Final Fantasy 15 was a Mediocre Disappointment

[@BIGJUNK1MILLION]

The director of the game demanding to make the game a musical is probably my favorite piece of trivia of all time

[@taylord5381]

Rhapsody a musical adventure is actually an rpg for the ps1 that feels its story like a musical. It's from the devs of disgaea.

[@matthewmuir8884]

It is certainly a fun bit of trivia, but it is overblown. If I recall correctly, Nomura meant it in part as a statement of how little progress had been made because his team had to spend multiple years just making the engine able to handle the game they were trying to make. The engine in question was Crystal Tools: the terrible, unfinished in-house engine that was used to make Final Fantasy XIII and that Square Enix mandated be used for all their PS3 titles even though it was only built for linear games and Versus XIII was supposed to be open-world. Yeah; the more you look into Final Fantasy XV's development, the more you realize it wasn't Nomura or Tabata's faults.

[@edwinatwell7423]

@@matthewmuir8884 The problem is that building an engine as you develop a game is kinda like...Building a bridge as you try to cross it. It's just not a smart decision in general. Realistically it would've streamlined development much more if they had just focused on creating the engine for a few years and THEN ramped up the actual game development. It's a hard pill for stockholders to swallow but a 7 year healthy development cycle is much better than a 10 year segmented and broken development cycle.

[@matthewmuir8884]

@@edwinatwell7423 Indeed. The worst part is that, during this game's development, the executives made this mistake twice; as Super Eyepatch Wolf pointed out, when they shifted this game to the PS4, the changed the engine to Luminous Engine. They went from one bad, unfinished engine to another unfinished engine.

[@edwinatwell7423]

@@matthewmuir8884 This game is a beautiful disaster that literally got every part of the development cycle wrong. They gave themselves every opportunity to not succeed. Thankfully if your game has Final Fantasy in the title, people will buy enough of it to make it profitable.

[@kpcool2877]

There's one post-game dungeon where you can't use items, and it's where I realised I didn't actually know how to play the game. It was also my favourite place in the game.

[@mickotiu]

Can you kindly tell me what post-game dungeon that is? I want to try and complete it.

[@omerozel4716]

@@mickotiu Was it not called Pitios or something like that

[@katherinechung3214]

@@mickotiu Menace in Costlemark! It's one of the many optional end game menace dungeons you can complete.

[@shadypielover]

What? I haven’t used potions the entire game 🤣

[@reapordeath]

I used trash mobs when I played this game originally to learn mechanics, mastering what mechanics that wasn't RNG based, that is. Also that online mission for trying to kill as many cactuar for insane exp bonuses. Even when your health is maxed out those little shits can kill you in seconds.

[@lamcb.9476]

don't worry Eyepatch, Nomura will passive aggressively work Versus 13 into Kingdom hearts 4 even if it kills him

[@thecosmic8248]

I assume that’s what Verum Rex was in KH3

[@lamcb.9476]

Eric Montoya oh quite. The secret ending has a scene which directly references Versus 13. Like actual shot for shot and lighting

[@scribble71891]

@@lamcb.9476 I'd rather have a remake/reboot of FF15 to be honest. It was done with Mirror's Edge and people loved both versions of the game so why not? I still wonder about what FFV13 could've offered.

[@krisv1038]

@@scribble71891 idk if "loved" is the best way to describe mirrors edge, theyre generally known as hollow and semi mediocre. Not terrible by any means but not very impressive except to those who are distracted by pretty visuals.

[@trilfy]

@@scribble71891 If there's enough demand for it they'll have no choice. But I think most people have forgotten about FF versus XIII it was announced over a decade ago.. yeesh

[@TurboNemesis]

God that development timeline To think in that time FF14 had been announced, launched, failed miserably, been resurrected, relaunched, and had become one if their most successful and beloved games in decades.

[@marenjones6665]

This. This is truth.

[@reloadpsi]

Yoshi P was saving Square-Enix so Nomura could spend all the money :P

[@AlexRN]

And now that team is makin FF16 which has me beyond excited!

[@yowyld2422]

Thats why they brought the royal edition

[@AlexRN]

@@yowyld2422 and it made the game better but didn’t fix all of its glaring flaws. And I say this as someone who loved FFXV and Platinumed the vanilla version. I loved it despite its huge problems.

[@MrTonglong]

Those poor developers. Working hard for 10 years, just to have the result be a game people are disappointed in. Imagine what this could have been with consistent leadership and direction throughout. It’s pretty sad.

[@absoutezeo2126]

Nomura is so disappointed, he's remaking it inside of the Kingdom Hearts canon lol.

[@matthewmuir8884]

Even if Nomura had been kept in charge, the game never had a chance, in a way that's entirely the fault of the executives and higher-ups. The initial delays were because they were forced to use Crystal Tools: the terrible, unfinished engine that was responsible for FF XIII's delays, and it was only built for linear games, when Versus XIII was always supposed to be open-world. Seven years spent trying to work around the terrible engine and getting almost nowhere. Once the game was rebranded as a main series game, Square Enix wanted it to be released worldwide, but the Chinese Government didn't like the idea of a game where the protagonist's home kingdom reveres a Grim Reaper character, so huge amounts of the story and worldbuilding would have to be rewritten to accommodate the Chinese market, and Nomura, who saw Versus XIII as his Magnum Opus and Noctis as one of his two sons (the other son being Sora from Kingdom Hearts), didn't want to do that. Plus, as Super Eyepatch Wolf pointed out, the change to the PS4 meant using the Luminous Engine, which brought its own problems.

[@matthewmuir8884]

@@absoutezeo2126 "Nomura is so disappointed" is a truly massive understatement. Nomura is always passionate about his work, but he took it even further with Versus XIII, as he wanted it to be his Magnum Opus. And, in an interview, he described Sora from Kingdom Hearts and Noctis from Versus XIII as his two sons. Interesting note: he even deliberately made Sora and Noctis counterparts to each other, as reflected in their names: Sora means "Sky" while Noctis's name roughly translates to, "Night Sky Prince". In other words, they are night and day. After what happened with Final Fantasy Versus XIII, he was absolutely destroyed; the only thing keeping his outrage in check was that Square Enix forbade him from even saying the name "Versus XIII" for a very long time. When he had to design Noctis for the Dissidia Final Fantasy game, it brought him to tears, as if someone who had killed his son then made him dig his son's grave (my metaphor, not his, but it reflects the context). There's evidence to suggest that he was always going to connect Versus XIII to Kingdom Hearts (in a crossover way); everything that happened to Versus just meant that Nomura had to make adjustments to that plan, while also getting back at Square Enix for ruining Versus XIII.

[@fieryrebirth]

@@matthewmuir8884 Ah, I see. So Normura has another classic case of "OC paralysis". It's a creator's ailment where you're so obsessed with your character that you often fail to deliver on building a realistic enough world they live in and credible, well-rounded relationships(chemistry). It can lead to mary sues. See: Motomu Toriyama and his OC waifu Lightning. I feel bad for Normura on what he had to endure when it comes to his passions, but I can't say I respect the guy when he handles other characters. It also sucks when the suits mangle your OCs until they are a fragment of what you had in mind for them. Welcome to the publishing industry, Nomura.

[@matthewmuir8884]

@@fieryrebirth I wouldn't necessarily say that. All evidence points to the world of Versus XIII being a developed, interesting world and the dynamics Noctis had with the other characters, especially Stella (who got replaced with Luna when Tabata took over), would've had plenty of chemistry. Stella and Noctis have more chemistry from one interaction in one bit of story footage than Noctis and Luna had in all of XV. Let that sink in. To be clear, I'm not trying to defend Nomura; I just find it strange that he and Tabata get a lot of undeserved flack for what happened to Versus XIII/XV, when they and their teams were probably the biggest victims of this game's atrocious development.

[@Kormeister]

"What if you learned more about the characters by playing the game?" If that's a revolutionary notion for a FINAL FANTASY video game, then you know Square Enix has lost it...

[@trdl23]

They managed to nail it in the MMO of all things. Hopefully the rest of Squeenix takes notes from Yoshi-P.

[@megamage911]

@@trdl23 Yeah exactly! I only started playing it much later, and I've been slacking a bit, but I recently got to that one part right after killing Titan (I don't want to spoil in case someone sees this who haven't played it yet) And I just gotta say... Holy fuck, I did not expect that.

[@franciscor390]

Haha I was reading your written line in real time at the same time the 30 min mark as SEPW mentioned that same line. Crazy.

[@thedomeguy]

Makes me EXTREMELY worried for FFVII Remake...

[@Gee-xb7rt]

the problem was they listened to all the whiny people complain about XIII, and XV is the result, its easy, its got no character development, but you can drive around in a big open world and listen to music from better final fantasy games, which is pretty much all i liked about it.

[@NinjaGuyDan_]

Coming back to this after playing FF7 Remake. They must have really listened to people's complaints about the combat.

[@JetAway]

The spirit of Final fantasy 7 he means

[@DragoEpyon]

@@JetAway Is THAT a joke?

[@Kintaku]

TheDragonEpyon no probably not. I haven’t played the game yet but two things lead me to believe they’re right: 1) The materia system is basically untouched 2) I watched Skill Up describe the system and while it is not directly turn based, it very much seems to have a lot of influence from turn based combat

[@NinjaGuyDan_]

@@Kintaku It's absolutely the perfect mesh of turn based and real time. It has its flaws like air combat being wonky and no tech/recovery when you get knocked down, but it was an excellent first try and the best battle system they've made in almost 20 years

[@Kintaku]

Daniel Thompson I really want to check it out once I get a PlayStation. I’ve heard a lot of good things about the combat. Plus I really like the systems in VII and even Crisis Core. It will be nice to have a materia system again

[@mqfii8992]

The most ironic part about Noctis and Lunafreya Is that Noct has way better chemistry with the girl from a crossover with a mobile game that appears as a side quest.

[@luxeadawnlight]

After all, he was designed with Stella in mind as his love interest, not a big sister or a mom-figure as a "lover". Hehe

[@suiken3149]

@@luxeadawnlight Nah. Noctis from Vs XIII appears to be more cold-blooded and level-headed.

[@luxeadawnlight]

@@suiken3149 We don't have enough info, and tbh, if that is true, he'd make a more interesting mc.

[@suiken3149]

@@luxeadawnlight Even if there wasnt enough info, his mannerism alone gives away his personality.

[@luxeadawnlight]

@@suiken3149 not really...

[@samboyaus]

One of the worst things about the Cup Noodle side quest was the timing of it. Gladiolus leaves the party for a while, returns with new scars on his face, and then when he pulls Noctis aside to tell him something, you think he's going to tell him something important that he learnt during his time away from the party, but instead he just starts ranting about noodles? I was so confused. I thought he had been brainwashed or something, and that Noctis was going to ask him "What's wrong with you Gladio!? What happened to you!?"

[@StrayPitboss]

Jesus, that made me laugh. I needed that. DLC can burn in hell, but I'd like to see someone pitch the "brainwashed Gladio" idea as an add-on. Just to let us laugh for a moment.

[@ShatteredGlass916]

"Branwashed by a Cup Noodle company" That would actually more interesting

[@zacwicht3189]

just because its the only thing he can cook , spoilers do the quest and stock up on Cup Noodles for the painful part without Iggy's cooking and no food vendors

[@bhelish]

I wouldn't be surprised if that was going to be a thing in Gladiolus's DLC. After all literally everything else(from the camping gear they use to the clothes they wear) is an advertisement. Its just that the cup noodles shit is shoved in your face.

[@bakercat2845]

Too many knocks to the head if those scars are any indication. I don’t know, I only own the base game Square!

[@jamespinzon6687]

I remember saying...it’s over?? I was doing all the side quests and thought I should really play the story now...only to find chapters flying bye and it was over. There was no story. This was a side quest game.

[@jamespinzon6687]

@2B Or not 2B yeah it was rushed no doubt. Overall 1-10 I give the game a 5 because it was only half a game.

[@moonsets-on_you]

@2B Or not 2B love your username, unique as fuck m8

[@Yamato-t3d]

I think what really killed this game in most of its aspects is the implementation of this western style open world , Square thought that maybe by trying to westernize Final fantasy it would have a wider appeal but what actually ended up happening is that it crippled the game in terms of having a coherent world , no towns , no variations , no style to NPCs , not even a cohesive narrative . If only they scrapped the open world aspect and replace it with a traditional overworld like the other FF games like 10 or 12 i think we would have gotten a better game.

[@rickylexy]

I did the same exact thing. I couldn’t believe it happened so quick. The world felt so small.

[@Zanuka]

I did something similar. I was like: I know the game wants me to continue with the plot but I want to grind and explore, do quests, etc a little bit before continuing with the main plot. I left the first map/continent only to find the game not only finished very quickly (linear too) but also there was no natural way for me to go back! very sad. I wanted to complete the rest of the exploration/etc without the (imo) weird Umbra mechanic. I had the same thing with the Venice city, I didn't explore everything first time, wish I had. Even though I at most explored a 1/3 of everything in both areas I still felt over levelled for the main plot fights, so had I been a completionist before moving on (which I would have been in hindsight) I can imagine the plot being even easier to finish, no challenge.

[@blueflare3299]

I feel like Noctis should have been present for the invasion at the start of the game. It would have set a very good tone and introduced Niflheim as a major threat early on. It would have also made the kings death more impactful to the players as a whole. Noctis needs to be present for more events in general, and Lunafreya really needed more screentime. I really like this game, but I can recognize it's major flaws.

[@mapleisable5354]

u should have wathced the film before starting the game, where it is all shown, except of Noctis in the capitacl ofc.

[@blueflare3299]

@@mapleisable5354 I did watch Kingsglave, which is why I suggested they do that in the first place

[@giulyanoviniciussanssilva2947]

I like the main quartet and the waifus, because as a game I hate everything, FF7 Remake made me sad about this game.

[@matthewmuir8884]

Originally, Noctis was going to be present for the invasion. All the trailers for the game, back when it was Final Fantasy Versus XIII, showed that Noctis was going to be present for the invasion, and it was the most heavily shown part of the game to the point where the very first trailer takes places almost entirely during the invasion. In other words, Noctis not being there was a result of the rebranding and cutting.

[@SykoYamakazian]

That movie was dog shit

[@CaelanDeJager]

It's basically just a development disaster.

[@Gamemaster-64]

and I wish they just move on but instead they keep trying to milk it. I don't follow FFXV news but heard there a second season pass? seriously? MOVE AWAY FROM XV AND GO TO XVI!

[@coolbanana165]

How did they doing that with FF13? I thought FF13 and Lightning Returns was great.

