• 5 Things That FFXV Can Still Screw Up


    Recently we've been treated to an excellent piece penned by our dear Pumpkin, showing us how a skeptic of FFXV's undeniable greatness can still hope for some good things. Considering I'm pretty much the opposite of a skeptic in that regard - that is, I am a raving maniac ready to ingest every copy of FFXV - I was thinking that thinking of counterpoints to my own point of view which might actually be a healthy way to soothe my proverbial mammaries. Here's five areas in which FFXV might screw up!

    5. The Kingsglaive scenes won't fit in


    Despite my unwavering faith in FFXV, I have not seen Kingsglaive, and what I've heard of it has been worryingly mixed. I was disappointed that most of what was supposed to be the game's prologue was relegated to a separate movie, but then it turned out the Day 1 patch actually implements some scenes from the movie into the game. So in that sense we're still kind of getting that prologue chapter! Awesome, right? Well...

    One of the biggest criticisms aimed at Kingsglaive is that the story is weak, with many characters just being bland and uninteresting. I mean, that is to be expected, considering it's a movie tie-in, but it turns out it was written by people who had nothing to do with XV's main scenario. It can be expected, then, that the tone of the movie and the game may differ, to say nothing of the character writing being inconsistent. And dear God, I really can't get over what they did with Luna and Ardyn's faces for this movie! WHY!


    Idk, maybe she just had a cold or something.

    Speaking of that...

    4. The ladies



    Another one of Kingsglaive's big criticisms was the treatment of Luna. We were reassured by Tabata that Luna is a very strong character, and yet apparently, from what I've heard, the film treats her very condescendingly. As I said, though, it was handled by different people, so perhaps Luna's game portrayal will be more compelling. Although something tells me the fans of a certain other lady with the surname Nox Fleuret won't be letting her off that easily.


    Never forget.

    But that's just the tip of the iceberg. I need not mention the gargantuan backlash that ensued after the announcement that the FFXV party is all-male, and saying anything about Cindy carries a huge risk of starting flame wars. From the promotional materials, it doesn't seem like there are a lot of female characters in this game, and those that are have already found ways to earn the ire of fans.

    Still, judging by her appearance in the trailers and the audience's reaction, it's pretty safe to say it will be very hard to ruin Aranea Highwind.


    Cue somebody smurfing that up.

    3. The villain


    Looking at anything on the Internet lately has involved a lot of me closing my eyes, plugging my ears and going "LALALA" at the top of my lungs because of a certain plague that originated in Peru.

    If that was too subtle, I mean spoilers. Spoilers everywhere.


    NO, THANK YOU!

    It's tempting to look it up, but the fact that the main villain of this game is so mysterious is good. For all the massive plot details SE has revealed, they at least managed to successfully cover up the Big Bad thanks to what seems to be a strong villainous ensemble. And yet...


    Nothing wrong with SE's track record with old white dude villains. Nope, everything is fine here.

    After the trainwreck that was the entire XIII trilogy, it's hard to imagine SE still has it in them to write a compelling villain. For every Kefka or Kuja there is a Seymour or Dysley. FFXV could go either way. Will we get Ardyn who is already incredibly charismatic and so enjoyable to watch, or will they give him, or any of the other characters, really, a weak motivation and dialogue? Maybe Verstael will turn out to be the real man behind the man who wants to destroy the world just for the evil? Or maybe Ravus will take center stage and kill everyone because FEELINGS?

    2. Story pacing


    According to Tabata, FFXV starts off open and becomes more linear in later chapters. As you'll notice, this is... the complete opposite of every numbered single-player FF since FFV (I should know, I'm doing a marathon of them right now).


    Anyone remember THIS?

    Sure, the concept sounds really good on paper, especially after XIII going "okay, okay, here - play in this big open space for a chapter. Hope that shuts you up. Back to the hallway in a sec, though!". You know, after like 30 hours of pushing your analog stick forward? Man, have I already mentioned I'm not too wild about XIII?


    Do you? Be honest with me, Light.

    An inversion might sound good then. I'm sure they'll find a way to smurf that up anyway, right?

