Final Fantasy XV (was Versus XIII)

[ForceStealer]

Yeah I saw that. I basically agree. It would be lousy if this became a habitual thing. But right here, I would rather they did than didn't do it.

 

[Alex Strife]

God, I'm hooked!! I'm really liking this.

Spoiler: Entering Chapter 2 so spoilers for everything before that

I completed Chapter 1 after another hefty day of playing. I'll need to take a break one of these days because I am clocking 20 hours! I'm currently at level 15, got some good weapons and accessories, quite a few items in general and I've bought all the available stuff for the Regalia in Chapter 1. I quite liked Galdin Quay and I felt it addressed a bit more my concerns regarding the whole "blandness" of the scenery. Hammerhead is very different from Galdin and everything in between is quite seamlessly changing, which is enjoyable. Though to be honest, the map is so huge it's a bit daunting!

I managed to kill some of the night creatures without having to use healing items despite being around level 13 when I did so. I feel I'm doing well, as far as combat goes... without the use of magic. I'm sure I'll use it a bit more in the future but I believe it's a bit of a weak point of this game and it shows that magic came late. Thematically, it blends well with the game and all... it's even realistic and it makes sense. But it's awful to use. If the NPC AI was trained to avoid AOE magic areas, it'd be a lot more useful. Say, you use magic and they run away from your target and NOT run into the flames. I'll see how to make use of it but this is one point I'm not entirely convinced of.

Storyline wise... good! It was exciting to complete Chapter 1 since I knew that's really when everything kicks off. I've done half an hour of Chapter 2 and I already have several quest lines open. I don't mind but it shows it's filled with content. It's going to take me a while to do all of this... I wouldn't be surprised if I do not finish this game for the first time with less than 100 hours (my brother said he was around 70 already, I think). Crazy stuff. I loved the transition from Chapter 1 to Chapter 2. I got goosebumps on some parts when the group finds out what happened back home with Niflheim. It was all really atmospheric and I loved it. Also, the Japanese voice acting is good! Noctis in particular does a good job at being angsty during those moments without coming across as a spoiled brat.

And finally, here come the bad parts" Or... the not as good, rather. I admit this is a personal preference but I would have 25 to 30% less side quests and a bit more storyline. It all feels a bit disjointed, so far. I've read later on things become a bit more focused, and I feel it will work for the narrative of this specific game. My point is... it works for Final Fantasy XV but I'm not sure it would work for every other game.

 

[trash panda]

Spoiler

Agreed on the sidequest thing. They've all seemed like filler fetch quests so far and I wish they were more meaningful.

Unfortunately, I can't just leave one unattended. If there's a quest to do, it has to be do'd which is annoying as fuck, especially right around the 50 hour mark when you realize there may never be an end to it.

 

[ForceStealer]

*whisper* youcantotallyleaveoneunattended *whisper*

 

[Flare]

Spoiler: About the sidequests

I try to do them all too, within reason though. I like to get a bunch and then knock out a few in a row that are close to each other, and then after a while of exploring and question I jump back into the main story (even if there's still some side quests left). So far I'm in chapter 6, just at the start of it. Just did another big batch of sidequests.
I like the Hunts too, but I don't do those as much right now. Unlike XII you can only have one Hunt accepted at a time, a minor annoyance to me.

I'm astounded by the size of the world in this game. I love that kind of stuff so I don't mind at all.
As for the story, I agree that if you're an explorer like me, you'll leave the story many times during the first 6 chapters to go off and do sidequests. I can't help but want to explore! Unfortunately that can make the actual story feel less important and memorable. If I followed the main quests continually, I get the feeling it would be 'more'. But as it is, I do hear that things pick up as it goes along, which I'm excited to see. Tonight I'm going to play a bit more story.

Spoiler: Also, chapter 4 and beyond gameplay/story spoiler

About the summons, I've now summoned both Ramuh and Titan once. Titan just today; got the requirements right for him in an annoying fight. God they are so badass. I think Anima from X would fit in with them (due to size and power), but these ones just have such a cool and impressive impact on the battles. I'm so awed every time I see them.

 

[Jason Tandro]

^ Not sure I like that spoiler tag JT. Kind of alludes to

Spoiler

there being some kind of final photo at the end. I'd either change that slightly or put it in that other thread.

I really like that you got all that together though

Changed it to "Endgame Photo" just to avoid any further overbounds and whatnot.


Edit: Oh.... I have a curious thought. I wonder what will happen

Spoiler

if I approach that ending sequence with no photos saved.

 

[Tetsujin]

Accumulated around 200,000 - 240,000EXP and stayed at the Royal Suite in Altissia for the triple EXP bonus. It was very satisfying:

 

[Mayo Master]

Spoiler: About sidequests and stuff

I agree with Howl, I wish the sidequests were made with a small narrative bit which would engage the player into it more. Bethesda made great progress on their games from that angle (for instance, you're witnessing a situation which leads to a sidequest, and by witnessing the problem you're already motivated to "do something about it"), I wish similar ideas had been used. That being said, I'm doing lots and lots of sidequests which give a lot of incentive to roam around and explore. Still in Chapter 8 with about 60 hours down.

Spoiler: About exploring the world

Some reviewers have complained that while the world was huge, it was quite empty. Personally, I do not mind that "sparse" game-design at all, it has its own character. First because the Regalia allows you to cover a lot of ground quickly, so it's not a bother. Second, I find it somehow more immersive because it conveys the feeling of vastness - if you're roaming around the wilderness IRL you would not find a "point of interest" every 2 metres, I find it more resembling to real life exploration in a way. Oddly enough, when it comes to comparing it to other games, it reminds me of exploring the Wild West in Red Dead Redemption (where horses would be a similar "vehicle" as the Regalia). I like it.

