Final Fantasy XV

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5428 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3,797 out of 5428
  2. Mixed: 821 out of 5428
  3. Negative: 810 out of 5428
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  1. Rtheom
    Mar 15, 2017
    7
    I'm new to Final Fantasy, but I agree with the majority of folks. This game feels like it was meant to be a lot bigger than it is, and it has a lot of little details that you can tell were meant to be expanded upon, but then they got bored of the whole thing and decided just to release it. The first half of the game is a solid 8/10, the second half is a 5/10, so I'll compromise and give itI'm new to Final Fantasy, but I agree with the majority of folks. This game feels like it was meant to be a lot bigger than it is, and it has a lot of little details that you can tell were meant to be expanded upon, but then they got bored of the whole thing and decided just to release it. The first half of the game is a solid 8/10, the second half is a 5/10, so I'll compromise and give it a 6.5, rounded up to 7 for the fun I did have in the first half. Worth picking up used for $20 when it gets that low or borrowing from a friend, but not more than that.… Expand
  2. roo7788
    Mar 27, 2017
    7
    un buen videojuego podria ser mejor pero creo que despues de el eterno tiempo de juego decidiron sacarlo incompeto pero siguen trabajando para solucionar los problemas con actualisaciones.
  3. Kenmei
    Dec 16, 2016
    7
    A literal dream come true for some Final Fantasy fans, FF XV comes with alot of anticipation as we've waited about 10 years for this game to become a reality. And while the majority of the game succeeds in being a truly great FF game, it's severely hampered by the story and by some very unimpressive quests that are in the game.
    The elephant in the room is the story and how almost    A literal dream come true for some Final Fantasy fans, FF XV comes with alot of anticipation as we've waited about 10 years for this game to become a reality. And while the majority of the game succeeds in being a truly great FF game, it's severely hampered by the story and by some very unimpressive quests that are in the game.
    The elephant in the room is the story and how almost unfinished it is at certain parts. The beginning is almost completely taken out of the game and put into the anime that follows along with the game. The middle portion suffers from little to no explanation about why certain things are happening and what is, frankly, going on half the time. I would constantly say to myself "why is this character here and what are they doing?" as very little is actually explained, even with some of the more important characters in the game. Square has said they are going to add additional cutscenes to the game but the damage is already done, especially since the game was already pushed back to fix the issues they saw with it. Throw in the very odd horror level late in the game that just dragged on for way to long and you have a recipe for disaster.
    It's a shame that the story is terrible as Noctis and his crew are very good characters and their interactions are one of the best parts of the game. Even the smaller side characters are memorable and the game really made you feel for them. And the combat system is one of the better ones I've played in an RPG in a long time, if you like Action RPG style games. For more traditional fans, the turn based mechanic has been taken out completely, with only a "wait" timer having been added so you can scan enemies and plan your attack. I personally loved the new system and I hope they build off of it for the future.
    At the end of the day, the game doesn't live up to the hype that people built for it. Especially after the last delay, to see a story as poorly done as this is truly pathetic in my book. And it's a shame as the final area is full of really cool monsters and the final bosses are very fun to fight. I frankly had no idea, beyond the general "kill the bad guy" objective, as to why we were there and what we were doing. And the game never does anything to clarify itself as to what is going on. The story feels incomplete and I can't recommend it to anyone till that point. My score is from the combat system and the wonderful characters that are in this awful set piece. They were enough to carry it for me to completion. However I have zero interest in going back into the game now. Between the really bad fetch quests that plague the open world, to the promise that they will add more cutscenes, it doesn't do enough to keep my interest. The game is both very enjoyable and almost unplayable at the same time for me and that is enough to make me finished with it for good unless something drastic were to happen.
    For anyone on the fence, wait for the next big cutscene addition to enjoy the game. You, frankly, won't get what you're supposed to out of the copy that is currently being sold in stores.    … Expand
  4. Amargosa
    Nov 13, 2021
    7
    Good game. Good open world fun. But totally botched and ruined by the finale. This game is a wonderful example how you can ruin a great game at the end nonetheless.
  5. Tubey
    Nov 30, 2016
    7
    Much, much improved on the awful Final Fantasy 13, but it has many faults that stop it from becoming a classic.

    First of all, the plot - a convoluted mess that somehow manages to get worse the longer you play it, which is a death knell for any sprawling RPG. Second, the characters - I'm sorry, but it doesn't matter how much you try and add layers to them, they are ultimately emo boyband    Much, much improved on the awful Final Fantasy 13, but it has many faults that stop it from becoming a classic.

    First of all, the plot - a convoluted mess that somehow manages to get worse the longer you play it, which is a death knell for any sprawling RPG. Second, the characters - I'm sorry, but it doesn't matter how much you try and add layers to them, they are ultimately emo boyband members running around a field more often than not. Compare them to the classic Final Fantasy games and these cut and paste characters simply don't hold up.

    Another issue is the illusion of an open world without actually being that open. It devolves into a combination of doing loads of stuff repeatedly that is essentially the same thing, or doing barely anything for a whole hour.

    The good? I like the combat. Sort of. I like it more than I hate it anyway - it is fluid, often fun, but hectic and times borderline incomprehensible; simply too much stuff on the screen, taking away the tactical element and sometimes coming across as a poor version of Dynasty Warriors.

    The soundtrack is also OK. Not the best in the series - probably not even top five - but competent.

    But what rescues the title almost wholesale from being a disaster is the sense of an epic journey. It is a majestic example of world building around a central character, so much so that it often disguises the poor plot and lack of a 'traditional' open world, simply because you want to know what part of this world you will be led to next. It is graphically fantastic and that helps immerse you in to what is on offer.

    And now we come to what actually saves the game from being around a 4 or a 5 - the boss battles. They are, in a word, awe-inspiring, and are the one section of the game where I'm glad it doesn't have turn based strategy as a combat system.

