My sister and I have been waiting for Final Fantasy XV since it was still titled Final Fantasy XIII Versus-- which was when I was in the 7th grade, for those of you keeping track at home.
Naturally, I preordered a copy that was one of the 5 million — a franchise record — that shipped out on day 1 of the game’s release.
Did I enroll in college just to be able to use my free student Amazon Prime to cash in on pre-order bonuses? Did we invest in a PS4 on Black Friday largely to be able to play this game? Am I really ready to go home over Winter Break and have my eyes bleed from looking at the signature, beautiful graphics? Did I watch the five-part anime and read the scripted prologue that sets the stage for the game's events?
Oh, yes.
Final Fantasy XV was released worldwide on November 29th, mere days after I’d returned to school (a PS4-lacking space) from Thanksgiving break. So I did the natural thing: watched hours and hours of gameplay and commentary by various YouTube personalities who aren’t living in PS4-lacking spaces.
According to this research, the game opens with an angsty prince and his three best friends/bodyguards pushing their out-of-gas luxury vehicle down an empty highway to the sound of a Florence+The Machine’s cover of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me.” The rest of the game follows these four handsome, all-black-wearing bros on a Bachelor Party/road trip to visit Prince Noctis’ fiancé.
This sounds like an inexplicably strange departure from the 30 year old franchise’s reputation for teen lit-esque storylines about plucky, ordinary youngsters who take on the task to save the world, but it really isn’t.
Like it’s forebears, there’s still a guy named Cid, there’s still a crystal of wildly magnificent importance, and there’s still the option to hitch a ride on a chocobo. The graphics still make my eyes bleed (in the best way possible) and everyone still has names that could double as Harry Potter spells. The gang’s car radio even plays the soundtracks of every Final Fantasy that came before it.
And, of course, there’s still a melodramatic storyline loaded with fantasy intrigue and high adventure. Noctis and his friends’ journey is interrupted by the attack of a rival kingdom, and the road trip becomes a search for 13 ancestral weapons that will aid them on their world-saving revenge quest.
This is all well and good and quintessential Final Fantasy, but the game’s real strength is in the way that the quest is handled with a sense of humor. It still remains an open-world road trip through an meticulously crafted environment, and the friendships that are fleshed out over hours spent on the road like an emo boy band on tour are the core of the experience. The gameplay encourages you to take your time with the characters: take on side-quests, explore the expansive maps and dungeons, and listen to all of the boys' banter as they drive from place to place. Then the slower pace of the storyline is slammed together with a slick, real-time combat system: Gone are the menus and separate battle scenes of yore. The smooth cooperative attack mechanic only underscores the importance of teamwork and friendship, even though only Noctis is player-controlled.
Sometimes the dialogue is clunky or the romance feels under underdeveloped, so the game isn't without it's faults. The plot takes a grim turn and accelerates from the leisurely early-game pace, but it's still this band of brothers taking selfies and eating steaks on their very Final Fantasy adventure that endears a player to this universe.
But don’t take my word for it, hand your money over to Square Enix, join the other 5 million of us, and try it for yourself. I know I’m dying to.
