Too Long; Didn't Play: Final Fantasy XV

Sponsored By: My wife

Time Fantasized: 2 hours-ish

Side quest review

Road trip! Road trip! Road trip!

Main quest review

The first thing that struck me about Final Fantasy XV was the unrealistic, almost-bare chest that was thrust in my face almost immediately, barely contained by an ill-fitting jacket.

His name is Gladiolus, and he sounds like he's voiced by the same voice actor that played all of the low-level fist-fodder from God Hand. As archetypes go, he's the Muscle (please note the capital M). Proud of his size, Gladiolus would be ready to fight at the drop of a hat – if anyone in the main character's inner circle wore hats. This character type extends back into antiquity, with the most well-known version being Aias from Homer's Iliad (as differentiated from Barney's Iliad), though you might know him better as Ajax if you read the Penguin Press translation. I always preferred Aias because it makes me sound smarter and because I don't have to explain to laypeople that I'm not talking about the dish soap.

Final Fantasy XV is a game about archetypes. There's the aforementioned manifestation of physical strength. There's also the spunky sidekick who's not much for combat but makes up for it by being clever and is always ready to bring a joke. Fans of Joss Whedon would recognize Xander, Wash and Topher as prime examples of this type. They're the comic relief, but that doesn't make them useless. They just have highly specialized skill sets, even if sometimes it seems like all they're good for is eating raw pigs.

Then there's the character type I like to call The Editor. The Editor brings experience and wisdom, but seldom is the focus of the story. This type is generally older, or at least gives the impression of being older than the main players that fall under their wings. They are fiercely loyal, and generally excel at guiding the hero to the wisdom that the hero already possesses. The flashiest example of this archetype would have to be Gandalf as he appears in The Hobbit, though Alfred Pennyworth might be a clearer example. The Editors have their own stories, but those stories are seldom the ones you're currently reading.

The main character is, of course, the Hero Who Must Learn. Like the Muscle, this archetype is as old as stories. Odysseus, Buffy and Bilbo Baggins each fit neatly into this mold. They are destined to face absurd levels of adversity, and as the audience it's our job to be convinced that The Hero Who Must Learn is capable of learning.

It's common at this point to complain about how rote stories that revolve around those archetypes are. They're so safe. They've been done, and done, and done, and why can't we see anything new, for crying out loud?

My problem with that particular straw man comes in two flavors. First, I've read enough of the classics to suspect that, for the most part, all of the good stories have already been told, and everything to come can only be variations on those themes. I don't have a problem with this realization, because of the second flavor in my discount Baskin Robbins of literary criticism: I only consume stories for the characters.

Sure, there are only four or five different stories that can be told, each revolving around the sort of conflict that the author finds most interesting, but there is an inexhaustible supply of interesting characters to have those stories happen to. It's the reason why Stephen King finds an audience for every story, even though every story boils down to "main character(s) must confront the manifestation of human frailty, and sometimes that means jacking off in a sewer." It's also the reason why any popular franchise spawns a lucrative market for imitators. Harry Potter and Percy Jackson share some (possibly actionable) similarities in their respective story arcs, but who cares? The story is happening to somebody else, who has different reactions in the micro, even if they respond the same way in the macro.

So yes, Final Fantasy XV is yet another coming of age story, hero’s journey. So what? The only question that matters is: are the characters interesting? In the time I've spent with the latest penultimate dreamscape, yes. I want to spend more time with them, if only to see what new banter they deploy.

Of course, this is a video game, and even a Final Fantasy game has to have gameplay. About ten years ago, somebody at Square Enix decided that they didn't want the Final Fantasy series to be synonymous with menu-driven, turn-based combat anymore. But they couldn't just make the game into Zelda overnight without alienating their entire fan base, so they made Final Fantasy X-2, which still alienated the fan base but for completely different reasons. Having rightly concluded that hardcore fans are impossible to please, they embarked on a journey to make combat more dynamic. This included shot-clocks that counted down your turns as well as dynamic mini games that totally aren't quick-time events to determine the effectiveness of your attacks. Final Fantasy XV brings us all the way to the character action genre. Yes, you level up and manage mana, but you're pressing a dodge button to evade attacks, and using an attack button to deliver combo attacks in real time.

Combine that with the fact that the main character does not, in fact, suffer from amnesia, and I wouldn't find fault with you if you felt compelled to reread the box to make sure you're still playing a Final Fantasy game.

Well, you are. And it's fun. Go play it.

Will I keep playing?

Yes. The combat is satisfying and fun, and I'm looking forward to seeing where the level paths take me. The real star, however, is the story, and the story would be nothing without the characters, which are fantastic. Sure, they're archetypes, but they're fleshed-out and interesting archetypes. Further, as a team they are just darn fun to watch. They have chemistry, they read like people who have been friends for a long time. Like when they're pushing the car because it had broken down and… .

Holy crap, I just realized that this is the A-Team game I've always wanted!

Is it the Devil Daggers of games that are unlike Final Fantasy except in name?

No. The combat isn't hard, and there's even a mechanism that exists solely to let your character find an out-of-the-way nook where he is completely isolated from enemy attacks so he can heal and recharge his mana bar. Yes, combat is real-time instead of turn-based, but it's all two buttons with a few bits of flair thrown in to make use of your teammates.