    All that said, FF15 is OK. Not great, certainly not in the same league as the classics of the 90s, but solidly OK. It was sort of overhyped for what it eventually is, but you'll get fun out of it nevertheless - if you ignore the laughable plot and ridiculously bland characters.    … Expand
  6. wesker2012
    Jan 2, 2018
    7
    Great introduction of Final Fantasy into an open world game. The first half of the game is super chill, relaxing, and fun to play. The second half of the game/story feels like a different game than the first half though. It felt rushed and not very well put together. Not everything was explained.
  7. ZaPaAl
    Jan 27, 2021
    7
    This game is a mess. It has lot's of fun elements, but on the other side, it is choked by game design disturbances and by a story that was obviously hacked apart to generate more money via DLCs.

    One of the questionable decisions was giving the player obvious cheat equipment right from the start. This is even worse with the Royal Edition. Those items can not be removed and permanently    This game is a mess. It has lot's of fun elements, but on the other side, it is choked by game design disturbances and by a story that was obviously hacked apart to generate more money via DLCs.

    One of the questionable decisions was giving the player obvious cheat equipment right from the start. This is even worse with the Royal Edition. Those items can not be removed and permanently clog your inventory. The menus are no fun to navigate and the worst is, you are expected to utilize something like 8 different weapon and 4 magic categories and only have 4 usable slots available. So adapting to different encounters requires pausing the game and navigating through cumbersome menu screens. And then the gind ... seriously, at one point you would be expected to grind something like 24 hours, for 2 items you don't need, by WATCHING, not playing, a totally mind numbing betting "game" over and over ...

    Graphically it's nice, the warping in fights and generally the first 2/3 of the game offer many missions and challenges. Especially the dungeons are full of nice little dialogues. But 2 of your 3 "friends" have an annoying Know_it_all attitude, wheres the main protagonist hardly does anything else then sulk.

    The story is plain confusing and does not make much sense and character development hardly exists. Not even the main atagonist is really explained. A lot of this is because of the ripped content. It's ok for the open world part, but against the end it really spirales down into a depressing and quite unsatisfying end. And then there is the issue of total overleveling and that just by daring to do a few side missions. Ofcourse I did all I could before the end. In result, for the last third of the game I was about at double the levels I should have been ... nihilating any kind of challenge in an already far to easy game.

    I liked the game for many hours, but the end chapters, due to the destroyed story, just killed it for me.    … Expand
  8. UbiPaul
    Dec 6, 2016
    7
    It's not a bad game but it's not your typical FF experience. I've spent 62 hours in the open world doing all kinds of quests and whatnot, and then I traveled the sea only to find myself at the end of the game in ~5 hours. I wish the world would have been more littered with the main story-line, more cutscenes and important characters. The bad guy, and none of the other characters wereIt's not a bad game but it's not your typical FF experience. I've spent 62 hours in the open world doing all kinds of quests and whatnot, and then I traveled the sea only to find myself at the end of the game in ~5 hours. I wish the world would have been more littered with the main story-line, more cutscenes and important characters. The bad guy, and none of the other characters were built-up, they came and left too early so they become strong. I mean all the FF games had some pretty strong characters... I have very mixed feeling about it. Bottom line: this is a good game and you should play it, but don't expect FF style deep story.

    I would also mention that toward the end the cutscenes and other events tent to be short and they feel like being cut-down. Some scenes made no sense and were poorly made.    … Expand
  9. revillo
    Dec 10, 2016
    7
    It's clear that much of what made it into FFXV was repurposed from its original intention, and as a result the story comes off disjointed and vague. The combat system is a fun, welcome change of pace, but it's also too easy - I only died once in the entire game, and that was from not realizing some random enemy was twice my level. Still, fans will find much to enjoy in this entry, fromIt's clear that much of what made it into FFXV was repurposed from its original intention, and as a result the story comes off disjointed and vague. The combat system is a fun, welcome change of pace, but it's also too easy - I only died once in the entire game, and that was from not realizing some random enemy was twice my level. Still, fans will find much to enjoy in this entry, from some beautiful music and character/creature design and a huge open world with plenty of silly things to do with your bros.

    Ultimately the decision to move away from a dark tale of an angsty prince reclaiming his kingdom might have been a blessing for us all, because what we get instead is a simple meditation on friendship. It's endearing in spite of itself and I did enjoy the voice acting of the villain quite a bit. Most importantly, the colorful nature of the open world and the attention to detail show Square Enix knows how to put some heart and levity into a game, something they've been having trouble with for quite some time.

    Hopefully, we get a more focused, well-rounded entry the next time around. I'm definitely still a fan through and through.    … Expand
  10. alexaxa
    Jan 3, 2017
    7
    I just finished the game and i recommend to other reviewer that you finish it also if it's not done yet since the second half of the game is totally different and feels incomplete. This game is good but failed to deliver as a final fantasy game.

    Here's the pros and cons : + Graphics + Addictive + Some boss/hunt/quest encounter are really good + There are a few impressive    I just finished the game and i recommend to other reviewer that you finish it also if it's not done yet since the second half of the game is totally different and feels incomplete. This game is good but failed to deliver as a final fantasy game.

    Here's the pros and cons :

    + Graphics
    + Addictive
    + Some boss/hunt/quest encounter are really good
    + There are a few impressive moments...

