In recent years the respect and prestige the Final Fantasy franchise earned from providing a stellar storytelling experience, backed up by graphics beyond the confines of the other console games, has slowly deteriorated. This is due to the awfully poor Final Fantasy X-2 and the online rendition of the series which has only gained a small cult following (sorry ya losers the FF MMO sucks).
Most of the people I know just gave up on hoping the next game would break Square Enix out of their rut and bring Final Fantasy back up to speed with current games. Some people even fooled themselves into believing every game after X-2 was still amazing, ignoring the stink of mediocrity that currently plagues the series that used to set trends for the market.
The tutorial turns out to be a massacre. Poor Reks.
Genre: JRPG Developer: Square Enix Release Date: 16th March, 2006 Platforms: PS2, PS4 Score: 6/10 Similar Titles: Grandia, Dragon Quest, Star Ocean Worth playing: If you are a fan of Final Fantasy or are running out of alternative RPGs to play.
This years E3 has been interesting. Aside from Microsoft being outclassed in presentation in every possible way by Sony and Nintendo, new footage for the exciting new Final Fantasy XV. In the past couple of years we've seen a couple of trailers, ones that lack any kind of substantial information about gameplay. That's all about to change. This video shows how Square Enix have finally accelerated themselves into the new era of action RPG.
I am not ashamed to admit that watching this video sent my body into goosebump overdrive. I am trembling with anticipation for this game. I have played every Final Fantasy title to date, and haven't thoroughly enjoyed or respected one after X. Every release after FF10 made at least one gamebreaking mistake, one that defined the entire title in a bad way. Final Fantasy X-2 had the abysmal dress sphere system and the distinct lack of any story aside from concluding the previous game. FF13 was terrible in the sense that the only break from the first 20 hours of following one linear path was to press auto-battle repeatedly until you won. It's no secret nor something people can argue about: they were all distinctly lacking that Final Fantasy feel that made you lock yourself in a room and quit your job until you had finished it.
Final Fantasy XV looks like it is going to bring us all back from the brink. Dare I say it for fear of jinxing the whole production? We're actually going to get a good Final Fantasy game again. One that us fanboys can actually defend on an intellectual level. We've got a main lead that seems to be cool for once, unbelievable graphics, intense third-person action, and some colossal enemies that look truly terrifying. Final Fantasy XV looks promising indeed.
This video just looks awesome. Square Enix could still fuck it up, but from what we've seen they are definitely on the right track to making a titanic game. Here's hoping I don't end up posting a review next year about how disappointing it is. My biggest fear is that the protagonist Noctis will turn out to be a douche. Ever since Tidus I've never liked the main character.
