Final Fantasy XV Retrospective - A Royal Effort

[@SpecialK_94]

The scene with Noctis and the bros at their final campsite at the end still makes me tear up when I think about it. It's definitely okay to love flawed things and games are no exception

[@Akechifan]

I love this game but it is indeed pretty flawed

[@MoostachedSaiyanPrince]

You're entitled to your opinion. But I couldn't disagree more. I legit hated this game by this point in the story and couldn't even pretend to care about what was gonna happen. I only completed it because I'd already come far enough that I felt like I needed to see how it ended, even though I knew there was nothing they could do to make me feel anything resembling satisfaction at the resolution of the story.

[@Scantronacon]

I agree maybe bc I have 3 close guy friends and we lost one to epilepsy so I could relate to the brotherhood they shared alot and the pain of saying goodbye

[@CC_Reads]

@@MoostachedSaiyanPrince me too, im never a hater but i just didnt find anything redeemable about it. there were no real boss fights, the villian was dumb, why did that guy go blind, who cares about blondie she was barely in it, the game was so impossibly easy i never got a game over. it was short af. traveling in the car was miserable. the towns were big and empty. why the cooking? in fact the only part i liked was the part everyone hated which was the stealth section. and the opening scene was pretty dope with the Florence version of stand by me

[@staceyweeden5839]

Playing through the game I felt it was pretty mediocre. Then the camp scene happened and I'm crying my brains out. Guess something worked because I cared lol

[@skyblade7438]

The Cup Noodle quest might as well be my favourite quest in th game because the English voice cast is taking the piss the entire time. Noctis at the end sounds like he's going to stangle someone.

[@AzureRoxe]

He was gonna strangle someone.......with cup noodles!!

[@NoctiisXIII]

this is why i do like the silly beans sidequest bc noctis is so upset about the beans youd think beans killed his dad

[@alexanderinoa7850]

@@NoctiisXIII "Beans..."

[@classarank7youtubeherokeyb63]

It's a quest where you kill giant monsters so you can eat them. If that's wrong then I don't wanna be right.

[@lm-pw9ul]

I can't remember the Cup Noodle quest but I made Noctis wear the Cup Noodle hat pretty much the entire game.

[@arvoredeuva5485]

The fact we now know that episode Ardyn was supposed to be the first on a canceled three episode line DLC that would eventually lead into the true ending where not only the Starscourge is defeated but also humanity is freed from Bahamut, where Noctis, Luna AND Ardyn all get their redemption while being able to stay alive and help build the new world is a punch to the gut. Like, fucking hell, why did they take this away from us

[@ThwipThwipBoom]

There were just too many cooks in the kitchen with FF15 and they weren't given enough time to cook. FF15 is good, but it could've been great.

[@liquidsnake6879]

Why you'd even need a series of DLCs to finish the plot of FFXV is the question... f******g square ruined a work of art for money and that's why i lost all faith in Final Fantasy going forward, it's all about the money now, the art takes a back seat. The people in leadership there who actually cared and wanted to produce works of art are gone and have been replaced with people who only have eyes for dollar signs, same as Konami and so many other legendary studios and publishers. If you put everything across all releases and media together, this could've been such an epic story, it could've been the greatest fantasy story ever told, and sadly it's trash because someone decided to yank the guts out of it and spin them off into movies and DLCs.

[@AzureRoxe]

? We've always known that, we were told for a long time that Episode Ardyn, Aranea, Lunafreya and Noctis were gonna be a thing.

[@TitaniumAlloyz]

So youre telling me Noctis was not meant to die at the end and Luna was meant tk be an actual character? That is deeply upsetting that instead we got a prince that had to sacrifice his life.

[@aberger6666]

Despite the ending being pretty dark I absolute love it and it is by far the best FF story. Stories of gods, the creation of man, betrayal, the love between father and son, commitment and fate, brotherhood... You can clearly tell there has been a lot of effort put into the story writing. Unfortunately not so much into story telling which might be the main reason why people don't like FFXV.

[@erichbauer3991]

The difference between hearing stand by me in the opening when you first start the game and then when you decide to replay it is something that really got to me as well.

[@eckic]

this. when i began my second save file, hearing stand by me at the beginning made so emotional.

[@jaynordiaz4609]

I havent replayed the game since finishing it when it first came out and remembered how I felt at the end of the game... watching this retrospective unearth some of those emotions again where I am literally shedding a few tears and I cannot imagine how much Stand by Me would affect me if I restarted the game. Game was a bit of a mess on release, but the core party was something it got really right and that is why I still hold it up as a great game.

[@kinothemystic]

and when people laughed when the song played during one of the trailers in the live audience since it seemed out of place. that's a really funny fact

[@leandrometfan]

The extended final camp scene where Noct and Ignis talk and we see a young noct reflecting in Ignis glasses (the last visual sight he has of noct) is a nice chefs kiss touch of a tearjerker for me.

[@MrAnimeFan4Eva]

I completely missed that I need to rematch it that final camp had me balling bro....😢

[@jonburnett90]

The city should have been the first 10 hours of the game. Then like when you leave Midgar, suddenly you're on the open road and the world opens up to you. It would have added opportunities to introduce the characters to us one by one, given the losing of the city some weight and made leaving the city feel like a big deal.

[@zensei7685]

Yes I agree completely, that would have been great

[@AzureRoxe]

The obvious problem is, of course, that rather than do this, they made Kingsglaive to have you care about the city and Noctis's father. Nyx's body even shows up at one point, as if it's supposed to be important that this is one of the bodies shown despite Nyx not even being mentioned in the game beforehand.

[@jonburnett90]

@@AzureRoxe I loved the movie. But as you said it's so disconnected from the game it has 0 impact. I just don't think Nomura is a strong game director. He's a fantastic artist/idea guy, but he aims so far beyond technological and financial limitations that he can't finish a project and ends up letting someone else take over and try to stitch together something actually shippable.

[@et-al]

there’s actually an audio drama of the day right before they leave for altissa (like a prequel to the movie), and it does introduce some characters we see in the game AND the movie. it explores their characterization and relationships/dynamics somewhat before the whole roadtrip bonding experience, which makes it all the more meaningful imo. i especially enjoyed that clarus and gladio got a moment of interaction regarding being the kings shield and such. it would have been cool if they made that a tutorial of some sorts, letting us explore insomnia, figure out non-combat game mechanics, etc. :(

[@ajflink]

That would have been very interesting as you only get to explore ot in the heavily destroyed state.

[@Evanz111]

3:45 - fun bizarre fact: the actor who plays King Regis is literally my next door neighbour, Jon Campling. It was so weird just suddenly living next to him, but he’s a really awesome friendly guy. He only did the motion capture and they based King Regis’ appearance of him (the look is uncanny!) but obviously not the voice.

