Five reasons why Final Fantasy XV is a letdown

Gale Force isn't as keen on Final Fantasy XV as most.

[Omnislashver36]

The story is seriously anemic as hell. I'm less than 10 hours in at chapter 14, near endgame and have only gotten a glimpse of story. They should kept Stella with the rivalry thing going which would have added a bit more lore and a few more chapters without changing too much. She just would have sided with Ravus and the Empire for part of the game.

Brotherhood FFXV should have been part of the game as well, and they could really had afforded to make cutscenes longer and more informative, as well as giving us more CG cutscenes when going to new areas, giving that expansive feel, as well as more of the Noctis + Stella/Luna scenes.

She could have stayed Stella, been an enemy, a guest, and then return to oracle and everything would have played out the same. Huge missed opportunity IMO.

I haven't even gotten around to the anemic magic system either or fetchquest type progression(even mainquests seem like fetchquests), but those are glaring issues as well.

[Irishguy95]

While I agree, you missed most of the story because its kinda...well, not told through cutscenes, alot of 'story', character interactions and information comes while exploring, not while following the main quest. Alot of the time at least. As for Stella vs Noctis, I don't particular care...theres nothign to suggest that would have been any better than the final game.

What was missing was, Noctis and Luna scenes. We didn't need Luna to be Stella to have that. We should had some flashbacks of childhood, some more interaction between them during the game too before chapter 10. Likewise more flashbacks of Regis, possibly playable young Noctis scenes like the Platnium demo. Or playable Regis scenes.

Other than that, we simply needed more story content, gladio, prompto and ignis, tehir sidestories weren't told. They more than likely interacted with important villains etc during those missing scenes.

For characters to have impact they have to actually be in the game. Cor was another, barely in the game.

Noctis and the main villain were done well though.

[Goldby]

their side stories are going to be the DLC episiodes

[Irishguy95]

Yeah goldby but i've already played the game and story. Thats its problem now.
Also, again OP, you missed lots of character interaction because you skipped so much.

[Goldby]

The issue you may have is that you are rushing through the game, i was in the first area for the first 10 hours juste xploring, learnign the magic system, gaining mad levels and AP and finding those Tombs, curious how many royal arms do u have?

[Omnislashver36]

Only 5. The anemic story content is what's driving me to rush. I wanted to see more Noctis and Luna and was let down, we also got an anemic amount of CG cutscenes for a Final Fantasy. The Noctis/Luna scene in Altissia is powerful and gave me chills like Tidus/Yuna's scenes, but we got hardly any of that in FFXV.

Consider FFX:
-The laughing scene
-Underwater scene
-Tsundere Lulu cockblocking Yuna
-CG scenes of Blitzball at game start and Luca(still memorable)
-etc

Then consider FFXV:
-Noctis/Luna Altissia scene
-That's it for them
-Banter/fetchquests to flesh out the story with bros.

I was rushing to see more of Noctis/Luna and more CG scenes in general and was let down. They really should patch in a Noctis/Luna-only chapter, even if it's a flashback.

[Sm00thNinja]

Def I nicely rushing by the end game after the outcome of everything I was level 81 and the end REALLY RESONATED WITH ME even choked me up. I felt connected to the bros. you won't get the same feeling because of your urgency to finish the game. I feel bad for you in that regard. I also had 12 royal arms. The end, the battle with I frit, the scene at the throne with several notable characters strung up, I could go on. Several moments that stay with me this is one of my favorite FF games.

[Omnislashver36]

@SmoothNinja
The issue I had was that the entire game is the bro-trip. They could have added more Luna, Ardyn, and Ravus CG scenes. Even a Noctis/Luna chapter would be cool if they do a flashback.

And I just beat Ifrit. It's great, but didn't hit me like the Noctis/Luna scene in Altissia.

[_-EDMIX-_]

I was about to say.

