Final Fantasy XV

[Ballad of Caius]

the gameplay was complete disjointed garbage.

I enjoyed FFXV's gameplay, but I agree that it could have evolved a bit more. Though my opinion isn't solid since I haven't played the Royal Edition, which contains an upgrade to Noctis' Armiger mode. People that have played the evolved form of Armiger said it's the additional layer of upgrade that the game was missing.

Luckily I got the game for cheap and powered through it without spending too much time on the sidequests or reading unimportant dialogue.

Yes, the side quests suck. They aren't as great as the Deadeye event. :/

FFXV is just another example of SE's inability to make RPGs these days...

This is not entirely truth, though I understand where you're coming from. You have to take into consideration that FF15 had a messy development cycle.

The fact that they canceled the Luna/Noctis DLC is mind boggling to me too,

Square incurred in losses after the expenses made through the opening of a new studio based on the Luminous Engine, reason as to why every DLC except Ardyn's got axed. And I'm pretty sure Ardyn's wasn't canned because they were pretty much far in its development, plus the anime special.

considering it was the only DLC the game actually needed.

Well, if you want more from Gladio, Prompto and Ignis, it isn't bad. But honestly, Gladio's isn't very good, but they get better after every subsequent release (Prompto > Ignis > Ardyn).

The Ardyn DLC was great though.

Ardyn's was the only piece I payed for, and double price, seeing as how they had doubled the price from the last three we got.

 

[OneDandelion]

I enjoyed FFXV's gameplay, but I agree that it could have evolved a bit more. Though my opinion isn't solid since I haven't played the Royal Edition, which contains an upgrade to Noctis' Armiger mode. People that have played the evolved form of Armiger said it's the additional layer of upgrade that the game was missing.

Square incurred in losses after the expenses made through the opening of a new studio based on the Luminous Engine, reason as to why every DLC except Ardyn's got axed. And I'm pretty sure Ardyn's wasn't canned because they were pretty much far in its development, plus the anime special.

Well, if you want more from Gladio, Prompto and Ignis, it isn't bad. But honestly, Gladio's isn't very good, but they get better after every subsequent release (Prompto > Ignis > Ardyn).

Ardyn's was the only piece I payed for, and double price, seeing as how they had doubled the price from the last three we got.

I played the game going for a mage spec and it was really easy with the exception of a couple bosses at the beginning and a severe difficulty spike at the end. I actually had to grind up like 10 levels lol, otherwise I would have beaten the game in about 18 hours. The 10 levels added probably 6 hours because I couldnt figure out where to farm or how enemy respawns worked.

I could have forgiven most of the gameplay though if it didn't have the worst magic system ever. I think I started to annoy my brother cause I complained about it to him 3 or 4 times about how much I hated crafting spells lmao.

The ardyn DLC was great, it is one of the few times where I think a DLC actually made the game better. Ardyn's character just blew me away, the way that Aera may have manipulated him into his fate by Bahamut is honestly one of the greatest plot twists I've seen from a game. It's a shame it was integrated so poorly into the game, because its so major its hard to believe it was DLC.

I actually loved the Gladio episode the most although I know I'm in the minority. I'm partial to the Samurai-esque stuff so the whole thing with gilgamesh really appealed to me

 

[Ballad of Caius]

I played the game going for a mage spec and it was really easy with the exception of a couple bosses at the beginning and a severe difficulty spike at the end. I actually had to grind up like 10 levels lol, otherwise I would have beaten the game in about 18 hours. The 10 levels added probably 6 hours because I couldnt figure out where to farm or how enemy respawns worked.

I actually found the game easy, personally. Except some optional bosses.

I could have forgiven most of the gameplay though if it didn't have the worst magic system ever. I think I started to annoy my brother cause I complained about it to him 3 or 4 times about how much I hated crafting spells lmao.

The magic system feels like an afterthought.

the way that Aera may have manipulated him into his fate by Bahamut is honestly one of the greatest plot twists I've seen from a game.

I don't think Aera manipulated him, just that she and Somnus knew what was going to happen and didn't tell Ardyn, reason as to why he shouts at them during the canon ending.

 

[OneDandelion]

I don't think Aera manipulated him, just that she and Somnus knew what was going to happen and didn't tell Ardyn, reason as to why he shouts at them during the canon ending.

Yea I was reading some theories about that, I guess the majority opinion is that Aera and Somnus didn't want to actually hurt Ardyn. But to be honest I kind of like my headcanon where it turns out Aera was a religious zealot and manipulated Ardyn into a thousand years of solitary confinement only to be a sacrificial sheep for Somnus great great great grandson. It's just so dark lol.

 

[Ballad of Caius]

Yea I was reading some theories about that, I guess the majority opinion is that Aera and Somnus didn't want to actually hurt Ardyn. But to be honest I kind of like my headcanon where it turns out Aera was a religious zealot and manipulated Ardyn into a thousand years of solitary confinement only to be a sacrificial sheep for Somnus great great great grandson. It's just so dark lol.