    1. It will lack cohesion


    Remember when at one point Nomura watched Les Mis and said "Hey, let's make Versus XIII into a musical! What? Of course it'll work, don't be silly!"


    I own you and everything you love.

    To say XV has had a troubled development would be a little bit of an understatement. After around seven years of complete silence we're suddenly treated to three years of total transparency, to the point where Tabata seems to be saying "Please, fans! Tell me what you want in this game! I am completely lost on how to please you guys, so tell me everything!"

    And the fans did. And Tabata listened. And threw in everything they wanted.


    It's not like that has ever backfired horrifically.

    You know, there's this thing about fans - and I say this as a fan myself. They don't really know what they want. They'll know in theory, but with a series as large and with such a huge fanbase as FF, you will not receive a consistent answer. We are truly the most unpleasable of fanbases simply because we all want different things from a game.

    As a consequence, any effort to please them all is doomed to fail. Worse still, we may end up with a product that is a Frankensteinian amalgam of things that don't necessarily go well together. But hey, here's your fanservice, you glorious mothersmurfers!


    SE: Please love us again?

    Phew! Now that that's over with, I can go back to my regular screaming about how awesome this game will be. Because no matter how many of the above predictions will come true, I still really believe that Final Fantasy XV will be a great game. At the very least, I am sure I will love it. Because you can't please everyone, and people will always be upset about something. But the amount of effort that went into it, and the style of everything we've seen so far amounts to what looks like one of the most ambitious games in the series, and I can't wait to play it. Tuesday can't come soon enough.
    This article was originally published in forum thread: 5 Things That FFXV Can Still Screw Up started by Fynn View original post
    Comments 34 Comments
    1. Formalhaut's Avatar
      Formalhaut -
      Good article. I definitely think my main complaint is the representation of women. It really wouldn't be that much to ask to have Cindy wear more practical clothing for engineering. And while Aranea fairs better, she is still basically wearing breast armour.
    1. Fynn's Avatar
      Fynn -
      I honestly don't think it's that bad, since they fixed the camera angles on Cindy and now all that boobage is much less front-and-center.


      And you know, Aranea may be wearing breast armor, but we also get no-shirt Gladio
    1. Mirage's Avatar
      Mirage -
      I'm impressed you managed to stop after just 5
    1. Fynn's Avatar
      Fynn -
      Don't start with me, Mirage. Every breath I take is FFXV. I am ready to absorb it with my pores, froggy-style.

      I need to play it - badly - because I really believe in it and I can begin bitching about what's wrong with it after I actually get to see what is wrong with it
    1. Mirage's Avatar
      Mirage -
      hey i was super hyped for the game too. at one point
    1. Fox's Avatar
      Fox -
      My main concerns are EVERYTHING RELATED TO KINGSGLAIVE. So yeah, with you on those points.

      I hope to god the Kingsglaive scenes don't fit in because they were utterly awful. Hey - I liked the film. It was fun. But it was fun because it was pretty and exciting, not because it was well written or had any characters worth a damn. And the treatment of their female characters wasn't just poor, it was straight out of the 1930's. "Get kidnapped and rescued constantly because your entire plot line revolves around whether or not you get married".

      I'm less worried about it lacking cohesion. If Tabata is a smart designer, he knows how to get feedback and filter out the stuff that won't work. And if he's not a smart designer then the game is screwed anyway, with or without fans convincing him to throw everything but the kitchen sink in there.
    1. Sephiroth's Avatar
      Sephiroth -
      I cannot take this post serious when it complains about possibly bad written villains and then takes Kefka as example of a well written one.

      That said - I have FFXV and I love it.