    - The few impressive moments are often combined with really bad control
    - The control. Who decided to puts the action and the jump button on the same button ? I didn't count the number of time i jump in front of a door or a NPC
    - Having to rely on a car that go so slow for movement. You even have to buy gas for that car !
    - The game have no identity, it tries to copy other game that are far better in their respective region (Witcher, Metal Gear, Resident Evil...) but fails to deliver in those segments
    - The open world is mostly empty
    - Chapter 13 should not exist and is the most boring things i've played in a videogame lately.
    - The story is a mess. It's look like they took already-developped mission from a story hat and decided that those mission should be part of the main story even if the connection is under-developed and makes no sense.
    - There are also a lot of gap in the story. Some events appears off-screen instead of going cutscene or full CGI to actually make us care. And after the character are all chilling out about it, no drama or anything involved. There's also a lot of missed opportunity but i can't go into details to not spoil anything.
    - Some glitches like Hunt / story element not spawning
    - Only one playable character

    And i'm probably forgetting some. Overall, it's a little better than FFXIII but that's about it.    … Expand
  11. tensa2341
    Dec 11, 2016
    7
    I was excited to play this game when it was first announced as Final Fantasy Versus 13. The game was set in the world of 13 with a dark tone to it. It looked like a very interesting concept of a main Final Fantasy going hack and slash. Sadly enough though, the game was re-made into 15 which is still really good but with the many short comings from 15, it keeps it from becoming a greatI was excited to play this game when it was first announced as Final Fantasy Versus 13. The game was set in the world of 13 with a dark tone to it. It looked like a very interesting concept of a main Final Fantasy going hack and slash. Sadly enough though, the game was re-made into 15 which is still really good but with the many short comings from 15, it keeps it from becoming a great game. So does the game does its justice after a long 10 year development cycle or does it fall into the dark abyss where other highly-anticipated games fade throughout time?

    Story- The story in 15 is decent enough and easy to understand. You play as Noctic, Prince and future ruler of Lucis as his father King Regis was killed in a peace treaty that turned into an assassination ambush. With the help of your friends Gladiolus, Prompto, and Ignis, Noctic will have to go around the game and become more powerful to take back the throne. The thing is, the games world isn't thoroughly explained as you're put right in the world with no exposition to really tell what the hell is going on unless you play through the story. The story is simple enough but what makes the story better is the relationship between the 4 main protagonist. The way each character has their own personalities and goals as you progress through the game. The problem though is that you get more of a personal affection with these characters and the world itself after watching the spin-off Brothers Final Fantasy 15 and Kingsglaive Final Fantasy 15 to better immerse yourself on the world of Eos. That shouldn't be a thing since a game should be able to help the player be more involved in the lore and characters.

    Gameplay- The gameplay of 15 is different than most FF games in the series. It's a hack and slash that has the mix between Crisis Core and Type-0 . It's a very simplistic mechanic that is very fun to play with as Noctis has over several different uses for weapons. The problem with the gameplay is that everything else kinda sucks or an annoyance throughout the game. The driving feels very automated and you are constraint on the road like a safe-drivers ed teacher. You can't really crash unless taking turns on roads. The side-quest can be very bland at times as most of them is fetch quest but most of them also involves with giant or tough daemons to deal with, so it's not a bore to play through. The open world is a new refreshing idea as Lucis is pretty big enough to explore around. There are several different dungeons that are fun at times but some are just broken and tedious to go through. The use of different weapons is exhilarating as it gives a brand mix of something you get from Devil May Cry; very varied in its combat. The one thing they changed is the leveling up system isn't the same as other FF games. Throughout the game, your characters gain experience but you can only deposit them when you're resting. While you're resting, you can actually have buffs for eating different foods either by Ignis or a vendor. Other mechanics like you can only go one direction when either climbing up and down, X/A being the Jump button with it also being the confirming button, Amiger trigger buttons are glitched sometimes and not always responsive, Blocking doesn't always work, Broken boss battles like the Nalfgar, and the stupid requirements to do summons. Summons only come when they feel like it. It's stupid.

    Graphics and Sound- The world of Eos is beautiful and the main difference about most FF games is that 15 is takes the real world and puts recreates a bit of it into the living world of 15. Creatures look fantastic, MAIN character models look amazing, particle affects to lighting is superb, and it's stable enough to play through. The music is freaking fantastic as each battle music fits right in and the use of the southern bell feel as Noctis and his friends road trip together around Lucis is appropriate. The music has such an amazing orchestra beat to it that each battle feels epic and uplifting as things are about to go down. I love the fact that they are able to keep Versus13 soundtrack in the game.The only main draw is the the draw distance sucks in this game, making pop-ins blandly coming out but that's only if you in huge grass fields.

    With it's many faults, FFXV is still a good game to play for new comers and old final fantasy fans who accepts new change. I had a blast playing through the 96 hours and now I feel empty inside because I still want more from 15. There are gonna be updates that improve game mechanics and adding new features so I can't wait for those. It is a buy for new comers and FF fans( The ones that want something different rather than the turn-based gameplay).    … Expand
  12. cwatz
    Dec 9, 2016
    7
    Pros: The scale of the game brings awe at times. The world is gigantic. There is a real "bro roadtrip" feel to the game. Combat is deeper than it originally seems.

    Cons: The worst sidequests you can find in games. One is literally to run to a guys farm across the world, pick up like a single pea, and go back to turn it in. That isn't even the real problem though, many games can    Pros: The scale of the game brings awe at times. The world is gigantic. There is a real "bro roadtrip" feel to the game. Combat is deeper than it originally seems.

    Cons: The worst sidequests you can find in games. One is literally to run to a guys farm across the world, pick up like a single pea, and go back to turn it in. That isn't even the real problem though, many games can have this sort of thing.

    The real problem is what all of the sidequests amount to: Pick up quest, return to car, fast travel to nearest parking spot, run to quest, kill/pick up single thing, fast travel back to car, fast travel back to hub to turn in. "Fast travel" is codeword for minute long loadscreen. Half your time is spent loading. Weak sidequests can be tolerable when you are pushing towards progression, but when you factor in all the extra wasted time, it becomes misery.

    That would be fine if the game just had serious flaws around its side content, but that is what the bulk of the game actually is. The main story is fractured, messy, and not particularly compelling (despite having so much potential), and is actually quite short compared to FF standards. Its all the extra activities that are supposed to make the game what it is.