How on EARTH is someone on Chapter 14 in 10 hours? That legit sounds like the are SPEEDING the game on purpose. Thats less then 1 hour in any chapter and I'm not sure why they would skip all the areas as it sounds like you can't actually explore all the areas at such a speed.

I was 20 hours in and on chapter 4.

Someone wants to speed run a game, sure...their business, but its sounding like people are legit going out of their way to speed run claiming its short lol

All any one has to do is actually read Omni's comments to realize he can't really be taken seriously. He's made his view on this game pretty clear and its clearly going to hurt his claims.

[Irishguy95]

Omnislash, this isn't FFX, or FF8 or FF - Whatever, Its FFXV...and you played it the WRONG WAY. Most people will ahev put in the 30-40 hours at least and heck! I didn't even know you could only get 5 arms before finishing, you missed 7 royal arms!? You missed the juciy parts of the game, and the character interaction between the bro's. Your problem is, you want a love story between Noct and Luna. Well, its simply not the focus. This one is about Friendship. Stand by me is perfect for it.

As a matter of fact, Nomura NEVER intended to be heavy on the Stella/Noct/Luna romance.

[TricksterArrow]

Man, people are still hung up about this Stella character? She was not a savior of FFXV's story (if you even think that the story was actually that bad, to begin with, I didn't), she was actually a major problem and was completely displaced. MANY inside sources, including the director, felt that Stella was so weak as a character and a presence that they had to come up with Luna. That just goes to show how crap she truly was, as Luna actually has very little to do in FFXV.

This game is not some major scheme to bury an AMAZING character and storyline and give us something mediocre in return. Put away your tin foil hats.

[Omnislashver36]

Again, I disagree. Stella would have done nothing but added to the story. Her facing off with Noctis shows that she would have been a frenemy, a boss, and then a companion, before fulfilling her role as oracle. This would have done nothing but added screentime which was scant for the character, as well as Ravus. The story would have played out EXACTLY the same otherwise, just with more content.

Stella/Luna's name aside, I just wanted to see more Luna scenes in general. Like with FFX we had tons of CG cutscenes. With this game I've seen 3 from start to finish, which is far less than any FF that was designed with cutscenes in mind. The Noctis/Luna scene in Altissia was powerful, but it's the only one we got that wasn't a start or finish scene. Even the last scene was half in-engine and half CG... Like they couldn't have done the entire thing in CG? I just beat the game!

I'd like to see them patch in about 10 more CG cutscenes and a Noctis/Luna flashback chapter, as well as fix that camera and maybe I'll play again.

[ninsigma]

Not a disappointment for me so far. I'm about 10 hours in and still on chapter 2. Running around doing side quests and exploring a bit. I'm having fun with it!

[_-EDMIX-_]

Make sure you go to all the stories to buy the FF albums!!!!!

You can also buy a MP3 player to play music outside the car

[TheUberAsian]

30 hours in and still on Chapter 3 lol.... I'm loving this game!!

[_-EDMIX-_]

LOL! I'm 30 hours in too and I just got to Chapter 4

[PhoenixUp]

I'm loving this game thus far

[masterfox]

I know I will play FFXV eventually but SquareEnix advertisement was freaking horrible not meaning wasn't any advertisement I mean SE throw to the garbage all the damn story, the story of the movie Kings Glaive should it be on the game and the parts the beginning and the end should it have been playable in FFXV cause there were imo huge damn spoilers in it, the brotherhood anime it also should being in the game too, I think this part damn SE will release it as a DLC.

[Rob_Ko]

I like the game, but man I was really hoping for more cutscenes, there is so little of story exposition.

[Omnislashver36]

Just said that as well... The Noctis/Luna scene in Altissia was powerful but it's all we really got. They could have really worked Luna in the story better if she stayed Stella.

[muttsurini]

ravus also need some cutscenes. and a bit of ardyn.

