Pretty much exactly how I feel. I've seen people complain about L'Cie and Fal'Cie but then rattle on about asari, turians, witchers, dragonborn, etc. RPGs have a lot of words and names that are nonsense without context.
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Did you understand FFXV story?
- Thread starter dragonzdogma
- Start date
Pretty much exactly how I feel. I've seen people complain about L'Cie and Fal'Cie but then rattle on about asari, turians, witchers, dragonborn, etc. RPGs have a lot of words and names that are nonsense without context.
I understood it mostly fine (maybe some specific things with Ardyn aside), though I'm still baffled why some of the stuff from Kingsglaive regarding what the treaty actually was wasn't in the game itself, because it'd take a few lines of dialogue to say and it's hugely important (and similarly there's some relevant lore/terms they arbitrarily never mention in Kingsglaive that's covered in a few lines in the game). I also never got around to Brotherhood, though, so I'm not sure if that complicates things or helps; I should probably watch that before the rest of the DLC hits.
It's a hugely flawed game that I enjoyed a lot, for what it's worth. But I'm someone who enjoys flawed games so... that's maybe not saying much?
It's a hugely flawed game that I enjoyed a lot, for what it's worth. But I'm someone who enjoys flawed games so... that's maybe not saying much?
Leithkorias
Member
There was a lot that I felt needed more explanation, and I also agree way too much happened offscreen. But, I got most of it and enjoyed the story for the most part. Its my second fav after 7 and holy shit what a fantastic original soundtrack. I do feel that on the whole the game deserved to be so much better though.
PhilipDoesMatter
Member
No. Confusing as hell. Jez how I disliked this game. I will never forgive SE for what they did with the series since X.
poipoipoi9
Member
Surprised people are confused about the story, it's one of the simplest and most normal Final Fantasy story across the entire series. Hell even FF1 was more convoluted than this. But I liked it for its simplicity, Prince goes and reclaims his kingdom from the bad guys. Also he does best friend things with his best friends. What more do you need.
AyraSutoraifu
Member
A friend of mine is a real FF fan and defends it to the death. After completing XV he's said that it's the most disappointing FF.
I'm also a fan but after XIII i don't really care that much anymore. Luckily i bought XV for 14 euro's via the psn bug. Going to start with it after Yakuza 0 but keeping my expectations in check.
I'm also a fan but after XIII i don't really care that much anymore. Luckily i bought XV for 14 euro's via the psn bug. Going to start with it after Yakuza 0 but keeping my expectations in check.
AgentLampshade
Member
I followed it quite easily until the end of chapter 9.
What's frustrating is that I LIKED the story beats. Just the way it was told is horrific. Even if the DLC and patches address everything I had an issue with, I can't and won't support such fractured storytelling. I'll be keeping my distance from whatever Tabata brings out next. I'm not a fan of his directorial style at all.
Luna dies off-screen, Ignis is blinded off-screen, Niflheim killed Shiva at some unknown point in time and the characters treat it like common knowledge, Prompto is or isn't a robot, Gladio doesn't hate Noctis anymore (why DID he hate Noctis?), Ardyn helps out just coz, Rayvus is killed off-screen (kinda), the Empire has acharacter that literally show up in one scene, then gets completely ignored etc.
What's frustrating is that I LIKED the story beats. Just the way it was told is horrific. Even if the DLC and patches address everything I had an issue with, I can't and won't support such fractured storytelling. I'll be keeping my distance from whatever Tabata brings out next. I'm not a fan of his directorial style at all.
Yeah, that's pretty much how I was with it.
Thinking back, I really really enjoyed the game while I was playing it, but now that I've finished it I can barely even remember the majority of the story lmao
NinjamicWZ
Banned
This is the best synopsis.
wondergorls
Member
Yes.I liked the narrative also, its a shame it was just sparse and badly paced!
SolVanderlyn
Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
Haha, neat.I actually came in and read those when I was on self imposed ban.
Ardyn had potential.
Ardyn was probably the only thing in the game that went beyond potential into being genuinely good, IMO. From a storytelling perspective, I mean. There's some holes that could have been filled in, but I felt like his character arc was properly developed, aspects of his past were touched upon and he reacted appropriately to events in the game. More than can be said for anyone else.
It felt rushed, yes. That entire chapter did.
royox
Member
Based on that old 4chan leak, ch.14 was going to be like FFVI's 2nd half where you had to find your friends 1 by 1 on a now post Apocalyptic world. Something something Iris Demon Hunter, Kill Bill Cindy, Ignis Daredevil training etc etc.
That part was cut and rushed because of the deadline.
Drillary Clinton
Banned
For being as poorly told as it is for the majority of the game, it actually wraps up very well. Ardyn is a great villain, probably the best we've seen in a FF game for a while. Overall, I'd say it's not good because of how its presented.