    This leaves a game with a ton of content, but a significant portion that isn't fun to do. Either due to it being shallow and/or the obstacles in place that hinder you from moving as swiftly as you would like.

    There are some enjoyable dungeons, and some post-game stuff that fares better, but for the most part I found myself perpetually let down.

    I can't help but think back to FFXIII's valid criticisms of linearity. This game is the complete opposite of that, to the other extreme, and with a whole new set of problems that unfortunately weren't addressed.    … Expand
  13. killercorgi
    Dec 1, 2016
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Final Fantasy XV is a good game, but nothing nearing 10 years in development good.

    You can tell when Tetsuya Nomura left the project and the design team went into "hurry up and finish" mode. I couldn't shake the feeling that the game was somehow unfinished. As if they didn't really start working on it till like 3 or 4 years ago and they realized they had to hurry and pump something out because they announced it 10 years ago. The second half of the game is horrible and seemed rushed. You'll hear people complain about how linear it was but that wasn't the final straw for me. It was boring. Especially the section that basically turned the game into a survival-horror reminiscent of Galerians. This is also one of the longest segments of the game and plays a heavy hand in diminishing the vibe the first half of the game goes out of its way to establish. A lot of Final Fantasy games do the two worlds thing but usually the transition doesn't feel this jarring.

    This game definitely feels inspired by Kingdom Hearts and Advent Children (especially in the aerial fight scenes) so that may be a make-or-break deal for some people. For me it was unimpressive since I don't consider either of those things very Final Fantasy-ish.

    It's better than XIII and for most people (not me) better than XII but it won't touch golden era Final Fantasy games like 6 through 10.    … Expand
  14. Sofatayra
    Apr 13, 2019
    7
    The reason i gave 7 for this game is for the below:
    Pros: - The open world -New gameplay that stands out of previous FF turn based action combat and more like a kingdom harts style - NPCs looks ok for an RPG game - Graphics are good in general - voice acting is on spot for a JRPG - high level dungeons is where FFXV excels the most.
    Cons: -Camera angles with big bosses can be frustrating    The reason i gave 7 for this game is for the below:
    Pros: - The open world -New gameplay that stands out of previous FF turn based action combat and more like a kingdom harts style - NPCs looks ok for an RPG game - Graphics are good in general - voice acting is on spot for a JRPG - high level dungeons is where FFXV excels the most.
    Cons: -Camera angles with big bosses can be frustrating - The X process button can be annoying at times, when you click you jump instead - the team your run with are very repetitive on what they say
    to each other - quests are all the same, get a quest from an NPC and slay monsters - Camp to exp can be annoying at times as you may end up camping and sleeping in different locations for you to save progress. - Royal weapons consumes HP, so you can not use them all the time. -Noct can be a jerk at times and not well synchronized with his team. - vast word is empty at times and seem unfinished.    … Expand
  15. tstrul
    Nov 29, 2016
    7
    Surprising that after 10 years in the making this feels rushed and uninspired.
    This clearly shows signs of a spin off turned mainline game. (started as "Versus XIII").
    Pros: - Has some true Final Fantasy feel to it. The classic monsters, the weapons, chocobos. The characters, while underdeveloped and plain, do feel like genuine FF characters. - The soundtrack has some really    Surprising that after 10 years in the making this feels rushed and uninspired.
    This clearly shows signs of a spin off turned mainline game. (started as "Versus XIII").

    Pros:

    - Has some true Final Fantasy feel to it. The classic monsters, the weapons, chocobos.
    The characters, while underdeveloped and plain, do feel like genuine FF characters.

    - The soundtrack has some really nice tracks (though it's not as consistent as other FF entries)

    - The Open World is beautiful from an aesthetic point of view

    - The combat is actually fun and fluid, although it is not challenging enough imo.

    Cons:

    - The main character cast is one of the worst in the FF franchise. They are not annoying like in FF 13, they are just so uninteresting. Don't expect unique characters like Vivi / Cloud / Celes etc..

    - The world is kinda dry. This is a game that is open world just for the sake of being open world.
    The side quests are (usually) repetitive without incentive to do them and the towns and cities are lifeless.
    If you are going into this game expecting Witcher3 level of world and side quests - not even close.

    - Camera issues.. in a game 10 years in the making..

    - Some mechanics were obviously added on as an afterthought- magic and summons
    Magic in this game takes a backseat (kinda reminds the draw system from FF VIII) and battles usually revolve around physical attacks.

    - The story is a mess in my opinion, don't wanna go into spoilers

    If I had to compare it to other FF games I would say it's better than later iterations like FF XIII and FF XIII-2, but it is way less enchanting than the more classical entries like 6,7,10 and even 12.

    Not bad overall, but leaves me feeling a bit disappointed.