[@luf4rall]

@@Gamemaster-64 they are trying to recoup on time and money like they did with ff13

[@kleberson777]

@@coolbanana165 FF13 is great? Nope

[@BladedEdge]

Turns out that Nomura is a great visual designer but a terrible project director. Who knew.

[@macromondo8026]

Development Hell is a real thing, so much rewritting that it ends being but a shadow of what could had been, really sad thought.

[@Sckarton]

duke nukem forever is good game that retained everything made series what it is. in fact, it offered a lot of things that most FPS at that time didn't have like fun mini games and actual fun dialogues.

[@Nintendotron64]

Scope creep is also a very real thing. I respect the crap out of Nomura for his work on Kingdom Hearts and The World Ends With You, but it's pretty obvious he was biting off WAY more than the dev team was capable of.

[@Sckarton]

not only that but also he keep changing his vision because he liked something on that day. he needed some guy to outline everything and start production instead of whatever caught his eyes on that day to implement it to FF15.

[@kwedl]

Nomura and his team barely worked on V13 for 1-2 years, then V13 and otehr games at the time were put in hold for 3-4 years because multiple teams had to help out with XIV 1.0 and SE literally said in interviews that this delayed multiple games by multiple years. And by the time XIV was fixed it was already time for PS4/Xbone so they turned it into XV and gave it to a different director and team and put Nomura on KH3. So yeah, i know people like to hate on Noura but at least do a little bit of research. Except for the 2013 trailer Nomur basicly had nothing to do with XV anymore for years before and after that and even with Tabata on board the story and gameplay changed multiple times in just 2-3 years. There're trailers from 2015 and onward with content that isn't in the game. And just when Nomura was put on KH3 he was assigned as director on 7R without him even knowing and 7R beeing announced too soon. But idiots actually blame him for the announcement. It just shows how stupid most SE fans are. They just see a headline on yt or a random website and then take is as fact and think up the rest for themself.

[@BoydTheMilkmanX]

Development Hell isn't always bad. Nioh was a game in development hell for a solid decade and it actually came out, and it was amazing even though it was very obvious over the course of it's development it took radically different approaches to how it was to be played.

[@Raxyz_0]

"(...)is what happens when unrestrained creative ambition comes crashing into reality of video game development." It's hilarious how that's basically Cyberpunk 2077, except buggier but more self-contained in its story. Games that are incredibly frustrating because it's clear what they _could_ have been, but never will.

[@irony8908]

There's some info that Cyberpunk 2077 story was heavily rewritten to be centered around Keanu. That's why friendship with Jackie is a couple of missions and a cutscene, exactly like its in FFXV. That's why there's no AI, why world doesn't feel alive, why so many features and rpg mechanics were dropped. Because they had to remake a lot of the game based on a new story in about 2 years.

[@Vin50000]

i see what you are saying about cyberpunk but unlike ffxv it has all its intended content, there's no wondering what it could have been. ffxv has content and system problems cyberpunk has technical problems

[@MrPeanutSniper]

Dragon Age fans: 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲?

[@mrcraggle]

@@Vin50000 there's a bunch of cut content from CP. There's a thread on Reddit someone put together with all of what was stated would be in the game and ultimately what shipped. The devs even knew the game wouldn't be ready for 2020 but because they had made the Witcher 3 which had earned them all of this clout, management believed their own hype that they could deliver it. CP2077 also suffers massively from a lack of basic fundamentals that open world games have been doing almost decades now (see Crowbcats video for that).

[@Toki-Ralte]

IF YOU'RE READING THIS, & I'D BE HAPPY TO ITERATE HOW SUBJECTIVELY BOLDLY WRONG EYEPATCH'S STATEMENT OR "REVIEW" IS!! my counter is directed towards him but feel free to chime in, I'd like a retrospective of sort from anyone else rather than his.. with that being said let's look into the issues he nitpicked.. "Why don't Eos cities or settlements have walls?" "Won't protecting them from monsters be part of life but none of Eos cities have no walls" "You'd imagine armor & protective gear as with reinforcing vehicles alot would be more common" "World design are completely absent from NPC design with their fashion" Wow! talk about not doing research before writing a bold & blatant opinionated "review" I believe the initial 5hrs you played & put down your controller, you never even bothered to come back to it later for writing this.. First, the open world part we get to play in Eos is in a rather ruined state.. contrast to the Crown City & Lucii. Small settlements don't need walls everywhere cuz they're located where actual monsters resides. Especially Lestallum, it has lights to keep the daemons at bay. Have you not done any hunt quests or saw a single hunter? There are active Hunter organisations there, then there are the normal civilians that you highlighted, Regis literally gave his life force to make Insomnia & Eos better & thriving. If you bothered to check & read various books & lores around settlements, you'd realise there had been monsters attack in the past & the people & settlements adapted & relocated appropriately. You'd know if you read the lore behind Old Lestallum. And there have been monsters attack IF people roam outside said settlements, there's a quest in Lestallum tied to that. You'll get all your answer if you played enough of the game & read the different lores spread out & why Eos is now how it is in its current state. There's also a specific quest where Cindy installed a UV headlights of sort for the Regalia so it keeps the daemons at bay. Those lights are what keeps the monsters at bay. Why would every NPC need to armor up when there's the Hunter Organisations & most importantly the King literally gave his life force to protect it. Like the Souls series, there are lores spread out, and you apparently didn't play & do your research enough before wiring this nitpicking bullshit!! Don't even get me stared on the combats, there's so much depth & unlocks more than later than just Blindside attack, you probably don't even know how much work & detail was put into the blindside attack alone, not just your buddies but with other characters as well with the added bonus of different weapons mixed in.. same does for all the Link Strike, Cross chain, Armirger cross chain etc. I could go on but your lack of playtime & videogame knowledge in general is so apparent here that maybe you should stick to fake wrestling judging from your annual game recommendations.

[@TurboNemesis]

"Your dad just died and your fiance is missing and your kingdom is on fire. Time to go play with chocobos" This game cant decide on a tone

[@tomivalkonen1343]

Welcome to anime.

[@blacksunapocalypse]

That whole scene where they find out what happened in a newspaper. It's like the main characters and every NPC just shrugged. "OH NO!" "Anyways...."

[@sebastianbarrios7288]

"Aeris just died... time to get punched out cold by Elena/dodge it and have her fall down the mountain and then play a snowboard minigame!"

[@TurboNemesis]

@@sebastianbarrios7288 you seemed to have skipped the part where you immediately confront Sephiroth and fight Jenova. Also no one was talking about FF7. Personally i think FF7 doesnt really hold up.

[@djsauceguy9302]

Yakuza

[@MarsTheBar9]

it pisses me off how square pulled a good ol "wanna see more depth in these characters? buy the dlc!" and it pisses me off even more that i fell for it and bought the dlc. because the characters seemed so empty in the game and i NEEDED to see atleast a little more development. And while i did really love the dlc and felt like they added a lot to the characters (excluding gladio's lmao), why the fuck wasn't that just in the main game in the first place? why am i paying for basic things like character development?

[@reaktorleak89]

Final Fantasy XV is a dead franchise. It's a zombie version of its original self. Just assume FFXII was the end of the series. I assume all the FF games are being re-released on iPhone and Android because the latest installments are coming too slow and at too low of a quality. Square Enix might be on its way towards bankruptcy. For example, why was FFXII Zodiac Age released for $50? They NEED the money.

[@cirigaming9377]

have you at least watched the movie and the anime?

[@TheFrostedfirefly]

@@cirigaming9377 "At least" Not sure if it was your intent but you're making it sound like it should be required for you to not only buy DLC to experience the full game story and characters but also spend time watching external media too which also should have been part of the game.

[@hikari67]

But you still clapped when Nomura teased FF7 yes you did.

[@shicyn]

actually, if you looked throughout social media, the franchise is not dead yet. your saltiness doesn't define it. for what its worth, while I defend the game and do enjoy it, I also have my own personal resentment towards it. but trying to say it is dead when it is the 3rd highest selling final fantasy and was actually a success is rather eye rolling. like.. stop talking lol. I do agree that SE is declining. they are making a lot of the SAME mistakes Capcom did 5 or 7 years ago. SE is legitimately dependant on FF15 and FF14 (and KH as well). now they are desperate and clinging onto Nier. @@reaktorleak89

[@ducksoop.x]

This game is the textbook definition of development hell. Jesus..

[@dharamsoni8526]

Ummm...Duke nukem forever wants to know your location

[@edwardboland8957]

abc xyz More like “Duke Nukem Wait Forever”

[@l3fari0us42]

**Laughs in Fallout 76**

[@nexus9104]

No, that honor goes to Fallout 76.

[@TheSlammurai]

This applies to modern gaming in general, since even with the occasional great games they get drowned out by so many shitty games. And by shitty I mean EA and Activision.

[@drake128]

I played it whilst thinking it was going to get good and then i was at the end . It was like reading a book that had chapters missing .

[@TheAuron32]

probably not far wrong on that, there was a LOT ripped from this game, thats likely WHY it felt like what you described.

[@curtizmcintyre970]

I got bored first play through, didn’t make it halfway before I put it down.

[@CaedenV]

Same. I started with FFX and was super impressed, went back and played some older games, and then FFX-2 came out and I was like... well, that was not expected. Then 11 came out, played a trial on PC and didn't care for it. Then 12 came out which was garbage with a broken battle system (I swear, drop most of the cast and make it about the bounty hunter and bunny lady and there was some solid gold there!). 13 felt more like a final fantasy game, though the whole being on rails thing could have been dealt with more gracefully (FFX is also on rails for the majority of the game, few complained there), but once you hit planet to grind it really felt like a modern version of a traditional FF game for a little bit, then the end was like... welp, that was weird. FF13-2 I thourally enjoyed. It did not feel like a FF game per say, but it was fun, well executed, fairly balanced, and made more sense than the first. And then Lightning Returns... oh man, I think I gave up caring pretty early on, and gave up after less than 5 hours in. 14 was another mmo thing; not interested. Then, after all that time, FFXV came out. Watched the anime, and I was into it. Bought the movie, but was warned that it could spoil part of the game, so I sat on it until the part of the game that it takes place. That first arc of the game, through the movie had me hooked! It was not the emo edgey game I had hoped for, but there was good chemistry between characters, a tight story line across multiple forms of media, and the whole thing was beautiful! Then you get to the part after the destruction of insomnia, and it felt... weird. You are on a quest to get hitched, and everything is sort of rushing you to get moving, and it takes several days minimum to get to the wedding going as fast as you can. Everything feels like it is the second major story beat, so you get ready to go to the island and the game warns you that you may not be back for a while. But I have played FF12, I know that this means that I will hit a story beat, get through a hard section, and then back to the open road in 20-40 minutes. But no, this is where the end game content starts. The wedding falls apart, the bride is killed, the badguy revealed, you come back only to hop on a train to the desert, and then a bog, and then another train to a frozen waste land, gladios gained a scar, preppy boy is blind, something happened to the other one that I wish would leave anyways, and then all of them are gone, I am in some sort of tower with a ring, and I am nowhere near leveled enough and have no supplies so I die in 2-3 hits. Thank goodness I saved! Go waaaaaaay back before the wedding. Find a few rellic swords, take a bunch of pictures, start a towing and repair service, needlessly gain a monster truck, get super leveled up, and starting to run out of content that I can do until 'post game', so I try again. On the way to the lighthouse the game crashes. Happens every time, even taking different routes to the lighthouse. flustered, annoyed, rage quit, uninstall, sooooo done with this broken game. A year passes; I hear the game is more stable, there is DLC that I somehow get for free because PC version? I picked up a newer GPU. There are explanations as to what happened to the other characters, pretty cool, lets give it another go. Load up a new game, start over, and get to hammer head. Find that some sort of multiplayer element has been added. Get a laugh at my female main character still had noctuses voice, and it hits me... ya, they dont care about this game. Its all a joke. Its all promises for no payoff. This is modern square enix. KH3 arrives without a real ending, no surprise here. I'm not playing it because I know who is involved, and there is no PC release on the horizon (PS2 was my last console). Patches and DLC complete the game, and in there is an Easter egg announcement/rumor that Versus 13 is coming back as potentially FF16 with the original edgier story and characters and love story... hope springs eternal! I somehow find myself hopeful that *this time* they will do it right. This time they will have a story that makes sense. This time they will have balanced gameplay. I mean, FFX was the last really good one, but now, NOW they will get their acts together and make their first good new content game since forever. *sigh* why do I do this to myself? Meanwhile, I have an i9 chip, and a GTX 1080 gpu, and I am happily playing through FF9 again and having an absolute blast with it. I think it may be time to down scale my fancy computer and just play old games from here on out. They were just more fun back then.

[@EmilJohanssonEOC]

I felt the same. I had waited for so long to play a great FF again that I desperately wanted it to be good. When I got to the end I was just fed up with it all. I felt like I didn't know the characters at all and didn't care about them and the combat system was just a boring chore. How could they f*ck it up so bad? The magic system has like four spells and they are close to useless. The game would have been much better if they had just copy pasted the system from XII.

[@danholo]

Yup. If you read about some of the concept ideas about the main city and game's original themes, they sound so cool. Yawn, what a game.

[@lymmea]

As someone who enjoyed FFXV, and who kneejerk said aloud "the hell it was" when I saw this video title, I just want to say that I clicked through anyway because I respect your thoughts and opinions on enough other topics that I was prepared to give you the chance to change my mind. And while you didn't make me stop liking the parts of XV that I did like - just as you yourself liked aspects of the game, despite the flaws you saw with it - you helped show me how much better it could have been, and articulated issues with it that I had but either didn't consciously notice or brushed over in favor of chasing the good bits. I just wanted to say that you completely knocked it out of the park with this video, you rewarded the faith I put in your insights even while you were criticizing an experience I personally enjoyed by accurately and articulately pointing out not just where it was flawed but *why* it was flawed and what could have fixed those flaws(like building the characters and narrative more within the game itself), and that your intentions come through loud and clear. You're not bashing XV, or Final Fantasy as a whole. You're pointing out things that could have been executed better, things that held the game back from being a better experience than it was(regardless of whether you liked what it was or not), and also questioning some of the shifts in how the game was presented compared to previous FF games (see: copious external content that is required to get the full experience/story of the game, not included in the main game to its detriment) and whether that isn't something we should be pushing back against. I agree with literally everything you said in this video. I feel like, if I were a more analytical person, enough to have acknowledged the issues as I played rather than blindly pushing them aside to get to the Good Stuff, I would have had these same thoughts before you spoke them. But I'm not, so I didn't, and I'm glad you're around to give them a voice.

