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!
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.
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.
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...
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).
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?
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!"
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.
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!
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.