    7/10    … Expand
  16. jhandibode
    Dec 22, 2016
    7
    7 for being okay.
    Storyline: Too short and bad.
    Characters: Noctis and bros great. But where is Luna, she is lost only in cutscenes and very few at that. Luna was promoted as strongest FF female by Tabata and I disagree. She is weakest FF character to date. Gameplay: 9/10. Action gameplay and Wait mode a great mix. Summons: Are a no show for most of the game. They are useless.    7 for being okay.
    Storyline: Too short and bad.
    Characters: Noctis and bros great. But where is Luna, she is lost only in cutscenes and very few at that. Luna was promoted as strongest FF female by Tabata and I disagree. She is weakest FF character to date.
    Gameplay: 9/10. Action gameplay and Wait mode a great mix.
    Summons: Are a no show for most of the game. They are useless. In post game dungeons they are not in it at all.
    Replay: 4/10. Very little replay value. Dungeons are terrible and imbalance a lot with some with no monsters at all or some too much levels and no healing for most part.
    Magic: 2/10. No magic in game for most part. No white mage since again Luna is useless and not playable at all only around in CGI and never fights at all.    … Expand
  17. PaleNielsen
    Feb 16, 2017
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Despite being different than previous titles it's still a good Final Fantasy game. The battle system is awesome except for the annoying camera movements. The story is quite weaker than other titles, they also offer free story dlc's after release which means they release the game in incomplete form and they use the dead-protagonist-girlfriend card which is quite overused already. You can't even summon espers/aeon/gf or whatever you like without certain conditions during battle and there are only 5 or 6 of them which is very quite disappointing it's actually one of the features in previous ff titles that I really love specially in ff10. Despite all those flaws it's not a bad game. I just feel like its almost on par with ff13.… Expand
  18. HaloFever
    Jun 4, 2020
    7
    Final Fantasy XV is a big mess that does not feel much like a role playing game or a action brawling game. The gameplay is weird. You play as a skinny kid who does not know how to run and looks like an anime cartoon living in the real world. His main skill is throwing his sword and then teleporting to it. In an excruciating tutorial, you learn to teleport to enemies to attach and teleportFinal Fantasy XV is a big mess that does not feel much like a role playing game or a action brawling game. The gameplay is weird. You play as a skinny kid who does not know how to run and looks like an anime cartoon living in the real world. His main skill is throwing his sword and then teleporting to it. In an excruciating tutorial, you learn to teleport to enemies to attach and teleport to the ceiling for defense. You can also order your 3 friends to conduct a special attack every now and then. After a few hours, I learned the best tactic was to have my allies conduct their special attack when the giant bosses were starting their attack animations. Then the game became simple button mashing and grinding levels to make the boss fights easier.

    The game world is inscrutable. The game in theory has an open world. What this really means is that there are large stretches of featureless, low texture terrain between cookie-cutter buildings. It also means roadblocks, cliff faces, and high walls to prevent the player from travelling out of the game area. Final Fantasy XV embraces the kind of open world we saw in the PS2 generation. There is little explanation of why people are fighting with swords in an age of guns and walking tanks. We also have no idea how people have cell phones and cars in a world that seems bereft of any kind of industry. There is mention of an asteroid that brought magic or whatever. After a 26 hour playthrough, I knew about as much as I did at the start of the game. The story is at least light on cutscenes for this type of game. There are few focused segments that tell the story through in-game dialogue and events. FYI, Square Enix, you can design a whole game where the story is told in-game.

    I have the strong feeling that this game was supposed to have launched in the PS3 era. In addition to the low quality environments, some of the boss fights have subpar graphics. None of the areas feature many people, certainly nothing to level we've come to expect in the PS4 era. (Assassin's Creed Unity, which launched in 2014, had enormous crowds.) The gameplay is also severely limited for a game that has historically let players customize their parties. Development clearly went awry and the final product was not better for it. I have a strong feeling that the odd fighting system was implemented to help may the game few "new".

    Total disclosure: I paid $2.50 for this game. Were I a fan of the series, I would have paid $60 to play on day one. Maybe because I am not a fan, my 26 hour playthrough was mostly confusing and off-putting. The gameplay was interesting enough to get me into the next fight but mostly in a grindy way that ensured the boss fight would be easier. (Though I do not like grinding, I find it preferable to dying and reloading.) I was also surprised to see little customization of the characters. This game is not so much an RPG as it is a fighting game with levels. I've played better fighting games with levels.    … Expand
  19. Voodoo123
    Mar 7, 2018
    7
    +Beautiful inspired open world
    +Wonderful character designs
    +Interesting moments like cooking meals to buff attacks +Side characters exhibit personality traits throughout the game to entertain you +Best in class sound design -Ropey / dated game mechanics -needlessly convoluted storytelling style that feels disjointed from the gameplay With so many excellent open world action RPGs    +Beautiful inspired open world
    +Wonderful character designs
    +Interesting moments like cooking meals to buff attacks
    +Side characters exhibit personality traits throughout the game to entertain you
    +Best in class sound design
    -Ropey / dated game mechanics
    -needlessly convoluted storytelling style that feels disjointed from the gameplay

    With so many excellent open world action RPGs to choose, FFXV while an engaging experience, as a standalone product is too disjointed. I recommend watching Kingsglaive bluray before you play this as the film functions as an intro to the game. If you're a FF fan though this is a must play! Just dont go in expecting a modern style RPG, its more like an interesting if quirky Japanese mish mash of art and rpg lite game ideas ...    … Expand
  20. Prkurprkur
    Jan 8, 2017
    7
    It's a mystery to me how FFXV can seem simultaneously dated AND unfinished.Some are saying that this game doesn't reflect 10 years of development and TBH I disagree. You can see the 10 years, just not in any positive capacity. The development of this title started in 2006 and it's obvious that they completely shifted direction partway through. Clearly, the focus turned to targeting andIt's a mystery to me how FFXV can seem simultaneously dated AND unfinished.Some are saying that this game doesn't reflect 10 years of development and TBH I disagree. You can see the 10 years, just not in any positive capacity. The development of this title started in 2006 and it's obvious that they completely shifted direction partway through. Clearly, the focus turned to targeting and drawing in new FF players rather than satisfying former fans of the franchise.

    The glitzy GTA style car, the overtly western setting, and the completely male party are testaments to this direction change. I wouldn't mind these changes if they'd at least committed to them. If you're gonna give us a car, make the world truly open. If you're making the cast all-male then you'd better give us some top tier character designs and interactions to bring the ensemble together. Unfortunately, with FFXV we get none of this. The world is Semi-open but bland, the driving is pointless, characters look out of place and embarrassingly dated and most of all, their development is all but non-existent. As others have mentioned, the expansive world feels lonely with few monsters and NPCs to interact with.

    In these times of extremely plot driven games, a lackluster story is frankly unacceptable. While I realize that there are other supporting media meant to supplement the story, I'm just not interested. I'm sure this would have flown a decade ago, but these days no one has the time nor the desire to trudge through an incomprehensible, piecemeal story concerning characters you don't care about.

