Ten years ago, Final Fantasy XIII was announced and with it, a designed universe created from three games. Fabula Nova Crystallis was comprised of Final Fantasy XIII Agito, a mobile game that turned into a Japan only PSP release that then turned into Final Fantasy Type-0. Final Fantasy XIII was the core title released to mixed reviews but critical success. But, the third game in the mythos, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, was never truely seen and never really heard of. After many trailers and brief, albeit dull gameplay, it was quietly cancelled in late 2012.
Four years on, we can finally say that after multiple delays the rebranded and redesigned Final Fantasy Versus XIII is finally here in our PlayStation's and Xbox's.
Final Fantasy XV (FFXV) features a band of brothers protecting Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum on his way to marry his betrothed Lunafreya Nox Flueret. Each character has a distinct personality that really bleeds through the narrative and makes a deep connection with the player, Ignis can be attributed to being the groups mother almost, being that that he cooks fine cuisine for the group and in larger encounters he usually devises some kind of strategy. Gladiolus is the princes designed bodyguard, he's a big dude with a stern personality and tonnes of health points (HP) to boot. And finally, Prompto, a friend of Noctis from high school (and a little before if you've seen the Brotherhood anime) and while I thought Promtos kid like attitude and constant Spider-Man like qwips would get tiresome, I feel like he adds an awful lot to the group in terms of humor and fun. And as a small narrative point in the game, Promto sometimes has a hard time fitting into the group, as noted in the Anime too, and throughout the main story you get to learn a little bit more about Promto and the others through their own little storylines.
The full story of Final Fantasy XV takes place over the course of about 10 years. If you take into account the Brotherhood anime, Kingsglaive full feature length movie, Parting Ways the prologue novel and of course the main game Final Fantasy XV and then whatever the Season Pass has to offer on top of that. With all this content, a strong sense of cohesion and immersion is felt through the whole story. You get to exerience the locations of the Brotherhood anime while the characters make references to their previous adventures and the Kingsglaive movie is pivotal to the plot as it explains what's happening in Insomnia after Noctis leaves to be wed. All of this contributes to a strong narrative that only helps you believe in the characters more and more as the story develops.
Combat is almost exclusively designed around one mechanic, Warp-Strike. Noctis can use a power that only his family has, he can throw his conjured weapon and appear where it lands. Leading into some fantastic combat situations where Noctis can run head first into battle with a strong warp strike then his buddies following the attack. In some situations you can stealth kill enemies using the warp ability.
Combat is the meat of the game besides the main narrative. Using huge magic abilities with a simple blocking mechanic can lead to some seriously cinematic looking sequences, for example; when fighting an Iron Giant, successfully hit the block prompt and hit a counter attack, Noctis will then run up the Giants sword, be flung into the air and hit a devastating fire attack that will stun the Giant. Wow..
To supplement the combat is a robust "Ascension" grid, which is the levelling up mechanic of the game and takes its cues from the Sphere Grid system found within Final Fantasy X. Here you get a choice of what you wish to level up with, if you want to gain AP for exploration or would rather learn a new combat ability, the choice is there for all and it will take a long time to fully complete, so it should keep you busy for times to come.
It's worth noting the supporting cast this time around is not as strong as previous Final Fantasys. Side characters consisting of only first names are common place in this Fantasy, which is a feeling of slight disconnect as I could probably rattle on full names of older FF side characters. With that said though the side missions are intriguing enough to be done, such as Sonia who studys wildlife and recruits you to cat some frogs and such. Most side missions will see you out in the field killing some unique enemies for a nice reward and great EXP gains but otherwise add nothing to the main narrative but instead flesh out the living world of Eos.
Ultimately, Final Fantasy XV is almost 10 years old but comes out better for it. With strong main characters, one of the bravest and daring storylines to date and a robust redesigned combat system. Final Fantasy XV is a fantastic game for first timers and fans alike. And with news of new cutscenes and timed hunts coming to the game through free patches, it's the most engrossing Final Fantasy since 2006.
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