FINAL FANTASY XV

[prisonermonkeys]

it's also obnoxious to be nagged about it being dark EVERY TIME I hop in the car to drive DIRECTLY to the nearest campground BECAUSE it's dark

You can eventually level up to the point where Ignis is confident that it won't be an issue, and Cindy will give you a quest to recover some high-intensity headlights that will prevent you from encountering daemons altogether. But they're tough to get.

 

[fikridroid]

Free Final Fantasy XV update drops on April 27
By Erren Van Duine on April 20, 2017 at 10:18 PM



Final Fantasy XV is set to receive another free update starting April 27. The new update will introduce additional features for PS4 Pro users, including a new image quality mode. This mode will allow for stable framerate and comfortable play.

Additionally, subtitles and menu screen size can now be magnified. Timed quests will also start up again, along with a ranking system. Extravagant weapons can be obtained from them. Furthermore, a new sticker has been added for Regalia customization, along with new music for the music player.

Source: http://www.novacrystallis.com/2017/04/free-final-fantasy-xv-update-drops-april-27/

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Square are running a fan survey about the direction future content should take. You only get one vote, so you have to make it count. There's a few gameplay features, like making Cor, Iris and Gentiana playable characters, but there's also options for story content - like Ardyn's background, Ifrit's betrayal and what happened in Eos when Noctis was away. Personally, I chose story content related to the World of Ruin.

You found the secret dungeon Pitioss. A word of warning: there are no enemies, but there's a lot of platforming. and it's a long one.

Decided to have a go at it this afternoon. The trial-and-error approach was a bit frustrating since the controls aren't particularly sensitive, but the camera is. Especially when you need to be precise. The giant sphere in the first chamber annoyed me a lot, as did the room with the square platforms and walls of spikes. I got about halfway through the 45° room and wound up in the 2D platformer before I got frustrated enough to quit.

 

[VXR]

An actual photomode would suit me best. It's a cool world that would create decent photos.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

An actual photomode would suit me best. It's a cool world that would create decent photos.

It's not an option right now.

 

[Animera]

Update 1.12 is out.
You can upgrade and drive the Regalia offroad now.

 

[Wolfe]

Wow, I was surprised to find I could upgrade to the Regalia-D and pick up my portable music player immediately! It makes a big difference for exploring the world. Still not sure about combat, but I'll have re-learn the game first anyway.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Pretty sure Episode Prompto gets released today. The recent update added assets for it (you can tell from the achievements list).

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Episode Prompto is definitely available.

Spoiler

It focuses on Prompto after Noctis throws him from the train where he is caught by magitek troopers.

You can upgrade and drive the Regalia offroad now.

I was surprised to find I could upgrade to the Regalia-D and pick up my portable music player immediately! It makes a big difference for exploring the world.

Any new locations to discover?

 

[Wolfe]

I wouldn't know, I'm level 20 and just visited the first Chocobo ranch, slowly meandering my way to the first city you're supposed to visit after that coastal resort.

 

[Animera]

Any new locations to discover?

I wouldn't know either. I only got my PS4 Pro last weekend with FFXV.
I'm only at Chapter 2, but loving the game so far.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I see.

Spoiler

I'm not really sure what to make of the D-Type. There's only a small handful of places that I can think of where off-roading might be useful. That's why I asked.

 

[Wolfe]

It may just be for gameplay purposes, because functionally the Regalia was akin to a lengthy loading screen to get anywhere you can't fast-travel, and "manual" driving didn't make enough difference. No doubt Square Enix received feedback asking to be able to actually drive the car.

You can also mow down small enemies with the Regalia-D, which is pretty different. The turning circle is borderline inadequate, though, so it's not as cruelly amusing as kicking around enemies with your skell in XCX.

 

[jake2013guy]

Just got the game. Played for about 10 hours. Wow. What a fun game. First of the series I've ever bought and it's really great fun.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

First of the series I've ever bought and it's really great fun.

It's definitely a return to form after the disappointments of XIII and XIV. If you can find them, VI, VII, IX, X and XII are all worth your time.