    With all that said I gave this title a 7.The gameplay itself was painless and honestly, I had fun wasting a few hours mindlessly running around the forest.    … Expand
  21. Hoso
    Apr 10, 2017
    7
    After more than a hundred hours in this game, I have to say I have a love and hate relationship with this game. At first, I was telling myself it was amazing but the further I get in the game the more I saw there was no depth to the game.

    Pros : The graphics are amazing. The bromance is at it best. The action sequences are fun. The references to older games of the series are a nice    After more than a hundred hours in this game, I have to say I have a love and hate relationship with this game. At first, I was telling myself it was amazing but the further I get in the game the more I saw there was no depth to the game.

    Pros :
    The graphics are amazing.
    The bromance is at it best.
    The action sequences are fun.
    The references to older games of the series are a nice touch.

    Cons :
    The fighting system doesn't get deeper.
    The magic system is one of the worse in the series.
    The story is so poorly told.
    The secondary characters are poorly written and you can't get attached to any of them because they don't have much appearance time.
    The Boss fights are way too easy to make any sense.
    The world is all the same and not that big because you can't even go everywhere you want.
    The post ending is pretty useless.
    There is too many back and forth travelling with the car.
    Most of the side-quests are completely useless and are nonsense.

    With no DLC, I would say this is a 7/10. I’m going to update this review after all the expansions are out.    … Expand
  22. Progressive-T
    Jan 11, 2017
    7
    I’ve been a fan of Final Fantasy since part VII on the PSOne, but because of the abysmal FF XIII, my trust in the series had been severely damaged.
    I went back for FF XV, but even though they had made some improvements over the disastrous piece of crap they shat out last time (of course I didn’t even bother with the two sequels), it’s still a far cry from the days when Hironobu Sakaguchi    I’ve been a fan of Final Fantasy since part VII on the PSOne, but because of the abysmal FF XIII, my trust in the series had been severely damaged.
    I went back for FF XV, but even though they had made some improvements over the disastrous piece of crap they shat out last time (of course I didn’t even bother with the two sequels), it’s still a far cry from the days when Hironobu Sakaguchi was at the helm.
    I wouldn’t say FF XV is a bad game, but it certainly is not up to the standards that made me a fan in the first place.

    STORY: the thing that struck me the most while playing this game was the almost complete lack of a storyline. In previous games there was always this epic story and you controlled a group of characters that were adequately fleshed out for us to be able to feel an emotional connection to.
    We get none to very little of that here. In fact, you are given a few bits of story and before you even realize it, you are guided towards the conclusion, to fight an antagonist of whom we know too little.
    The story feels rushed, it’s much too short and at the end of it I simply didn’t care, no matter how many violins they throw against it. It’s amateur time when compared to previous installments.

    FIGHT SYSTEM: it’s kind of a mess to be honest. The biggest problem I have with it is that the camera jumps all over the place which creates confusion and this is especially a problem when you are fighting in tight areas or when surrounded by bushes for instance. The battle music gets me pumped up, but the awful camera is a source of annoyance. When they decide to do away with a turn based system, a system that had proven its value in the past, in favor of a new action oriented one, they had better make sure the new fight system kicks ass and it just doesn’t. It's an improvement over FF XIII, but it's not satisfactory yet.

    SIDE QUESTS: this comes down to hunts and mainly fetch quests. Whereas the hunts do a standard job of adding playtime to a game in a way that is enjoyable, unfortunately the same cannot be said of the latter. It’s just all very uninspired and downright lazy on the part of the developers. More could have been done here, but again you get the feeling that things have been rushed, a pity after 10 years of development.

    WORLD MAP: I’m glad there is a world again in which you can travel freely instead of having to select your destination from a menu, but perhaps they spent a little too much time on making an open world and not enough effort was put into actually filling this world with enough interesting stuff to do.
    You have a car, the Regalia, but many would criticize the fact that it’s mainly an on-rails experience, but it didn’t really bother me. I often took the opportunity to roll a cigarette or get something from the kitchen or whatnot. However, the flying Regalia does not get my approval. The controls are too clunky and if you don’t manage to land on a road, it’s crash and game over. An airship that can land anywhere like in the old days was too much to ask. Your car is restricted to the roads and so when you land it has to be on a road.
    Then there are also chocobos to ride and luckily all goes well there. When you’re off-road, chocobo is a good way to go, unless you like long treks on foot.

    CONCLUSION: for a game that has been in development for 10 years it can feel pretty empty at times.
    You can almost feel how they cut corners here and there. The story is almost non-existing, unforgiveable for a Final Fantasy game and RPGs in general and this damages the immersion and emotional connection players can have.
    But having said all this, the game is not all bad and fun can be had with it. It’s just a mediocre RPG and a watered down Final Fantasy. 6 out of 10 would be too low and it doesn't deserve an 8.    … Expand
  23. DinoBeam
    May 2, 2020
    7
    This one is a rollercoaster

    -great dynamically written characters -you need to watch other material to fully understand them -invented the Road Trip Rpg -rips the Road Trip Rpg out from under you half way through the game -cool unique fluid combat -any time you want to open a door your character will jump instead be ready for ups and downs [also, the story centers around    This one is a rollercoaster

    -great dynamically written characters
    -you need to watch other material to fully understand them
    -invented the Road Trip Rpg
    -rips the Road Trip Rpg out from under you half way through the game
    -cool unique fluid combat
    -any time you want to open a door your character will jump instead

    be ready for ups and downs

    [also, the story centers around despair and powerlessness, this story is a huge downer]    … Expand
  24. TheFrostyPen
    Oct 8, 2018
    7
    Embarrassing on almost every level. Skippable. Frustrating in all the wrong ways. I hate it. Absolutely hate it. If it weren't for the great voice acting and graphics, I would demand a refund. There are literally commericals IN THE GAME FOR CUP NOODLES. Not only is this a new low for the series, but it is a new low for gaming in general. They've opened the gates to horrible thingsEmbarrassing on almost every level. Skippable. Frustrating in all the wrong ways. I hate it. Absolutely hate it. If it weren't for the great voice acting and graphics, I would demand a refund. There are literally commericals IN THE GAME FOR CUP NOODLES. Not only is this a new low for the series, but it is a new low for gaming in general. They've opened the gates to horrible things for years to come. I will never buy a Final Fantasy game every again. Trash. Garbage.

