I do feel there are certain story moments between the characters that just "randomly" show up. I'm sure there is a checkpoint in the code for when these events play out but it's definitely not a scripted in the sense it plays immediately after a certain moment but instead just triggers when you make camp/stay at an inn. Which frankly has been kind of nice for me. Of anything, I'm appreciating the fact the game is a bit more interactive with it's story content, dialogue choices, funny non-consequential mini-game activities with the party members. I like the fact Tabata and his team are hearkening back to the V-IX era and pushing the fact that story scenes shouldn't just be me sitting there listening to characters drone on for fifteen minutes. There is also just the various conversations your characters will do together while just walking around.

Gameplay-wise, my beefs with the game so far are mostly my issues with Open-World games in general, so it's a bit harder to nail XV for anything new problem-wise that hasn't been heard before when discussing things like Skyrim, Xenoblade Chronicles, and Fallout.

Pros:
  • I'm enjoying some of the subtle things in the game, such as having the car need to stop to let a herd of monsters cross the road.
  • I found the original Crow's Nest, though the Kenny "Special" is a bit too expensive for my taste at the moment.
  • I'm really enjoying the variety techniques bring to combat, not just by breaking up the simple monotony of ARPG combat in general but because several of them do either offer some tactical advantage or some interesting gameplay addition that requires you to do some more stuff than just press the circle button.
  • The game kind of keeps the XC thing where anything ten levels higher than you will most likely murder you outright. As it stands there is still one Daemon at night I have to avoid.


Cons:
  • Wow, while I can appreciate returning the Couelir enemy back to it's "Nope *hit run command*" status, I feel the team may have gone too far with them in this one. Three of them were a handful but I did a hunt that had me fight eight of them and in addition to burning through my Phoenix Downs, I had to resort to having Ramuh deal with them. Speaking of which...
  • I have the boon of two Astrals already, but I've only seen one of them so far in combat. How the hell do they work? Does the newest Astral just replace the old one so I missed out on the chance to see Titan, or is it just random and the game for me seems to favor Ramuh more?
  • I'm torn between finishing exploring the area and advancing the story, especially since the story mission says up front that I may not be back in the area for some time. I keep feeling there is another Lucian artifact or two for me to pick up in the area. On the other hand I get to roll with Iris in the story mission...
  • Okay game... it's "Eye-Ris" not Ee-Ris" that's starting to get on my nerves.