Final Fantasy XV is Doomed to Fail Unless Square Enix Reacts

Citing the company's possible desire to reassess their approach to the Final Fantasy series after the success of Bravely Default, one fan issues a warning.

[fonger08]

It's like the Capcom model with Resident Evil. I don't understand why they want to "dumb" down part of what made/makes Final Fantasy games so fun, the turn-based like strategy. Ni Nu Kuni did it perfectly. That being said, it wasn't necessarily the battle system that turned me off to FF, it was the ridiculous and confusing story line of XIII-1,2,3.

[MrSwankSinatra]

Final Fantasy is still an RPG, it's just changing the style. Resident Evil on the other hand upped and changed genres.

[sinspirit]

@kalkano

In FF15's defense. It used to be Final Fantasy: Versus XIII. Which was a serious spin off that I think they said was still in the same universe as FF13 except there is no affiliation with any of the characters of FF13 involved. So, it wasn't exactly a standalone new entry in the main series, despite how ambitious it is.

If it has many similarities to Final Fantasy despite the gameplay difference I still consider it a Final Fantasy title, but I will be disappointed if they ditch turn-based for the main series. I am severely excited for this game ever since it was first announced so it makes me mad that people accepted the milked rubbish that is FF13 which in turn delayed development for what so far seems like a high quality game, though we haven't seen much of it.

[elninels]

So you say they are changing the gameplay, and that that is not something major?

This game seems like it will be very similar kingdom hearts. That also isn't farfetched since nomura is in charge. Kingdom hearts i consider a great game, however its style of play stands to starkly contrast anything pre FFXII.

While I am very excited for this game, it is unfortunate to believe that there will be no more turn based entries in the final fantasy series. maybe they will bring the bravely default to consoles (probably not). Le sigh.

[LAWSON72]

If people actually believe that the turn based elements are the only thing that make FF good... I just don't understand.

Also whoever calls FF13 dumbed down clearly is ignorant to the later stages of the game. It not only requires tactics but also precise timing. Go face an adamantoise or long gui if it is so simple to master without any guidance or tips. If the game was to be dumbed down and attract a casual audience it did a very poor job.

Disagree all you want simple fact is I played more than 100s hrs while odds are you did not even beat the game. You are most likely ignorant and bias, while I am open minded and willing to give something new a try. People can keep pretending FF13 is the RE6 of FF, too bad it is not.

The only thing debately wrong about the game is going the cinemtic story telling approach rather than the non linear exploration approach

[hkgamer]

it did seem to get a little interesting around 15 hours in. but too many things just put me off the game.

[FullmetalRoyale]

Lol.

I am bias, huh?

I am bias.

You obviously meant biased. I'll never get little nerds like you. If someone doesn't like something you do they "are bias".

So sad.

[LAWSON72]

Oh and the long ass tutorial that is something literally wrong with the game.
@Fullmetal Royal
You are biased, you played a game for a 10 or so hrs and all of sudden know the system is dumbed down and the game is bad when the game is 60 or so hrs long. It was not the same as previous FFs so you wrote it off as bad and now critique it like you know about the game when you simply don't just like every other FF13 hater.

Biased-unfairly prejudiced for or against someone or something. Hey look you fit the bill, unless of course you played the whole story and witnessed what the combat has to offer to actually compare it to previous entries afterwards. Your ignorance to the game is why you are biased because it is unfair.

Say I served you a 3 course meal. The breakfast was awful so you did not even taste the other two yet they were actually well cooked meals that tasted great. Anyways you then decide to call me a bad chef based on just one of my 3 course dishes, thus you are being biased or in other words unfairly prejudice.

[Godmars290]

You're missing the point that adamantoise are optional encounters. They contribute nothing to the story. Are just something in the game.

That cinematics have taken priority over story telling, that things happen in cutscenes which players can't do in the game, is the exact problem.

Hell, "Cinematic" gameplay should be outlawed. An automatic 0/10 for reviews.

[christian hour]

All I ask is, where are my airships? Where are my towns? And where is my explorable world map?

These have been absent from final fantasy for a long time. I'm hoping FFversusXIII/FFXV brings em back as promised 7 years ago, but I'm not getting my hopes up anymore.