[Omnislashver36]

What's cool is this would all be patchable if they want to add the content. Cutscenes I think are what's missing the most from this FF. A Noctis/Luna chapter could be cool as well if they want to do a flashback scene.

[showtimefolks]

Rob

It was announced few days ago that they will add more story content and cutscenes via patches. I am waiting till next summer before I pick up FF15. The days of getting complete games are over, now a days game launch 3-6 months before they are actually ready

No doubt it's a good FF game I have personally stopped buying games at launch. There are way too many ha,Es in back log to buy something which can wait 6 months and buy it at half price and get a much better more complete experience

[Sm00thNinja]

That ending still resonated with me. As convoluted as the story was the end was satisfying and left a bit of mystery

[Yetter]

what a brilliant credit sequence

[Sm00thNinja]

Agreed!

[Chaosdreams]

I'll admit that I'm in love with the game. And I know the story has flaws but man, this article analyses and summarizes the flaws perfectly.

It's actually mind numbing how so much is unexplained or glossed over. And how much better it could have been. While added cut scenes in the future will surely flesh out the questions, it then becomes a question of, how many will they add? Perhaps 20-30 minutes worth? Because honestly, there's a lot of story to be told.. And a lot of characters who, with a cool introduction, seemingly vanish into thin air.

The journey is spectacular and fun. But as the writer of this piece pointed out, it's a journey, where the story leaves a lot to be desired.

I hope it's fixed. Somehow. (Love the game though).

[KimikoGaming]

FFXV was a disappointment in some ways, but great in others. I overall feel that it was much better than several of the other not as exciting main series FF games (Anything before 4 and anything after 10). But it doesn't live up to the best FF games which are 4-10.

Still, I thoroughly enjoyed the game and the only part that I did not enjoy was fishing so I could get the platinum trophy.

I liked the main villain though.

[Sm00thNinja]

Main villan was the most evil villan of any FF imo

[Zarock]

The game was rushed and the story wasn't told properly.It had too many fetch quests with no actual story that relates to the main story. Plus some Important parts of the story were scattered through a couple of notes and the radio which required cutscenes.
It's hard to notice that Ifrit Is the Empire Emperor unless you saw his robe on the chair which only showed for 2 seconds.
Disappointing for a game that took 10 years to make compared to The Witcher 3 which destroyes It and took only 3 years to develope.

[goldwyncq]

Ifrit and the Emperor are two completely different characters. The emperor was turned into the winged daemon that chased you around during chapter 13. It even says so after your final battle with him.

[Zarock]

I didn't even notice the winged daemon was an actual character that's how confusing and bad the story telling was. It should have been clear as the scenes from the movie.

[Irishguy95]

Thats your fault for not noticing he was the monster XD.

I agree we should been shown how that happened and what his motives were. Although we can obviously guess his motives from the dialogue in that battle. But still.

[Yetter]

The game is flawed but its also may be my very favorite final fantasy game and I've played them all except XIV

[Harkins1721]

Keep reporting Green_gangstavsTLG.

[S-Word]

Because it's from Square-Enix & they haven't made a good FF since 8. Not to mention I knew this would end up just as bad as FF13 when they removed Nomura from it. Everything after that point was nothing but downgrades even in terms of gameplay where you're forced to play as only 1 character.

[Ogygian]

Final Fantasy 9 is my favourite game of all time. I'm replaying it now, and I can still marvel at the incredible charm the game has. I played 4, 6 and 7 but much preferred 9.

Also, if you think 15 is as bad as the bland corridor mess that was 13, you don't know what you're talking about.

[Mulando]

Well, at least for me FF is dead since FF10 and FF XV prooves, it still is. I know, the FF fight system of the older chapters is not the most popular but at least I liked it. Now it is just another action-oriented game with no soul. It might still be story-driven but I just miss the old FF games. Well at least there are some other games that do this JRPG stuff right (at least for me :) )

[tigertron]

I hate how 90% of what you see in the trailers got cut and the story just seemed very rushed, especially after Altissa.

