Final Fantasy XV – Game Review

Introduction

Final Fantasy XV is a game that wasn’t received well when it was first released with many fans calling it a disappointment and I didn’t expect much playing it for the first time in 2025 but I was pleasantly surprised and I have to say I think people in 2016 were wrong about this game. 

FFXV is an epic masterpiece that tells the tragic story of Noctis. Now is it perfect? No but it is original and does do a lot of things right. It’s a shame; many avoided this game because of its negative reputation, but it is absolutely a game worth playing even nine years later. 

In this video (blog) I will be going over the base game and commenting on the story and what the game did right and where things could’ve improved and why I think think this is a brilliant game worth visiting. 

Main Plot

You start out battling in a burning city – a battle that you are absolutely losing – but before anything is revealed you are transported back in time. 

You are introduced to a younger Noctis bidding the king farewell on his way to get married – already an odd and unusual start  – why wouldn’t the king be attending the wedding with Noctis? What is this ceasefire/peace treaty all about? It’s strange opening that leaves you with a lot of questions. 

Starting a Final Fantasy journey in a car was really different and a welcome break from the series norm. But, unfortunately, the car immediately breaks down which wasn’t the best decision in my opinion because it slows the pace down way too much but at least the back and forth between the four characters is fun and believable; you can feel their pain as they trudge along this massive vehicle. While not the best start, the opening does at least serve to showcase the different personalities of Noctis, Ignis, Claudio and Promto. 

Once you make it to Hammerhead you’re introduced to mechanics Cid and Cindy – who repair the Regalia which leaves Noctis completely broke; having a prince leave his hometown and then immediately going broke is unbelievable, irritating and breaks the game’s immersion. How much cooler would it be if Noctis started the adventure both with a vehicle and thousands of Gil, separating him from all the other preceding protagonists. There are major misses right at the start but luckily the game just gets better from here. 

The first few missions are actually fun because of the interaction between Noctis and his friends – their personalities are continually on display between, during and after every battle even though I didn’t quiet grasp the combat at the beginning and sometimes the lines of dialogue were a bit repetitive, it still made for an enjoyable playthrough because it always felt you were in a party sharing this adventure. Later on I would grasp the combat that I would then find truly satisfying. 

Along the way the you are introduced to things like camping, photography, fishing; gameplay mechanics that are all tied to the characters and their personalities which added so much life to the characters and was seamlessly woven into the gameplay that it never truly felt like a chore.

In addition, mechanics like the time of day, weather changes, dangers of travelling at night, fuel consumption and the fact that you could only level up once you have rested added a bit of realism in this fantastic realm that I honestly welcomed – not everything was hunting and slashing random monsters. This world has rules and you are forced to respect them. I was completely enjoying exploring the world that almost felt like a simulator, that I forgot that this was a Final Fantasy game. Eventually I was forced to stop side questing because I wanted to push the story forward – I wanted to meet Lunafreya and see Noctis get married. 

First Tragedy

And then tragedy strikes – tragedy I wasn’t ready for – I was happy running around the desert and hanging out. Maybe that’s what Noctis wanted to do as well and what he’s been doing most of his life.

But it wouldn’t be a Final Fantasy if a Kingdom didn’t come crashing down. His father is killed but luckily Luna wasn’t; she retrieves a ring meant for Nocits that at the time felt incredibly trivial considering the events that had just played out. 

Heading back to Hammerhead, Cid tells Noctis that King Regis wouldn’t have made him leave if he didn’t plan for it. – Something about this line really stuck with me and hooked me into the story – it says that there were forces at at play that Noctis wasn’t aware of but that he would figure out along with the player – At this point in the game I really forgot about the wedding, the opening plot line just recedes to the background. 

Noctis then finds out about the royal arms at the tombs of his ancestor – this is the point that Noctis starts his journey of becoming king, he is no longer a prince in waiting going to meet his bride. His journey as king is set, he begins reconnecting with his ancestors to take on the empire. At least at this stage of the game it seems to be the main reason for Noctis building up and gaining this lost power. 