 

[Wolfe]

Having spent about 20 hours with FFXV now, it has been better and I have to agree it is an impressive return to form. One thing I think FFXIII did better is combat; I wouldn't mind if the franchise went back to a menu-based system commanding the whole party. I haven't tried Wait Mode in FFXV but with how combat works it presume it's a waste of time in this case.

I'm still not all that far into the game yet but I think my conclusion is that on one hand it's incredible, while on the other hand it's a tragic mess. It's close to what I think a modern FF game should be, but it screws up so many little things I don't think I could list them all. It has also dawned on me that this map isn't just the first area, but the whole game? I suppose I was spoiled by the expansive world and slick gameplay of Xenoblade Chronicles X.

There are just too many little stumbling blocks. If the gameplay was all-around quicker, more responsive, and polished up, this could have been a mind-blowing redemption for the franchise. As it is, it doesn't exactly give me confidence in FFXVI, but it gives me hope. 👍

 

[prisonermonkeys]

It has also dawned on me that this map isn't just the first area, but the whole game?

It depends on how far you've gotten. You'll notice roads are gated off; these open up after a certain point in the story.

 

[Wolfe]

It depends on how far you've gotten. You'll notice roads are gated off; these open up after a certain point in the story.

I was talking about the whole rectangle in the map screen. My first impression was that it was only the first region and there would be others.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I was talking about the whole rectangle in the map screen.

It is, but it's pretty big.

My first impression was that it was only the first region and there would be others.

Spoiler

There are others later in the game, but you only visit them once and they're not particularly big.

 

[Wolfe]

Before release I was led to believe it would be bigger. Much, much bigger. I looked into it and was able to determine that the game takes place in the upper right corner of that map. Then, by comparing this measurement to an image of FFXV's full map, I calculated that the main playable area is a rectangle of roughly 11km by 8km, about the same area as GTAV, which would match up with the comparison image in the first link.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Played through Episode Prompto today. It's much better than Episode Gladiolus (which wasn't bad; it was just brief and very linear) and addresses a few unanswered questions.

Before release I was led to believe it would be bigger.

My guess is that it was supposed to be bigger, but given the prolonged and troubled development cycle, a lot of content got cut. There's a few things scattered around the world - like a blocked-off tunnel north of Lestallum and the route of the EXINERIS cable car - that suggest the world was originally bigger.

Spoiler

There's also a lot of assets in place for the later chapters of the story, but other things that are decidedly unfinished. I suspect that the original vision was to have the player visit the Niflheim continent, but most of it was cut and a very linear substitute put in its place. The download for Episode Prompto was about the same size as the download for Episode Gladiolus, but the world of Episode Prompto is much bigger, so I wonder if Episode Prompto is a chapter of the game that was cut from the finished version, but assets remained in place. I have an idea as to what Episode Ignis will be about, and if I'm right, then I am guessing that it will do the same thing.

 

[Wolfe]

The game has scars of its tortured development all over the place. I'm up to Chapter 8 now and have seen enough to witness the impact on the storytelling.

 

[Animera]

You're doing well @Wolfe.
I'm only starting level 7 and I'm level 36.

 

[Wolfe]

@Animera -- I'm level 42 now, got a bit carried away with sidequests/hunts and did a couple dungeons early, but after accepting three quests for inaccessible areas I decided to move the story along so I could get closer to getting them off of my list.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

The game has scars of its tortured development all over the place. I'm up to Chapter 8 now and have seen enough to witness the impact on the storytelling.

Everything comes together in the end. There are a few unanswered questions (some of which are addressed in the DLC), but nothing on the scale of Final Fantasy VIII where large parts of the story were ignored.

 

[Wolfe]

I've since finished the main quest. It does wrap things up, but the story sure is thin and rushed, which continued over the remaining chapters. Most of the events and conversations are very brief in spite of the implied gravitas. I don't know how many times I said, "what, that's it?"

Spoiler: Story Spoilers

One thing I want to say about the story is how Ardyn had potential to be one of the franchise's best villains, one of the best villains in any RPG. His backstory, motivations, and goal set him apart, and I like how he managed to one-up Kefka by not only succeeding up to the final climax, but arguably netting himself a win-win situation in the end. He got his revenge on the Oracles and Lucian kings by ending both of their bloodlines, and was finally freed from the curse of immortality. He even achieved what he had been chosen to do in the first place, ridding the world of daemons.

