I have played nearly every installment of the Final Fantasy series. It was one of my favorite series of role playing games, that is until they decided to go online and then release games that just did not seem all that much like a Final Fantasy game. The last one I really enjoyed a lot was the tenth edition, I even liked its sequel; however, I never did play the eleventh game due to it being exclusively an online game. Then the twelfth game came out and I was rather disappointed as it still ranks as my least favorite. Granted, I am wanting to play it again to see if I may have misjudged it and ranked it poorly unfairly. Then came part thirteen and it was pretty, fast paced and devoid of a lot of things that make a role playing game, a role playing game. I also played through XIII-2 and it had more elements of a role playing game, but the story was just so congested in it. Then there was XIII: Lightening Returns which collapsed more story on top of what was already congested and made the game a timed game and I was unable to complete it due to this as it annoyed me. Did not play the fourteenth game due to it being another online one, I really wish these were not part of the main series and just called Final Fantasy Online. The last one I played is Final Fantasy-Type 0 which had great characters and fun combat, but the story was just a bit too hard to follow. Now there is this one which is by far my favorite since the tenth game. Sure, it is not turn based like the old days which I prefer, but at least the combat is action based and not that strange combination which is not really turn, but not really action either. The type usually found in online role playing games, the twelfth game was like this. No, in this one the combat is quick and you have a nice open world to explore for the most part. My main complaint about it, is that like Type-0 the story is not easy to follow. It is easier than Type-0 as it has a well defined villain, but a lot of stuff takes place off screen or you have to watch a movie or download a DLC to get everything. I just feel a game's story should be confined to the main game and you should not be required to purchase more stuff to get the full picture. Other than this it is a very fun, albeit depressing game.
The story is a bit complicated when looked at as a whole; however, the main portion is about a prince and his three friends traveling the world in order for the prince to reclaim his thrown by gaining the powers of the former kings and the summons. The characters are what makes this one so fun as they are just a group of friends and they have funny conversations and remarks during the adventure. Your group travels everywhere in search of the power to expel the empire from the city of Insomnia; however, there is something far more sinister than a mere invasion as the days are getting shorter and during the night powerful creatures known as daemons appear to terrorize the populace. Soon Prince Noctis heads to a city where he was to be married and at this point the game does get rather depressing.
The game play features combat that is action based. During the game you only control Prince Noctis, but despite this it is still rather fun. The summons in this game are awesome as they usually wipe everything out! The first portion of the game is an open world where you travel here and there in search of the King's tombs and do other things such as side quests to gain experience. This one also does things a bit differently as you do not get experience upon defeating the enemies, but rather when you either camp or stay at a hotel or rest stop. You generally get more experience for staying at a hotel or rest stop; however, you can eat a meal when camping that provides buffs to your party. The game becomes a bit more straight forward though when you go to the city of Altissa which looks like Venice. After this the game's mood darkens significantly, but there is a rather cool portion of the game that features a train. Always enjoy trains in role playing games.
So, this game was my personal favorite Final Fantasy since the tenth game. I would have ranked it higher, but the story was a bit hard to follow at times due to the incessant need these days of games to have DLC packs and such. I also wish the tone of the game did not darken so much after the group left for Altissa as my life is at the lowest point imaginable and it really just caused me to feel worse. I was also disappointed that you are pretty much done with the open world once you leave for Altissa as I was thinking you would get more time to finish quests and such. I think you can go back in time or something and do it, but I just did not think that fit so I just went straight ahead. The game took me just over 60 hours to complete making it a relatively short game by today's standards and I completed a lot of side quests too so if you play straight through I imagine you could probably finish the game between 40 and 50 hours. So not as great as the Final Fantasy games back in the day, but better than all the recent ones.