[@Storm1Trooper5]

That’s cool

[@PedroStrife]

Wow, that sounds really lucky to me

[@MyNameisRevenant]

This is an awesome finding

[@cat11112222]

Sounds like cap to me

[@Evanz111]

@@cat11112222 Why would I lie about something so meaningless? It’s hardly a claim to fame :’) it’s not even the voice just the motion capture dude. I’ve got photos with him on my socials if you really doubt it, not everyone on the internet lies for attention.

[@anonjohn9760]

If you're interested in the cooking aspect of Final Fantasy XV, several fans have actually made comprehensive cooking books based on Ignis' recipes! Two I can name of the top of my head: 'That's It! : An Unofficial FFXV Community Cookbook, and 'Honey & Toast FFXV Cook Book Diary' , and both do an excellent job of translating the recipes within to life. I recommend Grease Monkey's Snitzel Sandwich myself personally!

[@ThBrando]

Damn, now that's something I'm glad exists, thanks for the heads up!

[@biggle_man]

I'm surprised there isnt an official one, when the food looks so much better than FFXIV that does have a cookbook

[@itsClaptrap]

@@biggle_man they shouldve gone the route the One Piece crew did with their cookbook from the perspective of Sanji, and make a Cookbook journal from the perspective of Ignis (and maybe Gladiolus/Prompto/Noctus having notes and/or commentary among the pages) I think that would've been such a cool and adorable piece of merch

[@Ravi9A]

wew that's cool

[@ffzz9314]

I really enjoyed the video thank you so much as for the movie FF Kingsglaive I really enjoyed watching it, I watched it before the game was released and I also watched it a few months ago, I was very surprised by its bad reviews. After I watched it again, I really wished the game would start with us playing as nyx and playing the events of the movie instead of making a separate movie to find out what happened. I can't imagine that happening. Also, there is an anime composed of 4 episodes that explains how the group met. i get if you had the content behind a DLC , but to throw it to an anime and a Movie i don't get it , Perhaps they thought that all of this would Pour in to marketing the game Anyway, sorry for writing this long comment

[@mrkruzjr]

I really wish we got Arenea's story. She was mad interesting and that weird parallel between how she came in and how Bahamut came in always stuck with me

[@quinnholloway5400]

There was so much more to come for this game that we sadly never got :(

[@motherreaper7287]

My best photo in the album was one where the car was driving through the tunnel to Lestalum and Prompto had taken a photo of bare wall.. That photo means the world to me, it captures the spirit of every brick.

[@needlamp2147]

I hope that's the photo you chose for the final sequence. It would have been the perfect capstone to the game.

[@LOLtz1]

I never had a game that made me feel so much love for a car, losing it in the later half was painful.

[@jazz2965]

yo i swear !!!

[@ikeaira8701]

probably the only thing this game had me caring for. oof.

[@carminescurse]

It was the biggest sell out point of the game. There's absolutely no talent or creativity of a knock-off Maserati. None. It fits nowhere in the world of Final Fantasy. It's a failure to fans, along with no steal ability. Battles are absolutely no fun. The whole controlling a single character just drops the depth of the game. The decision to not include Chocobo races in the FF7 is trash. Along with that entire game, and I played the remake. It's ass. They made the slum brothel too clean. The whole point of it being so rundown in the original is to hammer home the point of how fucked up Shinra is. Their citizenship are so fucking broke, that the slumlords are as well. If you paid attention, the girls who worked the house were often sold by their families for food. It never supposed to be clean. It was always meant to be fucked up. It was, and is still, an absolute failure.

[@MANJYOMETHUNDER111]

you can get a replica in Insomnia after you beat the game

[@holylolydiver]

The reason those Japanese lines were changed to "I love you" probably has something to do with the fact that in Japanese, outright telling someone "I love you" is really weird and not something people do very often if at all, even if they're in a devoted relationship (you might say to someone "I like you", but it doesn't really carry the same sort of weight. It's more like saying "I think you're likeable" and wouldn't be very fitting for those scenes). I think the localisers rightly surmised that having big emotional romantic scenes end with just a simple "thank you" would sound oddly casual or even a little cold-hearted to a lot of western audiences. In Japanese you show someone how you feel through your actions, as an English speaker, having a romance story without even a single "I love you" would be kinda weird, wouldn't it?

[@whiskeyii4515]

Source, for anyone who wants to read this (because I think KZbin hates links), is the Kotaku article “From Japan, With Changes: The Endless Debate Over Video Game ‘Censorship’”. Just scroll down to the section titled “Maybe She Meant “I Love You””, which goes into more context about how “arigatou” can be used to convey more than just a literal “thank you”.

[@Scantronacon]

I didnt know this. Thank you both!

[@1ProAssassin]

I still think it's stupid to do that although it makes sense that they would. A lot of words in English can convey a wealth of emotions given context/voice acting. "Thank you" in particular is a perfect example of this. With the right voice acting "thank you" works far better than "I love you", especially as an ending scene involving the afterlife. It still works in English and captures the bitter sweet moment far better than I love you. Even when I played it "I love you" felt strange because it felt too little, too late but I chalked it up to weird Japanese differences but this makes so much more sense.

[@austins.2495]

I wish more people “spoke” with their actions. The world would be a better place

[@optimize0]

Yeah, the Kotaku article helps explain it. But in general the thank you comment implies an acceptance of the end and all of the feelings and memories associated.

[@calumbeattie5337]

While I don't think Noctis, Gladio, Prompto and Ignis are among the best characters in the series, I think XV has the best party. The way they play off each other just makes them a great group- the whole is much greater than the sum of it's parts.

[@Kyoukichi]

I too enjoy boy bands

[@joed5150]

@@Kyoukichi They gettin all that boy band ass!

[@toweringflesh]

no

[@TheHan464646]

Gotta wait till Rebirth and we'll see great party mechanics

[@calumbeattie5337]

@@TheHan464646 I was talking about the way the party members personalities play off each other. Rebirth doesn't interest me simply because the combat in the first part of the FFVII remake bored me to tears, so unless they massively overhaul how that works I'm not interested (and I doubt they will, because everyone else seemed to like it)

[@xStrife1997x]

Developers knew items were a broken mechanic when they included dungeons like Costlemark which make you battles 50 floors of absolute chaos without the ability to use items. An actual challenge for some.

[@punchtothegut]

God I HATED that dungeon. The fricking MULTIPLE daemons, fire giants and snake things that turned you to a frog was so dumb

[@Nightfallnox225]

I did this dungeon at level one many many times and I will say I regret doing it every single freaking time. And when I left the dungeon I had no items

[@akiraofthemoon]

On a side note, I dont believe any game will ever awaken all of these emotions within me this rapidly and harshly as ffxv did. Holy hell, this surely was a ride. And it was a damn good one at that. What a beloved game this is to me.