 

[Joe]

 

[ForceStealer]

Spoiler: sidequests

Yeah, I actually remember being surprisingly engaged in a lot of the quests in XIV (at least the A Realm Reborn part) almost entirely due to the sharp writing that made the quest or questgiver memorable.

I think what started to wear on me with XV's is that each individual questgiver had a seemingly endless number of quests to give you which really inhibited my feeling of progress. I would pick up a bunch of quests, go do them all, but upon turning them in, each and every questgiver would immediately have another one for me. Once or twice is fine, but come on, Takka, do your own damn shopping already. So eventually I would just say screw it. I would still pick up every quest I came across so I had it in case I wound up close to the objective, but I just moved on.
I think even an equally high number of quests if spread amongst more NPCs that sort of progressed geographically with you would have helped.

 

[Jason Tandro]

@Force:

Spoiler

Amen to that on FF14. Frankly FF14 is a gem of game design on all fronts imho, especially when you get to the Heavensward content. I feel like XV was going for that MMO feel but was resting on its laurels a little bit. I like that each character has the same kind of quest, but I wish your progression was made a bit clearer. Even something like a larger goal to be working for.

i.e. for Sania:

"I'm really looking for the rare Rainbow Frogs, but we'll start by looking for some of these lesser frogs to start you off with."

 

[X-SOLDIER]

Accumulated around 200,000 - 240,000EXP and stayed at the Royal Suite in Altissia for the triple EXP bonus. It was very satisfying:

I did the exact same thing last night (at almost exactly the same EXP total).
Made it from Level 71 to 83 all in one go.


Side note:

Spoiler

For activating the Adamantoise Quest, I'm still at 13/14 people, and I JUST found out that if you do enough of Dave's Dogtag quests that you apparently meet a new NPC. Just humorous that I found this out after completing the first EX Dungeon past the sealed vault thing. (I still have yet to do complete enough of his quests to meet them though)

X

 

[Cthulhu]

Edit: Oh.... I have a curious thought. I wonder what will happen

Spoiler

if I approach that ending sequence with no photos saved.

I'm pretty sure that

Spoiler

there's a few pictures you can't avoid having been taken, such as the 'complete' group picture.

 

[Jason Tandro]

Edit: Oh.... I have a curious thought. I wonder what will happen

Spoiler

if I approach that ending sequence with no photos saved.

I'm pretty sure that

Spoiler

there's a few pictures you can't avoid having been taken, such as the 'complete' group picture.

Spoiler

Shots are always taken but does it force you to save them? I'll test it out later by attempting to... sniff... delete all my photos

 

[Obsidian Fire]

^Folder backups of saves are your friend.

Wait... can you do that PS4?

Obsidian is used to computer saves.

 

[Jason Tandro]

^Folder backups of saves are your friend.

Wait... can you do that PS4?

Obsidian is used to computer saves.

Or I can create a separate save file before I delete said photos.

 

[Tetsujin]

60 hours in and I find a royal tomb by the side of a road...right there, not even hidden and no dungeon to go through. How did I miss that? Dx

Only one royal arm left!

Spoiler

It's the one in Costlemark.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

60 hours in and I find a royal tomb by the side of a road...right there, not even hidden and no dungeon to go through. How did I miss that? Dx

Only one royal arm left!

Spoiler

It's the one in Costlemark.

That was also the second-to-last one I found, too.

Best of luck not to encounter any terrible camera glitches getting the last one!~


Speaking of nothing: Seeing Garula herds always bring me great amounts of joy for no particular reason.




X

 

[Flare]

Spoiler: moar sidequest stuff

I do think the basics of most of the sidequests are the same. Usually it's either fighting a beastie or retrieving an item. I don't mind because a lot of games are like that. I think it is odd to have a few people in each location as the 'quest giver' (like Force said, there's several NPC's that have just a list of sidequests, one after the other, and they're the same gist as the last quest they gave). So it terms of amazingly different sidequests, the game really doesn't have much.

That being said I really don't mind (I'm still having a blast, especially when sidequests take me to new places) and definitely have some favorites. Vyv's picture taking quests are definitely a favorite, because hello, pictures.

Spoiler

I just finished taking the pic of the lava cave on the volcano for him. That was a fun dungeon!

Sonia's quests are also amusing; they're fetch quests, but I still find them entertaining somehow. And of course, any new chocobo quest I see I jump at because I love chocobos

All in all I don't mind them and enjoy some of them, but because they're pretty simple quests with no unique stories, I do get tired of them after a while and jump back into the main story.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Agree on FFXIV nailing side quests. Even their fetch quests and kill X amount of monster quests have at least something to do with fleshing out characters and the world of FFXIV. And then there's stuff like the Hildibrand and Scholastic quests which are great examples of quests who's emphasis is storytelling as opposed to quest rewards. I mean, there's no reason at all for any of those quests to be in there except that someone on the story team decided they wanted to explore the hijinks the Manderville family gets up to as well as what effect the Heavensward MQ has on Ishgaurdian seminary.

The other cool thing is that you can go back and watch all the cut-scenes of every quest you've ever done which is something I wish more games implemented.

 

[Lulcielid]

Episode Gladiolus DLC will feature a classic series villan.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

I think it'd be cool if there were sidequests to do things like hunt down Cosmogony books or other bits of lore about the world, since there's so much around that can be found, and it'd be nice if the game helped you figure it all out more actively.




X

 

[Shademp]

Final Fantasy XV Player Grinds To Level 99 Before Repairing The Car

 

[Tetsujin]

Ray Chase did an AMA on reddit (spoilers)

 

[ForceStealer]

Barely scrolled through the page and I see someone say "NOCT, OVERHEAD!" and Ray Chase responds, "Dammit I was just in the middle of some important dialogue!"

Perfect.