Final Fantasy XV is a 2016 action role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix, released for PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, and Xbox One. Serving as the fifteenth main installment in the Final Fantasy series, the game takes place in the fictional world of Eos.  It follows Noctis Lucis Caelum, heir to the Lucian throne, who goes on a quest with his companions to retrieve the magical Crystal from the clutches of the Niflheim empire before the world is plunged into eternal darkness.

Positives:

• Great main characters
• Fast paced combat
• Tons of exploration
• Fantastic visuals
• Fantastic gameplay
• Great soundtrack
• Awesome voice performances
• Tons of replayability

Negatives:

• Story is messy and unfinished
• Mechanics are clunky at times
• Lackluster supporting characters

Campaign:  Final Fantasy XV’s features an extensive single player campaign that features an interesting story.  Despite the main story the game allows players to deviate from it and explore the world of Eos engaging in the various side quests.

The plot is set on the fictional world of Eos; which is divided between four nations: Lucis, Accordo, Tenebrae and Niflheim. The empire of Niflheim dominates the majority of Eos and seek to control the magical Crystal protected by Lucis’s royal family. On the eve of peace negotiations, Niflheim attacks the capital of Lucis and steals the Crystal. Noctis Lucis Caelum, heir to the Lucian throne, goes on a quest to rescue the Crystal and defeat Niflheim. He later learns his full role as the “True King”, destined to use the Crystal’s powers to save Eos from plunging into eternal darkness.

The story is just a complete mess with a lot of plot holes lacking any kind of exposition, and lack of side stories. You don’t know who’s doing what, why they’re doing it, or even what the hell’s going on most of the time.  Norris and Lunafreya’s love story isn’t touched upon and is barely fleshed out.  There is a significant lack of interesting characters and if they are interesting are introduced and never heard from again.

The story is messy and it’s a shame that players will have to play the game, watch the CG movie, getting all the DLC, and watching the four anime episodes.  The story and setting is interesting but the shitty writing and the second half of the campaign is just disappointing.  (3 out of 5)

Gameplay: Unlike previous installments, Final Fantasy XV does away with the traditional turn based combat and goes with a faster pace combat similar to Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. In a lot of ways, this a superior fighting system in terms of action. However, it does have its share of issues with the balancing, camera and the mechanics in which turn based is more refined.

Players level their characters up with experience, which they earn through fighting, completing quests, and general story progression. Each character has their specific skill, Noctis likes to fish, Ignis cooks, Prompto takes photos, and Gladiolus excels with survival of the land (which can also be leveled up the more players use them).

Players get to travel the open world of Eos, which opens up with further exploration and story progression.  This is probably one of the best qualities of the game. However, halfway through developers thought it was a great idea to just make the game completely linear halfway through.  After dealing with Leviathan in Altissia, that’s when it all goes downhill. Players travel Eos in a car called the Regalia, which can be driven manual or automatic. Also, there is keeping the gas filled or players must get the car towed to their location.

There are some sequences in the game that make it hard to take it seriously.  Fighting giant monsters are extremely hard to follow and should’ve been more refined.  The blocking works for the most part but there are some instances where the blocking is clumsy. (4 out of 5)

Graphics: Some of the best parts of the game are when Ignis is driving and players can just admire the world. The highly detailed textures, the attention to the color and lighting, the well constructed models, the massive and expansive backdrops, just everything about the world of Final Fantasy XV looks brilliant.

The game lacks a significant number of cinematics that does affect its storytelling.  For any “cinematics” that are there, they’re just alright utilizing the in-game graphics.  This takes away from the moments that could’ve been incredibly meaningful.  The camera can get extremely hard to follow when fighting bigger enemies such as Titan, Leviathan, and Adamantoise. (4 out of 5)

Score: The soundtrack and music is actually some of the best in the franchise. One of my favorite things of the game is the battle thing which is fast pace and intense. The voice performances are superb done well by such a fantastic cast of actors and actresses.   The cast includes Ray Chase (Noctis), Adam Croasdell (Ignis), Robbie Daymond (Prompto), and Chris Parson (Gladiolus). Darin De Paul did a phenomenal job as Ardyn. The sound effects are definitely on point making the game feel vibrant and active. Able to listen to the radio which features original music for FFXV and unlockable soundtracks from the previous games.  (5 out of 5)

Replay Value. There is a ton of replayability to this game. First, there is a ton of exploration.  The land of Eos is vast and for those willing to explore they’ll see that the game has more to offer.  The downloadable content includes Royal Edition and Comrades which opens up new areas for players to explore.  The DLC also includes Episodes Ignis, Gladiolus, and Prompto which add additional missions for the characters.  Comrade even adds multiplayer and character creation into the mixture.

Second, there are a ton of side missions found in various towns and outposts. Personal favorites are the the hunting missions where players seek out and battle strong and rare monsters.  There are others ranging from making dangerous deliveries to locating special items.

Third, there are plenty of mini-games to engage in. Hell, each character has their own skill that can be leveled up, Noctis (fishing), Ignis (cooking), Prompto (photos), and Gladiolus (survival).  There are also the Chocobo races for those who like riding the Chocobos and wanting to test their skills.  Totomostro is a game where players can bet on a battle between two monsters, resulting in medals which can be used to buy new gear.  There are Justice Monster Five game which plays similar to a pinball machine which are usually in diners.  The more the points that are gained the better the rewards.

Fourth, there are the dungeons.  The game has several dungeons for players to explore.  Each dungeon has a boss monster to challenge with some having the Royal Arms.  Most are filled with monsters and puzzles.  Dungeons are awesome for leveling up as some house some pretty strong monsters.  But its mostly beneficial after beating the game as all the dungeons are accessible then.

Five, there are training segments when players go camping.  The training sessions involve Noctis battling Gladiolus, then Ignis, then Prompto.  And later on Aranea Highwind. This game has a ton of content in terms of replay value. (5 out of 5)

The Verdict:  In the end, Final Fantasy XV has a ton of flaws but it is still an exceptional game and a great direction for the Final Fantasy series.  There are a ton of problems concerning the poorly put together story, lack of interesting characters, gameplay that gets chaotic and clunky at times, and aspects that are obviously underdeveloped or not finished.  However, the game has a lot going for it.  It has great main characters as well as an interesting villain, a massive world with tons of exploration, great combat, tons of missions and side quests, great music, and great voice performances.