Final Fantasy XV Review | IGN

Final Fantasy XV takes some risks that don't always pay off, but the strong quartet of heroes give it tons of heart.

[Irishguy95]

8.2, as opposed to FFXIII's 8.9

woo

[-Foxtrot]

I knew that would happen...however it looks a better game then it. You have to remember they give FF13 a high mark over hype and brand name, at least here they aren't going off those two things to review the game. Plus it seems they've spent more time with the game to let it sink in more.

[Irishguy95]

Yeahp it was pretty predictable, FFXIII got the overhype and overrated were as FFXV people are pretty cautious!

[-Foxtrot]

Gamespots the same, they gave this one 8/10 while FF13 got 8.5/10.

Gamesradar give it 4.5/5 while the last one got 5/5

There's probably more...shame

[Irishguy95]

Gamesrader gave 13 a 5/5

holy shi

[_-EDMIX-_]

Didn't they also give Uncharted 3 a higher score than Uncharted 2?

[UnSelf]

I'm 21 hours in and this game is a solid 9 AT LEAST! I'm not basing my opinion by comparing it to previous FF games or RPGs. I just know that I hate TB RPGs and this is all the way an ARPG and it rly takes skill to play. The biggest problem with this game so far is the camera because it will work against u during fights. They rly need to patch it. Otherwise the game so far is rly rly good.

If u don't believe me, you can add me on PSN and I'll live stream some gameplay.

PSN: Unselfhomicide

[chadwarden]

So a game 10 years in the making has no hype behind it?

[Swiftfox]

So you mean to tell me Vince Ingenito is not the same person as Ryan Clements? You mean they are both two different individuals who have played two different games and came up with their own unique scores? Madness. To think different people have different tastes and value specific things more and less than others, and don't share a hive mind. Interesting.

Isn't it also silly to use a rather generalized number system designed for a one time consumer purchasing decisions at a glace to argue what games are better? Isn't passive aggressive text cringe worthy? Are we still saying cringe worthy?

There's the mandatory lecture. Let the squabbling continue~

[indysurfn]

Ummmmm.......I think this is way more hyped! This game is so hyped that even I want to get it! And you will not believe how many games I have. I'm on hour 151 of the trails of cold steel II, legend of heros. So I have time World of final fantasy is up next (I already started but will have to start over. This game is so hyped that I WILL get it(used). But I will admit this game is way more hyped than XIII was by a mile! If FFXIII had the bad demos and game glitches this game has it would have sold 500,000.

Admit it people defend all kinds of bugs in this game. That's is being a ostrich if any thing is.

[Irishguy95]

Its not that it isn't hyped, its that...FF13 got a free pass. Reviewers were afraid of calling it bad, mostly. After FFXIII, reviewers changed their tone because the fans also backlashed. They're much more free to hate onn it if they wish, as...everyone is much more cautious now of SE and the FF name.

[starcatcher]

To be fair, gamespot doesn't; use the . system anymore. They grade from a scale of 1-10, no decimals anymore. I believe this has been put into place since 2013 or 2014. FFXV may very will be an 8.5.

[DoubleTTB22]

FF13 came out 7 years ago. Their scoring conventions have changed in that time. More importantly completely different people reviewed each game. Ryan Clements in 2009 for FF13 and Vince Ingenito in 2016 for FF15. It's unfair to look at it as if everything is the same and that IGN is one voice always singing in harmony. Views differ wildly on games among their own reviewers all of the time. This discrepancy stems from the fact that it isn't an aggregate score. There are too many games for them to dedicate 5 reviewers to playing each JRPG for 40 hours on the weekend before release, and then wait for them to organize all of their thoughts into a single article and eventually a somewhat arbitrary score. It isn't IGN scoring these games, it's there individual writers doing so. Listening to the IGN and Game Informer podcast from time to time, it seems that not even the writers and reviewers seem to think that the practice of assigning a game a score is all that great of a system in and of itself.

IGN did a livestream for FFXV release today. In it they discuss this very topic for a bit around 1:40:40 . At least one of them doesn't even like FFXIII in the slightest, but they had nothing to do with that FFXIII review from years ago. https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[bouzebbal]

Tells a bit about the objectivity of the gaming "journalism".
It is laughable, really.