[mydyingparadiselost]

As someone who played through 13 twice I feel I can say that it is one of the worst FF game released. The story is told through text in the menu rather than by the characters and their journey, the battle system is easy to exploit in all but the hardest of enemies, the characters themselves are mostly boring and one dimensional, the game has a 15 hour tutorial and the exploration aspects are removed from over half of the game.
I don't think it's as deserving of the most virulent hate that it gets but it's definitely not a great game by any means and the 2nd weakest of the FF entries, the first being Lightning Returns. I really have this game a shot, hence the 2 playthroughs, but in the end it's a sub par game compared with the earlier entries.

[shadowraiserx]

I Finish 13 and I did not enjoy it as much than previous titles ,It was dumb down by the story it self 1 summon per character and they were bad characters the fighting system is a speedy menu button masher ,you dont have to think to much to win,the only battle that I enjoy was the last boss but not as much the FFIV Final Boss a snes game was a lot better than the XII and XIII games.

[DiscoKid]

How does it feel being the minority?

[Aghashie]

U may be right, u may be not...

After the bad reviews I decided to skip the game. Until a friend insisted, so I borrowed his copy. He said to me: "U may not like combat system, but game can play by itself so u can just enjoy the story."

WTF!? The game can play by itself? I thought he was kidding...

I played the game for a few days. All I did was using the "auto" command all the time on every battle and on every boss. So my friend was not kidding after all.

Problem is that not only combat was terrible, almost needless of any human interaction. But also story, characters, lore and pretty much that makes a FF game a FF game was wrong.

I failed to get into this game. Or the game failed to entertain me. It doesn't matter wich side of the coin u see. What matters to me is that I regretted my close to 20 hours gameplay on that broken game. Simply terrible.

I loose my hype for FFXV a long time ago. And to be honest, I may get the game late, when cheap on Amazon or in a bargain bin. I might be too bussy playing Metal Gear, Bloodborne or The Division to even consider FF an option.

[3-4-5]

All the money Square spent on FF14 & AGAIN on FF14 + FF13 1,2,3.

All that money could have been spent on like 10-15 games.

Of those 15, 5-10 could have been new IP's.

They COULD be leading the charge into This gen with amazing new IP's and tons of cool RPG's and other games.

They chose Greed. They chose the "easy" route.

Now they are paying for it.

They deserve to fail now, but nobody really wants their IP's to go away, I think we just want somebody else to be in charge of them.

Square is completely lost for the most part. It feels like they have talent, but nobody smart enough to lead that talent in the ACTUAL right direction.

[joab777]

Thats the example I always use. Ni No Kuni did it perfectly.

The story doesnt have to be so childish but the use of an overworld with different areas, means of travel. Their battle system has been good but u need a party with amazing characters. They hav always been top notch with graphics and cutscenes. Add vendors with alot of customization, mini games, chocobo raising and races etc. FF14 is amazing...wtf?

And then have an endgame with monster hunts and epic loot for longevity. Honestly it isnt that hard. Until last gen,, they seemed to know exactly what to do.

[shadowraiserx]

Dude even South Park the stick of truth and Child of Light were better rpg's than FFXIII.

[MrSwankSinatra]

I don't understand people's beef with the battle system. As long as the gameplay is good who cares what battle system it uses whether it'd be turn based, timed based or action based. I've been playing final fantasy since the very original and I don't see the problem with it being an action RPG. There are many things that made Final Fantasy great and it wasn't just the battle system.

@NYC_Gamer I enjoy any style of RPG, I'm just saying it's not that big of deal. People who are complaining might actually enjoy it if they gave it chance before they write it off.

[NYC_Gamer]

There are some folks who believe the old battle system was much better while you enjoy the modern one.It's all opinion on what makes a game great in the eyes of the next person.

[kreate]

I fell asleep playing ff13.

[christian hour]

It's not the battle system I have a problem with, it's everything else they stripped out of it.

[shadowraiserx]

The Mana series is suppose to cover that part,that is the purpose of the Mana series to be action oriented.

[kenshiro100]

I sold FFXIII after I beat it. Stupid plot, characters I didn't really care for, and didn't feel like a real FF game.

Square should stick with what they do best.

[mezati99]

TGS is there last chance. if they didn't show it. i officially don't give a f*ck about this game anymore

[TheOrion]

While I have enjoyed the battle systems of old with turn based action, I have also seen how an active battle system can work very well.

To be quite honest, the fact that I now have to pay attention to what I'm doing actually provides that little extra immersion which is what I want in an RPG.