In my head canon, Bahamut was too arrogant to admit that the Starscourge far exceeded even the power of the Astrals, so he had to devise a plan that had Ardyn accumulate all of it in order for Noctis, as the 113th King of Lucis, after accumulating the power of his 112 ancestors, could slay it off in one go in the world of the dead.

So yeah, I share a head canon as well haha

 

[OneDandelion]

In my head canon, Bahamut was too arrogant to admit that the Starscourge far exceeded even the power of the Astrals, so he had to devise a plan that had Ardyn accumulate all of it in order for Noctis, as the 113th King of Lucis, after accumulating the power of his 112 ancestors, could slay it off in one go in the world of the dead.

So yeah, I share a head canon as well haha

Damn thats not bad lol, ima steal that

 

[Ballad of Caius]

Damn thats not bad lol, ima steal that

haha, plus I like the original ending more than the alternate one, but you'll get to read it once you get A New Dawn.

 

[Koji]

Square incurred in losses after the expenses made through the opening of a new studio based on the Luminous Engine, reason as to why every DLC except Ardyn's got axed. And I'm pretty sure Ardyn's wasn't canned because they were pretty much far in its development, plus the anime special.

Makes sense, however I feel the DLC episodes should have just been part of the game. Just like KH3 Remind. The Ardyn episode makes him a much deeper villain that can be related to. This and KH3 feels like Square decided to release the game as is, and actually conclude it later in DLC after everyone is already disappointed. Remember how we had to watch Advent Children, then Advent Children Complete? Its like getting a demo with ending spoilers, then the flesh of the story coming later. The losses would have been smaller if the team was pushed to dev all in one go, and released something big. The movie was a good idea. But if engine is the real problem here, hopefully in the future they stick to using something like UE5 and pay that 5% royalty, rather than paying the costs of in-house engines, and training devs for it.

I might feel this way, because although I highly anticipated FFV13 at the time it was announced (as I did KH3), I eventually gave up on following the development of them both, so literally had no idea what to expect, but those expectations were probably too high.

I even preferred FF13/13-2/13-3, which most FF fans didn't like, to FF15.

 

[Ballad of Caius]

however I feel the DLC episodes should have just been part of the game.

The only DLC set that was planned on the get-go were the Bros' episodes. Ardyn & Co. were thought of much later. I believe his DLC is also based on a limited time survey they asked fans as to which type of DLC content they would like to see. It's also the reason as to why the latter set of DLC were based on an alternate ending.

The losses would have been smaller if the team was pushed to dev all in one go,

DLCs are typically handled by a portion of the dev team, not all of them, seeing as how they're typically moved to work on the next project.

 

[MATGSY]

Just chiming in to say the swamp in Chapter 10 sucks.

-Obscured visibility due to the fog
-Overly maze-like layout
-Lots of invisible walls that keep me from jumping/off places that would've made getting around easier
-Slow-ass party (would it have been different if Ignis was left behind?)
-No auto-save for each objective or manual saving allowed. Which led to....
-THE GAME CRASHING ON ME THE FIRST TIME!!! Forcing me to do it all over again!
-Gladious is an asshole.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

Just chiming in to say the swamp in Chapter 10 sucks.

-Obscured visibility due to the fog
-Overly maze-like layout
-Lots of invisible walls that keep me from jumping/off places that would've made getting around easier
-Slow-ass party (would it have been different if Ignis was left behind?)
-No auto-save for each objective or manual saving allowed. Which led to....
-THE GAME CRASHING ON ME THE FIRST TIME!!! Forcing me to do it all over again!
-Gladious is an asshole.

Chapter 10 was really the worst next to Chapter 13.

 

[MATGSY]

Chapter 10 was really the worst next to Chapter 13.

I didn't find 13 all that bad TBH. Looooonnnnggggg sure, but fighting with the ring wasn't that much of an issue to me (did they change it from launch?)

 

[Chaser]

I didn't find 13 all that bad TBH. Looooonnnnggggg sure, but fighting with the ring wasn't that much of an issue to me (did they change it from launch?)

They did. They added an alternative pathway (Chapter 13 Verse 2) where you play as Gladio. If you stick with Noctis, they beefed the ring up to be more powerful.

 

[MATGSY]

They did. They added an alternative pathway (Chapter 13 Verse 2) where you play as Gladio. If you stick with Noctis, they beefed the ring up to be more powerful.

Gotcha. Guess I'll never know the real horror. Anyway, main game beaten, on to the DLCs.

 

[Blackrazor187]

i've beaten the royal edition a while back and i liked it for its story,gameplay and especially the characters. other areas did felt rushed like how some places were meant to be explored but had to be downsized due to scheduling and the glitches due to how large it was and the awful dungeon designs of some areas.