[Old McGroin]

It's been 7 years,Christ get over it.

[Irishguy95]

I'm just saiyan

[kevnb]

ign reviews are often pointless and tell me very little about the game, I dont care about them anymore.

[Gatsu]

Was reviewer different? As everyone has different opinions of games.

[Razzer]

Means.....absolutely nothing.

[DafunkyRebel]

It's because of the new grading standard in the industry ever since The Last of Us set a new bar for story telling. These reviewers seem to solely base the story on how close to the level of "TLOU" it should be as a grading scale. Which is BS, because neither FF7 or FF10 had amazing stories, rather it was good characters and gameplay but are touted as masterpieces while this game does the same thing and gets screwed over because of these new age reviewers and their "expectations and standards"

[PaleMoonDeath]

Lmfao so FF13 is better? absolutley not, not long now!

[Hoffmann]

You can't type ignorant without IGN. #nuffsaid

edit: #CrazyRatchet gets it!

[Movefasta1993]

ign isn't the only site that scored this lower than 13...

[Germany7]

You can't type crazy without Hoffmann.

[indysurfn]

Movefasta1993 How dare you talk reasonable around these here parts!

[Number-Nine]

you know when you write a review you're not comparing game score with the previous installment. just because 13 got a better score doesn't mean its better than 15

[343_Guilty_Spark]

13 was better.

Lightning is a better protagonist than Noctis.

13 had a more varied cast of characters and the dialogue was superior. I don't think in my 20+ years of playing Final Fantasy that I've ever encountered a more mundane cast of characters.

Cocoon and Gran Pulse hearkened back to the more stylized fantasy of FF7 and FF8.

FF13 was linear but at least the story was more interesting and doesn't take 40+ hours to feel satisfied.

Ff13 gets crap about auto battle but the battle system was surprisingly deep with Paradigm Shifts. Harder enemies required a lot of strategic shifts to defeat them.

The music was more memorable in FF13. Who doesn't remember or hadn't hummed Blinded by Light?

[UCForce]

I'm sorry, but the FF 13 was overhyped. The game was good, but it's just disappointing. The weapons was way too distracted in my opinion and it broke the immersion. This one is step up right direction especially focusing on more personal story and combat. Do I think FF XV is perfect game ? No, but it is better than FF 13.

[DragonDDark]

Did you even finish FF15?

[ninsigma]

You haven't even played 15 so how would you know 13 is better??

[Irishguy95]

From what i've heard Noctis is one of the best main characters in FF. Heck Lightning wasn't even the best in FF13. Mundane too, hmmm again not from what i've heard. Not to mention the FFXIII villain was a ****ing piece of crap. Baldanders. FFXIII didn't feel satisfying at all. Again, Noctis and the mian villain of this are the highlights of the cast, being some of the best in FF < --- from what ive heard

I actually really like the battle system of FFXIII. And the music was good too. But other than that...everything else was not good. Not even average imo. I have not once in my life quit a final fantasy game until FFXIII came about. I quit it in gran pulse. The summons were fun to fight. The bosses too. But the regular enemies and general gameplay were extremely repetitive.

[darthv72]

As odd as this sounds... I totally did not make the connection that XV was initially XIII versus (or versus XIII). I havent played a FF game since X but it looks like I probably should with the way you guys are going back and forth about XIII vs XV.

On a side note... what happened to XIV? (yeah i dont follow FF games that closely)

[kevnb]

But the most important part was lacking in 13, the game play.

[coolbeans]

That's a very dangerous line of thinking b/c you may be disregarding one huge oversight: the possibility of a different reviewer from these big sites. He/She could have a completely different outlook on 13 than you think.

[Eonjay]

IGN is irrelevant lol.

[Hoffmann]

Sadly not. They have around 1,2M pageviews per day and are one of the ten most visited gaming sites worldwide still =/

[Eonjay]

Give it time. I don't know who people get suckered into visiting their site. They don't reflect gamers at all They give out false information and their staff is horrible. Worst of all, the cover more TV shows than games and only cover games in the context of a popularity contest. The are ad whores, they offer no news on anything as an original source. Their comment section is a crime against humanity and they review games with assumed bias instead of objectively playing it. They aren't the people I want informing me about gaming.

