Despite the criticism, I think Final Fantasy XV remains a strong entry into the franchise and one that, should you manage to connect with it emotionally, can be incredibly cathartic.
Our protagonist this time around is Noctis and his 3 bodyguards, Gladiolus, Prompto and Ignis. Noctis is due to be married so he and his buddies take off on one last boyband road trip, but as they do the empire of Niflheim invade his home, kill his dad and nick his family's magic crystal. Noctis suddenly finds himself forced into a quest for a set of magic weapons in order to win back the crystal and save the world. One of the criticism leveled at XV is that its story isn't well-told and that's true to a degree; the choice to make XV an open world adventure does take a lot of the impetus out of the narrative. Worse yet, the open world falls apart in the final third and we're shoehorned onto a very linear track for the last hours of the game which feels jarring.
But what fun those preceding hours are! Much of the game is spent driving around in the gang's car before hopping out to fight enemies or do quests - or, yes, to do fishing, the most important activity in an RPG. There's a lot to do in XV's world but equally important are the moments spent outside, just driving with Noctis' friends. This is where so much of the incredible character work in XV comes out; the four friends are exceptionally well-written and realised, and engaging with them is a joy. Whether you can connect to the cast like this - and whether you can accept sinking into the peace of driving and enjoy the atmosphere - will go a long way to defining your final opinion of XV. For me the strength of writing absolutely carries XV, although I'm also still a fan of the real-time combat and brilliant world-building.
Our protagonist this time around is Noctis and his 3 bodyguards, Gladiolus, Prompto and Ignis. Noctis is due to be married so he and his buddies take off on one last boyband road trip, but as they do the empire of Niflheim invade his home, kill his dad and nick his family's magic crystal. Noctis suddenly finds himself forced into a quest for a set of magic weapons in order to win back the crystal and save the world. One of the criticism leveled at XV is that its story isn't well-told and that's true to a degree; the choice to make XV an open world adventure does take a lot of the impetus out of the narrative. Worse yet, the open world falls apart in the final third and we're shoehorned onto a very linear track for the last hours of the game which feels jarring.
But what fun those preceding hours are! Much of the game is spent driving around in the gang's car before hopping out to fight enemies or do quests - or, yes, to do fishing, the most important activity in an RPG. There's a lot to do in XV's world but equally important are the moments spent outside, just driving with Noctis' friends. This is where so much of the incredible character work in XV comes out; the four friends are exceptionally well-written and realised, and engaging with them is a joy. Whether you can connect to the cast like this - and whether you can accept sinking into the peace of driving and enjoy the atmosphere - will go a long way to defining your final opinion of XV. For me the strength of writing absolutely carries XV, although I'm also still a fan of the real-time combat and brilliant world-building.