All right, let me start off by saying this, because it might clear up some of the misconceptions about what I’m going to talk about here: I can’t wait for Final Fantasy XV. I think it’s going to be a great game and, if some of the other previews that have appeared are any indication, I think it has the potential to reinvent the Final Fantasy franchise for lapsed fans and a whole new generation of players. But, and this is a very specific “but,” both of the demos Square Enix brought to E3 for the game were — in my opinion — sort of a strange way to show it off. As I’ve said in other cases, this is a preview, not a review, so I’ll try to avoid being overly critical — but my real point is that the demos Square Enix chose to bring to the show might not have been the best ways to communicate its appeal.
Let’s start with the actual PS4 demo, which entailed a single E3-exclusive mission. Overall, I think it was a little more interesting than the one for PSVR, but that one came off as more of a tech demo to me — whereas the one on PS4 was supposed to be a sampling of what we can expect from the full game. And in that regard, I’m not sure it was the best demo for the job. Essentially, the mission boils down to beating Titan: though you’ve got to do a little traversal to reach him first, the vast majority of the playable content involves fending off and then defeating the earth giant. And while he is definitely an intimidating and awe-inspiring foe, I have to say I was a little startled by how much this particular demo focused on the cinematic and how little agency the player actually seemed to have.
A Demo That Plays Itself
The first time I played through, I have to admit I winced a bit. Titan attempts to stomp you with his massive feet and knock you clean out with enormous punches, and make no mistake — these attacks look really cool — but your method of fending them off? QTEs, of all things. Not just QTEs, though: QTEs with extremely lenient timing. Pressing the button any time within a five-second window pretty much guarantees you’ll block his attack, and the same goes for Noctis’s parry move afterward. Like many people, I find QTEs cheap, but I don’t usually mind them if they’re used sparingly and there are some fantastic visuals to look at onscreen.
The strange thing to me about their usage in this demo, though, was just how much of the total gameplay they really entailed. After defending against a few of his attacks, you’re allowed to roam around the battlefield and are pretty much left to your own devices. I used this time to land some attacks on Titan (no pun intended, I swear), but I didn’t seem to be doing much damage at all. Soon, I got an onscreen tip to use Blizzara against him, but hitting the attack button after selecting my magic triggered a finishing cinematic instead of letting me use the spell organically in the field. Titan was dead, but I didn’t feel like I’d done a whole lot to actually bring the giant down.
What’d I Miss?
The demo was short, so I played it again to make sure I didn’t miss anything. And…yeah, it really did seem like the game sort of played itself in this particular instance. Sure, there’s a ton going on, but most of the action takes place in cinematics or QTEs — the actual game mechanics go neglected for the majority of the 15-ish minutes of play. And herein lies the problem: from what I’ve seen of other, longer previews and trailers, that’s not an accurate reflection of what you’ll be doing in the finished product. I might be able to take all this with a grain of salt, but I’d hate for someone (heaven forbid, a lapsed fan unhappy with the last few entries) to play that particular E3 demo and come away thinking that the game mostly consisted of QTEs and control being wrested away from the player for (admittedly epic) cinematics. Again, this isn’t criticism of the game itself — just concern that perhaps this wasn’t the best way to make a good impression on newcomers or skeptics.
The VR demo, on the other hand — sorry, the Final Fantasy XV VR Experience — is admittedly lame, but it’s more of a throwaway than an outright travesty. Fighting the Behemoth as Prompto, you’ve got a gun in your hand and you hold the back trigger of the Move controller to fire. And…yeah, that’s about it. You can warp about the field by looking in different directions and hitting the center button whenever you see the warp icon, but different vantage points don’t seem to make a difference. Like the other demo, it seems like it’s impossible to lose, which means you don’t feel all that much of a sense of accomplishment when you finally bring the beast down. Oh, and the less I say about the cheesy end sequence — where you’re made to look around a car with Cindy by your side — the better.
Noct What We Asked For
Again, I don’t mean to be harsh or overly critical here, but it’s really important that Square Enix get these things right. Final Fantasy’s name arguably doesn’t carry the pedigree it once did; new RPG gamers have Western offerings from the likes of Bethesda and CD Projekt Red to consider first, and many gamers who enjoyed previous titles have felt some distrust toward the developer since the XIII saga and the utter disaster of the first XIV release. These demos may just be demos, but they’re meant to sell people on the game — and i’m not sure what Square brought to E3 was really a good way to accomplish that.
Final Fantasy XV Universe Overview
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The Final Fantasy XV Universe
At this point, Final Fantasy XV consists of five pieces that make up its compilation, culminating in the main game releasing on September 30th. Here is each piece and how it fits in to the whole picture.
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Final Fantasy XV Platinum Demo
Serving as a tech demo for some of the game world mechanics, including day to night cycles, weather effects, and the way that spells look interacting with the environment, it also offers a glimpse into a fun a whimsical dream world with young Noctis, while giving players an exclusive Carbuncle summon in the final game just for finishing it.
Sure it may not have impressed everyone, but it's a free tech demo and is only scratching the surface of what the final game will be able to do. It's more like an interactive art piece than a representation of the final game, which still has months of development time to go. -
Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV
A five part anime series, with each episode being about ten minutes long, Brotherhood tells the backstory of Noctis and his friends, showing the building of camaraderie and bonds that already exist in the main game.
Episode 1 is available now, and the remaining four episodes will be released over the course of the next few months prior to the release of the main game. They will all be available to watch for free on YouTube.
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Justice Monsters Five
Each Final Fantasy game has a minigame, whether it by Triple Triad, Blitzball, or many others. Justice Monsters Five looks to be a pinball based arcade monster game that the characters enjoy, and serves as Final Fantasy XV's minigame.
Best part about this? It won't be contained in the game world. We'll be getting Justice Monsters Five for mobile later this year.
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Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV
Kingsglaive tells the story of Noctis' father King Regis after Noctis leaves on his journey with his friends. The kingdom is in turmoil, and judging by the trailer this is going to be an awesome spectacle. Director Takeshi Nozue hinted that it may even contain more incredible action scenes than Advent Children did, and let's face it, those were impressive.
A full length CG animated film, much like Advent Children before it, members of that same studio were brought into Square Enix's Business Division 2 in order to work closely with the team on Kingsglaive
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Final Fantasy XV
The central component to the whole universe, Final Fantasy XV has now been in development for more than 10 years. Originally revealed under the Final Fantasy Versus XIII name, Hajime Tabata was brought on to the project to help shift efforts and make it a better release.
It was under his guidance that the extended universe was created and that the game was rebranded to a main numbered entry in the series.