Let's share our first (spoiler free!) impressions!

[Fynn]

Just because it happens a lot doesn't mean it's a good thing.

Doesn't mean it's a bad thing either.

Personally, I really like that format and am looking forward to seeing how XV handles it. XII is probably my favorite numbered FF so far, and Xenoblade is my favorate game, period. So far, everything I've seen of this game seems to be what I'm looking for in a gaming experience that I'll enjoy.

But of course, i understand that it's not everyone's cup of tea, and I didn't say that as any kind of proof that it's good or anything. Just that the fact that this borrows many MMO elements isn't some weird thing they just came up with for the sake of being quirky.

[Yar]

I've played just a few hours, but this is a first impressions thread after all.

I was playing it while my boyfriend watched. He first learned about the game probably a week ago and was interested in giving it a try.

I guess the best way to explain how I feel is to just start from the beginning and ramble from there.

The tutorial was good. There were some things that didn't quite make sense at first but I was able to pick up on them and it's nice to know it's accessible from the menu if I need to go back. That Carbuncle was really damn annoying, though. The annoying sounds and sending me an emoji of a Cactuar. That's not an expression of emotion! Bah.

When the game finally did start, I saw a scene of something burning for a few seconds before being taken away. ...okay? I'm sure it will come up again but I was really confused by the point of that scene even being there.

Then we see dad who says "go and don't come back!" and then cut away to broken down car. Push the car for a minute or so and then title screen.

Then cut to asking Cindy for money and going on a quest to kill things.

I guess I'm really just disappointed by how flat it is. Things are happening, yeah, but there's no exposition. I keep coming back to FF VI. The player doesn't know who Terra is, hell her name is just ??????. But within the first ten minutes of the game, you see her blowing trout up, see she has a connection with the Esper, she blacks out, and not long after there is a flashback to the slave crown scene. It gets the game going and also helps to build a connection between the player and Terra as a character. The player may still be confused about what all is going on, but the game has established the foundation you need to have empathy for her and to have a motivation to stop the bad guys.

I'm trying not to jump to a judgment about the story itself too early, but it certainly does feel like Square just can't tell a damn story anymore.

And I'm sure there is information in the movie and anime and whatever whatever. But that is not satisfactory to me. Why can't I enjoy a game with a self-contained story? I shouldn't have to pour hours into other media to understand or care about the story. It's no different from the datalogs in Final Fantasy XIII. It's not a good way to tell a story.

Anyway, the combat is good. Well at least better than I was expecting. I still prefer turn-based over what we have here, but it is working and I should judge it on its own merits. I think it's silly that Noctis just whips weapons out of thin air. I know it's explained that it's because of his royal lineage and whatnot, but that really just sounds like a cop out for a game mechanic they needed to put in.

The questing so far is pretty bland. "Hey go do this!" It plays like an MMO, as has been mentioned before, but it's also been done before and in much better ways. It's just not that innovative, and I can't understand why all this took ten years to make. I'm expecting the quests to pick up later, but I really don't expect the basic format of questing to change, which would be a disappointment. We will see.

The game so far is full of really mundane things as well. It's just silly to me. I don't think I've ever been playing a Final Fantasy and thought to myself, "you know what would really make this game great?? If I could cook toast and take selfies!" It just makes me laugh.

The design of the four main characters clash so much with the other characters that it's jarring. It looks like a lost JPop band talking to average, mundane people. I guess you could argue that it's because they are from royalty and also are in a somewhat foreign land, but it doesn't feel like that's really what they were going for here. It feels more like these characters were designed ten years ago and they didn't know what the hell to do with them so they built this world and decided to throw them in. It feels odd.

And the product placement everywhere oh man. If that isn't one of the most wrong things about this game. It is really killing the sense of immersion for me. Who would have known that in the fantasy world of Eos they would have Cup Noodle and Coleman camping equipment? But I guess that's a price you have to pay for taking a decade to produce a game.

The world itself is gorgeous and doesn't feel so copy paste. So that's good. The graphics are gorgeous, which is pretty par for the course for SE.

I'm having fun with the game but I really don't feel like it's the way the developers intended. I'm enjoying this game much in the same way that I enjoy the Twilight movies. It's not good but makes me laugh and I'm getting a sense of enjoyment out of it, in some mean spirited sort of way.

