Final Fantasy 15 impressions

[Danbo Jambo]

Made a blog post and a youtube video about it. Personally, I found the demo to be very average overall and considering the DECADE of development is disappointing as hell.

The aesthetics, surprisingly -since the 'fantasy based on reality' thing made me roll my eyes-, I liked. But the combat is mediocre and lackluster, especially in a world where Bayonetta and Kingdom Hearts exist. I literally won a few fights just by mashing Square over and over with one finger. During one I even answered my phone while 'fighting' -Bravely Default is turn based but its combat is leagues more exciting than this borefest-. The only way they have to ramp up the difficulty is to send wave after wave of the same enemy at you, faster than you can kill them. Which is so cheap I can't even...

It's a mishmash of mechanics trying to go in four different genre directions all at once, with the result of not making a satisfying version of any and the HUD is pathetic. It's so small you have to avert your eyes from the fight to check your status. I knew this would happen, considering the number of hands this went through in development, but still...

Add meh writing and a band of characters with little to no personality -which would be the worst Boy Band ever, considering their utter lack of chemistry- and you get yet another case of a game that was hyped up as hell for years -It was what, 2006 when we got the first image?- but ends up being mediocre. We've seen a lot of those lately, huh?

That reminds me a lot of Dragon Age:Inquisition in that it's clearly trying to be so many things at the same time, that it's forgot to be either itself or actually good in the process.

Unlike many others the one positive which I personally take from the vid is the voice acting. Wolverine & Donatello have a certain quality to them which absorbed me quite a bit considering the boring nature of the intro.

And a boyband with a Wolverine rip off is bad enough, but making me play as a spoiled pronce who can't be bothered to get up? No thanks. The whole vibe of the game reaks of teen angst without the aggression. It's pretty much pure emo and, will likely be around and remembered as long as that phase was.

If, after the initial post release ejac fest which usually follows any half hyped game, it's still getting all round praise I may check it out. But at the moment it's on my "bargain basement" list to pick up in 5-10 years time when around £5

 

[ZiggyE]

Am I the only one who really enjoyed it? Yes? Okay.

Also to those complaining about the opening scene, it's obviously a build up to Noctis walking outside of the tent for when the player sees Duscae for the first time. I found it to be quite effective, even though I've seen Duscae a lot already due to promo material and trailers. This game is shaping up to be fantastic, now if only the story itself lives up to its promise. That preview at the end had me hyped.

 

[Nazulu]

Yeah, those voices and their style made me cringe. Also, some of that music doesn't feel like it fits well into those scenes. Eh, we'll see.

 

[Sonicron]

Haven't played it, but I like what I see. The combat stands out head and shoulders above what I'm used to with the FF series, and even the visual design somewhat appeals to my desire for reasonable consistency. Not sure why this game looks so different from its predecessors, but I think it's a step in the right direction.