Final Fantasy XV Reviews
With likeable characters, an amazing villain, superb combat, a beautiful world to explore, and tons of challenging undertakings, Final Fantasy XV is my favorite game this year, my favorite release this generation (thus far), and tied as my favorite Final Fantasy with VI. In my opinion, much like how VI saved me as a kid, XV has saved the series, and I couldn't be happier with it.
Enthralling and slick, but problems lie beneath
Final Fantasy XV has been a long time coming, but thankfully it's here and it's been worth the wait.
Ultimately my time with Final Fantasy XV was spent chasing the very few highs I found among a lot of mediocrity and poor design choices. Realistically, nobody ever enjoys filling their petrol tank, ever. And it’s this obvious lack of thought in design choice that rings true with large sections of Final Fantasy XV, I just failed to see the point in it all.
Final Fantasy XV is the result of the designers being out of touch and being unable to make any sort of connection with the players. It has a really rough start and is a game with high highs and extremely low lows. It is both a technical achievement and a game design disaster. It is capable of really clever storytelling and character development, while also failing at the basics of telling a simple story. Final Fantasy XV offers a huge amount of land to explore that feels ultimately small due to how few points of interest it actually has. More often than not, this hardly feels like an RPG at times, and yet because of how strange this game is, it might be worth a look. In the end, maybe Final Fantasy XV needed another 10 years of development considering how unfinished it feels.
Flawed but fun, Final Fantasy has made a mostly triumphant return
Final Fantasy XV, despite significant and glaring problems, is still a lovely time that managed to make me like Final Fantasy again. It's a character piece, and the characters we spend our time with are fully realized and play off each other so well. It's a lighter journey that nonetheless knows when to get serious, spurred by a charismatic nemesis and a quartet of lovable, beautiful boys. And good God is it weird.
Final Fantasy XV is game full of beauty, weight, and most of all, fantastic characters.
How XV truly excels, however, is with a combination of melodic storytelling, rhythmic combat, and harmonious character development.
Final Fantasy XV is a tremendous return to the franchise and includes a lot things we love about the series. I experienced a few missteps here and there, but it didn't deter from an overall great experience.
As a game, Final Fantasy XV inhabits that special place that titles like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt; Fallout 3, New Vegas, and 4; and the Elder Scrolls games do. While you're playing it, you're an inhabitant of its world, and it's a place that can be almost as vivid as reality at times, with its own history, lore, and culture. As a Final Fantasy, FFXV returns the series to the wonderment that Final Fantasy VII inspired in a generation of gamers.
"Final Fantasy XV" is at its best when treated as an act of tourism. It's gratingly intrusive when it tries to keep you busy, and transcendentally comforting when it settles for just keeping you company.
Final Fantasy XV is a game that chooses to leave its mythology disjointed and its emotions real.
It's important that you know about the issues present in the game before you're told that in spite of all that is wrong, it's still an incredible adventure.
The glimpses of brilliance all stay in the early parts of the game, with the latter portions of the main story being incredibly weak, and shows signs that even after years of development, that Final Fantasy XV still wasn't quite finished.
Square Enix had the gargantuan task of reinvigorating the series with a game 10 years in the making. Final Fantasy XV succeeds.
A vast, emotional experience that offers many hours of gameplay. Would benefit from more storytelling in the actual game instead of outside media, as well as a few other minor tweaks, but still a fantastic journey that is lingering with me days after watching the credits roll.
I haven't had this much fun in a Final Fantasy game for a long time. XV is the perfect blend of action and exploration that keeps you coming back in for more.
Final Fantasy XV is an incredible journey across a unique world with interesting, fairly layered characters and awe-inspiring moments of epic visuals. It is a must play for fans and newcomers to the Final Fantasy series, and while it almost satisfies that expectation that comes from ten years of development, it just simply isn't perfect. Although, Noctis' story will live on as a highlight in the Final Fantasy anthology for many years to come.