So, with the release of Final Fantasy Type-0 HD we finally have a chance to play Final Fantasy XV, the game many of us have nearly waited for a decade for... is it worth the wait? Well, to state that the demo alone has been one of the most thrilling and engaging gaming experiences I have ever had in my life should cover it, but I will elaborate as this is not the words of a fanboy – If I dislike a Final Fantasy I am not shy to say so, hence why I won’t be mentioning Final Fantasy Type-0 HD again...
WARNING: I will be mentioning spoilers within the demo as I want to really digest the experience. If you haven’t experienced it yet don’t read on, you’ll really want to play this without much knowledge prior.
So, where to start? Structure? So the main objective of the demo session is to retrieve money to fix up your car which apparently Prompto has damaged. The main method to do this is to defeat a Behemoth and sell it’s horn for the cash. That is the objective in a nutshell... sounds simple doesn’t it but gosh there is so much more to it. At first you have to search for the Behemoth, to do this you have to evaluate clues scattered across the map. With each clue leading you closer to the objective.
Upon finding the Behemoth, it’s not just a simple matter of fighting him and winning. The game offers a much more cinematic approach. Instead of going for an instant battle, you enter a sub mission where you have to follow the Behemoth. So as the Behemoth is wandering the in the environment you’re sneaking behind it watching it’s move, learning more about the beast. Eventually finding the place where it rests so you know where to find it for future reference. This moment was so intense and just so much more dynamic than a normal monster hunt of XII/XIII where you typically go to environment A and beat monster B then reap the reward C. It was far more engaging and really impressive just how cinematic this was. Obviously I don’t think you can expect this of every encounter, but if every side mission is like this instead of the typical tech-quest malarkey RPG’s put you through this would be a welcome change.
The objective then is to hunt him down, but once again, it’s not just a simple go there, trash the enemy and reap the reward. When you enter the Behemoth’s lair, Ingis begins to strategise a form of attack. Which involves luring the monster out, making use of the monsters weak point (In this case being a damaged eye/blind spot) and then having Prompto shoot an explosive canister as it steps within reach. I was just so impressed to see Final Fantasy XV offer a much more interesting and less typical approach t the combat, giving you objectives to within the confrontation. The notion of specialising detail/cutscenes to these moments over just a generic boss battle is just so much more exciting and something we’ve rarely seen in a Final Fantasy before (The closest thing that comes to my mind is the battle with Sin in Final Fantasy X as you leave Besaid Island. Where you have Sin move in the environment around the boat, but this takes it to another level completely.)
Combat:
I’ll come back to the main mission later, but talk more about the combat now. Yes, it’s clear that you’re only using Noctis now. Personally I don’t mind though as I found his range of abilities to be fascinating. To summarize it, Noctis has a combo of attacks which are swords/lances which spring to materialize in his combo. You can switch what weapon is used for the order of the combo. Each weapon has it’s own impact and you can really customise your combo to your playing style. For example, I had my first attack use a widespread sweep, so I could knockback any enemies near by and then home in on the opponent I am lock on. You also have abilities, which you can switch to equip one at a time in battle seamless by pressing left and right on the D-Pad and then triangle to use. I found these abilities attacks and normal attacks really flowed well within one another. As you may know, you have to be very conservative of MP in this game, while it does regenerate; you have to use it a lot more than just abilities. You also have to use it for evading. Holding the L1 button as an enemy is about to strike, you do get an indication of when you can counter, but I often had off screen enemies plunging in to attack me. You also have to be cautious, because you can evade and attack at the same time, so getting used to that balance takes some time.
