I haven't finished it yet, but thats my general thought as well. They've gotten a lot of the technical things right. The graphics are very good and the gameplay is very strong (aside from the camera). And through it all, it feels like a FF game. But they have work to do if they want to catch up to the Western RPG studios in many ways as well.
Patch 1.03 is out. Adds New Game +, some free holiday costumes (mariachi Noctis!), unspecified bug fixes. NG+ is something interesting but I don't see why you'd bother when you can just do everything in the post game. Makes no sense to me. Unless you really, really like trains. There is still a pending PS4 Pro related update that Square-Enix has said would be out before the end of the year. It's not mentioned in the notes for 1.03, so I don't even know anymore.
The core gameplay is fantastic. The open world is more like an open countryside, but whatever, it works. The game is technically good but not great, and is fairly buggy. The camera is awful. I find the gameplay aspects to be strong, but I find the storytelling aspects to be just terrible. This is odd, because normally the JRPG is better at story and the WRPG/CRPG is better at gameplay. They've promised new story cutscenes in future patches, but... how could they have spent 3 years redeveloping this as Final Fantasy XV and still not have created a coherent, well-told story? So much of the story is implied, or requires knowledge of spinoffs (Kingsguard, Brotherhood) to understand. The sequences are stitched together from what seems like preexisting, incomplete FF Versus XIII material, and areas that seem like they should have been more accessible are little more than backdrops. The pacing is just awful, too. The future HD remaster of this game in 10 years for the Playstation 6 is going to be a nightmare.
Well, the allure of NG+ for a second playthrough I think, would be to be able to use weapons, equipment, magic, ect in earlier parts of the game that you weren't able to before. Along with all of the other things that they've speculated could be added to the game in the future - new playable squadmates, more missions, all the fixes, ect. My expectation is that, like The Witcher 3, I'll play the game through again about a year after my first time, and enjoy it even more than the first time.
The game is already pretty easy without having endgame stats and equipment, though. If/when I replay this game, which I'm not sure I ever will, I'll do it on the PC.
At this point i'm not even sure I'll finish it. I'm hoping when this story update patch comes out, I'll find my second wind to keep going.v Until then, I'm in chapter 9 in some new city overseas.
Well, I'm not that concerned about "easy or hard", though I imagine that the game is more challenging for me than some others. I just want it to be fun and enjoyable, and I'm honestly still sorting through things and figuring the battle system fully out. Its taken me a while.
the trash mobs seem super easy, but I guess thats the point. Few bosses have given me trouble... I have never died in the game (I dont think). but there doesn't seem to be an encounter that you can't win by just porting out and in over and over quickly.... not yet at least. There's been a few where the porting point was not easily accessible.
Early on, I died quite a bit before I built up my Hi-Potion reserves. Some battles, I would use 20-40 of them to stay alive since there's not really healing magic. Since unlocking Rammuh and Leviathan, I've also had many battles in dungeons lately, where they save my rear end and I may have otherwise died. A few bigger hunts the same way too. Some of the daemons are much easier than others, for sure. The XP gained from them seems odd at times too. Some that I could crush even when I was at the same level, like the centipede or crab types, give good amounts. Others that I had a horrible time with give almost nothing. All in all though, until I got over level 60 or so, I was struggling to get through the story chapters at ten levels higher than recommended. I suspect that when I jump back into the story, I'll not have a huge difficulty, but actually dying during a chapter story is a huge, shameful dishonor that I generally try to avoid at all costs.
You're going to be waiting a while. Additional story scenes are considered mid-term updates, meaning they're less important than bugfix updates and possibly DLC development.
If you're having a tough time, there IS a difficulty option in settings… though you really shouldn't need it. Some things I figured out that the game didn't tell me: 1. You can use multiple techs concurrently. So you can fire off a first tech, and while that's in progress, you can immediately select another tech. Doesn't work on all (you can't use Ignis' Regroup this way, for instance) but works with most single bar techs. 2. R1+L1 activates the Armiger, right? But hitting R1+L1 again activates the Armiger Chain, where everyone uses Armiger weapons to beat the crap out of something. 3. Techs have experience levels. 4. Rare Coins are amazing because Expericast.
