Played over the course of a couple of months and just beat it today. This was a profoundly personal experience for me. The most a video game has been in my adult life (I'm almost 27). I'm sure that mantle will be taken up by Undertale when I eventually finish it.
The heart of this thing was the boy band's friendship, and even when the lore got convoluted the potential of the four being driven apart was what was always at stake. So, of course, that ending was killer. I have only played the patched version of chapter 13 (chose to follow Noct, haven't done Gladio yet), and I honestly loved it. I explored the world in the first half of the game so much that I ended up overleveling to 85, and I'm so glad I did. Being able to breeze through the tunnel half of the game meant none of it was a slog. I didn't have to hide during chapter 13, but rather Noct was straight up storming the castle. It took it from a survival desperation to an angry desperation, and that makes his character feel so much stronger.
It's flawed for sure. Much of the dialogue is stilted and overleveling did create some dissonance when I was clearly intended to have a tough time, narratively. But in the first half of the game the stakes were low enough and the plot involved enough waiting around, so all my exploration didn't feel like neglectful dicking around. I was on one last adventure with my buddies to see the world before I had to yield to my royal duties, and that makes the emotional identification to the characters that much stronger even through awkward acting and voicing and writing. It's incredible how much being interactive and literally being the characters infuses a game with empathy and can make up for the roughness of other aspects.
Prompto's photography was what cemented this as an all time favorite. By reviewing them nightly, I doubly appreciated the journey the whole way, and the final choice to pick a photo (while they voice-over reminisce) was my climactic emotional beat. I cried three times during that final sequence: picking the photograph, mid-credits camping, Noct/Luna looking at the photograph.
Oh and how I loved chapter 10. It was a brilliant mid-point low moment for the protagonists. Ignis, the driver, the cook, the one who wears glasses so everything can be 100% clear, loses his eyesight. That's just damn good melodrama. In fact, once I bought that this was going to be over the top melodrama from the get go, I bought wholesale what this game was selling at its heart.
By contrast, an example story flaw for me was that I didn't buy Gladio's motivation quite as much when he was yelling at Noct that whole time. I liked that the drama happened, but the catalyst didn't sell well.
I also learned something about myself playing it. Games, more than other media, are like relationships to me. What I bring to a game affects my appreciation quite deeply. My favorite memory was auto-driving to Galdin Quay when Noct sat up on top of the headrest of the car while everyone was chatting, and I selected Matoya's Cave to play as the soundtrack. There's the nostalgia, but it also represents what JRPGs have taught me since i was little: fill in the blanks. Those turn based battles are just representations of action packed combat. Similarly, I filled in the blanks of their friendships and conversations. Not with concrete thoughts, but emotions. It's weird how this game feigning a meaningful group friendship with a lot of melodrama was able to make it feel so damn real by simply putting me in Noct's shoes and having me spend time with them for 71 hours. Can't wait to do some post game.
Nostalgia, friendship, time to think and relax. This game has its share of flaws. But on the balance, FFXV improved my life for the past 2 months.