[@joshuasmith6909]

Gonna be honest I played the entire game without knowing you can “tilt modify” your attacks, and I played the tutorial! I can also vouch that miss dragoon will randomly join you in OG 15, it caught me off guard once.

[@steveosk8s]

Admittedly, on normal and lower difficulties, you can basically warp strike your way through the whole game. I know I did lol.

[@emeryltekutsu4357]

There were a surprising amount of little things like that in the game. I played over 200 hours in it, and I would still run into dialogues that I hadn't heard before. Sure, there were some that you hear plenty, but it's shocking how much extras must have been put in there.

[@guywithnohouse.6808]

She can still do that in royal edition, just had a replay through it, she's gonna come in a set location though and it was the second tower that lights up at night, not costlemark, the other one, forgot the name

[@yuichikazuka]

I like refer this game as a broken masterpiece. The way it came out as broken pieces seems disappointing; where you have to watch the anime, the movie and play the game (as well as dlc) to understand the whole story but when you DO take in everything, and game is a masterpiece (to me). The whole journey where you face dangers and build strong bonds with your brothers really hits me.

[@sam.246]

Pretty much... It feels like an undercooked masterpiece with lots of wasted potential. The fact development lasted only 3 years for a game this ambitious is the main reason.

[@Akechifan]

I 100% agree with this. The main 4 characters and Ardyn are great. And Ardyns dlc made me really appreciate his character.

[@yuichikazuka]

@@Akechifan yeah I ain't gonna lie, thoughout the game, I was like what is this guy (ardyn) problem? Why is he such a dick?... And after playing his dlc, I understand. To lose someone who ment the world to you by the hands of your brother is devastating and to add more pain to this man, the crystal rejects him because was tainted, chose his brother as king and got locked up for 2000 years in solitary...that would make you mad with anger

[@RexZShadow]

I still find the story really stupid, like literally everything was like planned out by god. The bad guy was bad guy coz some higher being made him be the bad guy. The hero is the hero coz against coz some higher being willed it. The whole conflict felt meaningless. It's even more stark contact when compare to FF12 where the villain's whole goal was to free the world from the control of there so call gods and succeed.

[@ML-yn9yu]

@@sam.246 agreed. The story could have been the next FF masterpiece especially with what was done with Ardyn. But I suspect that this is going to be largely forgotten after the release of FF16.

[@maharaja101]

One thing I've always thought they should've done with the content patches was add a "Chapter 0" set in Insomnia. That could've been the tutorial (instead of a random empty room) and also a perfect place to introduce the world and most of the characters you will meet later on in the game.

[@Digital_David]

I think the empty room at the beginning is actually one of the rooms inside the insomnia building with the elevators (just before the final battle with Ardynn). You can look at the same paintings there, the ones with the mythologh lore that you also were able to view in that initial training room.

[@ozairchishti1264]

@@Digital_David I believe it's the same training room shown in the brotherhood anime where Gladio trained Noctis. Ignis also uses it in one of the episodes I believe.

[@aiblackrose]

the way someone found Luna's attack animations suggested that in earlier development as 15, Luna was meant to be playable! Also love the touch of that Sephiroth music when you talk about Ardyn's character writing

[@2Tune2]

This game was good in my opinion I just loved the characters the gameplay and how they all interacted with each other wish I could play it for the first time again.

[@MrBlitzballer]

This game's development is proof that Tetsuya Nomura needs a handler or at least an equal on the project to keep him in check.

[@steveosk8s]

Amen. Same with him on kingdom hearts. He's got ideas but he needs a person who can actually translate those ideas into actual realistically achieveable actionable plans. He needs a proper team lead.

[@fleurmal7648]

Yeah any game where he is heavily involved is a no go for me now lol. Especially after KH3 as well.

[@zacatkinson3926]

dude this game was awesome

[@TheBlueLink3]

This is the only game that took so long from him though. KH was generally putting out a game every year even when he was working on Versus. You can’t make an exception the rule.

[@MrBlitzballer]

@@TheBlueLink3 If causing delays was the only metric for mismanagement then that would be true I suppose. But if we are going to use the kingdom hearts games made during that period as evidence then shouldn't we also look a the quality of those games? You can use the handheld game excuse if you want but every game released after 2 has been severely lacking in quality up until KH3 which I and many others feel still failed to live up to KH2. TLDR: Causing a game to be massively delayed and releasing mediocre products are both mismanagement.

[@will49245]

As someone who bought vanilla FFXV, this was the game where I put in a “no more preorder” rules. The DLC just solidifies how badly burnt vanilla players were.

[@RasenRendanX]

My friends were scarred of ever playing a FF game again after they played launch 15. i still remember seeing how mad they were about chapter 13. even when i said FF7R is perfect on release they still had PTSD

[@classarank7youtubeherokeyb63]

And here my rule was set by PROTOTYPE 2 because gamestop took my fucking money during the preorder phase without a second thought but then remembered the M rating when it came time to collect. Had to bring my mom in to take it home. Sucked but honestly I wouldn't have learned my lesson from that game alone.

[@jmfowler9062]

Same. Got season pass only to miss content in the royal edition. Didn't play 7remake til it came to ps plus

[@HansAlRachid]

Absolutely - to this day I haven't played the Royal Edition content. I ultimately did enjoy my time with the game even back then, but that's only true in retrospect and when taking the game, its development and especially its design aspirations as a conceptual whole.

[@chrisgonzalez5883]

This was the first game I got on the PS4 and after finishing it . The game need more time in the oven

[@OriginalSirSpeaksAlot]

This game and Persona 5 made me realize how important friendship is

[@alexanderinoa7850]

"With the power of friendship, we can overcome anything!" "Including *G O D"*

[@b3at2]

Persona 5 and this are two of the best JRPG's I played during the pandemic era.

[@mucknstrunz]

That ist sad😢

[@ry2950]

Its nostalgic to think about 2016 where both of them released.

[@vault29a]

@@b3at2 damn mate, why would you play such an awful game?

[@rebeccar.p.1308]

A game doesn’t have to be perfect for me to have a deep connection with it, and after spending all that time with those guys, that campsite scene hits me anytime someone even mentions it. FFXV is one of my favorite Final Fantasys-not only was the music fire (Yoko Shimomura DOES 👏 NOT👏 MISS👏) but the visceral and raw emotions that these characters evoked made this game feel like it was a part of me, in the same way all your favorite stories help shape you as a person. You could have made a video that was 3 hours long and I’d still be here listening so long as it was about FFXV haha! Excellent job ❤

[@jazzy.zozo.]

