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Anybody Playing Final Fantasy XV?

Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2016 7:04 am
by BriarThrone
I was a lifelong fan of the Final Fantasy franchise, up until... well, a lot longer than the series was any good. For American releases, the good ones were Final Fantasy II (the Japanese IV), Final Fantasy III (Japanese VI), and Final Fantasy IX. Final Fantasy VII, VIII, and X focused far too much on spectacle and had crap story and systems. Final Fantasy XI was an MMORPG, for some reason, and it was terrible. Final Fantasy XII had such a dry and impersonal plot that I got bored, and the system seemed to want me to program it to run itself rather than actually participate. The entire experience was far too remote. So I quit.

Now, a lot of people are super-excited about Final Fantasy XV, for some reason, and I want details. Is it time to come home?

Re: Anybody Playing Final Fantasy XV?

Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2016 2:32 pm
by Arkrite
Funny part for me is that the ones I enjoyed were FF3 (US) and FF8. ;~)
No arguments on it having a terrible system, but one of the few instances I saw real character development in one of those games. But as everybody else hates it, obviously your mileage may vary.

Gag is they've gone enough ways over time to give everybody one game that they like. But I've been burned pretty bad by them the last little while, I can't see myself picking this one up any time in the near future.
Seems like a youtube let's play stream would be the best choice.

Re: Anybody Playing Final Fantasy XV?

Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2016 5:20 pm
by BriarThrone
Arkrite wrote:Funny part for me is that the ones I enjoyed were FF3 (US) and FF8. ;~)
No arguments on it having a terrible system, but one of the few instances I saw real character development in one of those games. But as everybody else hates it, obviously your mileage may vary.
FF8 had character development, sure, but it was the development of terrible characters into mildly-less-terrible characters by means of some clumsily applied tropes. The best thing that ever came out of FF8, in my opinion, is the Altimate Rewrite... and last I checked, that ended abruptly and prematurely. Even the others I didn't like, prior to FFXII, had better character development than FF8, in my opinion.
Arkrite wrote:Gag is they've gone enough ways over time to give everybody one game that they like. But I've been burned pretty bad by them the last little while, I can't see myself picking this one up any time in the near future.
Seems like a youtube let's play stream would be the best choice.
Yeah, I'm considering that. Or maybe, since I've got some scratch now, I could just take the plunge.

Re: Anybody Playing Final Fantasy XV?

Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2016 11:27 pm
by L-Space
Arkrite wrote:Funny part for me is that the ones I enjoyed were FF3 (US) and FF8. ;~)
No arguments on it having a terrible system, but one of the few instances I saw real character development in one of those games. But as everybody else hates it, obviously your mileage may vary.

Gag is they've gone enough ways over time to give everybody one game that they like. But I've been burned pretty bad by them the last little while, I can't see myself picking this one up any time in the near future.
Seems like a youtube let's play stream would be the best choice.
Nah, I'm a fan of it as well and the system never bothered me. Though I also liked VII and X, but like you said everybody's opinions will vary.

I haven't played XV and not sure if I'm going to either. Used to love the Final Fantasy games, but nothing has really stuck with me for the last. In all fairness I miss turn-based RPG's.

Re: Anybody Playing Final Fantasy XV?

Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2016 11:51 pm
by Arkrite
L-Space wrote:Nah, I'm a fan of it as well and the system never bothered me. Though I also liked VII and X, but like you said everybody's opinions will vary.
It's both one of the strengths and one of the weaknesses of the series.
Every game feels pretty different which means you manage to make a game that somebody likes, but at the same point as a consumer it's gotten to the point where I don't know if I want to give it a chance anymore.
Every one of them has been really different, and the last few haven't been very engaging for me.
L-Space wrote:In all fairness I miss turn-based RPG's.
I do as well.

I can appreciate that Square is trying to keep the system new and exciting for new players, and I can appreciate that they're afraid of falling behind and becoming less relevant to new players.
But I've never really got into any of the new systems they implemented post FFX. And that's prevented me from really playing FFXI.

FFXIII has it's own laundry list of reasons, but it was largely the gameplay that kept me from soldiering through it to the end.

Re: Anybody Playing Final Fantasy XV?

Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2016 12:32 am
by L-Space
Arkrite wrote:
L-Space wrote:In all fairness I miss turn-based RPG's.
I do as well.

I can appreciate that Square is trying to keep the system new and exciting for new players, and I can appreciate that they're afraid of falling behind and becoming less relevant to new players.
But I've never really got into any of the new systems they implemented post FFX. And that's prevented me from really playing FFXI.

FFXIII has it's own laundry list of reasons, but it was largely the gameplay that kept me from soldiering through it to the end.
Yea, FFX was the last one I really played and enjoyed. I tried FXII at my buddy's house, but I couldn't stand the 'Gambit' system. There's a part of me that really wants to play a Final Fantasy game again, but I'm just not sure how it'll go. I may watch some FFXV videos to gauge my interest. Either way I have like 8 or 9 games I need to play before I could invest any time in a new game :P.

Re: Anybody Playing Final Fantasy XV?

Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2016 12:57 am
by BriarThrone
I coasted through X on momentum. It had some good elements, and the Sphere Grid was innovative, but... the characters. UGH. The ones that weren't bland and generic were distinctly horrible. That scene where Tidus and Yuna are "laughing"? That was the cringiest thing I'd ever endured. And that ending... WTF?

I picked up FFXV. I'll share my thoughts.

Re: Anybody Playing Final Fantasy XV?

Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2016 7:06 am
by BriarThrone
First impressions: it starts slowly, with a lot of character-building. Very unique approach for this series, in my experience. The main characters are on a road trip, to get the prince to his wedding. Lots of detours and distractions and outright obstacles along the way. I'm hoping it kicks things up a notch soon, but I'm enjoying getting to know the characters a little before that.

The combat system is pretty good. Very dynamic. You control one character, and the others do their own thing, until you call for Techniques. There's some use of combos, but it feels fluid. I like it. I'm not very GOOD at it yet, but I like it.

So far, so good.