I did not know 1 & 2. However, I usually only use tech's that take all three bars. Honestly, I almost always just use Ignus, lol. However, maybe I'll set prompto up with a lesser one and try it out. I will absolutely try out #2 the next time that I play. I haven't actually created the magic that way with the coins, but I was aware of it after looking through just about everything to see what I could make. I mostly create ones with cheap food items that let me do a X3.
Yeah, I'm going to expect that they won't be ready for a long time too. I had thought about waiting to move on with the game until they fixed CH13, but then I realized that I should probably just get to it and worry about the changes the next time that I play.
I disagree that chapter 13 is broken in any way. It's the only chapter with any sort of explanation or exposition, and it's basically an HD version of the trip through FF6's Magitek Research Facility.
http://www.dualshockers.com/2016/12/21/how-final-fantasy-xv-new-game-plus-works-what-carries-over/ Info about how NG+ works
Done with most of the hunts. Beat the superboss. Working on the bonus dungeons behind the doors that look like a cross between a Malboro's mouth and a dimensional portal. Not too thrilled with the structure of those bonus dungeons being "go through a bunch of generic floors until you get to the big bad." Reeks of last-second add-in.
The super boss qualifies as a five star hunt, yes. I was in the low 70s. It's not difficult, just tedious. You are basically pecking him to death.
If you were low 70's then I may be able to beat him too. Did you do all the "hunts" from the smith in Lestallum?
Yes. I had the Zwill Crossblades from the last Randolph mission as my primary weapon during the fight. I just pecked the super boss to death. Edit: here's my video of said pecking. Warning: superboss endgame spoilers.
Yes. There are about 15-20 new hunts, a super boss, and 8 bonus dungeons that unlock in the postgame.
I was thinking about getting this game, the edition with the Season Pass, but I can't find what's in the Season Pass? Does it come with the 6 DLCs? Future content? Anybody know?
The DLC isn't out, so right now you don't get much. Currently you'll get the Holiday Pack +. Later, when they're ready, you'll get Episode Gladio, Episode Ignis, and Episode Prompto. Each of those star the named character and will show what they were doing during certain points in the game. Episode Gladio takes place in Chapter 7 when he breaks off from the party. Episode Ignis presumably occurs in Chapter 9. Episode Prompto presumably occurs during Chapter 12. Then there's a future expansion pack that isn't detailed. There have been hints that they're working on new guest characters, so it's possible the last DLC could be a playable Lunafreya package. I'm personally hoping they add Aranea to the party as a permanent character. I'd like a DLC about her more than I would about Lunafreya.
Id like to get Aranea, Iris and Cor all as playable party members that we get to "keep". Fill out the roster.
Iris has no business in the party, IMO. I didn't get the point of her as a guest character. Cor would be nice if he had more screen time and wasn't just a generic hardass.
KK I just bought the digi premium and it's downloading. Any pointers from you pros before I fire it up?
The final, previously undetailed Season Pass DLC is called Comrades, and will make Iris, Cor, and Aranea playable. It's possible Lunafreya will be made playable as well.
Thats very cool! Its safe to assume that it can be purchased as well, correct? Just completed the story. Level 74, 93 hours. Safe to say that I was powerful enough to win the battles at the end
Presumably it can be bought separately like every other DLC, yes. But it's also part of the Season Pass. Postgame content will kick your ***. There's a superpowered Magitek armor, a bunch of new hunts, the superboss, and the bonus dungeons. There are enemies that are quite literally immune to all conventional forms of damage.
Cool! Just figured out how to fly with the Regalia and fooled around with that a bit. Looking for the new hunts. None at a few spots, unfortunately. I'm going to see if I can figure out the bonus dungeons on my own without the guide or looking it up, but if I can't, I'm glad to have the resources.
The new hunts are in Lestallum. The open street restaurant near the weapons vendor gives them. And the dead end alley near that has a new NPC who will send you off to face 5 very strong monsters. The last is the level 120 mini-superboss Naglfar.
I'll definately check all of that out. I was pleasantly surprised to see that you can pick up from where you left off in Castlemark Tower if you leave and come back. I tried it around level 60 and had to bail after going through several of the sections. Thats next on my list, especially now that I have all of the Espers.