My brother played it for me the first time, and even though I barely payed attention the ending still had me sobbing. After a year I played it for myself, knowing the ending and it still hit just as hard, if not harder after spending 100+ hours with the boys. (i was so over leveled arydn was nothing 💀)

[@Darkon2050]

I love this game so much. The plot is incredibly tragic, the villain is arguably my favorite FF villain ever, the soundtrack makes me tear up, and some parts of this game whether it’s the summons or the areas are really beautiful. That said I know everyone else hates this game, so part of me is dreading watching this.

[@TheGeneReyva]

I think of 15 as a denied masterpiece. It really could have been a 10/10 game. Game of the Decade. But the development just completely cucked it.

[@unchpunchem8947]

I agree! I just replayed it about a month ago bracing myself to not like it nearly as much as I did in high school, but I honestly like it even more now. Fantastic game

[@Hagosha]

Oh man, same I always get nervous when I see a new vid pop up

[@yeoldehog]

I don't get why people don't like kingsglaive though. It was a serviceable enough movie, with some really impressive action. I get it would have been better (?) To have it be part of the game, but I enjoyed it as it is.

[@cinamynj]

@@yeoldehog because people keep telling them to watch it before the game, even though the whole movie has deep lore references from the base game

[@jbcatz5]

The brilliant thing about the cooking is that the people who made the game actually went out camping and made the dishes in real life with a campfire set-up, which is also how they achieved the lighting from the fire too.

[@growtocycle6992]

That's so cool!!!

[@JayceCornell]

Not sure if you mentioned the Terra Battle crossover side mission (still watching and this video is long lol) but that quest was so fun and really showcased the flaws of Noctis and Luna's relationship in the game. I cared more about Noctis and Sarah's relationship in a 45 minute sidequest than I did about the MAIN relationship of the game.

[@Scion141]

😂 This is so true. Throughout the game, I kept asking myself if the two really loved each other or were just doing it out of obligation. Even after that ending, I'm still not sure

[@holyfuck444]

Agreed on that !

[@jonathangilbert7194]

I was literally about to comment this. Sarah and noct was a much better written relationship

[@hano0onatart]

Saaame even after all this time I think Sarah x noctis are wayyy engaging because they met and had moments together unlike with Luna Only as memories when they were young 😭😭😭I see them more as siblings tbh

[@shikitohno47]

@@hano0onatart the bar is literally on the floor then lmfao you gotta be 13.

[@ashleycornwell67]

Thank you for making this. Final Fantasy XV is my favorite game because of the visceral story and my emotional response to it. Separated from its tumultuous development, it is refreshing to hear an honest review that acknowledges the beautiful parts it does well.

[@matthewchristie2186]

The Burger at the start of Resident Evil 2 truck driver is the most realistic piece of Food I have seen in a game

[@TheBuddhaBear]

It took me a few years playing it in spurts, but I finally completed the Royal edition this year and it has become the first FF game I've actually finished. 180 hours and a platinum trophy. I agree it was flawed, like very flawed, but I was not part of the hype train and knew that the final chapters had issues. When I look back on my time with it what I remember was adventuring with the boys and road tripping across a beautiful world with characters I really cared about. I have fond memories of my time with it and feel you nailed it with your thoughts

[@RRM25100]

Honestly in my circle of friends, I’ve been known to harp about this game. But, I’ve waited for this video ever since the XIII one. I’m excited to listen to your thoughts regardless of my own feelings on it.

[@karasu3819]

My main gripe with FF15 is the story telling. I don't think the player should use outside sources or find hidden books in game to explain the back story to help the main story be more understandable when the appeal of FF15 is the story like most FF games. FF15 was my first FF game and I hardly learned anything about the crystal, the starscourge, the astrals, King Regis, or the other important imperials and the goal of the imperial army when playing the actual main story, but after playing the other single player FF games I can tell that their stories were way more explained especially the older ones. If the devs got way more time the story could've been explained way better and could've used all cutscenes that were only in trailers.

[@eaglenebula2172]

Yeah especially when the explanations behind the starscourge, demons' origin and the darkening of the sky are laid in plain sheets of paper that you may or may not inspect.

[@singoflovesongs]

i don't think it was a matter of time, i recall the director actually Intended to design the story to be told the way it did. iirc, he specifically wanted the story to be told in noctis' pov, so stuff like the rest of the party getting their character development and plot points that weren't properly explained were intentionally made to be not shown ingame. of course, time and budgeting is also a factor on matters but. yeah. whether you think his decision was a good call or not is up to you. (i, personally, dislike it tbh)

[@calahad]

No matter how flawed, incomplete, and/or inconsistent this game is, it is full of heart and when the final campsite scene comes around, you can't help but reminisce about the precious memories with your brothers in arms. Walk tall, my friends.

[@mysterymeat6460]

Ah yes, chapter 13, Ardyn's 2 hour ball twisting dungeon. I too chose noctis' path and understand your pain.

[@Everythingwillsurelybealright]

I’m only part way through but I had to comment that I had no idea this game had a directional attack system! I played the whole thing! And some dlc! I’m floored. Also excellent timing and sense of humour as always! I can’t wait to watch the rest.

[@profoundresolve]

I adore ffxv. It's the only game my sister stuck around to play with me, and one of the only things that connected our vastly different worlds... That and the emotional rollercoaster that is the second half. That last camp scene rips me apart, because it's so genuine to both noctis and the player. You spent so long struggling together with your friends, and you don't want to lose it. The English VA is really good too, localization flubs aside. Even prompto really grew on me after a bit. Also comrades is a guilty pleasure of mine...it's a whole other can of worms but I loved the various weapons and combat that came with it. Maybe I'll pick it up again after 6.2 in FFXIV.

[@Silverwind770]

the camping equipment ( Coleman) also being used for marketing on top of Cup Noodle was definitely a good laugh when first playing it

[@AbelMusa]

I'd rather play XV a thousand times rather than any remake or Nomuran FF. Thank you Tabata, this game was and is precious.

[@lachlank.8270]

This game still has a lot of Nomura taint in its DNA

[@Redamthe5th]

"Just turn it off! You can do that! My Brother in Christ you made the game!" Absolutely killed me

[@Lucido66]

say what you want but to me, this is my favorite final fantasy game of all time and noctis is one of my favorite characters.. the gameplay was super fun for me, the story.. while having some issues, is amazing. I’ve never felt such care for the characters and understanding their emotions and goals. Its a game that i truly loved from start to finish and i think it deserves better respect for what they were able to accomplish in a troubled development that lasted for so long. Definitely give it a chance if your reading this

[@lolilol535]

it's the worst FF ever but ok

[@maninblack3410]

Absolutely no judgement, but can I ask what FF’s you’ve played through? Like beaten all the way through. And which would you say is your second favorite?

