Warp striking, zipping left and right, up and down, felt liberating and powerful without being broken.

Once I got a feel for the combat system and adapted to its warping, floaty nature, it became my favorite part of Final Fantasy XV. When you activate an ally’s technique or a link strike, characters warp into position and do their Cool-Dude thing, and then Noctis follows up with a flying strike of his own. Noctis performs many dramatic leaps and flourishes with each attack, constantly on the move. It lacks the same tight controls of any typical character action game, so assuming you’re going to get a Platinum Games level of polish here - like I did - is a non-starter.Įvery attack feels very “floaty”. The combat system of Final Fantasy XV did not make a good first impression, but I soon realized it’s because I approached it with all the wrong assumptions. Your browser does not support the video tag. Thanks Prompto! Improvement - The Combat System is Engaging and Requires You to Make Meaningful Choices Many of the pictures in this article are brought to you by the team photographer, Prompto. We’ll discuss the positives as well, and there are numerous positives too, but I will not ignore the frustrations, annoyances, and small quibbles I encountered that held back an otherwise great game. Forget all the drowning, let's talk about the game.Ī quick clarification - I’m not here to rip Final Fantasy XV apart. But, upon further evaluation, I think its just been so long we’ve forgotten what air tastes like.Īllow me to be the hand that shoves you back underwater in this increasingly dark analogy. Like a drowning swimmer rising to the surface, I think Final Fantasy fans were so eager for this particular gasp of air it tastes sweeter. I noticed Final Fantasy XV got overwhelming praise from various outlets during its release, and I don’t think it behooves any of us to pretend this series is entirely restored to its former glory. (If pressed to give an absolute lowest, Final Fantasy II would be my pick for bottom of the Final Fantasy barrel.) Only the hate-powered reactor in my heart drove me to finish Final Fantasy XIII, an entry I consider to be the series lowest modern point. Good news for anyone starting this game today - Chapter 13, pictured above, is slightly less of a hot mess.Ĭompared to my last article about a Final Fantasy game, this is a tremendous improvement.

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