One out of eight cups of instant ramen.

Comments

The combat isn't hard, and there's even a mechanism that exists solely to let your character find an out-of-the-way nook where he is completely isolated from enemy attacks so he can heal and recharge his mana bar.

...and there is an "Easy" difficulty level in which you'll get multiple free revives per combat, and which only matters for one optional superboss achievement.

Ooh - so,

Gladiolus: Ajax (Aias)
Prompto: Patroclus (Patroklos)
Ignis: Odysseus (Odysseus)
Noctis: Achilles (Achilleus)

Lattimore's translation of the Iliad is literally within arms reach of my desk. Perks of being married to a classics major.

I just beat this today. I enjoyed it, though the back half of the game feels rushed, probably as a side-effect of the fact that the game was stuck in development hell for the better part of a decade.

Every time I see/hear Gladiolus I think of the gluteus maximus.

Here's hoping that this will eventually make the move to PC

This sums up my time with the game so far in 20 hours.

I like pieces of it, but it feels incomplete, and it feels lazy after being in development for a decade. There are some gorgeous visuals, I like the combat and the open world side quests, but you hear the same lines over and over and over again, there are long dull car scenes, and the story is laughable at best, non-existent at worst.

I don't know if I can say that Square has learned anything from the disaster that their games have been since XII, but I feel like they took a step in the right direction in some things, but two steps backwards in other ways.

I cringe sometimes while playing it, but I still like playing it. It's an odd sensation.

Vrikk wrote:

This sums up my time with the game so far in 20 hours.

I like pieces of it, but it feels incomplete, and it feels lazy after being in development for a decade. There are some gorgeous visuals, I like the combat and the open world side quests, but you hear the same lines over and over and over again, there are long dull car scenes, and the story is laughable at best, non-existent at worst.

I don't know if I can say that Square has learned anything from the disaster that their games have been since XII, but I feel like they took a step in the right direction in some things, but two steps backwards in other ways.

I cringe sometimes while playing it, but I still like playing it. It's an odd sensation.

I actually found the long car rides to be master classes in scene building and character development. It's fascinating to just watch the characters silently interact, or not, as the car cruises along the road. Sometimes Gladiolus takes a nap, sometimes Prompto twists back so he can talk with Noctis and Gladiolus, sharing a joke they laugh at, sometimes Noctis rests his chin on his arm and stares out the window, apparently lost in thought. It all feels so personal and human that I forget it's basically just there to hide loading screens.

doubtingthomas396 wrote:

I actually found the long car rides to be master classes in scene building and character development. It's fascinating to just watch the characters silently interact, or not, as the car cruises along the road.

This. My wife especially really enjoyed the banter, character growth, and general "guys on a road trip" vibe of the game. Being Japanese, she doesn't bat an eye at some of the over-the-top weirdness, but has genuinely grown to care about the characters. It actually reached the point of her demanding that I continue playing into the early morning hours one weekend because she hated something that was happening and wanted to see some resolution.

Incidentally, I've been playing with Japanese audio and English subtitles (in deference to aforementioned wife). Having seen a couple of videos that used the English audio, I can tell you this: the English voices are crap. Seriously. Play the game with the Japanese audio to experience some actors who really put their hearts into the role.

Also, I burst out laughing the first time Prompto said "Arigato, Chocobo!" (in rhyme) while the English subtitles said "Thanks, buddy". Haha!

Coldstream wrote:
doubtingthomas396 wrote:

I actually found the long car rides to be master classes in scene building and character development. It's fascinating to just watch the characters silently interact, or not, as the car cruises along the road.

This. My wife especially really enjoyed the banter, character growth, and general "guys on a road trip" vibe of the game. Being Japanese, she doesn't bat an eye at some of the over-the-top weirdness, but has genuinely grown to care about the characters. It actually reached the point of her demanding that I continue playing into the early morning hours one weekend because she hated something that was happening and wanted to see some resolution.

Incidentally, I've been playing with Japanese audio and English subtitles (in deference to aforementioned wife). Having seen a couple of videos that used the English audio, I can tell you this: the English voices are crap. Seriously. Play the game with the Japanese audio to experience some actors who really put their hearts into the role.

Also, I burst out laughing the first time Prompto said "Arigato, Chocobo!" (in rhyme) while the English subtitles said "Thanks, buddy". Haha!

I don't agree with this at all. The English VAs may start off kind of bland, but they really grow into their own as the game progresses.

I would appreciate the car rides more if there was more variety. I'm already tired of Prompto asking me what he should take a picture of, silently watching Glad read a book, etc.

Again, the game is gorgeous, but I feel like a lot of things on the periphery could have been fleshed out a lot more to keep someone like me fully engaged, who grew up on JRPGs and maybe is a bit jaded that they haven't grown up with me fast enough.

I'll beat the game. I like it. There's just a lot of niggling things that make me groan or sigh.

The problem is that I play JRPG's for the story. And if this kind of character development had occurred with even a decent, paint-by-the-numbers story, this would have been up there with my favorite games OF ALL TIME. As it stands, the fact that they couldn't even put together a paint-by-the-number JRPG makes me rage.