[@Santoryu90]

@@lolilol535 People can have different opinions dude

[@Akechifan]

@@lolilol535 I had a 10/10 experience with this game but its a 6/10 game. The main party and Ardyn were great imo.

[@rougestarlight4308]

@@lolilol535 you're being so dramatic

[@iqjump123]

It has been a while- I really appreciate the awesome in depth analysis to a game I genuinely enjoyed, and it wasn't even the royal edition- it was the original version. I remember being so immersed in the story and the characters that after it ended, I was kind of in a moment of emptiness for a few days after.

[@asetoniffxv22]

I've only made it past the Gameplay section now, but I just wanna say that after 11:50 - 12:07 I had to pause the video and give standing applause alone in my room. After seeing so many videos where the author clearly didn't even try to learn the combat system and simply repeated the uninformed "automated combat" take to get away from talking about gameplay, this alone made this video the best FFXV review/retrospective out there.

[@fivesecondrule1266]

Wasn't expecting you here. Thanks so much for your informative guides, they helped me tons

[@AzureRoxe]

And yet you CAN just play using that "automated combat" and easily beat everything. I love the combat and animations though, except for the incredibly moronic move to make magic into craftable grenades.

[@caspoki]

I love this game, it might be messy but idk it holds a special place in my heart, this was my first ever final fantasy game

[@HiCZoK]

It is so weird how the whole city gets destroyed and you just see a newspaper. no army marching, no airships, nothing. And nothing changes on the countryside which is kinda strange since it looks post apocalyptic. Where are people and villages

[@mggaming4146]

I played the royal edition of this game and i got my first emotional breakdown in my life this will forever be my #1 faverourite game ever made. I never cried so much in my life and it was full on for 30 min nonstop

[@colinhoeg4728]

You ever play/finished nier automata?

[@radicalstanza3614]

@@colinhoeg4728 The original Nier is much more of a tearjerker. Automata's much less likable characters make it so cold by comparison.

[@Alexander_Grant]

@@radicalstanza3614 Yeah, I played the Replicant remake that came out recently on release, and man that game hit hard. FFXV, for all it's flaws, was a game that made me cry more than any other game, then I played Replicant and that certainly outdid it. Those two Nier games probably had more of an impact on my adult life than any other game I've played.

[@Exel3nce]

i call bs

[@DanteKraiser]

I watch Kingsglave (I love the movie) before playing the games so I could understand what was going on, but I never got any interest on the main cast of the game. I actually prefer Nyx Ulric and it hit me hard when he die. When it comes to game play I actually kinna cheese it using Promto, killing everything from a distant with the rocket launcher and grenades. I literally will always find a location on the map where the bosses cant hit me and span the rockets and grenades.

[@BleedForTheWorld]

It's an extremely unbalanced game. There's FFVII where you can obtain Omnislash on Disc 1 (arguably the most powerful move in the game) and then there's FFXV where you can do side quests and have your entire team become OP for the rest of the game. You can tell almost immediately by the way the locations, quests, and world map are designed, the developers just placed these as if they were tossing darts on to a wall.

[@snuggie1849]

@@BleedForTheWorld all ff games can be absolutely broken apart. All except 13 are unbalanced but honestly that what makes this series so fun! I love how op you can get and i also love the fact you can do low levels runs

[@christmassyable]

I agree with this

[@jbcatz5]

If the Gladio episode of the Brotherhood anime had been used as a gameplay level, maybe where the combat tutorial would be, that would have solved a lot of issues around Insomnia not having that much presence in the game since it has younger Noctis going around the city looking for the lost Iris, the rescue being a major turning point in now Gladio sees Noct.

[@crownregis]

I remember there was a theory that the ending with Noct and Luna on the throne was just another timeline that played from King Regis trying to get thigns right and that the ending with song playing and the Chocobros trying to start up the car was the timeline resetting

[@tommyvercetti9434]

FFXV was the last time I bought a game day one.

[@kflorida24]

This is still to date one of my favorite games (behind NieR Automata and NieR Replicant actually) and I really appreciated the detail to which you broke the game down and explored a lot of fine details that I definitely had not noticed despite having sunk almost 200 hours into the game. Thanks for the great video, looking forward to watching more.

[@iidrbubbles]

I love this game, and I played the day 1 edition of xv. The ost is fantastic and I really enjoyed the gameplay with how fighting feels.

[@bucketfeet5567]

I started this game about 4 times and couldn't get into it. Then finally some thing clicked and fell in love with it

[@mikec5400]

The sound design on the summons was crazy good. I remember being on some good acid when i got this game and ramuh, leviathan animations felt like i was right there in the center of it. Ramuhs animation actually scared the hell out of me when he spawns and grabs you with his giant ass hand

[@dearthofdoohickeys4703]

I’m glad I didn’t track this game during its development hell. If I had I would’ve been disappointed at what they cut out. Instead I was able to appreciate the game for what it was, and not what it wasn’t. While the story and character development isn’t as strong as other titles, the sheer force of camaraderie between the guys is insane. They feel like _people_ , and just hanging out with them was an experience other games have never given me.

[@GabrielShakkori]

Okay you convinced me to give this game another try. The Royal edition is downloading now

[@DaemonJuice]

Still to this day I never discovered a legitimate reason why Noctis and Lunafreya should like eachother, their relationship is pretty much "I'm a magic lady and you're royalty so we should be a thing". The Game's world felt barren at times However music and graphics was on point as always and Ardyn was a fantastic villain

[@sam.246]

Basically they were childhood friends that kept trading cute messages through a diary, and both are royalty... enough to build a platonic love I would say.

[@sortedevaras]

No, that is pretty much it. They interact for what, a couple minutes in game? You should not have to create supplementary materials to show us why characters like each other.

[@dkirby9052]

Note: I am writing this before actually finishing the video. 15 is definitely overcompensating for the backlash that 13 got. I was too concerned with the open world aspects of the game and not enough on telling a story. There is a big chunk of this game where the story just stops. It goes out of it's way to divert your attention away from the main story. Like Prompto wanting to go see chocobos or Gladio getting all weird over cup noodles. Lunafreya only appears in cutscenes. Her only interactions with Noctis are in flashbacks or though that book. The only time she interacts with Noctis in the present is in a dream, after she is already dead. And I am meant to care when she dies, I don't. Her death and relationship with Noctis just doesn't work. Noctis clearly feels something over her death and if anything could get you to feel anything for it is Ray Chase's performance. I just don't feel an emotional connection to it. I do have to say that I am against having to go to outside sources to get the full story of something. For 15, it's story is split between a movie, an anime, the game itself and a novel. Not to mention DLC that honestly, outside of Ignis and Ardyn you don't need Gladio or Prompto. I am supposed to be playing a game; I should not have to do homework to learn everything I that should have been in the game. DLC, or movies, or novels should be supplemental material; NOT required to fill in missing pieces. I look at 15 as the antithesis to what 13 was. 13 was focused on the story it wanted to tell. How well it told that story is another discussion but it WAS focused. 15 let's the player do whatever until chapter 9 when it suddenly gets back to progressing the story all the way to the end.