      Reading every other forum is like reading kanzenshuu or twitch or youtube.
    1. Fox's Avatar
      Fox -
      I hope you can feel my burning jealousy coming through your monitor right now
    1. Fynn's Avatar
      Fynn -
      Why yes, having just beaten FFVI and playing FFVII I can honestly say Kefka is far more compelling and fun to watch

      Not to mention his backstory actually makes sense. The Nibelhein flashback is in general just one big plot hole For all the crap I talk about Crisis Core in how it retcons stuff, at least Sephiroth got a way more believable backstory.
    1. Wolf Kanno's Avatar
      Wolf Kanno -
      The problem with both FFX and XIII is that their premises were compelling enough not to need a central villain to focus on. Sin was already a compelling terror, we didn't need Seymour and the poorly hidden conspiracy that is the Yevon Church. Similarly, the drama of fighting a terrible fate given by an unknowable unfeeling god-machine is an interesting enough premise to not require Dysely to muck it up by removing a lot of the drama with a villain who reveals the bad guys certainly didn't think their plan through despite being terrible overpowered god-machines.

      With that mindset, I kind of feel that XV doesn't necessarily require a strong central antagonist either, the menacing empire, and coming to terms with one's birthright on a journey of brotherhood can be pretty compelling without some hammy asshole popping up every few hours to feed puppies into a meat grinder. I still totally expect FFXV to do so, but I'm saying now, it probably wasn't as important as the design team and fans probably think it is.

      The Kingsglaive stuff will be fine if the game simply adds in the relevant stuff such as the botched peace signing and the fall of Insomnia (though not necessarily the part where Nyx goes super saiyan and fights off the evil general and the Kaiju battles that followed). The actual political drama of Kingsglaive will be important for the narrative of XV, the rest concerning the new characters isn't, though I'm sure they'll reference why Luna's brother is missing an arm, and I'm sure the last surviving member of the Kingsglaive may appear in his hometown in the final game.

      As for Cindy, and the female cast in general, we'll have to wait and see. I'm sure Cindy will still be oversexualized because Japan can't quite fathom how fanservice and cheesecake can somehow be offensive (and sadly some interviews with Tabata makes this seem like the case) but I feel there is still hope the other women in the plot will get some great moments.

      As for pacing and cohesion, I already think it's very likely FFXV may fall into the same trap of XII's pacing with players getting lost in the glut of optional content and simply trying to reach the next story content that they will have serious issues keeping the plot straight after spending ten extra hours purging the local town of various monsters, fish, and scouring for recipes. The cohesion may not be as big of an issue though. I feel most of the feedback Tabata has incorporated has largely been for fine tuning the gameplay experience as opposed to just throwing crap in that fans may like. The moogle doll and flying car are probably the only serious examples I can think of and I don't feel either is going to break the game.
    1. Fynn's Avatar
      Fynn -
      You're just saying that because you're a moogle fanboy
    1. Wolf Kanno's Avatar
      Wolf Kanno -
      Quote Originally Posted by Fynn View Post
      You're just saying that because you're a moogle fanboy
      I personally don't like what they did with moogles for this game, but at least it's something I can most likely ignore. It's not like Noctis suddenly gained "The Great Mog" a talking magical moogle that only Noctis can see and grants his wishes as he travels with the prince to learn what humans call love. Believe me, it could have been so much worse.
    1. Fynn's Avatar
      Fynn -
      I know. I have played XIII-2, after all.
    1. Wolf Kanno's Avatar
      Wolf Kanno -
      Quote Originally Posted by Fynn View Post
      I know. I have played XIII-2, after all.
      I luckily had the foresight not to, so my brain is still clean from the stain that is Time Moogle Mog.
    1. Fynn's Avatar
      Fynn -
      It changes into Serah's bow, Wolf. You don't understand
    1. Wolf Kanno's Avatar
      Wolf Kanno -
      Quote Originally Posted by Fynn View Post
      It changes into Serah's bow, Wolf. You don't understand
      And you learned a valuable lesson concerning giving a smurf up a second chance.
    1. Fynn's Avatar
      Fynn -
      I still wanna beat it and LR someday, though. So no, I don't think so
    1. Mirage's Avatar
      Mirage -
      FF13-2 is a better game than FF13. With a worse story, if you can believe that's possible.
    1. McLovin''s Avatar
      McLovin' -
      3 days ahhhhhmogod. (i want it to be gud)
    1. Aulayna's Avatar
      Aulayna -
      In regards to Luna and Ardyn's faces in the movie, their faces are the same as those of the mo-cap actor/actress used for those characters.
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