Zero Punctuation: Final Fantasy XV

Spacewolf

New member
May 21, 2008
1,232
0
0
Surprisingly the Carrot farming is entirely pointless apart from one side quest and after that the game basically kicks into high gear and the last 5 or so chapters can all be done in less than four hours if you. Noctis also gets called out on getting everything handed to him.
 

Silentpony_v1legacy

Alleged Feather-Rustler
Jun 5, 2013
6,760
0
0
Spacewolf said:
Surprisingly the Carrot farming is entirely pointless apart from one side quest and after that the game basically kicks into high gear and the last 5 or so chapters can all be done in less than four hours if you. Noctis also gets called out on getting everything handed to him.
Wait, the carrot farming in a near four hour sidequest?! That's absurd!
 

Johnny Novgorod

Bebop Man
Legacy
Feb 9, 2012
18,465
3,005
118
Spacewolf said:
Surprisingly the Carrot farming is entirely pointless apart from one side quest and after that the game basically kicks into high gear and the last 5 or so chapters can all be done in less than four hours if you. Noctis also gets called out on getting everything handed to him.
I'd argue "it gets better near the end" is an issue in itself.
 

Samastic

New member
Aug 14, 2013
9
0
0
I was kind of hoping that FFXV was going to be good, but the thought of trying to sludge through a game where busy work is the game's idea of "fun" makes we me not even want to fart in the game's generaly direction. Maybe if the combat was any good but, as it seems to me, it's not. The jist I'm getting is that it's more of a visual clusterfuck than controlled chaos which, again, seems to just be more busy work than fun.
 

ToastyMozart

New member
Mar 13, 2012
224
0
0
I just can't believe the single-killquest side mission loop is still an issue.

I thought Xenoblade Chronicles fixed that back on the Wii: you roll into a town, spend about 5-10 minutes gathering up all the "collect 10 bear asses" and "find 4 chrysanthemums" generic-style quests. Then you go about your business, occasionally getting a popup saying "Quest complete! Your rewards have been transferred to your account and/or pockets."
 

ToastyMozart

New member
Mar 13, 2012
224
0
0
Johnny Novgorod said:
Spacewolf said:
Surprisingly the Carrot farming is entirely pointless apart from one side quest and after that the game basically kicks into high gear and the last 5 or so chapters can all be done in less than four hours if you. Noctis also gets called out on getting everything handed to him.
I'd argue "it gets better near the end" is an issue in itself.
It very much is, though it's still a noticeable improvement over 13's "It gets better after 20 hours of running down a hallway." Maybe for 16 they'll manage to pare it down to 3 hours before things stop being boring :p
 

Aiddon_v1legacy

New member
Nov 19, 2009
3,672
0
0
Now if only FF could go back to starting it off with something exciting or mysterious instead of a load of bullshit trying to mask nothing:

-FFIV: You're clearly the go to hatchet guy in a world-conquering empire and have been thrown away after burning down an entire village.

-FFVI: Same thing, except now you have these weird Esper things that are coveted by the Empire.

-FFVII: You are a FUCKING TERRORIST. What the HELL happened to the world to bring you to this?

Seriously, that at least gets the player involved because they want to find out what happens next. FF's since VIII onward have struggled to even do that.
 

Worgen

Follower of the Glorious Sun Butt.
Legacy
Apr 1, 2009
14,415
3,393
118
Gender
Whatever, just wash your hands.
Aiddon said:
Now if only FF could go back to starting it off with something exciting or mysterious instead of a load of bullshit trying to mask nothing:

-FFIV: You're clearly the go to hatchet guy in a world-conquering empire and have been thrown away after burning down an entire village.

-FFVI: Same thing, except now you have these weird Esper things that are coveted by the Empire.

-FFVII: You are a FUCKING TERRORIST. What the HELL happened to the world to bring you to this?

Seriously, that at least gets the player involved because they want to find out what happens next. FF's since VIII onward have struggled to even do that.
I dont know.

FFVIII you start as a teenager enrolled at the big mercenary training school.

