After years of anticipation, the latest installment in Square Enix's highly popular RPG series has finally arrived with "Final Fantasy XV." Since the forgettable launch of "Final Fantasy XIV" in 2010 and the negative reception given to "Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII" in 2014, fans were left wondering if the series had finally lost its charm. Can the latest entry into this long running RPG series finally turn things around and bring the franchise back to its glory days?
According to Mirror, the game has been in development for 10 years and in this latest installment, the main protagonist is Prince Noctis, the young emo-looking son of the king of Insomnia, a sovereign city located in the nation of Lucis, which is being targeted by an evil empire. Joining the hero are Ignis, Gladiolus, and Prompto. Unlike most traditional RPG games that have the characters start off as strangers uniting to fight against a common enemy, Noctis, and his crew are childhood friends who have known each other for a majority of their lives.
The story of "Final Fantasy XV" is a bit incoherent, but luckily it is given some heart by the bond that our protagonist has with his lifelong friends. The danger that threatens to destroy the land of Lucis is not fully revealed until the end and players can expect plenty of cutscenes interjected as they progress, so some fans might get a bit frustrated with how long the story tends to drag out.
The days of turn-based combat in RPGs have been replaced with real-time ones, but it is designed so well in this game that players of "Final Fantasy XV" cannot help but feel a sense of satisfaction as the A.I. controlled allies fight as one unit. Big damage can be scored with some well-placed and timely flanking strikes, and the combat is made even more awesome with the amazingly animated team-up moves. Gamespot has even reported about an alleged 72-hour boss fight in the game.
As for the graphics, avid gamers know how Square Enix loves to push consoles to their limits and "Final Fantasy XV" does not disappoint when it comes to its visuals and almost everything about the game looks beautiful. The amount of detail that have been put into each animation and environment make it feel like it's an animated movie created by Pixar.
Don't forget to admire the beautiful background while exploring the land of Lucis as there will be plenty of places to explore, and gamers can spend tons of hours into the game. This will definitely pick up the slack of the last two "Final Fantasy" releases, which were considered disappointments, and will help make gamers fall in love with the series all over again.
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