[TomKnowles]

They didn't give me enough reasons to give a shit about side characters like Luna. And it felt as though Cor and Iris were lazy additions, as we didn't get any real conclusions to their stories.

[Omnislashver36]

Exactly. Iris had so much potential as the new eccentric character in the vein of Yuffie, Selphie, and Rikku... not saying she had to be a 1:1 model, but the potential is there and obvious. Instead she seemed like a fetchquest addition... And her story would have been a ton better if Brotherhood FFXV was in in the game and she also appeared in chapter 14.

Cor had more potential and shitty VA as well. Consider him the elitist like so many in FFTactics or Steiner in FFIX.

The biggest omission though, was Luna. She simply only mattered in the Altissia scene which was powerful, but hell, it's one of like 3 CG cutscenes you get in the game(and the only one that isn't a start/finish game cutscene). Huge missed opportunity there. Even if she was only worth 5 more cutscenes(which is more than the game has), she would have been more well recognized.

Irishguy95 is constantly saying Luna was never supposed to have a relationship with Noctis. Like, the fuck? As Stella she faced off in a 'Shakesperian influenced' battle versus Noctis reminiscent of fights between the Capulets and Montagues....(Niflehiem vs Insomnia) She had just as much CG screentime as in the 2013 trailer which never made it into the game. She's ON THE COVER OF THE FUCKING GAME. Like dude, piss off. They obviously added a memorable CG cutscene of her which is the only one of 3 and is the single cutscene that isn't starting or finishing the game. She was SUPPOSED to be a main character/love interest. She has wedding plans with Noctis. Fuck off with your autistic argument that she's not supposed to be a main character or love interest. Gentiana... HER ASSISTANT, was just as/more important to the story than she was.

[Irishguy95]

Said the story would not be heavy on romance. Thats what you want to see in the story. But the game was never gonna focus on that, yeah it'd be there. But not alot. Stella was not nearly as close to Noctis in childhood as Luna was. Stella was not getting married to Noctis. Stella was never even a party member. You're just guessing what might have happened. That Stella motives are the same as Lunas even. Noctis and Luna were in the insomnia when the empire invaded in Versus. This game was ALWAYS gonna focus on the 4 boys and their road trip. Not the romance, especially not like 8 and 10 where romance was central to the stories.

Erto was originally the cover of the game not Stella. Etro was deleted from FFXV. The sleeping godess. Have a look at Fabula nova crystallis and you'll see the plot is changed. This one doesn't include L'cie, and fal'cie, like FF Versus had. Its a different story. Look at the lyrics of the main theme of FFXV -> FFVersus13's main theme Somnis.

I was saying for months they stupidly removed the Lucis worship of death gods from the game and people kept telling me it was still in. But it wasn't. Originally Noctis family and L'cie were chosen by Etro the death god. From having a near death experience as children only(Noctis mother dying was this). Additionally Noctis had bloodline and crystal powers too. But the crystal was not as important as Etro to the story. The summons were not the gods they are in this. Not only that but there was more than one crystal, but niflheim used their cystal in its entirety for their machinery and technology, then invaded the other kingsdoms and took their crystals, Lucis had the 'last' crystal, not the only one.

Nomura wanted this story in 3 games not 1 but was mismanaging resources and the team. Tabata redid it to one game.

[johnfabian]

I totally agree with the story. I am at chapter 8 and I am totally confused to be honest. What a shame...

[Irishguy95]

Whats confusing you about it?

[DarXyde]

The game's out and it took forever. And people are focusing on its problems...

I get it, it's not perfect. Totally agree. But the gameplay is fine, the world is beautiful, the soundtrack is pretty good, and it's fun. The story is a bit shallow--and yes, story plays a significant part of Final Fantasy--but let's not dwell on its faults. You lived to see it release and even played it.

Count the small victories. They matter.