Final Fantasy XV Day One Edition (PS4)

(MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD - do not read unless you have clocked the game) I class myself as a Final Fantasy fan having played over ten titles. Loved VII, VIII, and X. Struggled out of boredom to finish XII and then didn't even bother with XIII. Since the first FFXV trailer in 2006 I've been eagerly anticipating the release of this title! I had pre ordered it on Amazon years in advance and on the day I received the copy I was ecstatic to say the least, even bought a new TV as the screen did not fit on my current one. The game starts off great and gets even better. I am a pro turn based gamer but I have to admit the actual gameplay is amazing with an engaging combat mechanism and countless extras you can do from racing your car in a high speed chase to shooting machine guns at robots. I actually loved the summoning mode (although initially confusing on how to trigger it), and appreciated how the archaeons would come in times of need in a tough battle giving you a sense of relief whilst struggling against a feared enemy rather than any tiny powered gimmick that you could call countless times in a minor battle against a little chicken fiend. All of this awesomeness is varnished with an outstanding soundtrack to match (hats off to Shimomura-san). A downside evident fairly on however is the lack of cutscenes. Final Fantasy is loved by many for its wonderful storytelling in its high quality scenes but this desperately lacked those moments. At first I thought it was as they had transferred all the early scenes to the Kingsglaive movie and that as you passed that point in the game, the story would pick up. It never did. The game was left with so many gaps in the story and events happening off screen it was hard to understand the plot let alone enjoy it. Despite ten years in making, after a certain point in the game it felt completely rushed and unfinished. Don't get me started on how annoying and tedious Chapter 13 was. The brief story telling they did have was still completely inadequate. It seemed as though all the epicness of the XIII versus trailers had been totally lost. The one scene where Noctis meets Stella had more chemistry than the entire game with Luna. I felt so little for Luna that after her death I actually hoped they'd bring Stella into it and Noctis would forget all about his penfriend who he was told he should marry. The character Noctis previously portrayed was a strong, confident prince now turned into an annoying spoilt brat. It would have worked if his character developed over time, but it hardly did. Then came the ending, leaving me completely disappointed. *your final warning, major spoilers ahead* With the ten year time jump, they had so much opportunity to give us some emotional heartfelt scenes. With the King returning ten years on after being thought dead (just like Simba). The moment his friends first see him alive and are completely stunned with joy. The moment he meets Iris, and Cid, and all his old friends. The moment he returns to the now refugee camp of Lestallum and his people heartily cheer his return with a newfound hope. None of that happened however and you were left with a complete anti-climax. Then came Insomnia, the home I was so longing to explore and renovate back to its former glory. It however served nothing but a stage for the final boss. Why can Square Enix not finish a game without killing off the hero? I get that tragedy works in bringing tears and all but not when they do it every single time. If you think about it, the whole game was a waste as Ardyn actually got what he wanted and Noctis lost everything. How ridiculous. An epic scene towards the end would have been the first Versus XIII trailer ever. They could have left it as Noctis losing all his friends from Chapter 13 and then returning to Insomnia. Sitting on the throne in depression, thinking he had lost everything. Empire sending in all their troops after him and he comes outside and kills a few handfuls of them without any emotion and then returns to his throne as he did, now yielding the power of the ring (which for some reason had become a weak toy in the game compared to all its power in Kingsglaive when wielded by Nyx). That would have really pleased us with the trailer nostagia. Then continued with whatever story and ended with him restoring Lucia back to its days of former glory as a bad ass king. Allowing you to explore the open World once more in the present day. Despite all these criticisms I still enjoyed the game. After clocking it I'm still finding loads of new stuff to do even though i had completed all the sidequests previously. I'm looking forward to the updates now. I know this would probably be very cliche and annoying but I actually want Square Enix to release another game via DLC suggesting Chapter 9 onwards was all just a bad dream and rehash the entire second part of the story to how it should have been.