[Momiji]

I'm actually kind of digging the combat style. I just finished the tutorial and it doesn't bother me at all, like I thought it would. That said, the tutorial locked up on me once, leaving me just standing there and unable to do anything. That was pretty stupid since it made me sit through ALL OF IT again.

Also, is it possible to do Libra/Scan outside of Wait mode? I want to play in Active mode, but forcing the player to switch into Wait just to see what an enemy is weak to is massively counterintuitive.

[Sephiroth]

Defeated the Adaman. Took me 3 days ingame.

[Yar]

Also, is it possible to do Libra/Scan outside of Wait mode? I want to play in Active mode, but forcing the player to switch into Wait just to see what an enemy is weak to is massively counterintuitive.

That was another gripe of mine. Why can't it just automatically do Libra when I lock on?

I haven't had too many bug issues yet. One that did bother is that I was driving around and one of my guys starting saying someone was shouting for help. The guy wasn't shouting, so I had to walk around for 15 minutes to find him. I'm assuming it's a bug and that he's supposed to be shouting.

[Fox]

Also, is it possible to do Libra/Scan outside of Wait mode? I want to play in Active mode, but forcing the player to switch into Wait just to see what an enemy is weak to is massively counterintuitive.

Ignis will use Analyse sometimes (he may need it unlocked in the Ascension Grid? I'm not sure), but there's no way to order him to do it.

[Momiji]

Defeated the Adaman. Took me 3 days ingame.

That seems pretty advanced to be a spoiler-free first impression.

Also, is it possible to do Libra/Scan outside of Wait mode? I want to play in Active mode, but forcing the player to switch into Wait just to see what an enemy is weak to is massively counterintuitive.

Ignis will use Analyse sometimes (he may need it unlocked in the Ascension Grid? I'm not sure), but there's no way to order him to do it.

That's... kind of upsetting, to be honest. I may just have to get used to playing in wait mode or something, because switching them is kind of tedious when you do it over and over.

[Fox]

He tends to do it quite frequently for me now but I have absolutely no idea if there's something I have done/am doing to make that happen. It's weird how the game will bury the workings of these mechanics at times, whereas at others it'll beat you over the head with the minutiae. Yes I KNOW it's dangerous to drive at night, Iggy, but this hunt only comes out at night and it's 2 MILES AWAY so we are GOING TO SMURFING DRIVE THERE AT NIGHT.

[Sephiroth]

Defeated the Adaman. Took me 3 days ingame.

That seems pretty advanced to be a spoiler-free first impression.

That was in the trailers already. And they talked about it.

[Yar]

Defeated the Adaman. Took me 3 days ingame.

That seems pretty advanced to be a spoiler-free first impression.

That was in the trailers already. And they talked about it.

I think his comment was more that it's not really much of a first impression if you're that far.

[Sephiroth]

Defeated the Adaman. Took me 3 days ingame.

That seems pretty advanced to be a spoiler-free first impression.

That was in the trailers already. And they talked about it.

I think his comment was more that it's not really much of a first impression if you're that far.

But people already know I have finished the game and I do not want to be excluded from this club.Also it was my first time I fought the superboss.

[Shauna]

Going by the opening post...

I know some members here have already beaten the game, but for those of us who have just got the game I thought this would be a nice place to put down our thoughts

Sephiroth, if you want to discuss the superboss, feel free to in another thread, but it doesn't really belong in this first impressions thread.

[Sephiroth]

So basicaly because I have beaten the game I am not allowed to post in this thread?

EDIT: Ah, yeah. First impressions about something you have never done before in a game are no first impressions. Okay. If first impression is just supposed to mean "really only the first experience you get after starting the game but not first impression xy because that is already out of what is meant" then it gets very confusing. Don't worry, I won't post anymore.

[Shauna]

This thread is about first impressions - if you want to discuss your first impressions, post away. But defeating a superboss isn't a first impression, and belongs in its own discussion.

[Psychotic]

Why don't you make a thread called post game content where you talk about that sort of thing? I think you're not the only person here to have beaten it. Plus when the rest of us catch up we can join you there.