I know I should know better after all these years watching every game from VIII onwards get the same treatment, but I am baffled by the criticism this game is getting in this thread. xD

The emperor thing was really blatant to me. Just before (or was it in the first five seconds of?) the fight with the Emperor you get the "Is that the Emperor!?" routine from your characters while the enemy you kill fades away very slowly and does his big speel about ruling the world. Honestly I'm kind of glad they didn't make a big show of the Emperor because we don't really see him at all throughout the entire game. He was a pawn of Ardyn from the start, as were many. I guess they could have given it a short cutscene but I don't really feel there was a need at all.

Luna's death, the blinding of Ignis and the rift that came between Gladiolus and Noctis was incredibly well done to me.

I was a bit gutted to not see the old gang (main party excepted) at Hammerhead, and the inability to go and see the others elsewhere, that much I definitely agree on.

I think this game was excellently done. I spent hours doing sidequests and was clearing out level 50 dungeons before I got to chapter nine. And then I felt like pushing the story a bit and finally got around to hitting chapter ten yesterday, then pulled an all-nighter (8am finish of the game).

I guess there will be some who will focus on the bad but I am still quite captured by the good in the game. It isn't my ideal Final Fantasy game this year (World of Final Fantasy, hi) but as a game in general, it was absolutely incredible. An epic story, a massive world, a buttload of things to do (I haven't even done half the minigames despite spending so long doing everything else), the battle system was great, the ascension system was great, the ending was great, the feels were great.

Really happy.