    Awful combat. Terrible camera.
    Not really open world. Car driving? Huge loading times. Annoying repetitive trash sidequests.

    Worst story of all the final fantasties. If a middle schooler wrote this, he'd get a C+ at best. It's less a story and more an outline of a story.

    An unbelievable failure.

    Only plus is the graphics (which big deal right?). And the voice actors. They were great.

    Skip. Delete. DONT NOT BUY THIS COMMERCIAL FOR CUP NOODLES AND COLEMAN LANTERNS.

    EVER    … Expand
  25. Leon354
    Dec 13, 2016
    7
    You can not drive a car !!!!! The plot is bad, dumb and full of holes !!! The main characters of 4 pieces of 4 and all of Karl !!! Instead of turn-bais slasher !!! + Beautiful graphics, beautiful world, stylish main character, a beautiful machine.
  26. eldumloido
    Dec 5, 2016
    7
    Fun and good looking action adventure with rpg elements. Would give it a 9 but takes too much space on the ps4 as it only has 500gb as default and fps is a bit off, looks like 30fps but has some strange stutter that makes my head ache, waiting for PC version so I can finish the game without vomiting.
  27. DrZomboid
    Dec 11, 2016
    7
    Big disappointmet with **** story and akward combat system. Great open world with awesome graphic sometimes, boring menu options, lack of magic and swords... just freaking weird FF game. Have'nt seen good FF game since FF12.
    But it is just ok game.
  28. revelc
    Nov 30, 2016
    7
    I'm a fan of Final Fantasy (FF) series. I would be lying if I say I played all of it. I have completed 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12. I also played Tactics advance and Ogre. What drawn me towards the series are 3 different reasons. (from here on will be my personal opinion and I will compare it to FF15)

    First is great story telling. To me story is an important aspect of Final Fantasy, story    I'm a fan of Final Fantasy (FF) series. I would be lying if I say I played all of it. I have completed 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12. I also played Tactics advance and Ogre. What drawn me towards the series are 3 different reasons. (from here on will be my personal opinion and I will compare it to FF15)

    First is great story telling. To me story is an important aspect of Final Fantasy, story defines worlds, its characters, and conflicts within it. Without good writings and story telling, FF is just a bland JRPG. Personally FF15 doesn't have a compelling story, I find it difficult to relate with the characters(lack of female cast in the party also a probable reason). The conflict isn't well define, it's too linear. The world which apparently "fantasy based on reality" is not what I'm expecting from the series. I can see one town influenced by Venice and another area by US countryside/highway, I prefer more unified culture since it's one kingdom. The town lack of characters, and the people inside of it mostly doesn't care about what happen to the kingdom. For example, there's a war happening in the capital, king is killed and yet town is fine and everyone driving around like there's nothing happening, soldiers don't even march or invade the town, what I meant is there's no panic or chaos like in FF7 or 10. The conflict should echo through the entire world, effecting population in it. I can go on and on about why the story is lacking and comparing things to previous FF, but I'll stop here.

    Second thing is the art style. Great art style has been defining Final Fantasy since the beginning. Colorful imaginary worlds, towering castles, unique characters, menacing monsters, cool items, and lots of amazing details. FF15 doesn't really nail that, the art style is not consistent. It has great monsters, cool weapon designs, and things like magic arts and summons. Yet it's feels like it's not design with one set of mind rather with confused, rushed, and mixed ideas. Lets focus on costumes, Noct and friends wears black leather and all. It's fine, but what's not fine is the inconsistency within the world. The town people wears t-shirt and modern clothing. This make no sense at all, especially within one kingdom. Culture what build a kingdom, if one wears a toga other wear it too. Buildings, cars, colors pattern all are inconsistent, it disconnect me from the world. In previous FF it never is the case, it was always consistent. FF10 has Okinawan style (Japanese style garment), beach, water, blue colors, very unique overly detailed pattern in weapons, summons, buildings. FF7 has dark industrial feel throughout, a touch of steam punk and it works. FF9 with medieval fantasy feels. FF12 has World of Ivalice which is great design. FF15 really doesn't have a pattern, I think "fantasy based on reality" design ideas doesn't really work.

    Finally the final main reason I'm a fan of FF is the music. Music gives feelings to the series, it brings life and drawn you even more into its conflict. Music makes you sympathize towards its characters or detest them. FF always has great music composed specially for each important moment. It easily recognizable since mostly composed by a guy name Nobuo Uematsu and his team. Battle and victory music always a classic, and on many occasions they even create original song like Suteki da ne(along with the cinematic, made me tearing up) and piano piece To Zanarkand (this one always weaken my heart, made me felt the pain of the party). Now comes Yoko Shimomura, super amazing brilliant composer. She made Kingdom Hearts stands out in the music department apart from other great reason. In FF15 Shimomura did it again, she nailed it. This another thing that make me give lots more points to FF15. The only personal thing I don't like is how they use "stand by me" as their main opening and ending for the series. Why not let Yoko create her own for the series, is it because how Tabata wants it to appeal more to the US audience? I'm not sure. Don't get me wrong, Stand by me by Ben E King is in my favorite list.