[@genxgen1368]

Mad respect for this comment, I'm sure it's comments like these that make people's week, for those who make analysis videos or for people who just appreciate nuance in story development. And if I may, I would like to add that it's just as necessary to have people who are not as analytically inclined. Because this often pushes them to see the good first, which analytical minds really need, as they are naturally not inclined to do so. I just wanted to say there's value in being able to find good in stuff that end up being critically bad, on a mechanical level. Not to take away from your appreciation of this video, but to add validation to your initial experience playing XV.

[@frogglen6350]

Yeah, it's nice that you admit that you're so dumb, you need a random KZbin essay to tell you that this game is bad, even though it's obvious that it is. Lol

[@genxgen1368]

@@frogglen6350 It's not the point of it being bad, but the why. Which, hey, it's great that you're so confident in your intellectual ability. But if you can't use it to build others up, than you are only a selfish bastard, mathematically speaking, because the only person you'll ever be able to make happy is one person, which is yourself. You might think that's enough, but people are inherently social creatures who need others in order to grow. That's a fact. So, I say this with great love for you and your life, when I say "Get your head out of your ass, and use your mind for something great." I know you can do it. And since I know your head will probably still be up your ass (and it's a learned skill to get it out, tbh), let me say it one more time for you: This video wasn't random, a lot of hard work and care went into it, as did my comment. Because we care, because not everyone perpetuates their own shit, haha. Not everybody knows that though, so that's WHY I'm saying it. Take care, my man.

[@lymmea]

@@frogglen6350 Not even this actual KZbin video agrees with you, so I'm not sure why you're in the comments of a video you haven't watched trying to own people who have. But then again, I stopped being 12 and being able to find personal validation only through childishly insulting other people a long time ago. Get better soon!

[@genxgen1368]

@@lymmea Mmm, I guess that's accurate, as it being mediocre was only a precursor to the real message, which can be argued as "the tragedy of unrealized potential." Which, let's be honest, it's something that can happen to any of us if we fear failure more than regret. A fair warning to us all.

[@SeraphSeph]

"Final fantasy has always been about a group of weirdos from wildly different backgrounds coming together to combat a greater evil". Actually... I just realised that's part of why I loved ff7 so much, you have a kickboxing woman, a super soldier, a black militant with a gun for an arm, a vampire, a puppet controlled by a disgruntled corporate worker, a pilot, a talking dog, and a ninja. All coming together to try to kill some guy obsessed with his mom trying to destroy the planet.

[@finaltwin]

YES!!!!

[@BottlesOfSoap]

@@pockystyx4087 ff9 was so good

[@cokechang]

That’s usually how JRPG is if you think about it, they put a lot of focus on having a wide array of personalities in your party

[@SeraphSeph]

@@pockystyx4087 ff9 seems pretty lit I just never got the chance to play it. I really wish they'd port ff6 8 and 9 to ps4 with updated graphics like they did for ff7. Just some hd upscaling basically.

[@davieccc]

Haha brilliant!!!

[@hicknopunk]

I just thought every single npc carried 99 potions. I mean a dying person can be saved with a simple potion. So no need for walls.

[@toad7395]

I feel like they should've at least put the npcs with some sort of armor or clothing that doesn't look like they just pulled out of someone from our own world and plopped it in, imagine running around with tight ass jeans and an incredibly tight belt while some gigantic monster is chasing you

[@pinguinthecity4603]

Jermaine Ituralde What monster is going to kill Cindy? Correct me if I’m wrong but the monsters by hammerhead are no where close to deadly and also even if there is, I don’t think a monster is gonna want to destroy a town because there could be hunters there and considering all the hunts have the monsters be in their natural settings, I think I’m right. I’m fine with people thinking the monsters should interact with each other(though I think competing it to MH world is unfair because its world main focus and not a type of side quest, comparing to early MH games would be more fair) but don’t attack the game because npcs aren’t dressed for combat, that’s stupid, the world didn’t give you the obvious answer because its not necessary for most to understand the game’s story.

[@arikadogenya527]

@@pinguinthecity4603 while the monster is not deadly as you stated, that doesnt mean you wouldn't take any counter measure against it.. lets say you have this harmless hammerhead in your area.. even though they wont hurt you physically, they would do it the other way like one of the few side quests in the beginning of the game where some monster just roaming around one tower (looks like radio tower for me, idk) for no reason.. and in the same side quest, we encounter npc that got injured because of that said "harmless" monster..

[@twenty-fifth420]

I am surprised they didnt take advantage of this as sort of slapstick humor. Because I certainly would have. “Dick, what happened to your face?!?” “Oh, I got ambushed by a behemoth, kicked my ass and, get this, I was saved by the prince of Lucis!” “No shit really?!” “Really! Although I can’t see too well, my eyes are swollen. You got a potion??”

[@gamerdomain6618]

Potions are sports drinks according to official FFXV lore. Its just that Noctis' magic makes them have incredibly exaggerated effects based on whatever minor effect the drink originally had, which is healing for Potions.

[@Go_away_loser]

Everyone: "Noctis, your home is destroyed, everyone you know and love is dead, and you're a political fugitive operating under a mission of treason that has no meaning anymore. How do you feel?" Noctis, flopping down on a hotel couch: "This sucks"

[@pippofranco879]

I wanna go fishing... And you guys will watch

[@AzureRoxe]

Yeah, Noctis' "i barely care about anything" attitude really brings down the already mid story. His freakouts here and there feel like there should be far more to them, but we never see Noctis actually processing anything, he just gives little Fs.

[@Go_away_loser]

🤣@@pippofranco879

[@sonknowsbest7265]

The amount of passion you so obviously pour into every single one of your videos astounds me. The fact that you can consistently produce such high-quality essays about the topics you love proves to me that you deserve the success you have and so much more. You always seem to have an important secondary message to relay in your videos, which helps to assist the timelessness of your projects as important cautionary critiques of the media landscape more-so than an outraged fan getting his emotions out in video format. The amount of dedication to fact-checking and research shows you truly try and keep your videos to high standards beyond your opinionated segments. I am also happy you tackled the development issues in its own segment, as it gives a sympathetic insight to both Nomura and Tabata's situations, instead of just picking a side and not taking the other into thought. I truly look forward to seeing more of your content, as you consistently prove yourself capable of crafting some of the finest video essays on the platform. I'm sure in time you will prove to be an influential content creator for the next generation of youtube. Keep up the incredible work.

[@sonknowsbest7265]

@Empyreal Denizen Thanks, my friend.

[@LinkEX]

Well said. He has a serene tone that's neither just jubilant nor regretful. Despite pouring his heart into these reviews, he can always keep a critical view and regard what he criticizes from different perspectives. Like here, where he, after a long tirade of what falls flat in this game and why, lays out how the development of this game went down, and the reason of why it likely turned out this way despite best intentions of the people behind it.

[@sonknowsbest7265]

Agreed, it's a phenomenal video that takes all aspects of the game's development and finished state into account. Everything he says sticks with me for hours post-viewing, as if by some mystical enchantment he's cast upon me. The Serene tone mentioned is likely partly responsible for that. Cheers for the insightful discussion.

[@TheIcarusEffect]

In terms of world building it’s worth noting the settlements are all surrounded by floodlights that switch on at night so as to protect from the demons that come out in the dark. These floodlights are like “fortification walls” for the demons that need to be in darkness. Doesn’t explain why there aren’t more fortifications for basic monsters like Behemoths but shows some effort at world building at least

[@Solgeist]

That was not Stella or luna in the logo it is Etro The goddess of death....noctis in the original story could enter the world of dreams when he slept, there he could connect with the dead.....the stories changes from 13 to 15 are so vast and deep that the entire game got totally destroyed in constantly changing its busness model

[@JhonatasRosendo]

Makes sense, since Noctis means night

[@Lugbzurg]

According to a comment in here by MattVortex14ever, Etro and Stella were actually intended to be revealed as the same person in some sort of twist.

[@PimpMatt0]

Fucking sad. They should have delayed it and focus on a less ambitious FF game.

[@nyx4323]

Yo, when I listen to the original story I’m actually suprised. Suprised by why in the world they would change it? It was perfect the way it was. I mean look at the way it turned out, even tho game was released, it wasn’t finished and now they give us tons of patches and dlcs. 😔

[@REChronic54]

@@nyx4323 time constraint, that's why.

[@dushikorsou1]

When your companinions never told you what happened to them when they weren't with the party i already knew what the season pass was going to be....

[@chrisy2128]

POWERFUL. I found myself nodding in agreement the whole time. "Why now, after 30 years of Final Fantasy, is it okay to cut out the heart of these stories and divide it out across different pieces of content, and THEN not only ask consumers to pay additional fees for that content, but to ignore how detrimental doing so is to the story itself? Why does every part of this game, from it's world building, to it's combat, to it's narrative feel COMPROMISED AND ILL CONSIDERED? And why is that now acceptable as FINAL FANTASY?" If that is not a mic drop moment, I don't know what is.

[@thessk_1]

Izumi kajiura Doesent change that the game was trash

[@sparkyspinz9897]

@@hikari67 they didn't have time? Is that a fucking joke? Or are you actually that ignorant and talking out your ass. The game had PLENTY of time. Too much time, especially for what we got. Half the fucking game was slowly patched in after release and its STILL BAREBONES. They sure didnt slack on showing off interesting ideas and story in trailers and demos yet none of it was in the game. The only excuse here is internal strife in development like what happened with Destinys story but even then it doesnt excuse this shell of a game

[@versatilelord8893]

supers4iy4n kid but the game isn’t trash tho

[@DTDplays]

@@versatilelord8893 You can have your opinion but the game is just bad. Story was split into different media, game mechanic is auto battle holding 1-3 buttons.

[@versatilelord8893]

theagiknight23 i agree having the story split into different media and dlc was stupid but the battle system isn’t auto battle holding 1-3 buttons. It just isn’t. Mind you I don’t think the game is great either but it most certainly isn’t trash

[@sammyi2505]

My sister and I call this game, "Fashion, Fishing, Photo Fantasy" and I think that sums it up pretty well. It's a game made up of mundane slice-of-life fan service, pretty visuals, scattered RPG elements, and a smattering of story that hardly makes sense unless you expose yourself to outside material like the FFXV Brotherhood and Arden's Prologue/Episode DLC. We can find enjoyment in it for the distractingly pretty silliness that is, but it's never really felt like a Final Fantasy title to me. It's just like... Roadtrip, the Game.

[@ti713]

The storytelling has issues for sure, but you don't really need to watch Brotherhood or play Ardyn DLC for the story to make sense at all, in fact Episode Ardyn creates plot holes since it was written and developed with a different director and was never a part of the original plan. The main game is really all you need, is a back to the basics story.

[@callsignfatbeard2637]

@@ti713it’s not really a story at all. The first couple hours of the game are a hilarious nothing burger.

[@InternetExpert]

We'll just wait until they remake this one... in about 20-something years.

[@awdrifter3394]

It'll be broken down to 3 games, it'll be on ps10,11,12.

[@alenezi989a3]

@@awdrifter3394 well atleast breaking this game into 3 parts means they will have enough to time to fully flesh out the story, world building and characters, which are basically the mortal flaws of FF15.

[@wasupman777]

@@awdrifter3394 there won't be a ps6 let alone 10, and you won't be alive to see it happening 😂

[@awdrifter3394]

@@wasupman777 If we're going with the 7 years per console generation, PS10 will be released 2063. it's a stretch, but I might live that long.

[@wasupman777]

@@awdrifter3394 you might live that long, its a possibility! But I don't think there would be a great difference in future gaming consoles than what we have now. And the ps5 graphics ain't that impressive compare to the ps4, it's all about the lightning, new adjustments and textures refinements, playabilities, new decent games titles which is what it is about really..2 years from now ppl will look at the ps5 graphics as outdated and wish and hope for another console...but yeah...

[@sailorchiaki]

This game really resonated with me and I care deeply for the characters, (although I also watched the anime and played the DLCs), but that in no way, shape, or form excuses it from the flaws. And it's very frustrating *because* I care so much about the characters that it was just horribly executed. Rushing, being too ambitious, and being unorganized as hell are extremely detrimental to a game. It's such a shame :(

[@DarkDyllon]

the problem with the lore/backstory also existed in FF13. in FF13 it was locked behind all these datalogs (not bad but why not add it into the actual storyline, make dialouge between characters about this cutscenes etc) i've read all the datalogs in FF13 and they were long ... so i've gotten to know the backstory of each character what drives them etc but through datalogs, not actual gameplay/cutscenes where i could experience 1st hand what happend to them (the 13 days flash backs were'nt cutting it either) then in FF15 i didn't watch the movie/anime and i jumped into the game with the gold edition and yeah ... i was underwhelmed after not having an expectation from this game to begin with. oh Noctis's father died? eh whatever didn't knew the guy anyways. (would have been great if we started as the king and then advanced to his song, sort of a intro) the whole "open world" aspect is thrown out the window at some point in the story and they needed to let the dog have time travel to earlier points in time ... wow this game was sold upon the fact of true open world yet after a certain point this aspect is thrown away. it had potential but even if the story was great the combat can't be fixed in any way shape or form, the FF12 system was excelent, you had to plan out your next move and stronger opponents were truly challenging, you could freeze time and select carefully or even equip your members with ribbons or whatever right before an attack hits to nullify it's effects but even then it was difficult. in FF15 it's just ... zZzZzZz, this style of combat is made for games like kingdom hearts not something like Final Fantasy (maybe a spinoff but not a main series entry)

[@SameriddAndCave]

Same man, lot's of cool and interesting lore in front of shitty gameplay and lack of explanation for events in game. I wish the game came out late 2019 but that would've never happened.

[@BigPuffDaddy]

Yeah, I agree. I enjoyed it, but it was difficult to ignore all the glaring issues.

[@cookiesontoast9981]

I saw the anime and read the DLC's... But still the story did basically nothing for Me, the only bit I found really effective was the ending when the guys are around the fire, that was great. My main problems are 1: the combat is really boring, just the most meh stuff ever. 2: the "open world" was so empty, boring and repetitive with bad side quests, and I hate how you just teleport everywhere, EXACTLY where your location is with markers telling you EXACTLY what to do... Just way too simplistic and streamlined. A FF game with boring combat and boring world/way of traversing the world is definitely not a great FF. Things I did like: some of the characters were likable, the music was really good (not as good as most FF games I don't think but still really good), occasionally there's a fun side quest that you just enjoy taking a cruise and doing some busy work, I like some sections of the main story campaign although some other parts are just so linear with nothing keeping me going because of how meh the combat is, some of the dungeons are good, confusing, challenging and that is a great thing. My verdict: I play FF games for the combat, complicated levelling and World traversing systems, music, and art style, FFXV fails for all of those but music but even that isn't amazing. Out of all the FF games I have played so far XV is my least favourite, do I dislike it? No, it's fun and overall I really enjoyed my time with it, but it could REALLY be much better, even XIII was better for me because it has better music, a beautiful and interesting art style and world, much better and more entertaining combat/levelling systems.... And... Personally I found the characters and story more interesting.