[@Vanyel_K]

Damn it spoiler warning dude. I avoided this game because of all the shit and was wondering whether or not to play it until now.

[@bad72690]

Literally had no idea you could change your attacks with the stick.

[@justinmccormick4636]

Dude described me perfectly. From announcement to release I graduated high school and college, started a family and had several career moves. Finally in late 2023 I picked up the game.

[@ignacia6254]

I really enjoy your FF13 videos and this video! After so much criticism about FFXV, your video is very refreshing, especially about the role of the photos you took throughout the journey. I have been wondered to purchase the royal edition and your video convinced me to do just that. Thank you for the video!

[@shisnoelite7790]

FF15 is my favorite Final Fantasy. And tbh it was in my top 3 games last gen. Played thru it twice and still can't get enough. I haven't watched this whole video yet. It's alot in one sit down for me but I'll finish soon. So far seems like you put alot into it. Very well done.

[@AzureRoxe]

I have to say that, if 15 is your favorite when 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 14 exist, you have some horrid tastes.

[@shisnoelite7790]

All very good games and I've played them all and beat them. 15 just clicked with me I guess plus I liked the new combat system and exploring that awesome world

[@bbfan84]

The fuck is wrong with you

[@bbfan84]

@@AzureRoxe well he's proof people will like absolute garbage

[@shisnoelite7790]

Nope I just don't mind seeing something new and different instead of expecting the same thing over and over and over ad nauseum. And maybe you're the one that likes trash

[@MacEbes]

The biggest issue with FFXV is that you have to basically go through the entire universe of content from the movie, trailers, web series, dlc, main and post game, and multiple books to get a complete story..

[@mybuddy8856]

No just play the game. But yes if you want to know everything about the world and lore you have to...exactly like ff7 or kh

[@tomasgarcia7499]

This isn’t true. The game is perfectly understandable with the game itself.

[@USMC49er]

@@mybuddy8856 Isn't that a bit of a problem? FFVII was fine as a standalone game and the extended universe stuff is optional. With XV, the movie, the anime, the concert which supposedly had the epilogue are all content that should've been in the game in the first place. XV wasted a lot of resources that aren't even referenced in the game and when it is referenced, like the MC from the movie, a random kid who is renting this game years after the hype is likely going to be lost on who that is. Look at the Episode Duscae demo on FF Type-0 disc. The hunt for Behemoth had way better storytelling than the main game, attention to detail is the main problem for FFXV and all these resources could've went towards that instead. Having a 21st century style game is fine and all but FFI to FFXIV still had city walls and town guards protect people, XV can't even be bothered to explain why people break down cars in the middle of the night while an Iron Giant is 50 yards away not attacking them. XIV had fates that show that NPCs have a life outside the safety of the big cities.

[@Player-dw3pe]

@@tomasgarcia7499 Absolutely not lmao.

[@TheMaestroMizerous]

@@tomasgarcia7499 Ehh the fall of Insomnia had to be watched on film that needed backstory. Stuff like the bros' backstories also was kinda important.

[@Dahrk_Angel]

I love Ardyn as the bad guy. He is extremely memorable, and he has an amazing story. He's probably my favourite antagonist in any game I've ever played.

[@yankeedude252]

That's how I feel, too. I actually found him incredibly likeable throughout most of the story; I felt like Noctis and the crew were assholes to Ardyn for no reason at first. Of course, he's still the villain, and that became clear by the end, but he's probably my favorite Final Fantasy character overall.

[@Dahrk_Angel]

@@yankeedude252 I agree. FF15 is the only one I ever played so far, but it very quickly overtook Dark Souls 3 to become my favourite game of all time. Final Fantasy was always the kinda game I was always on the fence about, not really sure whether I wanted to play it or not, but when I saw the Royal Edition for free on PS5, I decided now was the time and it quickly became my favourite game of all time.

[@Exel3nce]

@@Dahrk_Angel cmon, ff15 and fav. game of all time? nah

[@Dahrk_Angel]

@@Exel3nce That's not your decision to make, is it? Exactly, so shut it.

[@imtired927]

Ardyn wanna be Emet-Selch so bad

[@splatterbrained]

The fact I sat through someone doing a no death no item speed run of this game is beyond nuts. He beat the game in like 2hrs

[@DBWhale]

this is my most favorite game of all time i love it so much

[@SkyloftHero456]

One of my favorite moments in 15 was finding out about a postgame glitch that allowed Aranea to permanently remain in the party. She even has campfire scenes when resting and will have small conversations with party members when exploring. (Could be wrong about the conversation part, not played in a while.) Amusingly though she isn't able to get into the car so will just sprint behind, kinda funny honestly. She also shows up in the party screen but you obviously don't get to change any of her equipment or special attack. Don't know if it's still possible to replicate the glitch but it is kinda fun to have if it's still possible. Don't think Iris or Cor had bugs like this which is honestly a shame. Would've been fun to see.

[@classarank7youtubeherokeyb63]

I know for a while there was a cheat table that could modify party members.

[@AzarDarkstar]

I think a prologue (optional even) to explore the city before heading out would’ve been a great way to get a feel for the controls and to establish the city. Could’ve had Nyx, Cor, Iris, etc all there and would’ve added to the emotion of wondering who lived and didn’t later on. To progress the story, would be meeting up with King Regis (and Gladio’s dad) so that they are better fleshed out. There could even be call backs to things you did (or didn’t do) later on. This was my Covid game and it took the lockdown for me to finally finish it so I’ve played its various versions, but it’s definitely improved now. It would’ve benefited from more towns and people as well as a variation in quests in general such as with the hunters/car rescues - like actually having to rescue people from demons or not having them all look like identical twins. If Zelda can have unique NPCs so can Final Fantasy btw. Turning off friendly fire and allowing less elemental consumption for spells or even more spells would make magic more viable.

[@BrockWalshCTD]

I really enjoyed this video. I played and absolutely LOVED this game at launch despite all its faults. You just bumped a replay of this to the top of my gaming priorities. Thanks!

[@kpcool2877]

Something I didn't find out about until reading a guide is that there is an upgraded armiger called "armiger unleashed". It makes Noct truly badass and it's a shame its so hidden most people probably never experienced it.

[@peanutmuttplays104]

While not my favorite, I do think it gets way too much hate. I’ve got a soft spot for Noctis and Company, and wouldn’t mind seeing them again one day. FFXV is an important staple in the franchise whether people want to recognize that or not. And this is coming from someone who desperately wanted to see Nomura’s VersusXIII.

