Final Fantasy XV Guide 

There are so many things, both big and small, that give this series its own distinct flavor, and for all the ways that Final Fantasy XV diverges from the established ideas of its numbered predecessors, it also pays loving homage to its lineage and it does so with alluring warmth and panache. Here especially, Final Fantasy XV feels like two different games: one for seasoned adventurers with wanderlust in their heart, and another for people who want tight levels and scripted action scenes. Sure, I could have gone back to the open world to take a breather when I needed to, but I don’t want to have to choose between advancing the story and having fun – but a decision that Final Fantasy XV’s back third had me constantly making. That isn’t to say it’s all downhill once Lucis is in your rear-view though. One chapter is spent in a stunning city at sea, featuring a full, Venice-like gondola system and some truly breathtaking views. Another had Noctis warping in mid-air from dropship to dropship in an attempt to repel an Imperial onslaught, and the final hours of the journey brought more than one memorable boss fight as well as a great emotional payoff for Noctis and friends. While some parts of Final Fantasy XV’s procession of linear experiences are infuriating, many of them are memorable in their own right. I just wish I hadn’t been pulled away from the open world to experience them. All of this stands in stark contrast to the high/techno-fantasy motifs that modern Final Fantasy games are known for, a look represented here mostly through the brief glimpses we get of the capital cities of the story’s two warring factions. Little slices of it intermingle with the pervasive rustic trappings, though. Sleek, menacing Imperial dropships look practically alien as they cast their shadows across abandoned ramshackle farmhouses, and your car, aptly named the Regalia, is a stark symbol of the relative privilege and power Noctis is a product of.

Though the story never leverages these visual themes, the way they mirror the rural/urban dichotomy of many developed, real-world countries made the realm of Lucis all the more real for me. This is a game that’s designed to be accessible, yet contains dozens of nested systems, some of which you’re guaranteed to forget for hours at a time. Dungeons often come with no checkpoints or save points, but then feature a tough boss right at the end with the potential to send you back to square one, all progress and experience reset. The whole magic system is a near-disaster, first ignoring then restricting your use of the series’ signature summons, while focusing on an elemental form of sorcery that seems purposefully designed to wipe out your comrades as well as your foes. Both the PS4 and PS4 Pro versions suffer from noticeable frame-rate issues, though nothing that will make the game unplayable. Then there’s the plot. I’m not one of those who thinks that the classic Final Fantasy games are models of flawless narrative, but FFXV’s storyline seems to lurch from one beat and objective to the next with only the slightest attempt at any causality. You’re often left guessing whether the motives of key characters are mysterious or just incomprehensible, while the sudden shifts of tone between happy-go-lucky and sad and mournful or angry and vengeful – then back again  just don’t ring true. A lot of the real story seems to be happening elsewhere, glimpsed only indirectly, and there’s no doubt that FFXV has something of a villain problem. Meanwhile it’s hard to think of another RPG where the party feels less like a group of characters with different gameplay and narrative functions, and more like a genuine bunch of friends. The more you play the more you’ll come to love Prompto, Gladiolus and Ignis  even miss them when they’re absent for a time. There’s something of Uncharted in the way that the cast’s banter helps bring even the dullest moments to life. Each has a function, thanks to the combat system’s Techniques, but even then you never see them as the healer, ranged fighter and damage dealer, just the guys you trust to have your back.