[@dominiquejaxkson1336]

sailorchiaki Speaking as someone who’s first Final Fantasy experience was 15, I enjoyed the game but the issues surrounding it are so annoying and frustrating. I played the hell out of it but I really like to see it remade in the future.

[@harukun]

After watching this I can't help but feel like the opening scene was the staff showing their weary endeavor to get the game out whatever the cost. They must have felt like the main characters pushing that car through that desolate wasteland, all realizing that it looked impressive and pretty, but ultimately because it didn't run it was useless.

[@GameoftheYear-fx4mq]

Or maybe its a tie-in to the movie which acts as a prequel? The movie ends with Prompto driving and the car breaks down. That's when the game begins.

[@tionalkcore]

Damn...great comment. I’m considering this canon now.

[@HavenMarches]

I'm considering this as a message to the players of how much torture the developers are going through because of the god awful management practices at Squeenix.

[@TheAbsoluteZxero]

And watching more successful games driving by leaving them behind

[@SBaby]

If you play the game a second time and you watch that car pushing scene, it really does feel that way. But that's ok, because at least they didn't offscreen the Cup Noodles sidequests.

[@SeaJayLY]

Every time I got into combat in this game, I felt like I was doing something wrong.

[@bruhshkebabs]

I hate the combat in this game so much. It’s so underwhelming. I really wish it had that FF7 remake combat, since that’s my favorite.

[@hannahw7023]

​@bruhshkebabs FF7R's combat also infuriates me sometimes (shit can devolve into a clusterfuck completely outside of player control) but it's SO MUCH better than FFXV's combat

[@minilabyrinth]

Lunafreya is the biggest lost opportunity in FF history. Such a beautiful character but she only has 10 minutes of screentime and SHE LITERALLY NEVER SPEAKS IN PERSON TO NOCTIS in the entire game. That's when you know your love interest was a badly written afterthought, when the general store NPC at the start of the game has more dialogue with Noctis than his wife-to-be

[@jacoryarnett7347]

I would rather have Episode Lunafreya get to know much about her. But too bad it got cancelled.

[@gjtrue]

Having just played it recently, I certainly agree. 😭

[@Strawhat_Kal]

Agreed.

[@AMoistEggroll]

I'd rather have a face-to-face conversation and battle with Stella than sending "love" messages through a fucking dog only to see her dead when they finally meet in person. If they wanted this to be a love tragedy, then XV is more disappointing than the Versus version. Besides, can you really empathize with the XV version between the two?

[@sakuracardcaptor4709]

Luna is a shallow version of Stella. Stella should have never been scrapped damn it.

[@Triple-Q]

You clearly forgot the single most game breaking part of FFXV... the fact that they used the fanmade "Final Fantasy" font in the pinball minigame!

[@TheGreatFozzie]

op

[@detectivemarkseven]

Do you make anime mashups? I think I saw your name in one of the videos.

[@CloneLoli]

Fishing in FF makes me want drown myself, can that also count as criticism?

[@EntermateStar]

FF XV has one of the best fishing minigames in a long time, its not insanely clunky and slow like the older games. what kind of fishing minigame would you have wanted?

[@afrog2666]

Only a true weeb would even notice that..

[@Makowh]

The opening of Final Fantasy XV going from Noctis alone in an epic-scale battle versus many armed soldiers, to a bunch of guys pushing a broke-down car on a lonely road in the middle of nowhere, is a good resume of the whole ordeal this game went through

[@moonsets-on_you]

damn that *is* symbolic. Quite literally a fall from grace

[@SolMrBadGuy]

while at the same time, with some better directing, pacing and camera work, That opening was meant to show the trauma Noctis and Co went through and it should have been the start of a great game, but then its just empty.

[@machna]

it wasn't the lack of walls around cities that destroyed my suspension of disbelief, it was the outfits. the main crew rolls around looking like goth boybanders while everyone you see in the background is wearing polo shirts, khakis, sweater vests. screw leaving the country, it was like being in a completely different world. beyond jarring. same problem with the accents in the english dub - ff12 had its issues, but at least you got a real sense of unifying culture for each country's population.

[@Gamingnstuff131]

It also felt like a believable world where the characters you play as are a part of a larger whole. Ivalice was very immersive and the lore for the game was extremely strong and interesting. Eos feels extremely manufactured and it feels like the world revolves around Noctis and his friends. The lore feels very weak and not interesting.

[@ksizzle0605]

Thats literally every final fantasy though lol

[@jorg5121]

@@ksizzle0605 which ones? 1-10 seems to fit the world they were in. 8 to some extent w squall u could argue but not to the level of ff15 backstreet boys

[@mutsuhanma7807]

Literally never got that feeling from it

[@TheVintress]

Because its a fantasy based on reality. Its a modern setting mixed with fantasy which we do not get often enough. Its cool though I admit its weird to see that no npcs wear anything slightly mord protective or dont carry weapons with so many monsters roaming the world. But I guess thats the fault of game designers or technical limitations.

[@KeithBallardA]

That's some restraint. Waited ten years for a game to come out only to wait two more years for it to be "finished."

[@id_avalon3451]

and people complain Star Citizen isnt done yet.

[@Desert_paige]

Keith I love your let's plays!

[@aninfinitemindofmusicandreams]

Oh yeah? I waited 10 years, got an early copy two weeks before launch, played, finished and platinumed the game unpatched which made me one of the first number of people to actually see how the game was as it shipped and I'm still waiting for the game to be finished two years on because the next season of DLC is gonna drop in 2019. :^]

[@mediumChungus69]

For 3 times the price of any actually finished game.

[@MisteRRYouTuby]

Oh, it's not finished....not at all.

[@zayaannashrid1374]

> Final Fantasy XV > 2 years after its release > 1 hour long Super Eyepatch Wolf, you spoil us

[@zayaannashrid1374]

Thanks, but no thanks c:

[@zayaannashrid1374]

Let's not bully here; this is probably a troll given what I've seen of their comments. wow, why tf is there 100+ likes? This comment is garbage smh.

[@Odinsday]

My body is ready. :)

[@ulisesxavier1116]

Zayaan Nashrid He’s been doing it since the channel started.

[@KizombaFusion]

to be honest my biggest problem with FFXV was the story. After playing it, I had to watch a KZbin video explaining it because there was soooo many plot holes and sections that weren't properly explained that I was lost pretty much the whole game.

[@PoisonMushroom18]

Welcome to JRPGs

[@kreitlawer3339]

That’s because so many cutscenes were taken out when they changed director... The game has to be remade

[@aguyhere7945]

It didn't help that most of the story was in a movie that wasn't even released with the game or advertised at all.

[@moonsets-on_you]

can u link/tell me the video u watched to understand the story?

[@kostasspirou1010]

@@moonsets-on_you I'll explain it very fast: Noctis wants to marry Luna and become the next king after his father died, Ardyn (brother of the former king Somnus) thinks he is the one that deserves the throne and wants Noctis to get strong in order to kill him and steal the throne. Ardyn then traps Noctis into the crystal where Bahamut lives (Bahamut cursed Ardyn and condemned him to be the villain even though Ardyn did nothing wrong, that's why he thinks that he deserves the throne) in which Bahamut tells Noctis that he has to sacrifice himself in order to completely erase Ardyn, which he does and then he gets married to Luna in the afterlife.

[@QuiteDan]

If FFX were written in the same way as FFXV, we'd have the gods telling Yuna that she needs to die to defeat Sin and continue the endless cycle of Sin rebirth, and Tidus would accept to be her Aeon, he'd turn into a monster, and then there would be sad piano music as their souls meet in limbo or something. All the FF games I've played seem to have a theme of defying god (even killing god!), defying prophecy, and carving out a fate for oneself. It took a second playthrough, but that's what felt so wrong about FFXV to me.

[@MaxAnkum]

They don't need walls in Final Fantasy Fifteen because the people heal because of food. If noodles heal you, and potions are cheaper than water, what monster could possibly be a danger?

[@SBaby]

To their credit, they actually do explain the walls thing. It's one of the few things they address. They use specific kinds of lighting, because walls don't work. They either get destroyed, or the monsters just fly right over them.

[@ultimamage3]

Items and food only work because of Noctis's powers, not because they have natural healing properties. Normal people in this world should still have actual defenses and medical knowledge, which they don't. There are no hospitals or doctors in Eos.

[@lauratio1203]

@@ultimamage3 The joke went over your head.

[@ultimamage3]

@@lauratio1203 Yeah, because the original post was totally intended as a joke along with all the other actual responses addressing the same thing ... dumbass.

[@Laughing_Individual]

@Fred Burger People seem to forget that Phoenix Downs only resuscitates a knocked out person. Not bring people back from death. When you die, you actually die.

[@DroneTheDruid]

You know what I never really understood. Noctis is strong enough to deflect and parry the Archeans fist when swung at him but complains about how hard it is to push a car in the opening scene

[@bang9088]

I just realised that, game is unplayable now

[@deltapoint2610]

@Dan Nguyen reasonable

[@HHTwice]

@Dan Nguyen nah it's just bad writing

[@asandax6]

@@HHTwice Yeah but lazyness is actually a good point.

[@shotgun6X]

You're correct, but I have to point out there's a difference between resisting blows and strength

[@Waltersop]

by far the greatest guilty pleasure i've ever played. I kknow it has flaws...but godamn i love it so much

[@2000sKingdomHeartzHimefujo]

Same

[@kostasspirou1010]

Same, I love this game especially everything that happens to the story from the Trial of Leviathan until the end (and man that ending is fucking powerful).

[@Prilliyo]

I really enjoyed it got to lvl 120 and completed the dungeon where you can't recover I don't see why it gets so much hate

[@ruggie.74]

Good lord you guys have low standards.

[@kostasspirou1010]

@@ruggie.74 Well it's objectively a very flawed game for sure, but we had fun with it, that's a W for us. You don't need to have high standards, games are made to be enjoyed after all.

[@danhasong7199]

15 was my first Final Fantasy game. I had no expectations, stakes, or nostalgia. Even so I found the game... well, let's just say it was a hot mess. What's even more heartbreaking is that you can see traces of brilliance, buried and muddled by how messy the game is in general. The road trip vibe was great--except it never made sense in the context of "my dad died, my country is on fire, and my fiance is probably kidnapped." The wedding dress scene made me tear up--but only because of how beautiful it was and not necessarily because of emotion since I had little to no attachment to Luna. The ending with Florence+the Machine made me break down--but after that I was left feeling hollow. I didn't know if I wanted to go back to the game world. Because, really, what's left for us there? I felt that me and the game had been done dirty. It's like some greater power is taunting us of how good 15 could have been by giving us glimpses of brilliance...and that's just heartbreaking. A bad game is a bad game, but a game this broken? That's just sad, man.

[@nightfears3005]

15 has one of the best FF antagonists!

[@Treasure-bl3cn]

it will always be Stella and noctis

[@pebbles9649]

Your version of the t-rex was absolutely fantastic. It definitely didn't take me out of the immersion

[@elizabysmal]

Roar Man “graphic design is my passion”

[@pumkinhead24]

Roar Man shiiiiiit i could've provided the gameplay video for that, I'm still playing 8 over and over to this day.

[@amaurifilho4441]

lol

[@WalkingGirlKoi]

The video is over 50 minutes... Is this heaven right now? As someone who is not up to date with Final Fantasy's quality I cannot be on either side but only that I've heard complaints about its direction for years now, which is a shame.

[@jinchuriki7022]

Be on the side of history

[@flynnyoba6175]

It's 2018. The entire world is nothing but complaints made manifest. Even if this game ended up being miraculously what everyone wanted it to be, dipshits would still be around, and they would still bitch and complain.

[@gamwpanagia]

@@flynnyoba6175 quit the toxic post modernism you piece of shit. The game is shit, people complain for a reason.

[@oceaniiii]

gamwpanagia yeah but thats just your opinion bro

[@andrew_cunningham]

Maybe it's a weird point to single out now, I think I need to finally comment on how excellent the use of background music is across all videos on this channel. It's not just because I like the actual tracks used- which I certainly do- but because the music is used in such a different way than in other video essays I've watched. It's cinematic, in a way. There's a real ebb and flow, with the music following and amplifying the tone of the narration such that I always come away from Eyepatch Wolf videos feeling like I've watched a rousing speech in a movie rather than someone reading a script they wrote about anime or video games. That larger-than-life feeling is a big part of why I come to this channel, and it just wouldn't be possible without such great soundtracks.

[@keiichimorisato98]

A good number of times he uses the aound track of Lost Odyssey. It is a damn good game, with some I the best music from Nobue Uemastsu.

[@rubeng9092]

Yeah he really uses it amazingly! I could never managing complaining about a flawed game could be this epic and emotional. I really like how he builds tension with his background musics.

[@chayalexander18]

he uses these soundtracks to get people to feel what he wants them to its psychology. Not to push the scene or enrich anything it's a cheap tactic to get people on his side.... It is good music tho

[@andrew_cunningham]

Yes, this technique is known in the industry as "having a soundtrack". It has been a cheap tactic since 500 BC. I really don't know what your point is.

[@chayalexander18]

@@andrew_cunningham no i pretty.much said my piece on that last comment its a way to get people to be caught up in rhe moment and force your revelation on them like you just found the cure to cancer. Over selling and hyping his point to make it seem more ground breaking than it was.

[@pumpkinlemonadezero9995]

I think the best way to describe my feelings toward this game is that, after I finished playing it, whenever I'm seeing content from or hearing discourse about it, I always feel as though I haven't actually played it despite the 70 hours that my Steam account and the ingame clock show. It feels like a product that doesn't actually exist as a game, but only in concept. Which pretty much fits into the whole "unchecked ambition" situation. I would go so far as to say: There is no FFXV. Because FFXV is a project that could not be realized. There is only the leftovers of the attempt to make FFXV a reality, an attempt which, sadly, crashed and burned

[@Antedithulian]

That's scary accurate having just finished it for the first time despite owning it for years. I'll remember none of this game.

[@RAGEAlanBun]

I’m the same. I watched this video and was like “I can barely remember any of this.” I remember playing the game but thought I must have only put 10 hours into it and stopped playing. I went back to check and I had put 82 hours into the game and I can’t remember any of it. I didn’t play the Royale edition, just the base game as soon as it came out.

[@ieyasv]

"Final Fantasy has always been about a group of weirdos..." Final Fantasy X: Anime Johnny Test, his girlfriend, a ginger water polo enthusiast, a furry, a goth, George Lopez with a sword, and a cheer leader go on an adventure EDIT: Jesus Christ the likes...

