A flawed masterpiece in every imaginable way. FFXV is equally unambitious and ambitious. hollow and human, generic and unique, shallow and complex, forgettable and unforgettable, compromising yet uncompromising, finished and unfinished, emotionally manipulative and sincerely earned, understandable and nonsensical, sovlless and sovlful, all at the same time. A game that tries too hard in a lot of places and in some places, barely at all, but tries nonetheless. Like Icarus, it burned flying too close to the sun yet ever lacked the opportunity to spread its wings in the first place. And I love it all the same.

As somebody who first purchased this game for 30$ (bit miffed seeing how cheap this game goes for PS4 now) at gamestop for their grandspanking new PS4 they obtained as a admittedly loner teen and finished it two times in both 2018 and 2019. As somebody who I guess could consider this a "adolescent defining game" whatever that means. And as somebody who is almost turning the wise old drinking age of 21 next month. (Around the age group of our 4 studded party members) who thought it would be a good game to revisit because of this and FFXVI's release considering FFXV obsolote in square enix's eyes (fret not XIII fans, FFXV fans will join you in never be fully acknowledged by square's eyes ever again) I think Final Fantasy XV rings more true at my age than ever. It's a game about 4 boys going on one last roadtrip together before having to become responsible adults. A game about being monetarily free, with fewer consequences than ever. So much so the flawed routine of doing everybody else's chores, camping and eating around the countryside is completely flipped roughly halfway through the game when reality sets in. While somemay find Noctis whiny and emo, I find him quite relatable in this regard (maybe this says alot more about me than them). If Kingdom Hearts is about the loss of childhood innocence and growing up, FFXV is about the loss of juvenility and becoming adults

As somebody who lives in Oregon/PNW, I have a sort of soft spot for the vibe of the countryside and I feel this game along with other similar media made truly me appreciate it. I remember there being this one area near Crater Lake that was beautifully vast and all I could think was "this shit looks like FFXV" I don't know if literally any place on earth looks like FFXV but when I think FFXV, I with it's coast, desert and forests, I think of my home, Oregon. (OREGON IS THE BEST STATE IN THE UNITED STATES, READ IT AND WEEP). I believe that in all the times Final Fantasy has gone into country territory, it has knocked the vibe of the park everytime (mainly with FF7 and its related projects like Crisis Core)

Anyway, much like the journey with the Chocobros was cut short with the cruel circumstances of reality,
Much like the Crown Prince Noctis himself, it struggles to live up to the high expectations and circumstances set upon them.
Much like how a perfect world where Noctis and StellaLunafreya ruled peacefully as King and Queen, husband and wife, only exists as a fantasy. A perfect world where a completely flawless Versus XIII is on the PS3 is but a mere fantasy.
Much like how Noctis can only reminisce of simplier times with his comrades via Umbra. One. an rearrange the pieces of a broken glass to resemble that of what it once was, (REYNATIS actually looks cool as shit though) it will never be the same, It will never bring back what once was.

This is a bit of a messy review that I didn't wanna bother writing up completely. I can definitely see myself doing a ambitious multipart youtube retrospective about the FFXV multimedia project in 2026 for it's 10 year anniversary because there is a lot. But regardless of everything, Final Fantasy XV is both one of my favorite games of all time and in my opinion one of the most memorable and profound games of the 8th generation and completely unrankable compared to the other beloved FFs and games alike. For all it's flaws, You don't know how refreshing it is to talk about it with someone and not have to start every sentence with "It's not perfect but..."

whether FFXV is good or bad, whether Versus XIII would've been the superior product. Whether Nomura or Tabata is to blame for it's troubled development, whether the game has missed potential, whether the end product lives up to the name as the fifteenth numbered FF game. None of that matters for, I believe that one must look at Final Fantasy XV for what it is

A Fantasy based on Reality
and
A Final Fantasy for fans and first-timers...

And I will never forget my time with the Five great men who helped save western civilization, Noctis, Prompto, Ignis, Gladiolus and Cid.

You guys... are the best...







But for me, It's Ignis. #IGNISBESTBOY


also i wanted to make a joke about how im kinda like prompto, a once lonely gay teen who is now part of a group of 4 TS dolls (and 1 guy who is a doll simply in spirit) and we also go on trips in the PNW with all the sexual tension of this game but im too lazy to fit it anywhere so here. fuck you it's my review