[monkey602]

For all the issues I have with IGN with their horrible video player and constant ads, worst of all they are fuckers for blatant spoilers in image thumbnails and titles. I still end up on the site on a daily basis. I typically like their broader range of coverage. When it's not ruining something on me

[Gardenia]

A lot of reviews give 8/10 or 4/5. Seems like a good game but it won't go down as one of the best Final Fantasy games, just what I was expecting. I'm going to enjoy the game nonetheless

[Mikerob2007]

Really glad the combats changed from turn based. This is a Definite buy for me.

[-Foxtrot]

Why?

I'm not hating on this games combat as it started out as a spin off (you can't blame them) but turn based would have been better.

Lost Odyssey last gen proved it still works and that the system is a lot of fun. They just need a way to keep in more engaging. In FFVIII you had Squalls Gunblade trigger if you wanted a higher damage hit while in Lost Odyssey you have the ring system which again gave you benefits. After that they just need a way to drop you in the battle straight away without that tedious load up of seeing the enemy appear, then the camera showing you the location in the battle, then having your characters run in etc....it just needs to get you in and then get you out as quick as that.

I hope Final Fantasy XVI goes back to turn based, a refined version of it in an old school medieval setting

[Kenshin_BATT0USAI]

IMO I think there is a place for both. I wouldn't be surprised if the next FF is turn based either. This is a series that constantly changes and I think that's the biggest appeal of FF, there seems to be at least 1 game anyone will like within the series.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Better is subjective...

I would personally love to Final Fantasy 15 is turn-based but I don't see the sales evidence to suggest that there's a large install base of Gamers that demand turn-based games.

It's very clear they're sure not buying the turn-based games that exist right now.

@ken- agreed, because the series is Progressive in the battle systems are always changing. The next Final Fantasy could be a mixture between action and turn-based.

[Pathogenic]

Honestly if Final Fantasy VII Remake is not turned based at all they will ruin that game and how it was meant to be played. It moved me seeing the trailer but I fear that it won't be turned based. I think the best idea would be have this battle system and then turn based for Final Fantasy VII and see the reviews and see what the reception is. This way it will give an accurate look at what Final Fantasy fans new and old actually want going forward.

I just fear that they won't and I hope it returns to turn based for that game at least just to prove a point.

[jaymacx]

Well said Fox,
I love the battle system in world of final fantasy (turn based).

If an RPG isn't turn based and wants to go more action, they need to make the combat fun ... like legend of Zelda

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Hopefully they go back to Ivalice or Gaia.

[-Foxtrot]

@Pathogenic1

Yeah they've got to rethink FFVII and do turn based. I can't see the battle system here work for FFVII, it means you'll only be able to control Cloud...that wasn't FFVII.

[Zarock]

Turn based combat Is outdated slow and repetitive which ruins the flow of games. It has no variety and It's not seamless, which gets tiring after a while.

[-Foxtrot]

@Angrycrab

Because you're looking at it from past titles...of course it's going to seem outdated. Playing Lost Odyssey at the time it was not outdated, it was fresh and kept me interested.

They can do the same again. It's not impossible to keep something fresh or add a twist to something. People make out like it's impossible.

[Dark_Knightmare2]

I'm happy just because turn based never made sense to me. It's like OK let me hit you now I'll stand here and wait and let you hit me rinse and repeat. Like that's imo just weird and I prefer having control over what my character does non stop and in real time

[NapalmSanctuary]

@_-EDMIX-_ Show me a turn based game that has gotten any real advertising. Most get none, whatsoever. And how many of those games are on the level of FF7,FF9, Chrono Trigger. Low TB sales are a self fulfilling prophecy by a very "play-it-safe" industry.

[ninsigma]

On FF7, it looked as if you can control the other characters during battle. From the gameplay trailer it seems that way anyway.

[ameliabaz]

Turn-based battles aren't supposed to be 'realistic' though. That's why I don't understand why people think turn-based battles are outdated or that they don't make sense. It's like playing a game of chess and complaining that it doesn't make sense that you can't both move at the same time. That's not how the game's style of strategy works. Sam goes for turn-based gameplay. It's not outdated. It's just a style of gameplay that requires you to think ahead and use your 'turns' to strategize the best outcome.