One problem I did have is with the lock-on system. You hold R1 to lock-on but if an enemy dips off screen, the lock-on is dropped, this is a tremendous problem because often enemies will evade, go into the background and as you loss the lock-on and turn around you’ll have a different enemy in the foreground you’re now focused on. The game needs to have a stronger lock on system where when it is active the camera follows the movement of the enemy perfectly. Another issue I had personal is that when I was knocked down to 0 health, the game is generous in letting you wait for your buddies to heal you, but often a lot of the time they we’re oblivious to me being down. It would often take 5-10 seconds for the AI to be aware of the situation and of course when you’re in this mode you’re defenseless – You have another bar which is beneath your HP and in deep red. I think when that is depleted in this ‘Danger mode’ then you do die for good. However, beyond that the AI for your party is phenomenal, seeing the team work together in such a dynamic way shows just how far we’ve gone from the static formality of turn based combat and static animations for attacks. The characters really look out for one another, if someone is struggling another member will come along and look out for you. But it’s not just the party which has advanced AI, as do the beasts. Seeing them swarm in groups just felt so realistic, they really felt like living breathing beasts. Also, I had a cheeky goblin steal a potion from me and drink it in front of me!
World:
The world is a big and vast one, I felt a similar sense of exploration as I did in XIII’s Gran Pulse – However, I felt this went beyond that. As I scoured across the land, my team mates would point out things and run to observe, what struck me about this is once again how good the AI is in this game. Remember in Final Fantasy VIII having your party follow each and every step, those days are gone. But yes, they’d notice features within the environments and upon entering a Chocobo Ranch and talking to the shop keeper, that unlocked a side-quest which lead to... a Goblin cave which was an intense experience in it’s own right. I enjoyed my experience with the map. However, I still hope that the final game presents a feeling of a full world. I don’t want this to feel like a Skyrim map. I want different continents to travel to. So I am still not sure how that will work. Also, it was great to see that not all creatures are hostile, some you an walk right up to and be fine with, much like with Xenoblade: Chronicles, but one swipe and a confrontation will begin
Visually the game is stunning, I don’t think I even need to go into much detail about that as I am sure you’ve seen plenty of detail. But it felt up to what I wanted from a PS4 game. So I will now talk about the final confrontation and a very big spoiler so please, please if you haven’t played the demo don’t read on.
So after searching for clues, stalking the Behemoth back to it’s home and trying to execute a plan and failing. You return with a gift from the Goblin cave. Upon fighting the Behemoth once again in a straight up battle, it looks hopeless, it’s just too strong. Then as you go back into danger mode... I saw something different. ‘Hold X to Summon’... and so I did. Thunder stuck down along the plains and not only that but a huge hand! Picking up Noctis to reveal Ramuh! Who then utterly obliterates the Behemoth. Honestly, me and my friend we just speechless from seeing this... it was such a sceptical. However, I just cannot see this structure working within the main game. As it seems that in the demo, anytime you’re beaten down to 0hp, you can activate the summon, which just is an instant win... This seems just incredibly abusive and must just be something for the demo. I wonder how the summon system will work. Can it really be that you can equip on summon at a time and then when you reach 0hp you use it to annihilate everything... It can’t be right?
So I think that about covers my experience with Final Fantasy XV’s demo.It was such a thrilling experience and one of the best gaming experiences I have ever had. While it there are lot of features of the game I still have questions on structure:
How will the vehicle operate – Can you drive it manual, upon reaching the objective in the demo its states a free drive option or location.
How will the map be – A full world with continents or just one big map like Elder Scrolls.
How will the summon system operate – It can’t be that abusive in the main game?
Will the sidequests be portrayed as diverse as this hunt for the Behemoth - clues/searching and fighting the Behemoth.
How will the main story flow... I still can’t picture it. I presume it will be similar in structure to the hunt of the Behemoth with objectives escalating the moment?
But gosh, overall. I am really impressed. I honestly didn’t think I would be this overwhelmed at just hoe impressive it the experience was. This is up there with the production value and quality of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and I will be ever so eager to get my hands on the final game.
So that’s my thoughts, what about you? Feel free to mention your experience and how you felt it went, along with the answers discovered and questions you still have about the final game.
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