In FFIX you start as a princess trying to escape her life of leisure then meet the most charismatic ff main character ever.
 

Leonardo Huizar

New member
Jul 1, 2012
187
0
0
Worgen said:
FFVIII you start as a teenager enrolled at the big mercenary training school.

In FFIX you start as a princess trying to escape her life of leisure then meet the most charismatic ff main character ever.
FF8 SPOILERS *Child conscript, out of several thousands world wide, who are tasked with inevitably killing a possessed victim of a evil time traveling sorceress, victim who also happens to be the closest thing the protagonist had to a mother figure,

FF9 SPOILERS *Bio & magically created super soldier adopted by an abusive but loving pirate furry father to kidnapped a princess for her insect uncle because her adoptive Queen Mother has been brainwashed by an inter-gendered bio&magically created super soldier from another dimension who is motivated by the whims of a old sorcerer & then the end-boss was pulled from Squares' nether regions without rhyme or reason.
 

Neurotic Void Melody

Bound to escape
Legacy
Jul 15, 2013
4,953
6
13
It's timely to hear the characters and plot are just as shallow as previous installments, I was on the cusp of considering this title after holidays. I mean, it's great that there's a big budget fantasy game catering towards titillation for teenage girls at last. That is something to appreciate. But am not even keen on playing those sorts catered towards my type either. The whole being angsty for looks while having everything handed to you would very much rustle my rainbags quickly, something mayhaps a Bill Bailey would briefly sing about;


*Sigh* kinda makes me sad though, as the only game to allow a flying airship and free exploration only mere steps away from that steampunk airship AAA experience i so dearly crave. It's mocking me with sex puppets on cursed fingers.
 

Worgen

Follower of the Glorious Sun Butt.
Legacy
Apr 1, 2009
14,415
3,393
118
Gender
Whatever, just wash your hands.
Leonardo Huizar said:
Worgen said:
FFVIII you start as a teenager enrolled at the big mercenary training school.

In FFIX you start as a princess trying to escape her life of leisure then meet the most charismatic ff main character ever.
FF8 SPOILERS *Child conscript, out of several thousands world wide, who are tasked with inevitably killing a possessed victim of a evil time traveling sorceress, victim who also happens to be the closest thing the protagonist had to a mother figure,

FF9 SPOILERS *Bio & magically created super soldier adopted by an abusive but loving pirate furry father to kidnapped a princess for her insect uncle because her adoptive Queen Mother has been brainwashed by an inter-gendered bio&magically created super soldier from another dimension who is motivated by the whims of a old sorcerer & then the end-boss was pulled from Squares' nether regions without rhyme or reason.
Well duh, but thats not the point, they don't start out that way. Pretty much every ff game goes somewhat loopy by the end.
 

Thanatos2k

New member
Aug 12, 2013
820
0
0
This game has pretty much the same strengths and weaknesses as Xenoblade X - they sacrificed a significant amount on the alter of the open world gods. It's tons of fun running all over the place on your chocobo exploring and fighting and doing the bazillion side quests, but it comes at the cost of any pacing whatsoever on the main story (which sucks), all characterization and backstory of your party members and NPCs, and sliding difficulty scales when you do finally get back to the main story after 30 hours of doing everything but.

When they're like "Ok Noctis, see you tomorrow in this town for this super important mission" and then Noctis disappears into the wilderness for 6 months and they act like nothing has happened it hurts the narrative quite a bit.

Noctis is probably the most realistic FF main character though, it's like he realizes he's stuck in a JRPG and wants nothing to do with it. Every time an NPC accosts you for another side quest he's sarcastic and dismissive, aggravated that he knows the quest is going to end up in the menu anyways and he can't do anything to stop it.
 

Makabriel

New member
May 13, 2013
547
0
0
But... But.... Prompto isn't a girl!!

*walks around humming "I want to ride my chocobo all day!"
 