[@animeowza]

Sounds like the perfect team to save Spira

[@feroct6620]

Final Fantasy IV: Most unlucky guy on the planet, his best friend who gets brainwashed every chance he gets, the girl whose village they murdered, his girlfriend, a useless old guy, an annoying prince, and 4 characters who insist on sacrificing themselves for NO REASON WHATSOEVER go on an adventure.

[@RoyalKnightVIII]

Some one please sick a tonberry on this person

[@Kaliospectre]

FFVII: Guy with big sword and PTSD, Big guy with suspicious arm gun, sweet girl that punches shit and dresses the opposite of the way she acts, flirty and energetic girl that bonks shit with her staff and dresses the opposite of the way she acts, cat dog thing that talks, cat robot thing that joins you just because, edgy vampire demon looking gun boy, failed astronaut and pilot that swears a lot, ninja with a big shuriken.

[@Agent_Verse]

Stupid comparisons

[@RunicSSB]

And now Nomura is expressing his very obvious bitterness about the whole thing in KH3.

[@justwungo]

Is he? I haven't played KH3 yet but I'm cool with spoilers, how does it show?

[@RunicSSB]

@@justwungo There's a game in the Toy Story world that's obviously supposed to be XIII versus, it's the best and most popular video game ever that all the kids love and the stores are flooding with merch, and aside from the Moogles it's literally the only FF content in the game. Also the XIII versus protag (now renamed "Yozora", which means the same thing) is gonna be in the next game.

[@justwungo]

Fucking christ

[@justwungo]

Just looked it up. I'm speechless.

[@kingdomkey93]

@@justwungo Can you explain? I don't understand.

[@the_echoYT]

The thing that troubles me about XV's development, more than the years of behind-the-scenes nonsense, is that when Nomura was taken off the project and Tabata made full director, the game was *still* changing. The combat shown off in Episode Duscae is a completely different system than the main game it was supposedly a demo for. The featured Deadeye sidequest was cut down as well. Rather than finishing the game Nomura had left for him, it seemed that Tabata wanted to make a new game altogether, as well as frequently checking in with fan polls to make even more changes. The sum result being that FFXV has *no* creative direction, instead checking off a list of AAA tropes and falling back on the decade of hype to cushion its fall. Then the game is constantly patched and given DLC (including the Comrades multiplayer expansion not even mentioned in this video, and more content patched in after Royal Edition was released), making a Frankenstein's monster out of the corporate, soulless corpse of the ambition it began with.

[@stekolni]

Finally someone with a head. Nomura and Kitase working together until december 2013, after that Tabata got a ship. First of all: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a3vEe3WqltB-fq8 - bad team managment Second: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqOXcnegfJ6ZbJo - shrink and last: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aqm0eah9ZbiMpNk massive rewrite to Tabata's wants Nomura, Nojima and Kitase working together when made FFVII, FFVIII so it must be third solid game from them. Nomura had a vision, he is designer, Nojima wrote awesome story, and later cut to Tabata's wants. Btw KINGSGLAIVE main character must be NOCTIS. Cuz in original plot he have a fight Niflheim invasion. Already rewriten plot with Nomura trailer of 2013, before massive cutdown of Tabata, illustrate that this kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5S4hIurl8Ssprc and this dualshockers.com/final-fantasy-xv-director-explains-why-niflheim-invasion-from-e3-2013-trailer-isnt-included-in-the-game Before swap of director, Nomura vision already changed to FFXV with no links to FFXIII. This is just stupid blaming Nomura for long working.. he not only one, he has a leadership, he never make mistake. Project just taken and given to Tabata during Square's enix projects develop optimization. Game already be full written, complete and actively development. Tabata just got a flag and cut everything to timeline. Also Crisis Core not Tabata's game.. it's good because NOMURA, KITASE and NOJIMA working on this. All three of them a godlike guys.

[@kyotheman69]

they let go of the original director it was suppose to be called FF13 Versus, i still have original poster for this title and Noctis looked way better back then

[@slayer123bio]

@kyotheman69 YEAH! He had those glowing Neon boots and he actually had muscle, didn't look like a little bitch still going through puberty.

[@slayer123bio]

@The_Echo, I'm still salty about that demo. remember in that there was a semblance of a combat system with skill and RPG mechanics. I mean, noctis had weapons that had their own unique skill like tempest, drain and jump. I busted my ass looking for the blood sword in the main game only to realise it didn't have its unique ability: Drain Blade. The worst thing for me, is that this isn't really an RPG. You play through it once you have no reason to do it again, none of the skill trees matter past the inital moves you can unlock and it's not like the order you get them will ever change up your strategy or skill requirements. It says a lot when Tabata was putting in that Ravus story content and was trying to figure out a way to make players go through the game a second time FFS.

[@feelthepony]

it was nomura's fault not tabata,that and no,he did not ff 7 and 8,he was just a minor designer. nomura has been a dead weight for long time,he has been saved by his teams for years,the whole bunch of stuff poorly interconected IS nomura's trademark,and the reason tabata is the director of the next FF.

[@MrJpc1234]

You know what is an interesting comparison, Final Fantasy 15 and Nier Automata both connected to square Enix and released within a year of each other.....one project had the full weight of massive budget, backing, ambition, hype, prestigous reputation.........and the other was lead by a mad but awkward genius with team that was in desperation mode an entry to a series that had nearly no name recognition on a tiny budget by comparison.....yet which one had the better product in the end

[@fg009letyrds8]

Because it's never just because of money, games also needs passionate production staff that actually want's to make games and producers that knows what they're doing. Just throwing money won't fix FFXV, it needs staffs that are passionate and in sync to each other.

[@MrJpc1234]

@@fg009letyrds8 Absolutely want I'm driving at!

[@Ttegegg]

And a consistent direction

[@rtiq270]

@@Ttegegg and not get screwed by higher ups

[@nightfears3005]

Nier automata was a 5/10 at best.

[@TBrianOnline]

This game suffers from the Shenmue effect - "I'll avenge my father and destroy my enemies.... but first I'll go play with the kittens, go running, grow some potatoes etc...."

[@localSunMan]

To be fair, the game actually nags at you for ignoring the main quest for too long. I was yelled at by Gladiolus, if I would maybe consider seeing if his sister survived the destruction of their city.

[@davidpaul6290]

That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Like, that isn’t a Shenmue thing, that’s just an rpg thing. It’s the execution that matters.

[@megamage911]

@@davidpaul6290 I'd say it's more specifically an open world thing.

[@NGEvangeliman]

nah that shit is fine... its the fact that all the story happens off screen... the game is half as long as it should be, and its missing half its enemies, and half its cutscenes...

[@blank003]

This game had lot of issues, but i would argue that problem isn't in this game. It's not like avenging his father is a one step process. He has to do lots of things to get ready to fight an empire. Ofcourse, they are going to take breaks on a 6 month journey.

[@repker]

if more insight to the development of the game is ever released, it'll make for an excellent case study in how to not manage a large scale project

[@Octave_Rolland]

It does seem like Nomura pulled a nice big John Romero on this project. Actually it's possible that even the Daikatana project wasn't handled that poorly.

[@doomdoot6731]

This a thousand times. Creativity is all nice and fair, but ambition without a solid plan is detrimental to progressing any type of narrative or production.

[@xDARKSHADEx]

Really both this and the original 1.0 XIV release are both great examples of ambition vs resources vs management.

[@Niriixa]

Yeah, creativity without a goal is just a recipe for failure. I think Kojima is a good example of someone who has immense creative energy, but also (relatively) clear vision... even if us normie mortals can't see it at first :P

[@mechantechatonne]

It seems what happened here is they didn't hold those at the top accountable with hard deadlines for solid plans, and there weren't scheduled meetings for everyone to check in, get on the same page and solidify that before more work was done. Instead they were like "work on this thing, let's see what you come up with" and as long as they showed something cool, the higher-ups were like "cool stuff! Keep going!"

[@caramelfrapz]

Man, kinda wish they went for that darker route, it looked very interesting

[@theresanoelle]

they got rid of the darker route because of china. china has laws about promoting or worship "death culture" and the original story for ff15 had too many elements of that. so basically they changed it because they were greedy and didn't want to miss out on sales in the Chinese market

[@caramelfrapz]

Theresa Harris danggg man that sucks

[@KizombaFusion]

that would have been incredible!!

[@raynhir6820]

what? noctis died, dude. isnt that dark enough?

[@HHTwice]

@@raynhir6820 and went to make believe Japanese heaven to be with his waifu, woah so DARK

[@Kale13000]

I played FFXV recently after finding a copy for cheap online. At first I really enjoyed it, the opening was promising, it was kind of fun to run around the world, but, it just fell apart. The story felt like an epic adventure that was gutted and had the impact removed from it. So much happened off screen, and by the time the climax came, I was left wondering why I should care. There was glimmers of something incredible, but it was just... missing something

[@MrAndrewolsson]

Final Fantasy XV never ever earnt that ending EVER. My goodness it could of been amazing!!! Just rushed at the very end its a shame.

[@kyotheman69]

it was complete mess on release it was incomplete they had keep patching story DLC's FF15 was just terrible period, i wish they let original director do his thing FF13 versus looked far far better game

[@777theultra9]

Moving away from FFXV for a moment, let's talk about xenoblade 2: torna the golden country. This dlc is exactly the same as the dlcs FFXV have! It has characters that players are unable to know and attach to in the base game, has great music and fans are saying it is outright better than the base game! Is Xenoblade 2 the same as(quality wise) FFXV?!

[@Peasham]

Doesn't Xenoblade 2's DLC follow a completely different cast?

[@FeralPhilosopher]

@@777theultra9 I played ffxv, a few of the dlcs, xenoblade 2, and Torna and I can tell you that no, Xenoblade 2 is not equal to ffxv. Unlike ffxv, when Xenoblade 2 ends, you feel like you really earned that ending. Yeah you might feel confused at some of the motivations behind one of the villains, but overall, you feel like you are truly at the end of a long and fulfilling journey at the end of Xenoblade 2. I cannot in good conscience say that I felt anywhere close to that level of completion when I beat ffxv.

[@Skallva]

The difference between FFXV and XB2 is that one was in a desparate need for patches while in the other, patches killed the greatest part of the game. -RIP Ardanian Boys. You will not be forgotten.-

[@thinhvo3893]

No joke on the last fight with Ardyn. I fell asleep because it was 1:00 AM in the morning. I was sit sleeping and didnt realized unconsciously my hand was holding triangle and square (or circle I dont remember) as well as the lock on button. And when I wake Up, I realized I just spam through an entire boss fight and reach quick time event sequences by literally sleeping.

[@coolguy02536]

literally

[@edgarector]

Thinh Vo In order to make this game accessible to every drone on the planet,they made a game that plays itself,giving you the illusion you take a part of it.This is the morbid pinnacle of mainstream gaming!

[@garchomowner]

@@edgarector yup. Thats why i hate most modern action game combat. Ass creed, even rocksteady batman games. I think the arkham games are pretty good, but the combat just basically plays itself.

[@coolguy02536]

How about all those non-action JRPGs that play themselves?

[@thinhvo3893]

@@coolguy02536 There is a difference between choosing which action to take that is suit to the situational at hand vs literally letting the game play itself. You could put a rock on your controller during the Ardyin fight and it will be enough to salvage you until the quick time event.

[@TheFoxClaws]

"It was supposed to be a masterpiece" -The conclusion of any discussion about FFXV

[@GinzoIT]

"you were the chosen one"

[@TheMetastasia]

Well after the disapointments that FF11, Ff13 1-3 and FF14 (pre Reborn) were they kinda had to make a masterpiece. Fortunately FF14 was remade and turned out to be a pretty good MMO and even FF13 was remembered better than it was 2009. FF15 feels like a reverse FF13 that gets worse each year after release while FF12 and FF13 was pretty much hated by many fans but now many people speak fondly of this games.

[@misaeltoral508]

Kai Sensei was it really? Even from the first videos there was never anything groundbreaking or interesting. It certainly didn’t help matters that the video game industry saw a very notable leap in terms of what could be achieved between this game announcement and its release. If anything it’s more of a cautionary tale about taking forever to release a game. In this case, the game was not even a good game. It just came and went with not much fanfare

[@okagron]

@@TheMetastasia People definitely don't speak fondly of 13 now, that game justifiably still gets the lashing it deserves. 12 is the one that over the years started to get more love.

[@AirTails]

While the long wait and pre-hype certainly didn't help, it's still mediocre. If anything I think being labeled a FF, and the pre release hype, made as many people willing to turn a blind eye to it's flaws as much as it did set others up for disappointment. It's not a bad game, but 10 year wait or not - some of the flaws like the disjointed story telling, melodramatic death scenes for characters you barely even know even with all the supplementary material, jarring structure and uneven combat still apply. I'm not convinced it would be received any better for not being delayed or being overhyped at all.

[@mikelk124]

if you change the battle style in options to "wait", the fight mechanics actually become quite amazing. Its like a mix of active and oldschool turn based combat. Not many people are going to know about this though....

[@MissSenex]

Aaaah...a man of culture.

[@aSHTEBALA]

"A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad" - Shigero Miyamoto

[@LimeyLassen]

And sometimes a project should just be canceled instead of dragging out its suffering.

[@exu7325]

FFXV is *anything* but rushed.

[@tmerchead1]

Not always true but good quote never the less.

[@aSHTEBALA]

Edwin Xu FFXV was delayed a lot yes and probably was going to be cancelled but in the end it was rushed and this is the result.

[@exu7325]

@@aSHTEBALA "it was delayed a lot" "in the end it was rushed" I'm sorry, but your sentence doesn't make any sense. If it was delayed for years, then it's not rushed. If your game is still not ready after years of delays, then "rushing" is the least of your concern.

[@RichterTheRat]

Can we talk about how 15 copied and pasted Aeirith's death? Staff weilding love interest gets stabbed to death by the antagonist while trying to summon something on a platform surrounded by water. It doesn't help that Lunafreya sucked. You knew so little about her character that I actually felt more emotion from the Regalia crashing than I did from her death. That is a serious fuck up.

[@Exigentable]

Lunafreya is also an offensive slur of a name, disgusting.

[@ReverieExodus]

She had character?

[@brendangoodell6233]

@@ReverieExodus True, I thought considering the main thing is, go marry her, then things go wrong, you would see more of her scenes, like playing as her and trying to survive but uhh, I guess that wasn't important? But boy am I sure glad we had an entire chapter dedicated to getting the car back! TBH, I think playing as her and getting to see other areas of the world to expand and get into Luna's head would have been more effective than just rando 2 minute cutscenes about her being a martyr, that is what she ultimately becomes but that isn't her character. Such a waste.