Solid Sora
Member
I think it's less directional style and more they ran out of time. I believe the guy deserves one more chance, especially with his next project being a new IP.
Darkstorne
Member
It had potential, but his actions in the game helping out Noctis so much didn't much sense at all on reflection. He had Noctis in an Imperial airship immediately after Titan as well, and just let him go instead of taking him straight to the crystal. "I wanted to defeat you when you were a god" was an incredibly forced explanation.
I had assumed he was going to reveal himself as Bahamut and become your ally at the end, and I still wish it had played out that way with the Imperial Emperor being the villain (though he too would have needed a lot more screen time and an actual back story). Every Primal had their own unique trial before they agreed to help Noct though, and Shiva proved they can take human forms and help mortals in more mundane ways. I was fully expecting Ardyn's trial to be that Noct could convince all the other Primals to bow to his strength first, and most importantly to accept his destiny and that he needed the help and respect of his friends (which would have made Ardyn's bullshit Chapter 13 labyrinth make sense too).
Final Fantasy XIII felt like an american sci-fi tv show with the amount of jargon and exposition it had. None of it was well written, everything felt so awkward. But it was all about the writing, not the terms themselves. Pretty much every Final Fantasy had terms like Fal'Cie and l'CIe and mythology that has to be learned organically over the course of the game. It says a lot about the poor quality of the writing, that only FFXIII suffers from this criticism.
Somewhat, when I played it. At this point I dont remember anything about the story except for the basic premise of going on a roadtrip in a car trying to get noctis into marrying Luna, some sort of invasion with magic weapons and the general layout of the world.
Not entirely sure whether that tells me I'm just forgetful or the story being convoluted.
Not entirely sure whether that tells me I'm just forgetful or the story being convoluted.
Death Penalty
Member
Everything that was actually explained in the game is incredibly easy to understand. The freaking crystal does one of the worst exposition dumps I've ever seen about it, though, so if someone tuned that part out a little I get it.
The problem is that a great deal of stuff was explained later in obscure supplementary content. Like, not even the anime or the movie go into it. If it wasn't explained in the game, then it might as well not be there. Ifrit's role for example was just awful. One line to explain the penultimate boss who actually started literally everything the game deals with? That's just trash writing.
So while the game's story is easily grasped, there's no way a player can be expected to know some of the deeper story behind it all. That's not a result of being confusing or deep, that's a result of not explaining anything and being laughably incomplete. It doesn't help that fans go around muddying the waters with a bunch of theories that have become accepted as fact like the Izunia thing.
The problem is that a great deal of stuff was explained later in obscure supplementary content. Like, not even the anime or the movie go into it. If it wasn't explained in the game, then it might as well not be there. Ifrit's role for example was just awful. One line to explain the penultimate boss who actually started literally everything the game deals with? That's just trash writing.
So while the game's story is easily grasped, there's no way a player can be expected to know some of the deeper story behind it all. That's not a result of being confusing or deep, that's a result of not explaining anything and being laughably incomplete. It doesn't help that fans go around muddying the waters with a bunch of theories that have become accepted as fact like the Izunia thing.
Son Of Sparda
Member
I understood what was happening. Didn't really know (or care) what was the point of it tho.
UnemployedVillain
Member
Seriously, why couldn't Noctis just call Luna on a cell phone?
Why is this a thing?
"I MISS U SO MUCH LUNA MY LOVE I HOPE I SEE YOU AGAIN ONE DAY!" Fucking FaceTime her or something, idiot.
It was the first thing I thought off when I found out they used a dog to communicate. It was beyond stupid
HammerFace
Banned
Seriously, why couldn't Noctis just call Luna on a cell phone?
Why is this a thing?
"I MISS U SO MUCH LUNA MY LOVE I HOPE I SEE YOU wAGAIN ONE DAY!" Fucking FaceTime her or something, idiot.
Luna and Noctis belonged to warring kingdoms. Well rather Luna's home was forcefully taken into Niflheim but still. Maybe there was something preventing one another from communicating because of that and so they had to rely on magic dog notes.
Not all games, movies, etc are created equal. A game like your example of The Witcher creates that context better than FFXIII does.
It's like saying there's no difference between the way Game of Thrones handles its jargon versus say, The Shannara Chronicles, a show which gets notoriously bogged down in it.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
I'm pretty sure I understood to the extent that the story was actually in the game.
It was clearly a hatchet job on whatever story they had planned in the design document. The story fundamentally didn't make it into the game. Characters like Ardyn, Ravus and Prompto were badly "explained" in throwaway exposition dialogue.
I don't think the audience should really be expected to know what the hell happened based on how it was presented. Anyone who claims a strong kinship with the story must surely have filled the gaps with Wiki or imagination.
I'm not sure if the story as it was planned was very special either. The fact that everything revolved around the royal legacy made for some traditionally dull fantasy fare. "Everything was the king's destiny".
