So I’ve finished up pretty much everything I wanted to. Did Pitioss, those dungeons for Dave’s mom, the hunts and Adamantoise and Omega. Ended up at level 112 by the end. Overall, I’m pretty impressed with this post-game!

Pitioss was immensely frustrating, but it was also so satisfying to beat. We’ve really never had a dungeon like this in an FF, and it’s really refreshing. It was pretty beautiful too, though personally I kinda wanna personally murder whoever thought those 45° platforms in the dark were a good idea. I was pretty sure I’d throw up most of the time. Still, it was endlessly engaging and stimulating and j never want to do it again.


The side quest with the dungeons was pretty long and tedious, but it was also kinda fun to get all the stuff there, and the Ring of the Lucii pretty much trivializes it all - if something isn’t vulnerable to Death, 99% of the time it’s vulnerable to Alterna. If anything, those dungeons were a great way to gain EXP since they were long but had camping sites, so it was easy to cook up some Lasagna al Forno for bonus EXP. the dungeon underneath Costlemark Tower was by far the most interesting as it didn’t allow me to use items. Since I could t cheese Alterna there, so it was nice to have to do it differently for once.

I wish there had been fewer hunts and that they’d be more fleshed out a la XII’s, but you know what didn’t suck? The Adamantoise. Not really the battle itself since Alterna worked on it (lol), but the buildup was incredible! It was so nice to see all the side characters come together, and you can finally see what all those vague little tidbits were all foreshadowing. The Adamantoise felt like big not just because of its huge size, but just because it was a big deal to Lucis in general.

And then we have Omega, the cherry on top. While it’s nowhere near as challenging as other FF super bosses, it is certainly the most engaging fight in the game. I had to use up pretty much all of my items - no cheesing Alterna this time - and I felt I just had to adjust my tactics at every turn. FFXV is a very easy game in general, but even though I didn’t lose to Omega once, it still felt like I really needed to pay attention. Also, it’s battle theme is a remix of the FFV battle theme! How cool is that!



Overall, I think it bears repeating that I really loved XV. Like really loved. It was a fantastic experience for me overall and it actually completely reinvigorated my love for this franchise. It reminded me why after so many years I still just can’t let go of FF. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me feel like I was part of something big. I’m a bit sad that a game with such an incredible world, lovable characters, and incredibly strong themes gets such a cold reception from the fan base, but I firmly believe that in time, it’ll become vindicated, much like other once-polarizing entries like XII.

So I’ll probably write an article about it soon, I guess. I’m also actually planning another marathon of FF in the near future - though I’ll be finishing some other games in the meantime as a palate cleanser. But before I start those new threads, if anyone is still here, let me know - what was your absolute favorite thing about FFXV?