Not without its flaws... But ultimately the most fun, and emotional, Final Fantasy experience I have experienced... And the most fun I've had playing a game for years. (Spoilers Follow) Myself and Final Fantasy have had a troubled relationship over the past decade. Ever since the PS1 era, I have felt they have never quite matched the quality I had known from the series. With FFX it was the awful voice acting (all I'll say is: HA-HA-HA). With FFXII it was the fact it didn't feel like Final Fantasy as much as Star Wars combined with Dungeons and Dragons (although being an amazing game with a brilliant cast in its own right). And Final Fantasy XIII felt like the ultimate minimal input, beautiful port of ProgressQuest... With convoluted, ultimately unrelatable story (but amazing mythos), forgettable stereotypes for characters and almost literally corridors with minimal exploration for 80% of the story. So Final Fantasy XV landed with my patience pushed to the limits. Although XIII-2 and Lightning Returns were much better, they still lacked that feeling I had from the past. And I will start off saying this: If your heyday of Final Fantasy was back in the days of PS1, you will probably love this game as much as I did. You are almost straight away plonked into the open world, which both encouraged and wowed me. The world of Eos (Final Fantasy XV's world) is a beautiful, beautiful place; For the first time it feels like they have been able to fully match the graphical quality of cut-scenes of FF8 and 9. Noctis and his retinue realise the huge difference between the modern Crown City and the 50s-style world we can actually explore. It reminds me of the disparity and rustic beauty of Cuba in comparison to the rest of the world. So you travel through this beautiful world... A world you can get lost in (something missing from the series for a long time)... Sometimes pushing the story along, sometimes taking part in side quests... Broken up by camps each night, which act almost like the beating heart of the game; giving your characters the chance to level up and have one of Ignis' fabulous, status-boosting meals. They sometimes act as an opportunity to take part in optional side quests with one of your party (although sadly this happens less than the Episode Duscae demo made me think it would). Things take a turn for the worst for our crew in the second half of the game, when tragedy hits nearly everyone. The game takes a much-criticised linear route from Chapter 9. A route which, personally, I absolutely loved. Even though you get the feeling it is (literally) a whistle-stop tour of the remaining assets they were able to complete for the game, it hits all the right narrative beats. You straight away feel the more sombre tone from the death of Luna and the loss of Ignis' sight, and our tour completes in the very Midgar-styled city of Gralea. This is one of my favourite parts; Darin De Paul's brilliant portrayal of antagonist Ardyn makes up for probably the best villain of the entire series. He leads you condescendingly down the dark corridors and eventual horrors you learn in the city. "Bah, I knew you'd go that way" he says as you explore the room to your left instead of your goal in front of you. "You're such a tease". Everything from the end of this chapter onwards is a beautifully directed feels train of reminiscence, nostalgia and regret, and almost a metaphor for a world 10 years on from the very first trailer for the then-titled Final Fantasy Versus XIII. I can personally say it made me very reflective. I remember having just left home and starting university when I first saw that trailer, thinking I knew everything about life. 10 years down the line, and the biggest lesson I've learned is I still barely know a thing about life... None of us do... We all just make it up as we go along. Underscoring these moments is the beautiful soundtrack, and I wish to commend Yoko Shimomura on creating the best Final Fantasy score I have heard. It manages to evoke feelings of the old games without feeling like it is trying to copy Uematsu's style from them, something which I have felt the series has struggled with since his departure. There are around 6 main themes which run throughout the game, and these evolve for their respective characters/institutions as the game progresses. The best example of this is the epic Magna Insomnia; the final boss theme which also acts as a combination of Somnus and Ardyn's Theme. The chorus of Somnus teases throughout the song before being fully realised as you battle Ardyn above Insomnia's Citadel; and has a chilling choral conclusion as Ardyn finally shows his true rage in telling you "10 years is nothing... I have been in darkness for ages!". The game isn't without its faults. But I have already spent 200+ hours on it... Every battle is a joy to play, feeling more interactive and fun than FFXIII.. Making it take much longer to complete quests than you would think. Worth every penny

لعبه جميله و رائعه

El juego está en español y me he ahorrado casi 15 eurazos. Por lo demás me está gustando bastante. Destacar que el sistema de batalla es algo raro (me recuerda al de Kingdom Hearts), la historia es buena y los diseños están muy currados. Creo que es una revisión de los últimos FF que hacía mucha falta. Se echa de menos algún personaje femenino, eso sí.

When I first picked up this game, I fell in love with the in-game mechanics. I've been playing Final Fantasy series since FF IX on the original PlayStation. That being said, the story in this game goes by pretty quick after a certain point. Pros: - All the side quests. When my friends were watching me play it, they thought I bought a fishing simulator. For some reason the fishing mini-game was incredibly satisfying, and I would say I put at least 6 hours just fishing.. Take that as you will. - Combat mechanics. You can actually kill high level mobs if you play your game perfectly, whereas in other iterations of Final Fantasy unless you were grinding mobs there would have been no way for you to take down high level mobs. That being said, I did do some leveling and questing because I enjoyed it so much. - Visuals. As always, Final Fantasy graphics are fantastic, this game is no different. Summon sequences are epic, and the cut-scenes look like they're a CGI film [which they also made, check it out if you haven't already]. - Music. The few tracks that are in the game, are very emotional and epic. Cons: - Forced linear progression after a certain point in the story. This is open world but if you're not careful you'll be trapped into doing main story line and will miss out on side quests. - Music. One of the most underwhelming scores in Final Fantasy thus far. Very few memorable songs, and tracks in general. Overall, I have enjoyed the game a great amount. They are constantly patching the game and adding more content, vehicles, and outfits, which is fun!

La caja del videojuego llegó muy estrellada pero afortunadamente el disco estaba intacto así que lo único que hice fue cambiarlo de caja, por suerte tenía una de sobra seminueva que es la que se muestra en las fotos. Por ese detalle le doy solo 4 estrellas.

Un must per gli amanti della saga, che non delude mai. Attenzione che solo i sottotitoli e le voci del menù sono in Italiano. L'audio del gioco, dialoghi, filmati e narrazione, sono solo in Giapponese, Inglese, Francese e Tedesco. Enjoy!