing the part where Luna, from the end of Kingsglaive (wich ends on the same day that the game starts, right?) goes from delivering the ring to finding the gods to help Noct bro?
Help me!
PS: Why is Luna the only person in all EOS without Noctis cell number?
What is weird is that Noctis and co leave to go to to Luna at the start of the game in some far away country. Yet Luna shows up in Insomnia during the movie which is in between when they leave and when they go to hammerhead. Meaning Noctis only needed to stay home for a few days to meet Luna in the first place.