Their extra-curricular duties cooking and photography should be annoying, yet getting a new meal from Ignis or another batch of candid shots from Prompto is one of the great pleasures of settling down to camp. And while this focus on your core group comes at the expense of other characters – even those who get a guest slot in your party – FFXV still finds time for some other memorable faces, despite some dubious wardrobe choices for key female members of the cast. Noctis and his friends Ignis, Gladiolus, and Prompto, are on a road trip to meet his bride to be Lunafreya (whom he seems fairly delighted to be marrying, as they’re childhood friends). She just so happens to be something to do with enemy nation Niflheim, and this is a key to a peace treaty (which, obviously, goes wrong immediately) between the two warring countries. Such a middling story is genuinely elevated by some of the characters. We say some, because XV also suffers from a very Eastern-designed approach to females. Cindy, the daughter of series-stalwart Cid, is the first we get to talk to, and she's wearing a crop-top coat barely covering a bright yellow bra. It’s jarring to see such backwards design in an otherwise delightful world, and it’s unnecessary. There are some well-designed dungeons and missions in here too, even if some leave you wondering why Noctis doesn’t make more use of his Warp abilities to sneak past guards or get through chainlink fences and over walls. The set-piece fights and boss battles are often surprisingly strong, the monster hunts can be tense and exciting and only the bizarre, poorly-handed stealth and driving sections let the side down, though these are, at least, thankfully brief. And though the structure grows more linear as the game goes on, there’s a corresponding ramp-up with intensity, and you’ll still find moments of downtime where you’re free to explore.

Each is stereotypical in their own way, but they work as a unit because they genuinely come across as friends. They all talk about what’s going on in their lives as you travel around, and actually come across, well - exactly like a bunch of friends on their first road trip would do. One thing you can’t complain about, is how Final Fantasy XV sticks to its guns. Levelling up has changed, and it’s really interesting. Now, you bank XP after a fight, and it all levels you up when you rest at a camp. These moments don’t just provide you with a chance for you to strengthen your group, but another opportunity to see the lads interacting with one another as friends, playing cards, or just having a laugh, as well as bookending a lovely day of adventuring.

Everything about the combat system feels designed to create a more streamlined version of a series we’ve been playing for decades, so potions and elixirs are just things you can quickly take during a fight, rather than dig for through the menus. This extends to your interactions, too. While you only control Noctis in a fight, you can have your buddies help out by telling them to do special moves. If you time a button press right, and are positioned well, Noctis will jump in for a strike at the end of the attack. On first inspection, there’s a temptation to say that the combat is just “hold the button to attack”, but as you progress, weaknesses and strengths appear, and you’ll have to switch between your four chosen weapons to get the most effective attack. It’s not so strange for melee combat to be straightforward in a Final Fantasy game, where tactical variety typically comes in the form of a diverse set of magical abilities and/or Summon spells. However, it’s in these categories where Final Fantasy XV’s combat is weakest, largely because of all of the limitations placed on their use.These are traditionally the biggest guns in your arsenal, and it’s no different here. I have yet to see a fight that a Summon can’t end in jaw-dropping fashion, but disappointingly, that’s only happened a mere handful of times for me.

You won’t acquire your first Summon until deep into the 40-hour journey, and even once you do, you cannot call them in at will. Even after playing all the way through and getting some hints from Square Enix on how to trigger them, the exact method still eludes me. The secret seems to be a random mix of how badly hurt my party is, how badly hurt my enemies are, and how long I’ve been fighting for. This unpredictable nature kept them from adding any extra element of tactical choice to the action, but the upside is that every time I got to call one in it felt special and rare.This minimized role of magic hurts, though, seeing as how the melee elements don’t provide a lot of interesting decisions to make or techniques to master, unless you count wrestling with the occassionally unruly camera. Especially in enclosed spaces, and even during some climactic boss fights, the camera becomes your biggest enemy, sometimes completely obscuring the action from you, which can be frustrating. That all said though, the promise of gorging my retinas on more eye candy and watching these four bond ‘n’ battle like better-dressed versions of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles kept me looking forward to my next scrap.The open world of Lucis is huge, and its towering geographic features and sweeping, wide-open plains give it a rare sense of scale. Though exploring it was easily my favorite part of Final Fantasy XV, the logistics of getting around take some getting used to at first. There’s actually a fair bit to learn if you want to travel safely and efficiently. Time is constantly flowing, and traveling at night, even by car, is dangerous. You’ll need to think about keeping your ride fueled up, paying for chocobo rentals for long off-road trips where your car can’t go, where to spend the night, and even what to eat. Though initially inconvenient, these extra steps do make the simple act of getting from point A to B feel like an actual trip. There are fast-travel options between previously explored points, but generally you have to actually make each journey at least once. This deliberate, regimented structure really drew me into the world, and also gave the relationships between the characters time to develop in innumerable little ways.