Final Fantasy XV: First Impressions

I have a confession to make: I’ve never played a Final Fantasy game. Okay, so that’s not entirely true. I did play a little of Final Fantasy III and IV, but I never finished them. I’ve always kept an eye on the series, but by the time we hit Final Fantasy XII or so, it felt like a series I’d never really be able to jump into.

But then I saw a PC demo had released for Final Fantasy XV. It promised a game for old fans and new players, so I figured I’d give it a spin. And despite feeling the game – most notably the combat – had its flaws, the demo convinced me to pick up the full game. I’ve now played Final Fantasy XV for 25 hours and I’ve still got a long way to go, so I thought I’d share my initial impressions.

Graphically, FFXV is a very pretty game. Crank up those settings – the NVIDIA options in particular – and it’s easily one of the best looking open world titles on the market. Performance, overall, is pretty good, but there are issues that need to be addressed. I suspect the game has a memory leak, as performance does noticeably degrade the longer you play – to the point of crashing.

I’ve experienced two crashes – one of which frustratingly cost me an hour of play – and both times came during extended sessions. There’s also an issue with a particular ability in the game which, when activated, triggers the frame rate to crash to about 20 until you exit and reload (Update – now fixed!). The PC edition hasn’t released without its issues, but with a patch or two, everything should be running smoothly.

Okay, so let’s talk about the game. You play as Prince Noctis who is embarking upon a road trip with his three best mates. You’re on your way to your wedding which is part of a peace treaty between your kingdom and a powerful empire. The game does a decent job of introducing you to the world and history, but it’s not entirely perfect.

At one point I was presented with a very odd, disjointed cut scene of a battle that didn’t really make any sense to me. I didn’t know if it was a dream / vision sequence, but it turns out it was actually clips taken from a CGI film intended to accompany the game. This is kind of dumb, because I then had to go and read a synopsis of the film to better understand what was going on in the game. It’s not as if you can’t follow the story without seeing the film, but I wish they’d handled the incorporation of those elements a little less confusingly.

Final Fantasy XV is an open world RPG. You have your core missions which advance the story and your side missions to keep you busy between. The world and creatures of FFXV have been the real highlight for me. There’s a nice variety of terrain and landscapes and a wonderful variety of exotic creatures to marvel at – and then murder.

The majority of the side missions are simple fetch quests, but it’s the monster hunts I really enjoy. These send you to fight tougher variations of the different monsters in the world. I’ve had a real blast doing them, because I really enjoy the big monster fights. Unfortunately, I’ve reached a point where I’ve had to stop doing the side content because it’s so damned easy to over level.

The recommended level for my current core quest is 25, but I’m already level 42. And it’s not as if I’ve been grinding my way through side content – I’ve still got 10 hunts in my log, and there’s another 10 or so I’ve not yet picked up. The game doesn’t pace its side content very well in relation to the core quest. They really needed to unlock the side content a little more slowly as you progressed through the story.

And I’ve liked what I’ve seen of the story, at least so far. Noctis and his trusty boy band are all likeable chaps with some fun banter in and out of combat. You traverse the world in your personal car in which you can sit back, chill out and watch the scenery go by. It’s quite a relaxed adventure, especially with the additions of the fishing mini-game or the photography which lets you build a visual log of your travels.

So let’s talk about combat, which is both fun, stylish and messy. You can set combat to be ‘active’ or ‘wait’ which triggers a combat pause, but I found the ‘wait’ system to be rather irritating to use as it continually disrupts the flow of the action. And it’s that flow to combat that makes FFXV very fun to play.

You can equip up to four different weapons or spells, and enemies are more or less vulnerable to different types. You can build combos, but not in the way you might expect. Your attacks are related not to your button inputs, but more so by the direction of your attack. It certainly takes some getting used to and I’d highly recommend playing with a controller because I found it far easier to handle when using an analogue stick. It’s also a system that becomes more enjoyable the more you unlock the various skills and abilities, expanding your range of options.

You can combine your attacks with your mates to pull off some heavy damage moves, and activate their special abilities for some very stylish and ‘cinematic’ attacks. Combat is fast, fluid and when everything clicks just right – very satisfying and impressive to watch. But it can also be incredibly messy.

If you’re fighting a large group, it’s easy to get ‘lost’ when you’re surrounded by enemies, and fights can devolve into mindless mashing. It’s also a combat system that works best on an open field, but some fights take place in enclosed settings or surrounded by scenery such as trees and rocks which often block your view of the action. It can be frustrating getting stuck into a fight, especially in a wooded / bushy area because you can’t see what the f**k is going on.

I’m also kind of irritated by the random drops of enemy soldiers. They can drop right on your head during the middle of a tough monster hunt. It’s an exciting and challenging surprise at first, but when they’ve dropped 3-4 times in 10 minutes it gets pretty tiresome.

Okay, I’d better wrap this up. I’m really enjoying FFXV so far and I’m eager to see where it goes. The story does seem to be picking up, and I’m looking forward to seeing what new areas and creatures the game will introduce. Despite a few issues here and there, this may be an early contender for my GOTY.