So the Demo is finally here, yes we are all on the hype train (of course including me jeje) but lets see if we should keep excited about Final Fantasy XV or not, I for one being a die hard fan of the Final Fantasy I have to admit that none of the Final Fantasies on the XIII entries where that good and none lived to the Final Fantasy standards we were used to on PSX, PSOne, PSP and PS2, don’t get me wrong I did like the XIII entries, they ARE good games, sadly they were not games that pushed the envelope, innovate or even kept up with other amazing titles on the last gen consoles like Skyrim, The Witcher for scale and interaction on the RPGs department, or Uncharted, Tomb Raider and even the Batman Series for graphics, and new and fresh mechanics/combat system, so Final Fantasy XV has a lot of responsibility here on keeping the series going forward the way Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn did for the Online version, specially considering the amount of years in development for the game.
Right from the bat the game feels a bit odd for the Character Designs, and to cut to the chase here let me tell you it’s the ONLY thing I disliked, the JPop Boyband cast, other than that the game left me really happy about the direction it is taking and felt both really Final Fantasyish and really fresh, some of the best things about the game is how they’re using current gen power to add mechanics that are completely new to the game, stalking mobs to their lairs? active combat? shimmy through cracks in the walls? yeah I know none of them are new to the video game industry, but it’s really satisfying how well they are done here and the fact that Final Fantasy games are at least trying to catch up with the industries standards as good or better than the top current games do.
Visuals
So we got another entry on the Final Fantasy world, that means we got another beautiful and unique game with many many details, this time it pushes the hardware in the right direction, we are not talking just pretty models and textures, the grass, the clothes even the hair is neatly detailed and behaves correctly with the physics environment, one of the randoms encounters are with Imperial drop ships that are basically like helicopters, and the way grass, clothes and even leaves behave to the wind it generates is really awesome.
As much as I didn’t like the design for the main characters, everything else is very well done, the Goblin mobs are so freaking scary the way they behave, also the Charullas and the Wolf like creatures are also incredibly, they behave very differently each as you imagine they should do in real life, as pasture eating cows or fast and aggressive predators respectively, I didn’t dare to mess with the giant thing in the lake jeje.
The animations are just stunning they adapt to the environment and the situation, did anyone noticed how when you run into a tree in mid battle Noctis uses his arm to not hit the tree? or when you strafe and you do a very close turn Noctis loses his balance and falls? sometimes even using his arm to keep the momentum and regain his balance?
Gameplay
The game resembles a little bit the Kingdom Hearts battle system with a few changes, to block or dodge now you require MP, you can shoot a sword that will let you warp to where it lands and Noctis have several weapon you can set on the defense or attack instance as well as on the abilities tree, for example you can do defense stuff with the great sword using it kind of like a shield while you attack with a rapier and use the full thrust ability of a lance to deal massive damage to an enemy to finish it up, or you can deflect attack with a sword for defense while you split in half with slow but very damaging great swords attacks and use the drain ability on the rapier to restore some HP.
It’s also nice to see you can use other non existent mechanics in a Final Fantasy game until now like sneak, cover and use environment in your favor on the battle field to re position, regroup and gain MP/HP back, however as a classic Final Fantasy player gets some time to get comfortable to the fact you don’t have a classic party formation and you can control support or healing, which makes it a little harder to get over that initial learning curve, jeje the first time I used up all my 15 starting potions and after that wipe I never used one again, well ok maybe 2 … ok it was 3 until I completed the Demo.
Story and Argument
Ok the argument is kinda weak, but I didn’t expect much from a technical demonstration, you basically have to make the gil needed to repair your car and the Behemoth loot is conveniently enough to pay for it, but the way it’s laid out and done until you kill the big beast is really solid, you just doesn’t jump right into it, you have to work your way into locating the beast and even sneak stalk it to know where it’s lair is located!
Other than that there’s not much character development, but yes the world is open and yes it is huge which is very nice and lots of side quests! I found a wild Black Chocobo! lets hope the final game doesn’t end up with a shallow setting or story or a very complex and almost impossible to understand like the Final Fantasy XIII series .
Music and Soundtrack
I don’t think it’s even possible for a Final Fantasy Game to disappoint with it’s music, and this one is not the exception, the changes between special areas, battle and just open field are very well done as well.
The Boss Battle music was for me by far the best in the whole Demo.
Watch out Spoilers ahead!
Didn’t want to spoil the plot details and the awesome new mechanics you will find on the Demo so we warned and stop reading if don’t wanna be spoiled, but the Behemoth fight was brilliantly done, you have to do it in three parts and when you think it’s just over it just started phase 2! so I was really surprised there jeje watch:
Then OMG that Summon animation is just brutal and the effect on the scorched field! dear mother of sweet “insert custom deity here” just go ahead and watch it:
If the Dungeons are going to be anything like the Cave, they’re gonna be very interesting not just the mobs were awesome and unique, did you all got scared like me when those goblins just popped from the crack in the wall as Noctis was actually going inside the crack! I know I did jeje.
Well the Demo is short but I can say now I’m very excited to play the final product, it’s very well done some of the stuff is just gonna leave you in awe by feeling really cutting edge and classic to the series at the same time, now it’s time for me to play Final Fantasy Type-0 which is looking also very nice and I’m itching to delve deep into it now that the Demo is over.
See you around warriors of light!