[@warriorfromhammerfell1557]

but...Luna's....it wasn't a staff but a spear

[@melancholycollie1466]

The Regalia crashed!? I forgot everything that happened in this game. Unremarkable

[@Galactus78]

I don’t think Square knows what Final Fantasy is supposed to be anymore

[@seacliff217]

Seems like most RPGs from Square lately that's not Final Fantasy is a better Final Fantasy than modern Final Fantasy. (Bravely, Octopath, I am Setsuna, etc.) Though I don't think they are as good as some of the best FFs.

[@spikeoi]

I don't think Square even remembers making Final Fantasy.

[@paullavoie5542]

It's almost like they're taking the fanbase for granted. They must think that we'll buy any crap and accept it as a Final Fantasy

[@seacliff217]

@@paullavoie5542 To their credit, FF XV sold about as well as X, VIII, and outsold VI and IX. So they would, unfortunately, be right.

[@kefkaslaugh498]

@@seacliff217 Considering 6 was released in 1994 long before we had the gaming marketing hype we have now, that shouldn't surprise anyone. Since I played it in 1994, I can tell you not many kids even knew what Final Fantasy was in the US at that time. It was 7 that was finally hyped here.

[@E_blanknamehere]

I was just sorta surprised how short it was I'm sure that's my fault for having a different expectation but dang it feels pretty small for what seemed to be a long road trip and a FF game like when I first got access to the second area I thought the journey was just starting but you don't go further then that, the world is just a sand box like every other game. but I thought we were going on a road trip? it feels like we haven't even left yet and then its over?

[@TheMrlitemaster]

I like how camping is real experience and offers the least in that department

[@MrOrcshaman]

So really to sum up, this game is all style and no substance.

[@haleym3521]

I felt the same! They tried to make up for it with DLCs!

[@katedring]

that sums it up perfectly.

[@waltercomunello121]

Thanks. Though I love well written videos, I can barely stare at the same video for more than 30mins. Now I can leave with my mind in peace.

[@four-en-tee]

Yes, that basically sums up my friend's defense of the game. There's ideas that are there and really cool concepts, but its honestly just incredibly shallow and under-developed. Its really disappointing that they had to toss out so much of the progress they made when the game was originally on the PS3.

[@braidena1633]

​@@four-en-tee I bought this during the current Steam sale and played it for 5 hours. There's a lot of really cool parts, they're just disjointed and there's a complete lack of cohesion. Also, this "Dino" character, whose name, voice and mannerisms that scream "trope", it's clear the devs just gave up at some point. Game's just that, mediocre.

[@chrisej5987]

I was dissapointed about the summoning mechanic too actually... 😒

[@herodotus6235]

Yep. One of the worst things about this game was the lying. Taking advantage of the game’s wasted potential, they presented it in advertising like it might have been, and the viewer thought the game looked amazing. One such lie was the summons. They were presented like the best summons in any Final Fantasy game ever, which they could have been. In reality you didn’t even have the power to use them. A shocking disgrace.

[@raynethescribe2772]

I was literally just telling my friend about this when i saw this comment omg I just told her i missed yojimbo as a summon instead of just an enemy. I mean... i like the idea of the summons as deities (bc tbh they have been for... the ff games I've played... which are really only x and xii, and part of vii but i dont think i ever got far enough to get a summon, bc... my ps2 broke...) and i get their take on how they interact with noctis, being literal divine intervention when he needs it most. And the typical summoning kinda wouldn't work in this game, unless they went more along the kingdom hearts route (but even as a huge, longtime kh fan, the summons are kinda useless...) I think they would have played a better role in combat if Luna is part of the party for a while, possibly during altissia, then when she dies she can not only pass along the ring, but the power to summon as well. Though that causes problem with Titan and so forth before then... But i mean... luna is kind of a knock off yuna at her core (at least i think so, even tho they are different characters in the details) so her playing the role of a summoner wouldn't be too weird. But yeah i really miss just calling bahamut to give a boss a good whipping if I'm getting annoyed with it, instead of having it be whenever a god wants to finally show up. I like the summoning in the more story based parts because it fits narritively, but for the rest of the game i really forgot they existed....

[@namnam-tj1mi]

@@herodotus6235 idk if you actually played the game, i've been able to summon every and each one of the spirits in one playthrough it would be stupid to summon them each battle but they had my back when i needed it, when a battle was too long Lamu came to teh rescue, need a little boost? shiva gives the last breath, Oh open world where i can run and destroy everything around and your allies are down and u're about to die perhaps? Titan is here!. I mean it wasnt like old FF where u could summon them whenever u wanted if u had the mp, this was more randomnized and yeah it could've been better, but it wasnt bad when u finally get to summon them it feels so good.

[@namnam-tj1mi]

@@raynethescribe2772 Oh man yojimbo XDD, those times, in each FF game they had a spiritist a summoner in FFXV there's no summoner only lunafreya but she's not part of the party, theres only 4 boys who knows how to fight like men, 3 soldiers and a prince, the prince was no mage neither nor a summoner, he just had the chance to summon cause of the power of the light but he didnt really control it, makes sense with the story the lack of control over summons

[@thirteenfury]

There were plenty of other ways the game could have restricted your use of summons without letting the AI decide at random when an Esper would show up. Like have an invisible aggro meter that makes some Espers go rogue if you use them too often, other Espers gain power the more often you summon them, some Espers only use their ultimate attacks in certain battles, etc. Honestly all SE needed to do was copy the mechanics for the Magus Sisters (unpredictable actions) or Yojimbo (giving more gil/items increases your odds of success) from X or the mechanics of Espers from XII (each one is dependent on specific conditions to trigger an ultimate attack). Even something simple like the environment and time of day affecting the success rate of summons.

[@vasudeanguy8523]

My problem with Tetsuya Nomura isn't the ambition, it's the ego on the man. He has some skill, but what pissed me off so badly was when he said out loud that the reason why he overdesigned his characters so much(Looking at you Lulu and your belt skirt) is that he wanted to challenge the animator on how it would render. That and combined with the fact that he would change his mind on a dime only made it worse. Ever wonder why it takes so long for him to make games, well you got your answer.

[@Ignirium]

Lulu's belt dress is so hot, never seen anything like it, it's distinctly an anime design, it's awesome.

[@vasudeanguy8523]

@@Ignirium There's a reason. Imagine trying to put it on. It would take hours and would make no sense to wear it while on the road.

[@Ignirium]

@@vasudeanguy8523 Logic and reason misses the point. Yes, Lulu's dress is not realistic and doesn't make sense functionally. Anime design works differently, aesthetics and beauty works in different ways(the dress is hot), so does symbolism. It's supposed to be exaggerated, that's why it works as a design. i also see the dress as stupid realistically but i can accept it easily as a design and part of the character identity and what it means.

[@vasudeanguy8523]

@@Ignirium It's all well and good, but that kind of leeway can only go so far before the suspension of disbelief is broken. Heck, some of the best costume designs that Nomura made was when he opted to keep it simple. There's a reason why the Organization outfits are considered so iconic. His worst design was when it seemed like more of a doodle rather than an actual attempt to design something. Case in point, his design of Batman.

[@jdprettynails]

I thought it was because someone said to him once that belts and zippers aren't cool anymore, so out of pure spite, his character designs look the way they do.

[@PleasantLeech]

If Nomura actually wanted the game to be a musical that kinda changes my whole viewpoint of him as a developer.

[@matthewmuir8884]

From what I've heard (though I could be wrong), he was only semi-serious about the idea. Basically, it was his way of telling the developers, "Because you forced this terrible engine (Crystal Tools: the unfinished engine responsible for all of XIII's delays and issues) and kept taking developers from my team, we've made so little progress that I could have this game re-written as a musical and nothing would have to change". Obviously, he didn't say that; but I think that's what he was trying to convey. This game was never given a fair chance; it was supposed to be open-world, but it was being built using an unfinished engine specialized for linear games. 5 years were basically spent making workarounds. During that time, people from his team kept getting pulled away to help with other projects. It was a nightmare.

[@PleasantLeech]

@@matthewmuir8884 that would make a lot more sense.

[@NGEvangeliman]

i get the feeling that the anecdote is a little overblown... there was a whole damn opera in FF6. and given the high society and Waring states/romeo and juliet vibe of the original story drops of 13 versus, A theatrical act of some sort wouldnt be out of the realm of possiblity... its such a shame though, that original plot seemed so damn interesting...

[@matthewmuir8884]

@@NGEvangeliman Indeed. Plus, as any scientist, historian, etc., can point out: anecdotal evidence is the weakest form of evidence there is.

[@matthewmuir8884]

@JD To clarify, which version are you referring to?

[@FYCY]

FFXV you mean the fishing game?

[@manuelsputnik]

The best part.

[@LucruxDCLXVI]

Talk about back seat fishing

[@johnanimelord]

Amazing

[@krymz1]

no, the selfy simulator

[@CloneLoli]

The game that makes me want to genocide all fish in the ocean?

[@SkyeTsow]

FFXV feels more like playing an MMO by yourself than playing a fully fledged RPG.

[@lemonnomel9416]

You’re right! It feels so empty and hollow like there’s room for other players to pop in at any moment but they never do and with very bare bones stories meant to feel more like the general day to day chores of a world based on immersion instead of a...you know, story.

[@rlagarinhos]

and a VERY BAD MMO..... REALLY BAD!

[@blaze595]

ironically the current ACTUAL final fantasy MMO (XIV) has an incredibly good world and story; particularly in the latest expansion.

[@nathane.9286]

MMOs actually have content

[@neoperol]

@@blaze595 I think the worst of XV is the battle system, I got no idea how people enjoy playing a game in which you don't have to learn anything, just press 2 buttons and the characters do flashy things it doesn't matter if you are lvl 1 or lvl 20. There are free game in android like Honkai Impact that has better fighting system than this.

[@supremeoverlorde2109]

This video has been out for three years, but I just have to say I really loved it. It's such a thoughtful analysis of the game that really makes one consider not only the game's greatest strengths and weaknesses, but also what it used to be and what it could have been. And this is coming from someone who LOVES FFXV. I've spent 150 hours on it, and I have no regrets. While the battle and leveling systems are definitely flawed, I had a ton of fun with them, while the relationship and dialogue between the bros is top notch. Yoko Shimomura's music is incredible --- and I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried during the final scenes of my first playthrough. I definitely think my biggest issues with the game are with its narrative --- and where I spend the most time thinking about what could have been. The bros are all interesting characters, and Ardyn is a fascinating and tragic villain. But like you pointed out, we don't really get to experience much of these additional character arcs unless we play the DLCs. It's a shame that they weren't simply woven in as parts of the main game --- and that we hardly get to see any meaningful development for critical supporting characters like Regis or Lunafreya outside of the film. At this point, I've played the game and the DLCs, watched the movie and the anime, and even read the Dawn of the Future novel. I think the saddest thing here is that with all this supplementary content along with various gameplay elements added during different points of the game's lifecycle, FFXV became a more complete experience than it was at the time of its release... but even now, the end of the story doesn't QUITE satisfy. Somehow it still feels like there's this big piece of the experience missing, and unfortunately I don't believe that hole will ever be filled. Like I said, I love FFXV so much. That's probably why I'm able to make this post --- why I'm able to recognize the game's flaws and imagine how much BETTER it could have been. My passion for the game is what makes me want better for these characters and this world. But as it stands, all I can really do is accept what we got under the circumstances and enjoy it for what it is.

[@matheusviana8056]

I wish they would do a remaster or remake. Maybe 15 years from now.

[@TheRpgMonger]

The ultimate hard pill to swallow

[@Peasham]

Huh, I thought all big KZbinrs get at least a 100 likes when commenting on anything ever. Weird.

[@jodhod1498]

@@Peasham wait for it.

[@Car-qu2bc]

The Rpg Monger Didn’t think I’d see you here.

[@Александр-р9ч8в]

Soyboy

[@louisaniathemagnificent8246]

A great KZbinr commenting on another great KZbinr's video. Love your videos, btw!

[@ResonantArc]

Beautiful. Couldn't agree more.

[@acousticlibra383]

Love your reviews. You guys are great.

[@secondclocks4690]

Theroux uhhh 9 was one of the best. i don’t know what you mean.

[@coolguy02536]

lol funny. But your naivete is stale and useless. Unless you apparently want people to see your creepy fetishes. Facts remain facts.

[@HupCapNinja]

So let me guess you also couldn't understand the combat and are too dumb to combo everything??

[@coolguy02536]

Who are you talking to? And why did you upvote yourself?

[@indiscretion.]

I still feel like Stella got more development and depth over those early Versus XIII teaser than Luna's entire existence in the game. I'm sad that we lost Stella to someone far inferior. I even think that Kingsglaive Luna was better and had more depth than the game version.

[@matthewmuir8884]

Even after they changed it from Stella to Luna, more and more got cut. Luna was originally going to become a playable character, and that got cut.

[@ateaibarra4790]

#justiceforstella

[@LadyIno]

Tbh, that Kingsglaive movie is actually better than the game, mostly because of Nyx. That guy would have been awesome as a game protagonist.

[@Zerocharade]

Also Noctis and his dad had a better son and father development in the Versus 13 trailer then in 15

[@Zerocharade]

@@LadyIno Yeah would'a been cool if he lived and his journey is him trying to find the princess after the fight and defeat the Empire.

[@midwestyle]

You actually glossed over a bigger game breaking problem with FFXV. Whereas in previous games phoneix downs only revived your party member to so much health, in FFVX, they revive you to full health and stats. So honestly, you are better off dying or letting your teammates die because potions are only going to give you a modicum of health compared to the phoneix downs.

[@ultimamage3]

That and in older games, if your party member was down, you had to sacrifice another party member's turn to revive the downed ally so you had to manage your time correctly. In XV, the characters are allegedly KOed but a Phoenix Down treats you to an animation sequence where time basically stops and the KOed character revives *themselves* with a Phoenix Down at no cost to you.

[@Neoplasie1900]

Honestly, while this is a point to be made, I don't see how this is a "bigger game breaking problem" then "hold circle to end any fight".

[@brandonprows]

Final Fantasy XV, for me, wasn't a disappointment. And that's because my expectations were so low that I was shocked that the gameplay was... playable. Square has burned me so much in the last 10 years, that I just didn't expect this game to be anything special.

[@bernardoheusi6146]

Compared to ME Andromeda it´s a masterpiece lol

[@Oh-Ben]

I was more impressed the game released.