At Lestallum, after gaining a few of the royal arms, Noctis gets a calling from the Summon Titan, or god as they are known in Eos. The back story of Titan is actually really cool and should’ve been highlighted a bit more, a god who is perpetually carrying a meteor on his back to prevent it from exploding. It’s over the top but also interesting.

To get to Titan, the party get help from Ardyn, who I never expected to be the main villain, again at this point in the game I thought there would a major showdown with the empire but that wasn’t to be Noctis’ fate. Luna was on her way preparing Noctis for his ultimate purpose, as the king of light and saviour of the world. It felt that the entire game Noctis was chasing and trying to catch up to the path that Luna had set for him. 

He gets the power of Titan after a battle that was a bit clunky in part but was still epic in scale. Quickly afterwards, Noctis gets the power of Ramuh after meeting Gentiana. Receiving the power of Ramuh was a lot easier than that of Titan – because some gods are kinder than others – another clever touch.

Second Tragedy – Luna

Learning that Luna has woken the gods so that they give Noctis their power he heads to Venice, I mean Altissa, to finally meet Luna. Altissa is beautifully designed and is staged as a neutral city. One of the greatest parts of the game are the negotiations between Noctis and the leader of the Altissa – you are reminded that you are a king and I tried my best to negotiate as one. Being a king isn’t just about inheriting a position and power – diplomacy is a key part of ruling and I wish the game explored different aspects of being a leader. 

You can tell a lot of work went into this scene with Leviathan: Leviathan had so much character: her anger at being woken and then attacking Luna – I thought that this was the point she was going to die – but the oracle was able to fight back. While I found it a bit hard to get an understanding of how to battle the summon, I managed to warp myself to victory only to witness Noctis go through another tragedy – and seeing that it was Ardyn who did it wasn’t somehting that I expected at all – this twist really caught me off guard. 

The story would’ve been a great deal more memorable had Luna shared more time with Noctis – that climactic moment would’ve had a deeper emotional impact and significance. For the majority of the game we see them trading messages and some flashbacks from their childhood, if a relationship had been properly developed, if Luna and her role in Eos was explored a bit more it would have added much needed weight to that penultimate scene. That said I still couldn’t help but feel for the Noctis. Ardyn disarms with his jovial, affable personality but he is clearly the most evil character of the story. 

Noctis gets the ring at the centre of this whole struggle and I at first really didn’t the like the concept of a piece of jewelry that is supposedly really important but doesn’t do anything, luckily the gameplay with the ring is actually quiet effective in combat and would become a standard part of my arsenal for the remainder of the game, the combat design really shines here. 

Finding out that Ignis had lost his sight was also a major surprise – of-course fighting a massive force is going to lead to injuries and I can’t remember if a central character in a game has been effected in the way same way as Ignis in XV. This was another shocking twist, Ignis slows down considerably and you have to move slower as a result, again a brilliant touch to the game and I liked the character so much that I didn’t mind waiting.

After Luna’s death, it feels like Noctis is completely alone – he had been dealt so many blows by the empire – everything he had and took for granted and everything else he was working towards was taken away from him – for a minute it even felt as if the party would split. Eventually they would work out their differences and come to terms with what has happened and refocus their energy on defeating the empire. 

Noctis then heads to the capital to retrieve the stolen crystal and to save Promto – only to find the empire itself is in ruins – in a bid for military might it had sold itself to a spiteful god in an attempt to consolidate power over the entire world – their technological advancements and scientific experiments using the deamons had turned on them and they paid a heavy price equal to the one they inflicted on Insomnia. 

It becomes a pure face off between Ardyn and Noctis now – you are no longer facing anyone but the spirit of vengeance itself. Noctis has to face the consequences of his forbearers. Making his way to the crystal he learns from Bahamut about his legacy and his destiny as the king of light, his destiny to take on the evil that will bring eternal darkness to the world. “Many have sacrificed themselves for Noctis and now he has to do the same for them.” The third and final tragedy is losing Noctis.