[@BleedForTheWorld]

The first ever main FF game where it has important story elements locked behind DLC. It deserves all the criticisms it's ever gotten. It was so rushed that they even had to implement free updates to the story and plot.

[@peanutmuttplays104]

@@BleedForTheWorld I disagree. While not perfect, I appreciate what it eventually became and look back on it fondly from time to time. Then again, I typically find things I do like in FF rather than the bad.

[@BleedForTheWorld]

@@peanutmuttplays104 More power to you and those who do genuinely enjoyed it but that's post hoc. Maybe it's because I really am getting older but I remember when FFX, a game with no actual world map, was still much better overall.

[@peanutmuttplays104]

@@BleedForTheWorld Oh for sure. XV will probably never be my favorite (that distinction goes to either IV or Tactics), but after its relevance has come and gone, I can appreciate what it is rather than what could’ve been. That said, I’m hoping XVI learns from its predecessor’s shortcomings.

[@BleedForTheWorld]

@@peanutmuttplays104 I have hopes for XVI. They're not as high as they should be and not anywhere near what I experienced with XV but I'm still holding out for a great FF. I just hope it's fun because at the end of the day, you can have all of this ultra realism and pretty graphics but if a game isn't entertaining, what good is it for?

[@AD3SPG]

I remember not even knowing about this development till 2013, and was hyped, short I enjoyed the game spent about 300 + hours since day one, building the relationship with the boys hit hard towards the end of the game, my only complaint since the last patch I had the same summon attack like 40 times in a row I stopped using them after that unless nesseary. Oh and the add on of alot of the big hits ost from various ffs I thought it was amazing just wish it stayed on during battle, Oh and the cross over with ff and AC origins were pretty odd but it was cool, with having a costume for ff15, and ardyn coming to assassin's Creed to transport Inside a tomb just to drop off his weapon and shield.

[@sacb0y]

This game still has my favorite open world setup, it's the first game since FF9 to actually try to solve the world map issue. And the road trip aspect works really well.

[@evansvisual]

the setup is running in one open area when you dont even explore the rest of the world?where in the ff 9 were you doing that?you had a whole open world map there

[@sacb0y]

@@evansvisual I agree it's not a whole world, but it does seem like it was designed with a whole world in mind. All the locations you visit are in the open world, just not accessible.

[@klumaverik]

Final Fantasy XV was my absolute favorite. FF game. Besides VI, and XIV, and XII, and XIII.

[@gigi19081]

Thank you for recommending A King’s Tale, I had never heard of it and its actually pretty fun, and beautiful!

[@otherprisma7354]

Regardless of the many faults this game had at the beginning, still had a wonderful time with it that I platinum it. My only gripe is that I wish they could have update the game UI and assets to a higher resolution with the next gen update, it didn't age well.

[@owengray3785]

FFXV was my first ever JRPG and I will always have a soft spot in my heart for it regardless of its flaws. Was super upset when they canned 3 of the 4 season 2 dlc’s. FFXV introduced me into weebdom which might not be a good thing but it’s crazy to think how different my interests might be now if I didn’t randomly pick up this game in GameStop when I was 14. Also I think this game has the best fashion design in any jrpg ever made.

[@sam.246]

Yeah, the main cast's clothes were designed by a real fashion brand, Roen.

[@ML-yn9yu]

Im so sorry that FFXV was your 1st JRPG..

[@theimortal1974]

i really liked the ardyn episode dlc. my favorite one. i wish there was more like that.

[@bbfan84]

I'm so sorry that this was your first JRPG when there are 100s of better choices

[@eaglenebula2172]

FFXV is a fine game don't let others tell you otherwise and welcome to the wonderful world of anime & JRPGs :) Since you liked this game I can recommend 2 others: Nier:Automata and Tales of Berseria, there's a good chance you may like them as well. As for anime well there're so many great titles and masterpieces out there I don't even know where to begin.

[@bwillsskates2638]

This was my first final fantasy game and when I finished it, I cried. That song stand by me always makes me tear up now. I remember the game being a little difficult towards the middle and I kept running out of heals and having to start over

[@FloofPuppy]

Noctis and his crew are pretty much human versions of the Ninja Turtles and I love it. Noctis is the flawed but loves his brothers leader - Leonardo Ignis is the strategic and intelligent - Donatello Gladious is the tough love and slight rival to Noct when they butt heads - Raphael Prompto is the comedic relief but knows his heart is in the right place - Michelangelo

[@نونيم-ي4ح]

Dude this review is on an entirely different level, its perfectly balanced and reasonable you see the games strength and praise it you see its weakness and criticize it while also trying to understand why it was handled like this instead of blowing it out of proportion, its almost impossible to find an FF review like this, usually reviews are gushfest or hatefest something that even projared sadly fell into, i really hope you review other games in the series in a similar fashion to this.

[@KatsuImagitian]

Played FFXV when it first came out and honestly besides Ch. 13's old infamy for a slog of a solo run the game was still fun for the most part and I was genuinely struck by Noctis' end if a little befuddled on some of the lore. Only thing I could've wished for after the DLCs fleshed things out more was for Square to just finish what they started because the potential was there. Of course I also acknowledge the criticisms of how most of this content should've been there from the get go.

[@MisterSifuentes]

Was it the best story? No. Best villain. Nope. Heartbreaking love story. Nah. But the friendship was the core. Real homies. Top 3 favorite FF games. Still playing it.

[@r.daneel.90]

Best villain? Debatable

[@MisterSifuentes]

@@r.daneel.90 He does get redeemed with the DLC but the story and his motives in the game were always unclear.

[@r.daneel.90]

@@MisterSifuentes well, we're talking about the characters, not the story and how bad was delivered.

[@aza1479]

The hype was so high with this one so high

[@VarusDraske]

One odd thing i always wondered about was, where was Carbuncle? I felt like they made a big deal of it in the demo (not the Duscae one), and you even got to name it, for it to.... not appear in the game? I only found out afterwards that he does show up, but only one the easiest setting, and only if you die... Which was near impossible to do even on the hardest setting. 😂

[@Armitaco]

I think the feeling I can't shake with FF15 having played it at launch and buying the DLC as it came out is that it never really felt like the DLC is the missing piece that completes the puzzle or anything, at least for me. I feel I hear that opinion often, that basically the game was unfinished at launch but then they released the parts that they couldn't get out in time as DLC. I don't have any external evidence for this, but playing it it always struck less as parts of the story that were in the works from the get-go got withheld and more like there were plans close to launch to do DLC, and then moments were quickly added in where each character is absent from the story for a bit to give them the opening to write a totally new scenario, and giving them a change when they get back to make it seem planned from the beginning. It's hard to put words to it, but at launch the game felt unfinished in ways that had nothing to do with what the DLC eventually added - I guess it's like there are the same number of pieces as a full puzzle, but they are not all from the same set.