[@missingclover]

Thats my thing. What was the latest great FF? FFX? FFXIV is fun but i don't think we can count it, and it's no masterpiece either. Final Fantasy hasn't been great for a while, i wasn't expecting anything great and in the end i had fun, i had troubles with the combat like most everyone and the last boss was shit but after i finished it i didn't feel disappointed. I just said "huh, that was nice" and uninstalled the game.

[@BombaJead]

MissingClover I liked 12, loved exploring the world, hunting and farming for tournesol XD. And I heard the zodiac job system improved the game but I never got the chance to play it. But yeah after that I don't know 13 didn't look that apealing and well 14 is just a mmo so much more time demanding.

[@stjimmerz]

How can you say something so true and yet so brave?

[@SnowAnayathatweirdgirl]

Took the words out of my hands and into your comment. I was so damn disappointed in this damn game.

[@Laughing_Individual]

Cause fuck the fanboys?

[@stjimmerz]

@@SnowAnayathatweirdgirl look when a game expects me to literally buy and consume several OTHER forms of media just so I can understand what the hell is going on with the story it's already annoying and takes me out if it. We know this game was in the lab for far too long and at some point the developers had no idea where to take this game. I'm not going to argue about turn base FF vs real time FF because that's not the real big issues with this game. After a while it's underwhelming. It's all shine and glitter but it doesn't scratch the Final Fantasy itch. It was a problem I feared going forward from the 13 series, I prayed that they would be able to modernize FF but go with a more traditional story. Square Enix got too big and fancy and the bigger and fancier the game got, the more mediocre things got. The game's a technical marvel, sure but at the end if the day Final Fantasy became a self-fulfilling parody of itself. Too much style of substance.

[@PizzaDad]

Good Eric Andre reference?

[@verdantmischief7092]

How can you say something so unoriginal and unfunny

[@allenharper2928]

But... But... Cupnoodle(tm) made with your own ingredients is the Ultimate Flavor Experience(tm)!

[@finalfantasy3808]

The REAL STORY imbedded in the 2006 Final Fantasy versus trailer & Omen trailer is about Noctis being the prince of darkness who is possessed by the evil sentient crystal that gives him the power to make swords manifest out of thin air and Stella was supposed to be his love, like Romeo and Juliet. Luna was supposed to be the dead betrothed that contacts Noctis in his sleep, which is why he was always advertised as the "sleeping prince", and his journey was to find his betrothed bride's killer only to discover it was him all along, because the evil crystal hates everything holy, which pertained to Luna. It's the story they advertised, it's what the hype was about, it's what we all wanted, but we never got it.

[@finalfantasy3808]

This is why King Regis has a horn coming out of his head in the Omen trailer. The crystal was turning Regis into a demon.

[@Pocchari]

Source??? This is the first time I’ve ever heard this. I only recall Noct and Stella being able to see Etro’s Gate opening when someone died?

[@shawnnbits]

Sure. Redditors say alot.

[@northwestrex]

When does Xehanort appear? Yeah, I'm glad we didn't get that.

[@luxeadawnlight]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but as someone who was hyping and following every info I could on this game from its initial trailers... safe to say: Luna didn't exist before Tabata took over and deleted Stella as a character and inserted his own OC into someone else's story.

[@TextbookBoxingGB]

As a Tekken 7 player I can’t help but feel hatred whenever I see Noctis whether the game is good or not

[@mrdude88]

As a Soulcalibur player, I wonder why Bandai Namco would put Noctis in one of their game that fight with fist instead of the one that fights with weapons.

[@JonCom3dy]

@@mrdude88 exactly

[@Tenchigumi]

@@mrdude88 Perhaps because 2B was in Soulcalibur, and they can only have so many Squeenix characters in a single title?

[@paperluigi6132]

@@Tenchigumi And then Smash proceeded to have both regular and Advent Children Cloud, 4 Dragon Quest Heroes (all of them if you count the Final Smash), and Sephiroth.

[@Tenchigumi]

​@@paperluigi6132 Right, but that's not quite relevant to my point, because we were specifically talking about DLC characters present in Tekken and Soulcalibur. Unlike Nintendo and Smash's mash-up behemoth, Bamcai Nando only got 2B and Noctis, and they had two fighting game franchises, so rather than toss their two valuable gets into a single title, they spread them out... though it's debatable who fits better in which game.

[@crozraven]

Actually the figure woman logo is neither Lunafreya nor Stella, it's supposed to be a depiction of "Etro," the death goddess from the cut content in relations with Fabula Nova Crystallis mythos as FFvsXIII/FFXV supposed to be. the big evidences of this are the painting of Etro in earlier trailer, the movie kingsglaive with the scene that featured Etro painting, & the whole dungeon of "Pitioss Ruins" as its also featured a big statue depiction of Etro. Yep, basically a possible 3/4 of the FNC lore mythos for this game got cut with FFXV production. The Astral beings in FFXV ARE NOT the "real" gods (Ifrit, Shiva, Bahamut, Titan, Titan, Ramuh, Leviathan), it's the FNC mythology gods instead.

[@Uroboro_Djinn]

The development of this story was a trainwreck. Did you know, Gentiana didn't even have a name before very late into the development? She was added in the trailers and promotional material and the team was then obligated to add her in the game because of that. Nomura made a ton of cool trailers that had no real plot behind them and the team was forced to add everything into the story no matter what. So when you see the story being a mess it's because Nomura made trailers and characters without thinking of a story. The same happened with the logo. He wanted this to be in the Fabula Nova Crystallis so he made a few footnotes of Etro granting powers to people and made her the logo. No plot written yet, but he did it anyway because he could. He didn't care that the team had to write something and make sense of his footnotes.

[@TheMetalOverlord]

Why you blame Nomura for this game? He did nothing of the final game taht got released. He had a story in mind that was a part of a trilogy, when the game was still Versus XIII. Then he got removed from the game, and all his story got scrapped, then Tabata rewrote the game as an happy friend trip story isntead of the orginal fall of a kingdom story that Nomura had in mind. Also, if i remember correctly, the first trailer to show Gentiana was made after Nomura left the game, sho how is his fault for the intoduction of a non-character in the trailer, if he wasn't the game director anymore?

[@lostn65]

The logo is Luna. The ending's final shot transforms into the logo.

[@lostn65]

Sounds to me like Nomura is an artist first and director second. The guy was at one time directing three games simultaneously (FFXV, 7 Remake, and KH3) and still somehow managed to find the time to make a series of CG renderings of his take on Batman characters. Directing one game is tough enough work, but 3 games at once and still having spare time?

[@lostn65]

+TheMetalOverlord That is not true. The game did get restarted in 2012, but Nomura wasn't removed until a few years later, I believe 2014 or 2015. So a lot of the work Tabata inherited came from Nomura, including the character designs. And he could have made the Gentiana trailer before he left. That's not a stretch.

[@crimsonstarfallen9226]

52 minutes? Oh boy

[@macleanlewis]

Was that your inner Sojiro?

[@crimsonstarfallen9226]

@@macleanlewis Hell yeah

[@thetoaster6413]

You were able to put to words everything that I felt wrong with the entire game. I was genuinely looking forward to playing the game after years of anticipation and when I got my hands on it and played it myself, it just felt... empty. Not the excitement that I feel while playing all the other FF 12 and earlier.

[@UltraHorseBoots]

The most exciting thing about Final Fantasy XV is that we can finally close the book on the identity and image that Final Fantasy has been stagnant with for the past decade. Final Fantasy as a franchise used to be known for how it could rewrite the book on itself with every iteration. But since 2006 Final Fantasy has been two things: the shadow of the Fabula Nova Crystalis and the world of Final Fantasy XIV, which, while great now, still draws a lot of its image from Final Fantasy XI. I've been dedicated to Final Fantasy XIV since it's relaunch of 2.0. And while I love the game and I think as a long time Final Fantasy fan it has done a well enough job preserving my love for the franchise with it's surprisingly well done story telling, especially for an MMO, I just really want to see something new from the franchise already. A new idea that hopefully doesn't go through the toxic development cycle that Final Fantasy XV had to suffer through. XIV was saved by a complete unknown within the company and that story is well documented, and the majority of Square's recent hits have also come from unknown developers in the public eye. Yoko Taro has been in the industry for years but it was not until Automata that he became a superstar. I'd like to see a Final Fantasy XVI come from an unknown like that, a part of the younger generation who grew up on this 30 year legacy who can build upon what they know and love. Finally on that front for the love of god stop giving large projects to Nomura already. It's been painfully clear that he struggles with massive projects and his involvement has created nothing but embarrassments for the company when it comes to development cycles now shown three times with XV, Kingdom Hearts 3, and now the VII remake.

[@MrStath1986]

This. Nomura appeared to get lucky when he made some great designs for FFVII, FFVIII and FFX (belt jokes aside, characters like Lulu are stunning); I'm not altogether sure how he got where he is now because of that, though. Good character design and ideas does not mean you can manage a whole team and a huge game.

[@goldstarsupreme]

Kingdom Hearts 3's dev cycle of about 5 years is normal for a game its size though, it was just announced prematurely (which is a pattern for SE). Also they made him the director of FFVIIR without even telling him. He learned he was directing the game the same time as everyone else. Gives you an idea of what the real problem is and it's not Nomura (who's consistently been pushing KH games out every 2-3 years since KH2)

[@kaydwessie296]

I think this game was great for the wrong reasons. It's a shitty JRPG, but man is it an AMAZING road trip with friends simulator. I like life sims so I appreciate that much, but yeah. I kinda just wish it stuck to that at this point. Go camp around and hang out in villages and take pics everywhere; the game.

[@Gee-xb7rt]

Ciaran Statham I think because of popularity of earlier characters he is pushed to do more of the same, Lightning is essentially a female Cloud, etc. The world has moved past the emo/goth angst that makes characters like Cloud, Squall, Lulu, etc. When you put your main character in all black and try to make it edgier with a skull print nobody is that excited because its 2018, not 1998, or even 2008.

[@bdfan4ever]

Horse Boots totally agreed. Even beginning from 12, sounds like Square Enix did not want to give full control to yasumi Matsuno. Let the younger guys play out their vision in FULL. Enough meddling.

[@feenie1253]

I hope I'm not the only one that feels like the romantic relationship between Noctis and Luna was not... romantic at all?? They failed to not only make me not care about Luna but also Noctis didn't really care about the wedding at all at the start of the story (note that i played through the game as it was released). Luna was just the "i love main character since forever uwu" waifu and she could've been so much more in the game. So seeing them get married at the end of the game left a bad taste in my mouth since it felt so forced and unnecessary.

[@tyriancross]

It's not just you. It was by far Noctis' least interesting relationship and a really weak romance all over (especially given FF has had MUCH better showings in the past). You really can't write an engaging relationship with someone that's off-screen - for one, how can the players get into either the romance or the character, for two, why would we care about it when there are better relationships right in front of us to focus on?

[@somnia3423]

well tbh there were force to marry

[@Omizuke]

I get the bad taste at the end. Cause at the end everything had been set and done. Marriage WAS unnecessary, other than duty. I never saw them been pulled together. So yeah, they were forced at the start but just a few hours into the game the reason for marriage goes out the windows. It was a false. They could've at least added that Noct realized that. Or that he really didn't like her on that way or that he liked someone else throughout the journey. As part of his character growth.

[@bhermoth]

I was more sad when ignis became blind than lunas death...i thought she would've had a bigger role in the game

[@Omizuke]

firefiafiraga same. And worst some people tried to pass it out as something super sad. And I'm like, meh, never really got to cared for her. Even Prompto backstory carries more more "emotional weigh".

[@Zach0451]

FF15 expects you to have seen all the accompanying supporting media and trailers to prop the game up. Instead a good game needs to stand on it's own merits and the rest needs to be optional at worst, and unnecessary at best.

[@-postboy-8766]

The supporting media was supposed to be in the final game but Sony rushed it out the door before it could be implemented. The games' story is incomplete not because of bad writing but because of the pressure to get it released asap

[@Peasham]

*Cough*Destiny*Cough*

[@snintendog]

you say sony dont you mean Square as sony had no real pull on the project.

[@snintendog]

Overall FF15 was a money making scheme first a game second. KH1 is 100% contained but further games are all available in a single collection now and even then all the games were well GAMES full and complete games the story was all that was separated and deved multiple years to decades apart from each other. As for Danganrompa, 4 games all self contained and only loosely connected to each other story wise and the anime was the only issue which only further added to the story a prequel to the series and the sequel anime was well a sequel anime. A better comparison is the .hack//conglomerate and even then that was handled better than FF15 the original quadrilogy had been fairly self contained and had issued an anime OVA along side the games with only a prequel anime that was 90% unneeded to see. The final episode was the only one that had story elements relating to the overall story and the manga is the same. The sequel anime/manga that was considered 100% non canon then the GU series did this again prequel anime with 90% fluff 10% story self contained games and then a sequel manga/vol4 years later. Then the mess that was .hack//link and the spinoff animes that just stop mid run and the self contained movie that had a fanservice fighting game on disk. I have yet to see a Media empire like FF15 get spawned be this bad even the FF7 Media was handled more tastefully and that had Dirge of Cerberus.

[@britipinojeff]

BesuBaru Kingdom Hearts as a whole is not a good comparison to how bad the writing in FFXV is. Yes you need to play all the games in order to get the full context of the story in KH3. It's also bad that each game is on a different platform. However, that's like saying Star Wars Return of the Jedi is bad cuz you need to watch Empire Strikes Back and A New Hope before you watch those movies. Even then, some of the portable games are actually pretty self contained like Birth By Sleep and 358/2 Days. Those are more like how the Prequel Star Wars movies don't completely require you to have watched the Original Trilogy, but you won't get the winks and nods they have. FFXV on the other hand fails because it is a singular game that requires watching extra media to get context and even then the full context still isn't there. Not to mention that the DLC dives into character development that wasn't really present in the game and seems to have been planned from the beginning thus robbing us of that character development and requiring extra money to see it.

[@steliosdiamantopoulos5661]

17:33 in final fantasy 7 remake. There is a fight at the start of chapter 11 where you fight a guy named renor , he is very fast , hits hard and can kill you in 4 hits , untill you realise he can be staggered by counterattacking , which makes the fight a lot easier

[@JamesOKeefe-US]

This was my first Final Fantasy and I loved it so much I was totally taken with the story and graphics. I am an older gamer and I know that there are a lot of gamers who have much higher standards but I was utterly blown away by the size and look of the game. I was invested in the story even with the problems but I was absolutely devastated when the additional DLC was cancelled. My wife and I watched the Kingsglaive movie and loved the world building and back story in it. All in all, I was just blown away that this was a game and was actually playable and discoverable and so beautiful. I honestly couldn't believe it and since then I have been consumed with gaming and my wife has enjoyed being my back seat partner looking at these amazing worlds and games. Growing up with the earliest of games, I am so happy that these amazing works of art are here. Sorry, I don't mean to sound old and out of touch but wow am I amazed by all of this mind boggling creativity. I did love your video and understand your perspective. Definitely valid points but for someone like me, I never even thought about some of them so it was helpful to hear a deeper point of view so thank you for that. Love your channel!!

