By Christian Martinez
There are many RPG games out on the market, but unlike the rest, the Final Fantasy games do not have to be played in order so any one can join into the world at any game. This is stated at the beginning of each game with a simple message to the player, “A Final Fantasy for Fans and First-Timers.” Throughout the creation of this game, the developers put into consideration every aspect they could in order to make this game the best of its kind; and they did not disappoint.
In “Final Fantasy XV” players control a character known as Prince Notcis, the next in line to rule over the nation of Insomnia. Along with the player are the player’s close friends and faithful body guards: Gladiolus – The Prince’s Shield, Ignis – The Prince’s cook/personal driver, and Prompto – The Prince’s Historian. In the beginning of the story the four friends leave the nation of Insomnia, and are headed to the city of Altissia, Capital of Niflheim, for Prince Noctis’s wedding to Lady Lunafreya.
The wedding was meant to be used as a peace treaty between the two nations, but during the departure of Prince Noctis the military of Niflheim attacked the capital city of Insomnia, The Crown City. Prince Noctis and his fellow adventures receive news of the attack and are in utter shock of what has happened; Noctis is then informed that he, his friends, Lady Lunafreya, and his father, the king, are all claimed to be dead, and the city’s royal gem stolen.
This game has 15 chapters throughout the story showing the adventures of Noctis, Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto as they reclaim the fallen Crown City and find out exactly what happened.
The details of the game are unbelievably realistic; for instance, when running through the open fields, the characters will complain about aching feet, being too hot, and being hungry. They may even ask whether the player wants to camp or go to the closest town and stay in a hotel. The rain beads off the car’s paint, the breeze moves the characters’ hair and clothes, the rain makes the characters’ hair droop, and sunrises and sunsets look realistic. The animals will appear to have individual strands of fur.
Each character also has a specific skill that increases by during certain things; Noctis has fishing, so the more time the player spends fishing and the more fish the player catches the more his skill will increase. Gladiolus has a survival skill, so the longer the player travels on foot, gets into fights in the wild, and sleeps at outdoor campsites the more his will increase. Ignis has the skill of Cooking, so the more ingredients the player gathers from the wild and stores, the more recipes he creates, and the more the player allows him to cook when resting increases his skill.
The characters can also be injured by things in the surrounding areas; such as heat, poison, hypothermia, fall damage, magical damage. Sleep deprivation can also cause the characters to have a slower recovery speed on health and mana based.
Final Fantasy XV has been under development since 2006 and was supposed to introduce the characters in an earlier game that was sadly never released. The game was originally mentioned at the convention E3 back in 2013, and since than the fans have been waiting to see the story. On its release, nearly three years later, fans were not let down by Square Enix’s, the developer of the Final Fantasy series, promise to make this game the best of its games to date.
The game has countless hours of gameplay, mainly through side quests, but it will certainly keep the player entertained for a long while. Also, unlike other games this game has put more scientific and strategic factors into it. Before, one could rush a level 20 monster while being level 18 and win. Not in this game; here one has to attack strategically, using specific weapons that would cause more damage to an enemy while also carrying plenty of potions. The enemies in the game range in levels of one to ninety-nine and the enemies that travel in larger numbers are more strategic and work together to try and take down the player and their team.
In past games, the player could use any weapon in their level range and magic at any time; Final Fantasy XV, however, introduces a recoil effect to magic, and some weapons may even deplete Noctis’ health. The games ability to make players actually think about their next move in a situation is what makes Final Fantasy a real “jewel amongst rocks.”
The story is extremely moving and hooks the players from beginning to end. With twists, sudden changes, being able to change some aspect with certain decisions, action, romance, tragedy, and even topics that many people nowadays can relate to. This is a game that is highly recommended for players that prefer an adventure game with an incredible story line to follow. The game is currently for sale, both digitally and in disk form, for $60 for the base game.
Final Fantasy XV is available for both Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The game brings the major part of RPGs to life for the players and for the people who may just be watching instead of playing.