Third Tragedy – Noctis

After ten years he returns, much older and ready to fulfill the prophecy. Prepared to give back to his friends who had served him loyally; prepared to give them a chance at having a future. And returning to the ruins of Insomnia,  Noctis faces off against Ifrit and then Ardyn. 

The fight against Ardyn is long and epic and being that Ardyn is Noctis’ ancestor it made sense that their fighting style are similar. When you overcome Ardyn, he is transported to netherrealm threatening to return and complete his mission in a different age – to rid the world of this evil Noctis commits that ultimate sacrifice – he asks the spirit of his father to trust and his father stabs him and in the after-life he takes out the spirit of spite itself. 

FFXV is a title with a unique and uncanny vision, combining both fantasy and Sci-fi and even a touch of realism all at the same time and does so successfully, despite it’s oddities, unevenness and glitches. All of these different genres co-exist simultaneously in a very convincing blend.

Character Analysis

In FFXV Noctis represents magic: the side of the world – that despite being advanced and does use technology, like the Regalia, is also steeped in a long tradition of guarding the crystal, of a long line of kings and uses magic. The empire, on the other hand, is fully committed to mindless progress and wants to use technological advancement to spread and takeover the world. They are prepared to achieve complete domination by combining magic with tech to assure their domination over Eos.

Noctis as king has to fight off this invasion and technology that has gone to far to serve military conquest, he is on the losing side and is really able to come on top by the aid of his very close friends. The empire was so focused on conquest and domination that they didn’t ask what force was guiding them but then again they can’t because unlike Insomnia they do not have a connection to the land and it’s gods but only want to control and dominate it. 

Noctis is one of the most relatable protagonists in the history of Final Fantasy. He was meant to be a character players could identify with, to create a game rooted in reality. The heir to the throne, has lived a care free life – always been looked after – isn’t fully aware of the great events happening around him – and needs time to grow into the responsibility bestowed upon him from birth. 

At the start you get the impression that he wants to hangout with his friends because maybe he isn’t ready for marriage quiet yet and isn’t ready to take on the responsibility of ruling. Even his friends dont really trust him: Ignis doesn’t trust his driving, Gladio thinks he is not fit enough, it’s hilarious but it also suggests that maybe Nocits hasn’t risen to the position he needs to be in. Everyone has been in Noctis’ shoes at some point in time. As the players, we watch him grow, face and overcome the many challenges and loses as he becomes the king who saves his world. 

The party is what really makes this game: whether its in a car, hunting or camping – this game does feel alive – even if the dialogue does get repetitive at times, it still works at creating the feeling of four people travelling together – this alone is an incredible achievement – most games make you feel completely isolated from the rest of the game world with your superpowers. But FFXV solved that problem by creating four distinct voices that travel with you throughout the entire journey. I think more lines of dialogue would’ve elevated the game and not just dialogue of the party but to all the other NPC’s as well.  

The setting of the game is one of my favourite aspects of the entire experience. Who doesn’t want to go on a road trip with close friends in their youth – trips like that make for some great memories and stories. The long stretches of desert road and car rides and stops in the Regalia really capture that feeling of adventure and discovery on the open road. That being said I do wish there were more towns to discover with their own set of characters and side quests that amounted to more than hunts. I do wish the game allowed the player to spend time in Insomnia before the fall, it could have added to the immersion and added to the world building.

Final Words

Ultimately my biggest issue with the game and the biggest flaw preventing it from being truly legendary was the undeveloped relationship between Noctis and Lunafreya. They need time together, their needed to be some tension that they would have to overcome together. They need that bit of realism to go along with the fantasy – a running theme throughout the game was missing where it was most needed. That said you can’t help but feel for Noctis, he wasn’t perfect but was also quiet sympathetic at the same time, especially as you watch him rise up to the occasion and go on this journey of him becoming the saviour the world needs 

Overall though, I enjoyed and was pleasantly surprised by my experience with FFXV. I think XV was judged to harshly by critics and this is definitely an experience that is worth your time despite some graphical and gameplay flaws, in addition to some of the decisions made with key characters, the experience with Noctis, Ignis, Claudio and Promto is truly memorable and unlike anything that’s come before.