Too bad his cool personality faded in chapter 13, and he just started acting like another evil maniac. The final battle was also a letdown with that ridiculously anti-climactic super-Armiger-mode ability (which was also a waste of Leviathan's set piece). Overall, the story was just too disjointed and incomplete to do Ardyn justice. Maybe the feature film would help with that, since it was included with my game, but I don't know when I'll find an opportunity to watch it.

Also, blinding Ignis for no apparent reason just to reveal how it happened in his DLC episode (presumably) was a dick move by Square Enix.

 

[Lain]

I personally liked

Spoiler

them blinding Ignis. They didn't do it for "no apparent reason", they did it to hit you in the feels. And I like how XV handled it... it's a little bit more nuanced and less harsh than just outright killing off a main character, which is what you more commonly see happen in RPGs.

And personally, I don't feel I need an explanation as to exactly how it happened. I'm fine with chalking it up to "Ignis got :censored:ed up"

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I've since finished the main quest. It does wrap things up, but the story sure is thin and rushed, which continued over the remaining chapters. Most of the events and conversations are very brief in spite of the implied gravitas. I don't know how many times I said, "what, that's it?"

I suspect that the original vision of the game had players being able to explore Gralea and the wider Niflheim Empire the way they can Lucis.

Also, blinding Ignis for no apparent reason just to reveal how it happened in his DLC episode (presumably) was a dick move by Square Enix.

It serves a purpose in the story. The game's biggest success is the relationship between the four main characters, and that relationship needed to be tested.

Too bad his cool personality faded in chapter 13, and he just started acting like another evil maniac.

He had already achieved everything he wanted a decade prior. What else was he going to do, especially when it was strongly implied that absorbing Daemons had driven him mad?

Overall, the story was just too disjointed and incomplete to do Ardyn justice.

It was much better than the likes of Final Fantasy VIII, which never even tried to explain who Ultemicia was or why she wanted to achieve Time Compression. In the end, I liked the fan theory that Rinoa became Ultemicia after Squall died in his role as Knight, even if the relationship between Sorceress and Knight was never explained.

I do think Ardyn is a pretty strong villain. I'd rate him on the same level as Yu Yevon, slightly ahead of Vayne Solidor and slightly behind Kuja.

 

[Wolfe]

It serves a purpose in the story. The game's biggest success is the relationship between the four main characters, and that relationship needed to be tested.

Okay, you make a good point, though it was resolved as suddenly and randomly as it began (like most of the story events), with Gladiolus deciding to be a dick because reasons, culminating in a random fight in a random and brief dungeon against a familiar enemy because reasons.

I wasn't convinced by how Gladio was portrayed, personally. Prompto was better, and Noctis and Ignis were okay. I liked Prompto's character growth after Altissia, though his DLC-related revelation is random and totally unexplained if you don't play the DLC (or read about it online).

He had already achieved everything he wanted a decade prior. What else was he going to do, especially when it was strongly implied that absorbing Daemons had driven him mad?

What I mean is that his pre-chapter-13 personality and the actor's performance were outstanding, but then he fell into the GLaDOS trope during chapter 13 and was pretty generic in the end, IMO. His taunting was unimpressive. It's just disappointing considering how great he was up until chapter 13.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

it was resolved as suddenly and randomly as it began (like most of the story events), with Gladiolus deciding to be a dick because reasons,

It's because he thought the entire thing was preventable, but Noctis was focused on other things - like Lunafreya - and was too hung up on her death to notice or care. The whole point of the journey was for Noctis to find what it meant to be king, but Gladio thought be was acting in a very un-king-like manner at a time when he couldn't afford to.

I wasn't convinced by how Gladio was portrayed, personally.

The three supporting characters represent three different things: Prompto is the id, or the individual's base desires; Ignis is the superego, or the expectations of society at large; and Gladio is the ego, the voice that moderates between the two. You need all three in balance in order to function properly.