All in all: a dud. I think it's one of the worst stories in FF.
It was clearly a hatchet job on whatever story they had planned in the design document. The story fundamentally didn't make it into the game. Characters like Ardyn, Ravus and Prompto were badly "explained" in throwaway exposition dialogue.
I don't think the audience should really be expected to know what the hell happened based on how it was presented. Anyone who claims a strong kinship with the story must surely have filled the gaps with Wiki or imagination.
I'm not sure if the story as it was planned was very special either. The fact that everything revolved around the royal legacy made for some traditionally dull fantasy fare. "Everything was the king's destiny".
All in all: a dud. I think it's one of the worst stories in FF.
Jonneh3003
Banned
I still don't know who the main villain was and what his motivations were.
AngelOFDeath
Member
Just finished this yesterday, unfortunately the story telling was downright awful. Not the story itself but how they presented it. I did not watch the tie in media, so following what was happening, I would ask myself WTF is going on right now.
The game definitely felt like a small piece of a larger pie, but that piece felt like something was missing (the filling). If they wanted me to figure it out on my own through random on screen texts or even the little bit of what is going on. I did not like the fact that some of the story reveals or explanation was done through the Chapter Load screen texts. Come the hell on SE, you guys had years to perfect this, the hell were you working on for so long? At least XIII explained things way better than this. It was like the last episode of a 10 season long show, if you don't know what you are expecting best believe it won't make sense.
The game definitely felt like a small piece of a larger pie, but that piece felt like something was missing (the filling). If they wanted me to figure it out on my own through random on screen texts or even the little bit of what is going on. I did not like the fact that some of the story reveals or explanation was done through the Chapter Load screen texts. Come the hell on SE, you guys had years to perfect this, the hell were you working on for so long? At least XIII explained things way better than this. It was like the last episode of a 10 season long show, if you don't know what you are expecting best believe it won't make sense.
SafeinSound
Member
No. The story is a train wreck, and it isn't because I don't understand it. There just isn't anything to understand. The game constantly through places, characters and terms at you that have no explanation at all. It's terrible. But I'm still enjoying the game(currently playing it).
I really enjoyed the game and got the general story but there were so many who, what, when, moments. This coming from someone who has watched the prelude film and all four of the character into story things. Game was going well up to about chapter 9 where you can tell they were rushed and chapters (apart from 13) are a small quest long each.
They really need to work on bringing back Summons in the newer games like in the older games.
They really need to work on bringing back Summons in the newer games like in the older games.
the death of Luna felt so inconsequential and forced - they really should have had her tag along with the team/you for a coupe of chapters in the game so you could get attached and have a reason to feel something when she goes.
SkylineRKR
Member
Story was rather terribly told, while it wasn't bad. As for Ardyn,
The in game dialogue is lacking, and some other things are incredibly dull such as the Royal Arms.
Ardyn was from thousands of years ago, chosen by the gods to eliminate the scourge. He did it and would've been crowned but was then fucked over by others who branded him a demon and the gods denied him ascension as well. So he became a wanderer.
So he wanted to exact revenge on the crystal, the royal bloodline and the gods. He envisioned Noctis being the King who would succeed in his mission. He pretty much guided Noctis to the gods, the crystal, and to the royal arms. He then let Noctis power up so that he would merge with the crystal and because of this Ardyn could destroy them all at once.
He succeeded because Noctis needed to sacrifice himself in order to purge Ardyn.
So he wanted to exact revenge on the crystal, the royal bloodline and the gods. He envisioned Noctis being the King who would succeed in his mission. He pretty much guided Noctis to the gods, the crystal, and to the royal arms. He then let Noctis power up so that he would merge with the crystal and because of this Ardyn could destroy them all at once.
He succeeded because Noctis needed to sacrifice himself in order to purge Ardyn.
The in game dialogue is lacking, and some other things are incredibly dull such as the Royal Arms.
The game sends you on a mission to retrieve all Royal Arms. Halfway through or something the game stops doing that and makes the rest optional. Yet for story purposes, you'll need all Royal Arms as Noctis is using them all. Even though you haven't collected all of them. Its also meaningless to collect them all, bar a trophy. There is no special power or w/e.
Maybe, but then Luna is in Lucis for a time, right?
Anyway, I think it's a missed opportunity. Noctis could've been that one dude in the squad who's always on the phone talking or texting with his GF. Like everyone's chilling around the campfire, Noctis hunched over his phone, and Gladio slaps it out of his hand or some shit. Bros before hoes, Noct!
Trojita
Rapid Response Threadmaker
Seriously, why couldn't Noctis just call Luna on a cell phone?
Why is this a thing?
"I MISS U SO MUCH LUNA MY LOVE I HOPE I SEE YOU AGAIN ONE DAY!" Fucking FaceTime her or something, idiot.