    Apart from all the things I mentioned, FF15 is a good game to play. It has great graphics, pretty fun combat, and an okay world to explore. It's not defining for the series but certainly is a step forward. I predict 5-6 millions will be sold. Am I disappointed? Yes in a way, because it is Final Fantasy main line series and I'm expecting more to it.    … Expand
  29. thecatzpyjamaz
    Dec 11, 2016
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'm gonna have to break down this game into pieces because of all of the highs and lows.

    Music: the music in this game was fantastic it made almost every part of the game from the remake of stand by me at the beginning to the eic battle music throughout. 10/10

    Gameplay: the figjting mechanics were very fun and felt realistic, the link attacks make the fighting feel fluid and seamless. 9/10

    Characters: for the most part the main characters felt uninteresting. There was very little development beind then and i felt that the most interesting characters in the game were the supporting cast. (Arenea, Regis, Ardyn)5/10 slight redemption for the amazing support cast.

    Story: holy **** this story was all over the place, they tried so hard to make a great story and it shows in some places but it seems so rushed. Major SPOILER WARNING!!!!!!!!! There are cerain parts of the story where they are trying to add to the story and make it more intersting and it just fails horribly. Ardyn is your brother?? Prompto was apart of the Nifleheim MT project I think? I'm not really sure. The story was way too rushed and rhey didn't take time to explain these seemingly important plot points. 2/10.

    Over all the game did well in the music and gameplay departments which definitely saved the game. They also did well at playing off the nostalgia of the series with the familar summons of the game (the new looks of the summons are also completely badass) when you get past the story and the characters this game is very fun to play, and i would be excited to see a new game that helps clarify the story and bring some new interesring gameplay to the table, a Kingsglaive story playing as regis, or a spinoff playing as Arenea would be amazing!    … Expand
  30. Aridos
    Feb 4, 2017
    7
    I've finished the game and spent around 60 hours playing it.

    It's alright. The game presents a simple story, and focuses more on the characters However, in its speed to be a lot more character focused, I've had a hard time identifying with the characters on a more personal level. Maybe it's because the game isn't aimed at me? Oh wait... "For old and newcomers"- Yeah, it's for everyone.    I've finished the game and spent around 60 hours playing it.

    It's alright.
    The game presents a simple story, and focuses more on the characters However, in its speed to be a lot more character focused, I've had a hard time identifying with the characters on a more personal level. Maybe it's because the game isn't aimed at me? Oh wait... "For old and newcomers"- Yeah, it's for everyone. So why do I feel detached? Maybe it's that the main character is a prince and while a lot of bad things happen to him, it also feels like a lot of things are given to him. Some of the story elements feel important but aren't stressed or made clear enough, and some might say to watch the added movies/shorts Square Enix put out for us for that, but... Why should I do that?
    Regardless, the story managed to bring me into it. I can't say why exactly since that'll be stepping into spoiler territory, however, it is suffice to say that even if you hate the characters, and don't understand the story, the game doesn't beat you around the head for it.

    More gameplay focused, the fighting system is simplified, and you don't have to understand or be very good at all its elements or tactics to move through the entirety of the game, which I always consider a plus- my problem is that those who do master a portion of it still have a very solid problem getting "Good" at it. Simplifying is good, but abandoning the 'Easy to use Hard to master' idea to streamline things, in my opinion, is a failure.
    Nevertheless, the game won't punish you too much for not being a two button master, and you could move through the game.

    Moving into open world territory, Square had a big problem with this thing called 'Immersion', Yeah, I know it's a word thrown around, but when I do something and get bumped by an invisible wall, or some prompt doesn't work fluently and I end up jumping like an ass for three times until it works, or you try to get into certain areas in End-Game territory- I won't spoil it, but listen if you may- and the game pushes you away from them, likely because it didn't actually model the area, it just wants you to sight see. And that's my issue, I want to BE there, no just SEE it. Whle most of the game doesn't have that sin, and does a very clean job of letting you look at a backdrop and also playing around in it, the fact it doesn't make the entire game world that way is highly disappointing. Back-Once-When, Final Fantasy worlds weren't that huge, and that allowed you to get everywhere at some point, and that was fine. Should they have cut down the world and made it only of the accessible areas? Yes. Instead of invisible-wall shoving, yes.

    Perhaps that's my biggest problem with it: On one side, I really like a lot of elements in it. On the other, I can't help but feel a lot of things are missed here that didn't happen in previous Final Fantasy games. That didn't happen in other games. I come to Final Fantasy for the story, and now there's also awesome gameplay. But...

    I just wish those two were polished more. Yeah, think about that, this game has been in the works for 10 years, and back in the Episode Duscae and Platinum Demo the combat system still felt bad up until the game itself.
    You can see Square is trying, but I can't say they're at that level yet.

    Try harder, Square- This is DEFINETELY better than FF 13 and its iterations.    … Expand
Page:

Awards & Rankings

58
#58 Best PS4 Game of 2016
3
#3 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2016
6
#6 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 109 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 89 out of 109
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 109
  3. Negative: 0 out of 109
  1. BaziCenter
    Feb 14, 2017
    70
    After so many years of development, Final Fantasy XV is not what I expected it to be. The universe is immense and beautiful and the characters are just fine. But the story is short and disappointing and the gameplay suffers from lack of depth. FFXV is a good game, but it can never bring the former glories back to the series.
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  2. Edge Magazine
    Feb 14, 2017
    70
    Even as you reflect on the rarity of a blockbuster that's willing to take real risks, you'll be left with the uncomfortable realisation that ten years wasn't quite long enough, after all. Those jagged edges are, in the end, just a little too sharp. [Feb 2017, p.110]
  3. New Game Network
    Feb 7, 2017
    83
    Despite a divided feel, torn between what it was and what it plans to be, Final Fantasy XV has a lot to offer. If you're a diehard JRPG fan, then it's a positive sign that the series can cross over to a new format. And if you're just looking for an open world adventure, Final Fantasy XV certainly has that in spades, while doing just enough things differently to separate it from the likes of Dragon Age and Elder Scrolls.
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