I thought the other quests were too easy, I'm excited to get home and fight this beast. I also like the huge rewards you get. 999ap and over a million gil? Nice.
Finally finished the game: The way the photos were used was pretty remarkable. I saw it coming and I knew that they would serve as an album of the journey. It still got me, and choosing the final photo definitely stirred up some emotion. The final fight with Ardyn was disappointing and felt rushed. There should have been one last fight within the crystal. I'm still not entirely clear on the plot and how it all makes sense (possibly because it doesn't). The camping scene after the credits was a gut wrencher. I loved the whole road trip/bonding aspect of the game and I don't know if I've ever quite gotten that vibe from another game. Even with all the RPG's I've played, the way it's all set up is unique. Loved the "final fantasy" scene with Noctis and Luna and the logo change. I'll likely play the DLC's and try and accomplish a few other things like acquiring the flying Regalia. I still stand by my thoughts of this being one of the greatest JRPG's ever made. And as I've said, with a few alterations, I believe I could have been the best ever made.
My Calculators in FF Tactics are too OP, they one-shot everything on the battlefield (even my team if I'm not paying attention).
So I wanted to address something that's been on my mind for some time, I just didn't know how to write it down. In regards to representation of women in FF XV, people were all mad that the game was like "all dudes". Well for me, I didn't mind at all, esp given FF's history of strong female characters and general female representation. I wanted to see how the game would play out. Were there were a number of women in the game? Yes, there were. Were they mostly presented in a problematic manner? No. It's not necessarily always about whether the team is all men or all women or a mix of genders, it's about how they're presented. There's nothing inherently wrong with a piece of medium being about a group of men - it's about how the story is presented, whether women are present or not, and whether the women who ARE in it are not constantly victimized or otherwise play into too many sexist/misogynistic tropes, etc. FFXV was an all male team, but the friendship, bonding and brotherhood between them was really great and one of my favorite things to experience in some time. That post credits scene, woof, I cried. They weren't just a bunch of whiny dude bros. Far, far from it. In fact, two of my favorite anime are about brothers (FMA Brotherhood and Blue Exorcist) and both of these anime mostly have strong, well developed, female characters with their own complexities. As a franchise, for the most part (except probably FFX-2 from what I've read and heard) FF is pretty well done in regards to female representation. Especially since FF XV follows the FF XIII trilogy. Say what you will about the story and game play, but it's pretty much about women saving the world (literally in each entry, it centers around the power of women). And Lightning, for ME, was a really inspiring and empowering character. I mean, that's why I have this username on here haha. She took no shit and it was awesome and refreshing to see. I feel the same way about Evie Frye from AC Syndicate. Back to FFXV. Sure, Cindy was annoying to some, and there is an argument of her being sexualized but like...she's just kinda there, and there isn't anything creepy going on from what I noticed (feel free to tell me if you feel otherwise. Sure, Prompto had a crush on her, but to me it came across as like one of those hopeless high school crushes, nothing particularly creepy or inappropriate). Iris was great, Aranea was great, and so was Gentiana. A lack of storytelling and execution of such storytelling regarding Lunafreya, however, left much to be desired. From the game itself, we know very little about her and don't feel very attached to her. We know she went over a complete overhaul after the re launch from FF Versus XIII to FF XV. She used to be called Stella, and she even looked kinda different. It seems from what people have been saying, that they would have preferred her over Luna...Considering we got Luna instead, we'll never know. But this ties into the overall rushed feeling of the game, not necessarily due to sexism or anti-feminism, even though Luna didn't survive. There just...wasn't much development of her character. But oof, her death really wasn't something I was expecting (maybe other people were, but I know I wasn't), to be honest. And the conflict and emotion that carries from the game forward as a result, I feel, was something that was definitely well done. Sometimes, in games, major shit happens, and then it never seems to have an impact on the story or the characters going forward (Watch_Dogs 2 failed on this front after a character death and it was glaringly obvious, for everything else I love so much about it). But in this it did, and I appreciated that. Being in that particular dungeon with Aranea was super fun as well, and one of my favorite parts of the game. That was a really memorable moment because of all of the surprises (all the traps and maze like feeling, and the boss fight) of the dungeon and also because of the conversation you have with her about her life. She also has a clear leadership and support role in the game, which I appreciate. Aranea is not just thrown in because "uhhh idk why not", which I feared after the initial boss fight with her. I can see why people may feel that way even after that, but that speaks, again, I think, more to an overall rushed feeling the game has which ultimately hurts the storytelling and character development to certain degrees. In fact, Square acknowledging how many people want a DLC episode of her speaks to her success as a character. Similarly, there was so much left out about Prompto too! When it was touched up on, it was super vague. Hopefully that will be cleared up in the Prompto episode? I wish it didn't have to rely on DLC, but there ya go. The thing is, major parts of the story and world actually do revolve around who he is and who his family is, but it is quickly mentioned and just as quickly brushed aside. We have to, then, learn via videos and guides what the deal is. And when we do, it is very emotional and complex. But then, that just reminds us how badly a job the game did at displaying that. I hope this post articulates my thoughts well haha, I had to edit it a few times as I do with longer posts.
That was a great post, and it was nice to get your perspective on it. I loved the female characters they had, Luna, Aranea, and Iris, and I just felt kind of bummed that they weren't in it more, because I really did want to learn more about each character. They did do a fantastic job with the main four characters, which should be improved on even more with the DLC. I'm definitely most excited for a Prompto DLC, because like you said, there still feels like a ton to learn about him. This game is very special to me, but I definitely feel like if it was more... complete that it could've been an all time favorite for me. I'm glad that it finally cams out and everything, but I can't even imagine how great it would've been if it was done to their original view.
I still haven't finished the main story of FFXV. I just have the end to go and that's it. I've been too addicted to Nier and Overwatch and Mass Effect comes out way too soon. Ugh. Just need to have a nice blaze session this weekend and finally do it.
FF13 was basically 100% female and I didn't hear anyone complain then. I think the women in FF15 are well represented. As others have said, they just don't have enough involvement in the game/story.
I remember how infuriating that race was. Between that, the butterfly minigame, and the lightning dodging, I raged a lot
Those two were definitely rage inducing as well I don't wanna bother doing the butterfly minigame on this playthrough but I know I'll end up doing it hahaha First playthrough I ever did I beat the chocobo race and got the sigil on one of my first 5 tries and it spoiled me into thinking it wasn't that hard
Loving FF XV, that scene where you summon Ramuh to destroy the tower was so awesome. Gonna plow away at some FFX sidequests after @Fucking Dustin got me motivated tonight.
Take it down slowly, it is annoying though. I just remembered I crashed twice trying to get to the hidden dungeon and now I already deleted the game from my ps4 and who knows if I'll ever go back to beat it. damn.
I'll have to try it again. Sure would have been cool if there was a hidden fishing spot that you could only access with the Type-F Regalia. I went and fought Bennu and further realized how bad the combat is against really large enemies. It would have been better if the game switched the battle system up for them.
UPDATE: Did the butterfly game last night and did both mini games in 2 tries each I wish I had the same luck with the other 2 mini games mentioned