Well. I was waiting for this thing since it was first announced in 2006. Amazing to think I've now finished it.
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Video Games
duhu — 9 years ago(December 03, 2016 11:20 PM)
Well. I was waiting for this thing since it was first announced in 2006. Amazing to think I've now finished it.
For the most part, my feelings haven't changed much since my first impressions thread. The game is good. Nice "little" touches- taking photographs, unique dialogue to situations, outfits, car customization, etc.
Yet the game disappointed me where it matters most- the story.
For it's part, it is a good story. It's just poorly executed.
Scenes that clearly should have been in the game, but weren't, making a tale that could have been brilliant instead merely a decent afterthought. NO ONE gets any development as a character except Noctis and his boys, and maybe ArdynMore on that.
The character cast was great, as I expected. Noctis is easily my favorite protagonist since Cloud. The right blend of maturity, leadership, and a strong sense of what's right and wrong. Ignis, Gladio, and Prompto, were all unique and excellent as well. Luna herself was a brilliantly strong female character, and the perfect love interest for Noct. Alas, the plot did her no justice. I have no qualms with killing her, but they gave her a grand total of about 5 minutes of screen time, and had no interactions with Noctis outside of flashbacks.
Ardyn, too, was a great villain. Honestly, the best since Sephiroth, in my opinion. Yet again, sadly, it isn't easy to understand everything about his past or motivations without reading the fcking guidebook. Stupid.
The ending itself, from the final boss to the final scene, gave me a lot of emotion. It certainly was a "dark" ending compared to most of their titles, depending on your perspective (Noctis, Luna, and his crew all die, but evil is vanquished). But as mentioned before, it could have been much better had certain things been given the detail they deserved- Luna & Ardyn, for example, in the ending's case.
It's been one heck of a journey for me. Good game, but the potential was unfortunately far from being reached. Definitely better than XII and XIII, but I'll let my thoughts stew some more before I pass final judgement on it. Anyone else finished the game? Thoughts?
Memento mori -
acid_rogue — 9 years ago(December 05, 2016 08:30 AM)
In your other thread, I said I was on chapter 10 and having an awesome time. Little did I know that the whole game was about to shift. The last 30% of the game is like a depression simulator as just about everything goes wrong. Noct's friends all end up maimed and missing trying to protect their king only for him to disappear.
The game picks up ten years later and you basically spend what's left of the story going "Where has the time gone?" I didn't think I'd feel so sad and nostalgic about stuff that was only happening like four hours ago, though maybe the shabby gameplay near the end wasn't helping.
Then it hit me: How the release of this game has been a ten year journey in itself and it got me thinking about the last decade of my life and old friends
Yup.Listen to
Iced Earth
and play
Doom -
duhu — 9 years ago(December 05, 2016 06:13 PM)
I was expecting people to die, it was hinted at long before it became XV. The dark trailers, the blood, the Hamlet quotes, and the interviews saying the story will make you cry made that apparent.
Memento mori -
duhu — 9 years ago(December 06, 2016 06:15 PM)
I'll give it a final score of 8.5/10. Love everything about the game with only minor quipsexcept for the poorly executed story. Hoping for good dlc and patches.
That makes it my 3rd favorite final fantasy, barely edging out V, VI, IX, and X, in that order. All of those games tell their story better, but XV to me, has the superior characters and especially villain. Really like the mundanity too in comparison.
VII and IV remain my favorite by a fair margin however. Maybe dlc/patches can help close that gap, but is it really fair for a game to make you buy dlc to get the complete story?
Memento mori -
jon_hollingsworth — 9 years ago(December 17, 2016 10:49 AM)
What photo did you select for the ending?
I chose one of Noctis and the gang with Iris, but during the last cutscene I was laughing uncontrollably about how it might have turned out had I selected a completely inappropriate photo:
Here were some of the photos I could choose from: -
Zuko_Reborn — 9 years ago(December 24, 2016 08:56 PM)
I've just finished the main game and I have to say that I'm annoyed at how rushed the story is in this game. This could of been the Final Fantasy to put the series back on track in terms of story but that's not the case. Too much happens off screen without explanation and characters outside of the main cast get little development. The side quests should of been based around developing the characters and giving more depth to them. Instead we got far too many fetch quests that are completely bland.