[@AzureRoxe]

That's because there's evidence INGAME that the DLC was just ripped off from the main title.

[@Tony_409]

I think it was just a way to make money, considering how Gladio's temporary leave is clearly an ad to buy the DLC. The DLC that might have helped was the Luna DLC that became combined with other DLC that to make Dawn of the Future novel

[@josueloya2683]

@@Tony_409 But Luna's would be useless to the story of the base game. We don't know her enough to see her shine in the scene of Altissia (her peak moment). The base game is the one that feels incomplete because it's missing pieces and instead of fixing it narratively by putting cutscenes (existing in the game data and with voices) about Regis, Luna, the Empire, Ravus etc., they wanted to make another DLC pack and sell another alternate ending. Horrible waste and greed on SE's part with all the Dawn of the Future thing.

[@heeeyyy2947]

I just beat Pocket Edition recently and even taking in just the story I was surprised at how messy it was… but even more surprised at how invested I still was

[@AnotherCody]

This is one of those games (for me) that still somewhat gives me a bad taste in my mouth whenever I go back to play the Royal Edition, mainly because I was there day one. The story was so severely lacking a few things back when I played it on launch day and it disappointed me that a lot of important story beats would be added later through updates and the DLC. I am however glad it eventually became something polished, especially for anyone jumping into FFXV for the first time. It was a learning experience for Square Enix and for fans.

[@HeroesHoshi]

Know the feeling. Followed the game since FF Versus 13 days, my hope now rides on KH4. FF15 is still very stunning and amazing, but even though I watched all the related media, it still feels lacking. The bro moments and exploration is good though.

[@oscardolloway4387]

story is still crap but the amount of content on this game makes it a very good game

[@ML-yn9yu]

yeah im surprised a few minutes in he stated that the royal edition significantly changed the game. It still didn't address a lot of the major aspects hurting the game.

[@light-4291]

@@HeroesHoshi Don’t worry guys. Next year we get FF16, FF7Remake 2 and end of this year Crisis Core remake. Those games will be better than FF15.

[@tjongdavid1921]

@@light-4291 Which is sad because SE again milks the FF7 and its fans instead of using those resources for a new game. Combine the effort and money needed to make FF7R p1&2, CCR, 1st SOLDIER, etc, they would've made 2 or 2,5 new polished FF game. Hell, they can even use those resources to make a new, proper Dissidia game that has both single player and multiplayer mode. tsktsktsk

[@ManicBacon]

i wish i remembered more of this game, maybe ill play it again in a year or two.

[@ViewtifulValentine]

On release this game really made me think about my friends who at the time had pretty much all moved away to university, It was kind of therapeutic. The ending with Noctis at the campsite for the last time legit made me cry. It wasn't the kind of final fantasy game I really expected but it absolutely had a big impact on me and playing the royal edition I could see a lot of the improvements and made me more invested in stopping to smell the roses so to speak and complete waaaay more side missions and explore the world, which I feel has a really great mix of modern feel with mythology and fantasy. I might complete the run I was doing before 16 releases, which I am immensely looking forward to.

[@sirfailalotful]

I thought one of the few really, just plainly good things about 15 was it’s ending, even in the base game. Like you said, he finally assumes his role as the protector of the realm and the world, saying goodbye to his dear friends, and makes the ultimate sacrifice, eventually reuniting with his bride. It was truly moving to me.

[@IEMprod.]

To Put how little time Tabata and Team had to work on FFXV into perspective, FFXVI started development in November 2015, a year before XV launched. And went into active development in april of 2019. That mean not only is FFXVI total overall dev time almost double XV (7 years to 3-4 years), its active dev time is as well by time XVI launches next year. (4 years XVI , 2 years XV.)

[@duranmclemore8667]

I played this game twice and didn't know about directional attacks

[@anonony9081]

I played it recently on a PC with a 4090 and it looked absolutely gorgeous at 4k120

[@Slimjim2147]

The final camp scene, the picture you pick, and the credits are the hardest I have ever cried in response to a piece of media. Not the best final fantasy game, but absolutely the best at evoking sheer emotion and I will always love this game for that. I did a 100% playthrough for my first ever experience and the picture I kept at the end is still so meaningful to me today. I kept the picture that's taken at the very end of the last fishing quest. Noct, the player, and all your friends gathered celebrating this huge accomplishment of catching the biggest fish. I kept that picture, it's a representation of my 100% completion being one of the last pictures taken, and it shows all my friends so happy and excited, the perfect way to remember, this picture means more to me than any other game I've ever loved

[@pedroportela6476]

Noctis is by far my favorite FF protagonist of all time. Yes, even over Terra, Cloud, Zidane, Tidus, and all the rest of the bunch. Is that a hot take? I feel like that might be a hot take for some people.

[@jellyfishjig]

We're giving a lot of time with him acting more or less like a normal person with friends in relatively low-stakes situations, so I can totally understand where you're coming from. It would definitely be less of a hot take if the ending wasn't handled so poorly (or if the full DLC plan with the alternate "golden ending" actually happened).

[@DutchDeathGod]

I know how flawed this game is but from the moment I was pushing the car with the bros while listening to stand by me and taking in all the beautiful scenery I was hooked. 100% the game and love it.

[@Sicara9]

As a person who is going through their third playthrough of the game and liked it even at release (even with the issues of chapter 13...), I just wanted to give my two cents on the side quest aspect of the game since I did them every time I played through the game. Yes the side quests are severely lacking in content like the video said, but the reason why I actually enjoyed doing them was because of what was said early on in the video that FFXV is a "roadtrip adventure game". With that in mind, I found novelty in the side quests not as stand alone quests, but when you had a bunch of them at once and had to plan a route with the regalia to hit all those markers and turn them in. I can definitely see how these side quests are lacking in many departments, and how much of a drag they can be when done one by one, but having the side quests there is really what drove home to me the feeling I was looking for even back in 2016 which is a "roadtrip adventure game".

[@johngrimmstone1574]

The hidden platformer dungeon at endgame was actually a pretty awesome change of pace and surprise. Not to mention challenging.

[@BoingBoingBang]

Despite some major downsides, still my favourite game of all time. The characters and overall vibe are just perfect.

[@JonnyBeoulve]

All time? Wtf?

[@Warbuss33]

🧢

[@danielwitters8454]

Pitioss dungeon is one of my favorite video game moments all time. The lore behind it and the delivery was just so dope....can't believe it didn't even get a mention

[@brotbrotsen1100]

You mean the things people think are lore in the dungeon but are actually never mentioned in game at all.