Final Fantasy XV?

[Fidel_Castronaut]

Thus far I'm enjoying it. I'm an avid fan of everything FF, and whilst I also sit with the consensus on 13 (despite loving the story), 15 is great in some ways and lacking in others.

It's definitely a step in the right direction, though. One thing that irks me is the lack of story unless you engage with the other material such as Kingsglaive and brotherhood (cheap/free, but I'm ardent in my support that games/films etc should have a story that is comprehensible as a stand alone project. Other material can add to it but as additions, not as core litersture). It's simplistic to the extreme and goes a bit mental half way through or so.

Improvements are the combat. ATB in the traditional sense seems to be done for in FF, and whilst not a bad thing, FFXV doesn't quite perfect it's battle system. All too often I find myself a little confused as to what's going on, and your buddies are almost impossible to watch as the action gets quite frantic except for the times when you perform combos.

Side quests are numerous, hunts are like the ones from XII but there are probably more, they do eventually feel like fetch quests but the variety of sceneries and locations helps keeps things from feeling too samey. Allowing music from other FFs is a nice tough, as are the mods to your car. Shame it's a little limited (I would have liked free driving cross country but I realise that would be too big in scope, unrealistic and remove the need for the big chickens) but I kit it out to look like my car (bright metallic orange) which I appreciated. Wasn't a fan of fishing but meh, it adds to the collectors treasure trove which will be great for some. The photographing thing definitely shows me I'm in an older generation now which makes me smile. Characters posing for selfies is amusing and obviously designed to appeal to younger millennials which is cool. I'm not that generation anymore but I can see how little touches like that are SE's attempt to focus on the next generation of JPRG players.

What I will say though is that XV is most enjoyable in the mundane and 'boring' parts. Weird I know but I agree with most reviewers who say that the characters themselves, you and your 3 companions, are pretty well developed and the little bits of banter, though often repeated, feels more 'real' and relatable.

I'd give it a solid 7 out of 10 if I'm honest. I think there are free add ons and updates coming out soon though that may bump it up for me. I'm waiting to start my NG+ in a couple of months after I've played some other things.