Mar 29, 2016
11
0
0
So it seems to me the difference between Western and Japanese styles of open world is that the Japanese open worlds are not sandboxes. Ever since GTA every Western open world games have felt the need to allow you to mow down pedestrians and do jumps, even if it has nothing to do with the gameplay style of the rest of the game, while the Japanese worlds are more consistent with the rest of the game.
Sounds good to me. In the West game designers haven't been able to separate the ideas of open worlds and sandboxes, which are NOT THE SAME THING. Sndboxes are designed as spaces for players to invent ways of dealing with/ fucking about with the world. Open worlds are just one big connected area. If you're going for a sincere story, this Japanese style seems to make much more sense.
 

Kenjitsuka

New member
Sep 10, 2009
3,051
0
0
Damn, I missed the mark when I wrote I looked forward to your review of the first hour of FF 15 this week!

Playing LONGER this time... America must be really agreeing with you, or the planets aligned again, in an even better way than before (see Oblivion review)!!! :O
 

Darth_Payn

New member
Aug 5, 2009
2,868
0
0
I expected Yahtzee to completely savage this game, but he's marginally nicer to it than he was with XIII.
Worgen said:
Leonardo Huizar said:
Worgen said:
FFVIII you start as a teenager enrolled at the big mercenary training school.

In FFIX you start as a princess trying to escape her life of leisure then meet the most charismatic ff main character ever.
FF8 SPOILERS *Child conscript, out of several thousands world wide, who are tasked with inevitably killing a possessed victim of a evil time traveling sorceress, victim who also happens to be the closest thing the protagonist had to a mother figure,

FF9 SPOILERS *Bio & magically created super soldier adopted by an abusive but loving pirate furry father to kidnapped a princess for her insect uncle because her adoptive Queen Mother has been brainwashed by an inter-gendered bio&magically created super soldier from another dimension who is motivated by the whims of a old sorcerer & then the end-boss was pulled from Squares' nether regions without rhyme or reason.
Well duh, but thats not the point, they don't start out that way. Pretty much every ff game goes somewhat loopy by the end.
Ouch. My brain.
Kenjitsuka said:
Damn, I missed the mark when I wrote I looked forward to your review of the first hour of FF 15 this week!

Playing LONGER this time... America must be really agreeing with you, or the planets aligned again, in an even better way than before (see Oblivion review)!!! :O
He said he gets into Western RPG's when the planets align; and JRPG's due to the "Infinite power of Christ".
 

Ryan Brill

New member
Dec 14, 2016
2
0
0
I had high hopes that you would have completed this installment, as it is relatively short for a FFXV title (i.e. 40 hours is still 40 hours, but still considerably short by RPG standards). I was hoping to hear your opinion as the game transformed from "Happy road tripy side-quests w/ mates" to "Everything you love is dead and gone, and now here's some survival horror you probably never expected or wanted."

The groupiness of the first half serves primarily as contrast when your rent-a-friends are like "You spoiled little shit", leave you, which, in turn, makes you feel REALLY alone. The open-worldliness of the first half - again - serves as contrast to the long, narrow, lonely corridors of the second half. Yes, those boring fetch-quests are childish and repetitive, but that's the joy of being a child, isn't it? Childhood is watching the same episode of "The Wiggles" and over again until your parents force you to like something else - In this case that something is survival-horror your-friends-are-dead. It's poetry, damnit. It takes that JRPG model, lets you play with it a bit until you're feeling comfortable, flays it alive, then hangs it up on the wall next to the corpses of your dead dad and dead girlfriend.

tl;dr: Shit gets dark, shoulda stuck with it.
 

Ryan Brill

New member
Dec 14, 2016
2
0
0
Johnny Novgorod said:
Spacewolf said:
Surprisingly the Carrot farming is entirely pointless apart from one side quest and after that the game basically kicks into high gear and the last 5 or so chapters can all be done in less than four hours if you. Noctis also gets called out on getting everything handed to him.
I'd argue "it gets better near the end" is an issue in itself.
It's not so much that "it gets better near the end" as much as a case of "towards the end you see what it is they were doing". It's true that stuffing quarters in your nose isn't, in itself, magic - but you gotta stick around if you're hoping to see those quarters turn into pigeons and crawl out someone's bum.