[jwillj2k4]

i think turn based is much better than real time. the demo of this always make me feel like im a chicken with my head cut off, fighting randomly but not really making an impact. to the people who have played it, does it still have that feeling?

[Germany7]

You must be a millenial.

[kraenk12]

As far as I and most of the world see it your millenials are the cleverest people you have atm.

[xPaYDaYx]

If you like just holding a button and not playing a game, this is the game for you!

[Segata]

Turn based comes in many forms my friend. It's not all Dragon Quest. Xenoblade is turn based and so is Dragon Age Origins. People mistake it for ARPG but it's still stat and timing based which is the basis of turn based combat. I'd prefer it if they used a system even like XII. It offers more to the player in what you can do. The combat is the weakest part about FFXV. Btw I like ARPG and Turn based equally.

[JoeDG]

Sorry but the fights suck big time...on hard fights u have to heal all the time like a asshole because ur companios are to stuppid to use the potions by herself. The Kamera is a Joke on fast fights + u can use only one move ATB per companion or have to change it all the time in the settings...The magic ist most of the Time useless because u can kill ur Team and all except Prompto are infighters. ( 20h Act 5 Hunter 4 lvl 35 highest killed Mob 52 Group 42 )

[Kenshin_BATT0USAI]

Ahh Vince the guy who gave Evolve a 9. You know you can take this opinion with a grain of sand.

[Fishy Fingers]

You're meant to take every opinion with a grain of salt, that's why they're opinions.

Secret is to read more than the score.

[Kenshin_BATT0USAI]

I did. My take away is that half the opinions say story is bad and world is great. Other half say the story is great and world is bad.

As always the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

[Big_Game_Hunters]

You cant take IGN's reviews seriously ever If its a major release. they are all paid.

[Perjoss]

Maybe his review skills have evolved since then

*hides*

[galmi]

lol, funny

[darksoulsfan]

I wonder where this ".2" comes from

Lack of spells variety is something bad =/

[lastking95]

Review scores are base on the average sum of multiple categories. Story, gameplay, ect.

[zivtheawesome]

86 on metacritic.
well it did great it seems.

[-Foxtrot]

It's done great but it's like....well.....how to explain it

It's like a "new IP great" where you see a brand new franchise get really good scores.

However this is Final Fantasy, it's been 10 years in the making and when you combine those two things together with a dash of hype you'd think a game series like this would be hitting 9/10, 9.5/10 and even a few 10/10s.

Doesn't mean it's bad. It's getting fantastic scores but like I said for a series like this I wouldn't be surprised if people expected more from it.

[Germany7]

Great score, still not so much for a Final Fantasy.

[DarkSniper]

8.2/10 is an expected score for a series that has been on the verge of jumping the shark since Final Fantasy XIII. Dark Sniper believes if this game would have been released in it's original form of Final Fantasy Versus XIII, this game would have been an instant classic due to Square-Enix harnessing the power of the PlayStation.

The good news is that Final Fantasy VII Remake is right around the corner and Dark Sniper cannot wait to play it exclusively on his PlayStation®4 Home Entertainment Terminal.

[Fishy Fingers]

Should of probably grown out of the 3rd person stuff by now dude.

[coolbeans]

Personally, coolbeans appreciates the consistency. ;)

[_-EDMIX-_]

I'm sorry but nobody but the original creators actually know 100% of what Final Fantasy Versus was going to be for all you know the majority of what Final Fantasy Versus was going to be it's actually this game

Sorry but you don't know what you don't know and it sounds to me like many people love living in this ignorance with this bizarre belief that this game they never played or don't know anything about was going to be better than the one they're actually playing.

Like I said how do you know that Final Fantasy 15 with the exception of a few parts isn't exactly what verses was supposed to be?

[ShadowKnight]

Good score!

[Tzuno]

They are obsessed by this emmo look...

[Jon_Targaryen]

You must not watch a lot of anime. Basically every antagonist looks like this....

[Pancit_Canton]

"Too Much Men"

[Veneno]

What about the blonde mechanic girl with all the cleavage?

[mad-dog]

Why are they scoring it so high? The whole video is about how bad it is.

[Big_Game_Hunters]

They got paid like every big site, is that even a question?

[mad-dog]

Seems like it. I'm thinking this game is way more boring and tedious than reviewers are willing to admit.