[@AvengeBasketball]

James OKeefe That’s how i felt too, except that i’ve been a fan since ff2 (or 4 depending on ur country). The fantasy beauty of this game and details in the design goes beyond any ff game. Story was rushed and could be better but some facts in this video were not really accurate like daemons were afraid of lights so that acts like a towns shield. Clothes for diff towns wern’t that different cause they were practically 5 min drive away, it’s practically the size of a small city. But when u go to Altissia which really isnt that far away just a boat trip away, the pple there dress differently. Video also complained abt fighting the same dragon twice, why can’t there be more than 1 dragon of the same breed since there are so many daemons that are identical? Battle too easy? That’s cause some pple grind to get to a really high lvl just to feel over powered. Try fighting a lvl 45 daemon when ure lvl 10. If any fault SE made it too easy to exploit experience gain. Story was simple and straight forward until u get so invested in it that u wanna know the entire history of it which would be almost an impossible task, even LOTR has holes in the plot. Spoilt Fans expect a story to be so solid that it’s literally writing a made up history lore for a made up universe. This was my top 3 FF of all time FF6 then 15 or 8 then 7.

[@sagewaterdragon]

@@AvengeBasketball I agree. I haven't been playing since 4, I started with 10 and went back to play the earlier entries, but 15 is still my favorite by a long shot. A lot of this video's complaints came from just... missing stuff in the game. The underground lab is explained, the cities' lack of walls is explained, hunts like that exist *specifically so* you can refight bosses. There are also a lot of suppositions he made that had concrete answers - things like who the woman on the cover art was supposed to be (it was supposed to be the god Etro who was removed from the game) - that can't help but make me feel like this entire video was just sort of firing from the hip. Which is fine, but the fact that every time I want to watch anything related to 15 this shows up as the top recommended video makes it feel a bit disingenuous. Not his fault, though.

[@realtalk13]

@@sagewaterdragon Your points about explanations being given in game stand, but the cover art Etro thing is a lot of the complaints SEW made exemplified. There's a lot about the game and story that feels like it's a remnant from a different version of the game and all of those remnants add up into a lackluster and often confusing narrative. There's no getting around that the world, though vast and filled with interesting enemies to fight, has few memorable characters outside of the arms dealer and the two who tune up your car. Every other NPC who isn't essential to the story is forgettable which is a problem for open world games that rely on the meeting and getting to know new characters to flesh out the world. And huge character development plot points for your main crew of dudes (a crew that does not change or have members added to unlike previous games so you really need all of them to have strong characters) happen off screen for the OG game (unless you paid extra for DLC) meaning the weight behind those developments on those characters were lost in the shuffle. And then there's Noctis himself who has a relatively flat personality and little character development himself outside of just getting stronger. And don't even get me started with Lunafreya who had no character outside of being a pretty girl the MC liked or the villain whose connection to the main cast was superficial if there at all and whose motives are still obscure to me to this day Gameplay wise, bringing up the recycled content for hunts matters because the hunts are the primary form of content for a huge chunk of the game. It wouldn't be so bad if those hunts came after you beat the game, but they are literally listed as things you have to do to progress during the first half. And the HUGE disconnect between the first 2/3rds of the game to the last 1/3 of the game tonally and in terms of gameplay hurts the narrative flow of the game as well as removing one of the game's best selling points: its open world. The game isn't terrible and there's a lot to like about it, so there's no shame in enjoying the game. But there was also a lot of poorly handled story issues in terms of actual plot and the communicating of that plot to the players, in game character development, and development of gameplay over the course of the game that are pretty obvious too.

[@syafiqkamalazmi]

Just a suggestion, try playing FFX , FF9, FF7/FF7 crisis core.. I cried a few times playing them

[@JamesOKeefe-US]

@@syafiqkamalazmi Thank you for this suggestion. I definitely will, I love these games! I appreciate it!

[@marymcallister7963]

RIP Stella, I remember how excited I was for her character all those years ago

[@stormwolf8770]

😭😭😭😭😭

[@matthewmuir8884]

Based on the stuff in "Verum Rex": the fictional game in KH3, it would seem that Nomura himself agrees with you. Pretty much everything about Verum Rex seems like a clever jab from Nomura at Square Enix's upper management and how they mishandled the development of Versus XIII, not unlike all the jabs Nathan Fillion makes about Firefly's cancellation.

[@alwaysangry2232]

@@matthewmuir8884 then again, with all the dumb shit nomura wanted the game to have is almost like square had no choice but to replace him with someone who would set on something

[@SpankSandwitch99]

@@alwaysangry2232 They were both in the wrong. Japanese companies especially are horrible about micromanaging and having concepts or developments ruined by "committee", but Nomura is very well known as someone who can't control himself whenever something interesting or "cool" gets into his head. Whatever beautiful ideas nomura had for the story got buried beneath a mountain Extra or side stuff that wasn't as necessary, and while you'd think Square would understand Nomura better after all these years, they chose to spread him too thin with different projects, fail to direct him or apply some actual structure, and then blame him for not focusing as if it's the first time it's ever happened

[@Pikachu-qr4yb]

Well she's basically just Luna with a sword

[@SBaby]

26:40 - This is one of the best statements I've ever heard from a reviewer. I'm so sick of the concept of 'challenge runs' to artificially make a game harder. The game itself should be the challenge.

[@apdarkness905]

So, pretty much what people do on games that are tough anyway, like Dark Souls and Sekiro - which I've seen challenge runs of many kinds on both.

[@SBaby]

All challenge runs are stupid and pointless. And you shouldn't have to do challenge runs because a game is too easy. The people that do them on games like Sekiro and Dark Souls only do so because they're masochists, while those that watch them are sadists.

[@SBaby]

If someone seems like they know too much about the game, you automatically fail. Also if you die at any point, you can never attempt it again, or help out on someone else's challenge run.

[@Dragonboy55564]

@@SBaby Believe it or not, but people that are not you actually have fun with challenge runs. People also like doing speed runs because it's a totally optional new way of playing the game they like.

[@SBaby]

I never said they didn't have fun with challenge runs. All I'm saying is they're masochistic, and people that enjoy watching challenge runs (as well as let's plays of games like Dark Souls) are sadists.

[@Alex_YJ_Reed]

I love the emotional journey this video takes you through: going from false hope of the opening scene to realizing the game's surface-level flaws and how they reflect the deeper structural flaws, and the early evidence in the video suggests the reason for this was greedy moneymen but then pulls the rug out from under you by making you see the real problem was much deeper: an exhausted staff just wanting the project they've been stuck doing for years to be done to the best of their abilities. Where's the Final Fantasy with that as its plot structure? I'd play that one for sure. Wait. That sounds vaguely like what I heard the late-game plot twist of the FF7 Remake is. Now I don't know if I want that anymore.

[@jamesmoffat124]

They invested so much in the game engine that not much budget was left for the writting

[@sbhack2077]

@Magikazam bruh that would get a release date on 2099

[@demkikun7783]

@Magikazam using a third party engine would be more expensive as far as I know

[@justsomenerd8925]

How do people enjoy these whiny bitch, emo turds, that they make as the protagonist? It started with Cloud, and has only gotten worse. The last few FF titles, and all the Kingdom Heart games, just feel like tween soap operas.

[@Mangzorz]

Wow, that makes a lot of sense, because the story sucks pretty hard

[@Dacho_Shaki]

@@demkikun7783 Actually no. First party engines tend to use a lot of resources and expenses where gaming budgets rise exponentially. That's the reason why a lot of Japanese developers tend to use Unreal 4 lately because it speeds up the development process. That's why KH3, DQ11 and FF7R are using Unreal 4 rather than wasting time and resources in creating first party engines for one game. Even Tekken 7 and a new Tales game use the same engine. They're probably paying some percentage to Epic just to use their engine, but you already have the properly working engine to your use, rather than sacrificing the game's writing and concepts for a first party engine. Not to mention that they were working both on Luminous and FFXV in order to meet the deadline. Capcom may be the exception to the rule with the RE Engine, but I believe they used RE7 as a testing ground for their engine. The difference is that FFXV was a huge budget AAA project, while RE7 was more grounded in scope after the colossal misstep that was RE6.

[@drakevegas7073]

The idea of the Backstreet Boys beating the shit out of a mountain for six hours actually makes me want to play it. Thanks, Eyepatch Wolf.

[@joholmes4340]

That's the funniest shit I've seen in a while. Good job!

[@rageagainstmyhairline5574]

It's not as fun as you imagine it to be. It's incredibly annoying.

[@Thefruitspeaks]

*Nongamer opinion* I rarely play games. I'm mostly a spectator. I've been watching my older brother and husband play FF games for decades. I love to watch, and get into the stories. The last FF game that I actually enjoyed was XII. Thirteen was "meh" to me. I absolutely could NOT get into this game. It was too scatterbrained to enjoy it.

[@sarthakarora3212]

ff 6 is the best.(in my opinion) You should try playing on pc on a gba or snes emulator. (Completely free by the way)

[@danieljohnston3290]

@@sarthakarora3212 4 was a gem as well, but I think 12 is super under rated. Yeah the story isn't revolutionary but the game play and the grid and micro management is not only fun to watch but really immersive to play

[@natenatenate10]

@@danieljohnston3290 12 was the first FF I played and was able to comprehend, and it's still my favorite by far

[@Evil_Chronic]

sarthak arora *let me push my opinion on you* lol man. There was no reference to her having a favorite game, but we just have to state yours. People like you are the issue in the fan base. Just let her watch her family play the games without your opinion. She’s been doing good from what I can tell.

[@myon9431]

Laura Thefruitspeaks That’s actually really cute.

[@simi_lc8]

When I first watched this video, I disagreed with your viewpoint on the simplicity of the attack system - I thought it was great to get new players into the game, and a great advancement in the real-time combat system. Watching this video back, you are 100% correct as i fell asleep during the adamantite fight, which is supposed to be this big battle with a literal mountain sized creature. So disappointing.

[@maxentirunos]

It's why I really don't like where Square is going with its licenses. It's going further and further toward action rpg because it's easier and faster to code action games than balancing rpgs. You end up with systems that are both and neither a good action game (just pushing one button to win), nor good rpg (no reason to balance the difficulty as you are virtually invincible)

[@DipsyMum29]

I miss the old final fantasy’s. You know the ones that didn’t take a decade to make or that didn’t come out in parts? The problem is that final fantasy thinks it is supposed to represent the best graphics but lots of games have good graphics now?. They have forgotten that is that it was never about the graphics really?? It was mostly about the story. The older ones were silly and interesting. The new ones are spectacular and mundane

[@Xenitag0]

I have to disagree about graphics. Final Fantasy always were pioneers in graphical and even sound capacities for the consoles they came on. They however managed to not rely ONLY on those assets and were also extremely well-written (well, for the most part), which makes them replayable today. But they always were a step ahead in terms of graphics. Which is why when FFXIII started to no longer be capable to be done efficiently by Square themselves (the engine they built took itself almost as long as a full-fledged FF game, and it wasn't even complete since it was supposed to be used over the whole Fabula Nova Crystallis series of games), they were at a loss and took way too long to realise they couldn't do what they had been doing anymore : they had to outsource stuff.

[@CronicasDeGisthia]

For their respective ages, Final Fantasy games always had good graphics. FFI was one of the first games ever in use sprites doing a 3D movement (a Pokémon-type movement), FFVII also pioneer the 3D era of RPG games. FFVIII was a graphical masterpiece in its time and also was FFIX. FFX and FFXII use basically all the possible brainpower of the PS2 and FFXIII is often mocked as "graphics over story" for a reason. Final Fantasy always has been innovating in the graphics department, its just that stories were good too (and they still are if you know where to look tho)

[@FragmentedR_YT]

@@CronicasDeGisthia that complaint against 13 is why I agree with the original post. If games like IX or VII had shit stories, there’s no way they’d have lasted as long as they have in the conversation of greatest games ever, even with impressive visuals for the time.

[@HerMi.T]

Except i am completely disagree. It is clear that XV fails not because of their ideology but it had not any ideology. It never focuses on graphics but this game is from start more focused on story and gameplay. But their ideas never executed in game. The real plan is also even discarded. And they never truly able to focus even this new game at all.

[@astronomical3342]

If the older ones didn’t have turn bases combat i would adore them

[@FourthDerivative]

Also "regis" is just a form of the Latin word for "king", making King Regis possibly the most amateurishly named character in FF history.

[@matthewmuir8884]

Then again, redundant names appear in real life all the time. The Sahara Desert: The Desert Desert. Loch Lochy and Loch Loch in Scotland, etc. But they're usually redundant names of places; not people, so I see your point.

[@umjammerlammy9993]

Kingy McKingface

[@AtomekKotalke]

It’s our King, King King.

[@umbaupause]

King of Kings!!! :O No? Okay!

[@solidfisher9798]

Kinda like how in Kung Fu Panda the master's name is Master Master

[@pyoheliobros5773]

Really great! This is not just a video about some guy who rants about FFXV, it's a heart pouring message of someone who deeply loves Final Fantasy and is truly disappointed by a title that could have been and deserved better.

[@arthurdank6273]

nomura clearly let his ambition run wild, ambition is only a virtue when it drives us to excel.

[@coolguy02536]

Fair enough. And who's to truly blame? Nomura? Tabata? Both? ...Neither?

[@coolguy02536]

Crisis Core was pretty flawed. It's difficult to praise it much harder than Type-0 and XV. I won't lambaste either of these guys to an unfair extent.

[@bobsteven2363]

When I played final fantasy 15, I was extremely confused. I went to the gas station then was told to fight a beast. I was so confused by the existence of the beast, why would they be next to a completely open gas station? Are they imaginary? And the intro cutscene shows a castle and that made me even more confused. Is this a sci fi medieval era? Why does everything outside the cutscene look so bland. why are there cities with monsters next to them but everyone pretends like there are no monsters but still reference them? The game felt like an asset flip game. They got a desert biome next to boring cities next to castle next to random monsters, none of it fit together and none of it made sense. Like they threw a bunch of assets they bought to make a quick game

[@allenharper2928]

It's mentioned that the lights keep the daemons at bay, possibly the beasts as well? Seeing the large beasts out in the world kind of reminded me of an African savannah. Even predators tend to avoid gatherings of humans, though there are outliers, or if they're driven by hunger. For the most part, beasts were just doing what they do, and ignoring human towns. Also remember, there's hunters out there as well