FFs core issue isn't the battle system, its the attempts to westernise the games, they can't pull it off and its killing the games.

[WeAreLegion]

Great story based on Hamlet with a great battle system. What's the problem here?!?

[Agent2009]

The success of old Final Fantasy games didn't lie in the story or gameplay, but the fantastic soundtrack, level design and that retro-ness, if you catch the meaning.

[Chrono]

Regardless of the success of this game, the naysayer vocal minority will always complain.

[REDBEARD]

I am quite excited for this game, personally.

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

As long as it has a Good gameplay,story,characters, and a explorable world elements that XIII was severely lacking in it should be an Amazing game.

[VileAndVicious]

Oh I believe this game is going to rock. It's just that development time for this game has been outrageous. Once we begin to see more of the game I believe most of these fears will fall by the wayside.

[Bhuahahaha]

they shouldve just sort the whole thing out like market it in a different way

and dont please all gamers in 1 very big budget title
categorize it this way

ff# -for the fans who loves tbs
ff:tactics -for the srpg
ff online -for those who love to socialize (mmorpg)
ff:ccore/wrpg -(just an example) for those people who like real time battle or more like a wrpg gameplay

so if SE announce ff20 people should know the gameplay is
the traditional ff series when they go for ff:tactics 5 where really sure its going to be a srpg

[Squall_23]

Lol he giving an example of skyrim and dragon age gameplay ? Seriously !! .. We have the best team in squere soft / enix handling this game .. Do you guys play kh 2 final mix or brith by sleep ? To know how good the gameplay was ? .. Image that with switshing players and all final fantasy element with it !!.. + open world + yoko shimamoura+ love story ..that sound the best finalfantasy ever ( if you use your mind ).. + namoura = the biggest reason for FF success ( FFVII ) char.. Design. and it goes on pepole .. I just need 1 more video about the game my body is shaking !!

[starcatcher]

I really hope they keep final fantasy 15 real time. It would look kinda
weird for realistic looking characters to not move until
it was there turn.

[DeadlyOreo]

I'm pretty sure they have kept it real time. If you check out the gameplay videos it looks very quick and fluent, almost plays like a Kingom Hearts game. It's looking very promising so far and hopefully I can have more Final Fantasy in my life, since I practically skipped XIII trilogy.

[starcatcher]

Yeah ff13 kinda sucked compared to all the others. And that's
good news. The game looks really cool!
They are taking so long though. Been waiting since 2006!!!

[VileAndVicious]

Yeah.... I don't care what you say about this game but it definitely ain't gonna fail. The moment square actually starts to get serious and begins to advertise this game its sales will pretty much be guaranteed.

[Legendary-Status]

this game will not Fail This & Kingdom Hearts 3 are Square's money makers they hold these ace's close to them...now one I would like to hear about would be The Last Gaurdian..

[Mithan]

I stopped giving a crap about final Fantasy years ago.

[Nerdmaster]

I bought my PS3 for Heavy Rain, but FFXIII also played some part in my decision to buy a PS3. Thank God Heavy Rain was so great, because if both disappointed me like FFXIII did, I'd have sold my PS3 after playing them.

Now not only FFXV has no influence on if I'll buy a PS4 or not, but even if I buy a PS4 because of other games, I'm not really sure I'll end up buying FFXV at some point.

[Chii081994]

Mind i ask anyone here interested in playing Square Enix Mobile games??? xD

[jambola]

I don't know if anyone will agree with me on this, but i could live with the game taking so long, if there wasn't article after article like this, not just like this, but anything related to the game without actual news,

[DiscoKid]

The game caters to a wide audience of gamers who like action-oriented games and roleplaying elements. I don't think it will fail but seeing I have no interest in SE's new approach, I will not buy the game.

[Tzuno]

I see a futuristic emmo wanna be rpg.

[Darrius Cole]

The article overreacts. The so-called downward spiral is not really a spiral at all. The problem is that Squenix kept making sequels to a lackluster game. Moreover, those sequels didn't advance the original story or answer any of the lingering questions of the original game.

I also think Square got caught up in the 360 vs. PS3 battle and screwed themselves out of a few million sales by trying to have it both ways. That in turn, led to XIII underperforming their expectations, which in turn again, led to Square trying to milk more profit from the XIII assets.

Square needs to walk away from XIII completely, and never look back.