Why is Noctis and co even use cell phones when they are being hunted?
Obliterator
Member
Like I don't even understand, is Noctis
dead or alive at the end of the game?
LordKasual
Banned
The most confusing thing about XV is the stuff that it doesn't tell you, or things that you find out about when it's too late.
1) Starscourge was poorly explained, as was its origin. It seemed like a concept that the whole world of Eos should have been extremely familiar with (seeing as Tenebrae and Luna/Ravus are highly revered), but that knowledge never really trickles down to the player until the end of the game. As a result, I can see how to some people, Luna (and Ravus for that matter) seem to be one-track minded with no real reason for being so
2) They did a poor job (initially) of explaining exactly why the Empire went to such lengths to keep Luna and Noctis separated. Again, this is one of those moments where it becomes obvious the moment it happens, but before this point, you're basically just taking the game's word for it.
3) The Ring of Lucii's true potential was VERY poorly alluded to, it should have been hyped up WAYYYYY more than it was. This was a problem that even Kingsglaive made worse, because Regis never actually used the Ring's magic. Neither did Nyx. Regis passively used it for the wall, and it just gave Nyx them the ability to do what Noctis was born with. So when Noctis puts the ring on, and is suddenly able to literally banish his enemies from existence...?!? okay NOW it makes sense why the empire didn't want it in his hands.
Their role was to make Noctis stronger, and this was played straight throughout the gameplay itself. You are literally told to collect the weapons to "gain their power", which is important when you're attempting to take on an entire army with 4 dudes.
The stats that the Royal Arms give are significantly higher than the accessories you equip, and you can equip 4 of them, on top of the 3 accessory slots. And they also increase the effectiveness of Armiger.
They were weapons that doubled as rare equipment, basically.
The two most high-profile and hunted people on the planet?
This wouldn't even work in real life dude
1) Starscourge was poorly explained, as was its origin. It seemed like a concept that the whole world of Eos should have been extremely familiar with (seeing as Tenebrae and Luna/Ravus are highly revered), but that knowledge never really trickles down to the player until the end of the game. As a result, I can see how to some people, Luna (and Ravus for that matter) seem to be one-track minded with no real reason for being so
2) They did a poor job (initially) of explaining exactly why the Empire went to such lengths to keep Luna and Noctis separated. Again, this is one of those moments where it becomes obvious the moment it happens, but before this point, you're basically just taking the game's word for it.
3) The Ring of Lucii's true potential was VERY poorly alluded to, it should have been hyped up WAYYYYY more than it was. This was a problem that even Kingsglaive made worse, because Regis never actually used the Ring's magic. Neither did Nyx. Regis passively used it for the wall, and it just gave Nyx them the ability to do what Noctis was born with. So when Noctis puts the ring on, and is suddenly able to literally banish his enemies from existence...?!? okay NOW it makes sense why the empire didn't want it in his hands.
Their role was to make Noctis stronger, and this was played straight throughout the gameplay itself. You are literally told to collect the weapons to "gain their power", which is important when you're attempting to take on an entire army with 4 dudes.
The stats that the Royal Arms give are significantly higher than the accessories you equip, and you can equip 4 of them, on top of the 3 accessory slots. And they also increase the effectiveness of Armiger.
They were weapons that doubled as rare equipment, basically.
Seriously, why couldn't Noctis just call Luna on a cell phone?
Why is this a thing?
"I MISS U SO MUCH LUNA MY LOVE I HOPE I SEE YOU AGAIN ONE DAY!" Fucking FaceTime her or something, idiot.
The two most high-profile and hunted people on the planet?
This wouldn't even work in real life dude
UtterlyPerplexed
Member
He's dead. In case it confused you, the final campfire scene is prior to the return to Insomnia. Noctis is flat out told in an awful exposition scene that his job is to die in order to restore the light to the world or something.
God, this story had potential but it was handled by people who cannot tell a story or convey adequate world building (without extraneous material) for shit...
Kev Kev
Member
After looking up a video I thought it was a beautiful story with a wonderful ending but there's no way in hell I'd have figured it out without that video.
I was following it somewhat, even thought I had it figured out at one point. Then I beat the game and had no fucking idea what happened.
Had to look up a video of what everything meant and what the ending was all about and the feels hit me so hard. After I understood I absolutely loved it and I can't wait to play through it again just to experience the story one more time.
I was following it somewhat, even thought I had it figured out at one point. Then I beat the game and had no fucking idea what happened.
Had to look up a video of what everything meant and what the ending was all about and the feels hit me so hard. After I understood I absolutely loved it and I can't wait to play through it again just to experience the story one more time.
Yeah, so let's send a dog to traverse a sea so we can write in notebooks! Sorry, i'm not buying it.
The royal arms were such a wasted plot point and a waste in general. I really would love to know why they changed them from using MP to using HP.