Every single scene Luna was in was a pleasure to watch but then they go and decide to kill her off before her and Noctis even share a proper scene together in the present. The trailers have scenes of her that are completely cut from the game which is a shame. It's obvious they initially had bigger plans for the character. Ardyn and the rest of the empire needed more backstory and scenes focused on them too. They hardly feel like an active part of the story and as such you don't feel like they are that big a threat until Ardyn steps up his game.
That brings me to the ending of the game where Noctis and possibly his friends die to save the kingdom. I admit that was a good send off to the game and at least Noctis and Luna get some peace together in the end. That campfire scene was really emotional and well-acted.
With all that said, I still like the game a great deal thanks to the combat, main characters and world exploration. Chapter 13 was a nightmare to get through though. I wonder what Tabata has is in mind for improving it.
"If you say I have a motive then it's to punish all of you who brought pain to my friends!"- Zidane -
Zuko_Reborn — 9 years ago(December 24, 2016 09:04 PM)
The great
Main Characters
Luna
Ardyn
Combat
Creature Design
Voice acting for Noctis, Prompto, Ardyn and Luna
The good
Voice acting for Ignis
Boss Battles ( Ifrit, Titan and Ardyn.)
Monster Hunts
Fishing
World Exploration
Dungeons ( Though the design of a couple of the dungeons could be a lot better.)
The Bad
story
fetch quests
voice acting for Gladio
boss battle (Leviathan)
My final score is 8.5/10.
"If you say I have a motive then it's to punish all of you who brought pain to my friends!"- Zidane -
Zuko_Reborn — 9 years ago(December 25, 2016 05:11 AM)
Yeah, there is a good story in there somewhere and I did love several individual scenes. All they need to do is expand on a lot of the characters whether it be through more back story or answering how some of them ended up in certain situations. How on earth did Iedolas end up a daemon and what happened to Ravus? Why did his motivations completely change?
"If you say I have a motive then it's to punish all of you who brought pain to my friends!"- Zidane -
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jon_hollingsworth — 9 years ago(December 25, 2016 08:53 AM)
Chapter 13 was a nightmare to get through though
I really didn't like that chapter, either. While I was playing the last parts of the game I was wondering whether I might end up playing the game a second time, and then that chapter alone made me think I never would. I guess the whole idea of the chapter was pretty clear: split Noctis from his friends and make him realise how much he cares about being in their company. But the rushed, tacked-on level design was clearly a result of the game's troubled development.
Funny video: -
duhu — 9 years ago(December 25, 2016 05:45 PM)
I've done everything in the game- hunts and bonus dungeons, even that gladiator thing in Altissia. There's A LOT to do post-game, the bonus dungeons in particular are especially challenging.
Best hunt was Daemon Wall, btw.
Memento mori -
Zuko_Reborn — 9 years ago(December 25, 2016 06:46 AM)
I need to level up and finish off all my previous side quests that I've started before I can move on to the end game content. So much grinding for experience awaits me. Then there is the fact that I need to get all the best equipment for the chocobro's.
"If you say I have a motive then it's to punish all of you who brought pain to my friends!"- Zidane -
Zuko_Reborn — 9 years ago(December 25, 2016 07:04 AM)
All I kept thinking is how different an experience the FFVII remake will be since Square are creating a multi-part series to tell a bigger story which has me excited.
"If you say I have a motive then it's to punish all of you who brought pain to my friends!"- Zidane -
Zuko_Reborn — 9 years ago(December 26, 2016 04:21 AM)
Ray Chase, the voice actor of Noctis interpreted the ending to mean that Prompto, Ignis and Gladio survived. Thinking over it I have to agree.
"If you say I have a motive then it's to punish all of you who brought pain to my friends!"- Zidane