[Germany7]

The scores are good, but not so good for a Final Fantasy game.

[Dark_Knightmare2]

I'm sorry were not living in the past glory days of ff so the 86 it has on meta critic is very good and a return to form for the series

[silkrevolver]

A good score, but on the lower side for the game. I'm seeing a lot of 9's. I can totally live with that.

Can't wait to play it, and I can't wait to see where they take the series next.

[DivineAssault]

Im going to play it with an open mind.. Ill try my hardest to forget its a final fantasy game and treat it as a side story game.. I already had issues accepting this game initially because of the lack of characters to play as but i paid off the deluxe edition and will give it a chance.. I HATED 13! Tried playing it 4+ times and couldnt enjoy it.. I hope this bests it or ill lose hope.. Even with the new FF7 remake coming, i wont be sure to support them anymore.. WTF happened square?!?! Yo a$$ used to be beautiful!

[InKnight7s]

Then give call of duty a 9 and 8 😂what full score?

[JoeDG]

Have u played the last call ? I was one of the haters but the campaign it's the best since BO1. I am 15h inside FF act 4 and huntet lvl 3 and right now its not better then 8/10. The combat it's nothing special and sometimes sucks big time with the shitty camera. The story telling it's not Witcher 3 quality and the side missions are really boring with zero storytelling.

[Heavenly King]

I was expecting higher.

[Zarock]

Not a single review mentioned exactly how combat works?? Is It simple or complex?? And How does It compare to other games such as the witcher 3?

[Perjoss]

Reviews fail so hard these days, sometimes you come away with more questions then when you started reading. For example many outlets totally neglect talking about the sound design or even what kind of musical score the game has.

[Kashima]

FFXIII versus could get "9.5"

[SephirothX21]

People comparing FF XV and FF XIII review scores need to remember that the reviewers are different people and the site's score is just the person's opinion at the time of playing.

What always worried me about FF XV was how the real-time combat would play out. I wanted an extension of XII's system. I was not not a fan of XIII's system at all because the game was far too easy except for trying to get a 5 star time (which ruined the whole thing for me). I hate any type of battle rating. The objective should always be to defeat the enemy. It shouldn't matter how fast or what way you do it and ratings just ruin the game. Thankfully they're doesn't seem to be ratings in this game.

From what I have seen, XV looks A LOT better than XIII. Review scores don't make much sense anyway. For example Titanfall 2 has a metacritic average of 8.9 and is probably a good game but you cannot compare a shooter game to a jrpg like Final Fantasy that is ten years in the making and has an over 40 hour long single player story. A game like XV is special because they're very few games out there like it which is why I'll be getting it on PS4 tonight. Whereas I'd sooner feed a donkey than buy another brain dead shooter game.

[Lovable]

Final Fantasy 14 is the extension of FF 12 battle system with improvement of course.

[gamer7804]

a game who's history was mired with constant rewrites and delays. I'm a little surprised that its even reviewing as a "good" game (8/10 avg). Nothing screams JRPG like this trailer: (starting at 1:10... stand by me cover...) https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[NecoTehSergal]

Apparently FF13 is just better than FF15. I call horse shit but what do you expect from the Journalist/Game Reviewer industry?

[TheColbertinator]

Getting XV tomorrow

[Elda]

Picking my copy up today.

[inxine]

who takes IGN's reviews serious anyways. most of them are cod-heads and have no clue what they are on about. oh and that most of their reviews are rigged anyways.

[Jon_Targaryen]

Uurrgh... I still wanna finish FFXIII 2 and Lighting returns before I wanna buy a new one... DAMN YOU BACK LOG!!!!!

[NextGenCeo]

Too much water I think!

Typical IGN :))

[feraldrgn]

I'm waiting to actually be able to play a demo of the full game, the last I was able to test was the Platinum demo which left a bad taste, since it was more of a tech demo.
I've watched demo gameplay & wasn't impressed, but the amount of high scores keeps making me doubt my own opinion, much like FFXIII.
How about bringing that Judgement demo to the west SE?

[mt]

it is not bad rate why everyone is getting rage about the rate ? if you think you will enjoy the game buy it.

[ifrit_caress]

Another review by IGN, bought and paid for.

[GoldPunch-TR]

Summary: ''Too much fantasy. Not enough final.'' 8.2/10