Final Fantasy XV - Review Thread

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llazy77

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Found a very interesting post over on gaf.

http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=227145665

"The fact that recent versions of IX and X, both the same exact games with all those 9s and 10s reviews back when they are released, now score in the same 82-86 range in 2016 just shows how much ratings have changed".

Does anyone agree or disagree with this?

If past FF games were released in this day and age, would they have been as well received now as they were then?
Or different people reviewing games have different opinions.
 

Azuardo

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Sep 26, 2013
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Or different people reviewing games have different opinions.
This, but also a lot of reviewers find it hard to score ports in the same league as they did back when they were originally released. I personally find FF9 to be a 9/10 game (an exceptional game, however you want to interpret it), but I felt compelled to give the port an 8/10 in my review for some niggling issues, such as blurry backgrounds and lag in menus.

FF7's PS4 port could have been something great, but it is the exact same game, bugs and shoddy graphics and all, and this version even introduced new bugs that should so easily have been fixed (music that repeats from the start after a battle, and a menu glitch when quickly selecting options that jumps over the option you want to pick).

If the likes of FF7 and 9's ports were revamped to HD resolution and ironed out previous bugs and complaints about old battle systems and whatnot, they might get a bit more praise, but I still feel ports will usually always score a tad lower despite whatever improvements they make.
 

Jubileus

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Oct 7, 2016
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Or different people reviewing games have different opinions.
That's obviously a given for any game and reviewer...

This, but also a lot of reviewers find it hard to score ports in the same league as they did back when they were originally released. I personally find FF9 to be a 9/10 game (an exceptional game, however you want to interpret it), but I felt compelled to give the port an 8/10 in my review for some niggling issues, such as blurry backgrounds and lag in menus.

FF7's PS4 port could have been something great, but it is the exact same game, bugs and shoddy graphics and all, and this version even introduced new bugs that should so easily have been fixed (music that repeats from the start after a battle, and a menu glitch when quickly selecting options that jumps over the option you want to pick).

If the likes of FF7 and 9's ports were revamped to HD resolution and ironed out previous bugs and complaints about old battle systems and whatnot, they might get a bit more praise, but I still feel ports will usually always score a tad lower despite whatever improvements they make.
Very insightful and an interesting perspective. Never looked at it this way before.

Bugs and graphics aside, in your opinion, do you think the stories for the past FF games would do well nowadays if introduced to a brand new audience? As in would they make a huge impact (similar to the one 7 had) on the gaming landscape in how stories are told but for new gamers.

For example would 7, 8 and 9 dominate the gaming market if they were new releases in this day and age?
 

Ikkin

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Oct 30, 2016
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Bugs and graphics aside, in your opinion, do you think the stories for the past FF games would do well nowadays if introduced to a brand new audience? As in would they make a huge impact (similar to the one 7 had) on the gaming landscape in how stories are told but for new gamers.

For example would 7, 8 and 9 dominate the gaming market if they were new releases in this day and age?
Absolutely not.

The problem is, of course, that PSOne FF games had such a huge influence on the way other games told stories that, if they were introduced into the present market, they'd feel a couple of generations behind instead of being something new and different. Like, I'd argue that FFVII/VIII were direct-line ancestors of Uncharted's brand of setpiece gaming, but modern setpiece gaming has taken the concept farther than FFVII/VIII ever could because we now have the technology to do everything in real-time.

To have the same impact as the PSOne FF games had, a new FF game would need to advance things from the present state in as impressive a way as the PSOne FF games did in their own era. An old game (or a new game that could have been made in a previous era), unfortunately, could never do that.
 

Azuardo

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Sep 26, 2013
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For example would 7, 8 and 9 dominate the gaming market if they were new releases in this day and age?
Answered pretty much by @Ikkin above. Part of what FF7 brought to gaming was cinematic storytelling not really seen at that level before. That's just standard today. When you go back to review classics in the modern climate, very few from that era presented in that style really stand the test of time. No fault of the games, but just the way the industry's moved on so quickly.

Whilst FF has put visuals at the forefront for many years, now, I do feel that there needs to be less focus on them for the brand to reach the similar sort of levels it used to. Well-written story and characters are always at the top for me, but I think in general, what FF did for gaming makes it difficult for future FFs to hit the same heights, since the impact is not going to be as strong.
 
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APZonerunner

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For example would 7, 8 and 9 dominate the gaming market if they were new releases in this day and age?
Absolutely not.

The problem is, of course, that PSOne FF games had such a huge influence on the way other games told stories that, if they were introduced into the present market, they'd feel a couple of generations behind instead of being something new and different. Like, I'd argue that FFVII/VIII were direct-line ancestors of Uncharted's brand of setpiece gaming, but modern setpiece gaming has taken the concept farther than FFVII/VIII ever could because we now have the technology to do everything in real-time.

To have the same impact as the PSOne FF games had, a new FF game would need to advance things from the present state in as impressive a way as the PSOne FF games did in their own era. An old game (or a new game that could have been made in a previous era), unfortunately, could never do that.
So, yeah, this. Would FF7, 8 and 9 as identical games dominate the gaming market today? Hell no. You can see that even in the natural dip in the scores of rereleases of the games - FF7 and FF9 haven't quite aged well, so their rereleases have scored a point or two lower on average than the original releases.

However, if Square were to release a game as polished, as complete, and as market-pivotal now as FF7 - if FF7 were to come out now with the same story, characters etc but have the execution that'd make it as much a cultural event, sure. It'd have to be a different game, but these are different times. I think the story of FF7 doesn't hold it back, for instance - I think if it were executed to a modern standard it'd be very good, and it's surely better executed than FF15's narrative. It's a matter of fact that FF7 was groundbreaking in different ways; that's what made that game soar beyond its potential. A new game would have to do that. As-is they couldn't do that today, obviously, but with FF7 the framework is there to build a game that does that.
 
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Ikkin

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It'd have to be a different game, but these are different times. I think the story of FF7 doesn't hold it back, for instance - I think if it were executed to a modern standard it'd be very good, and it's surely better executed than FF15's narrative.
I don't think this is fair to XV. Obviously, if VII were reworked to be executed well by modern standards, it'd better than a game that fell short execution-wise. That's just implied by the terms of the hypothetical. But if you're going to give VII the benefit of that hypothetical, it's not particularly meaningful to compare that hypothetical to a real game that was subject to real production pressures because it actually exists. XV doesn't exactly lack a foundation on which better execution couldn't have improved. (It certainly has a more solid ending!)

It's also worth pointing out that executing VII to a modern standard would require a lot more changes than people tend to assume. Like... FFVII has a woman problem. Aerith is fridged and kind of lucks into helping to save the world because of it. Tifa abandons a party leader role to go take care of Cloud even though the world's ending, and her outfits and the camera angles used to show them are... questionable at best. Oh, and you can go into her drawers and look at her panties, because, why not? Don Corneo is a sexual threat to both Tifa and Yuffie (who, by the way, is a teenager). The situation with Lucrecia is pretty messed up. I think Elena had a thing for Tseng. And the less said about Scarlet, the better (that slap fight, *sigh*). The remake will probably get some leeway because it's a remake, but if a new game handled its women that way in today's environment? I think there'd be a big problem.
 

Storm

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I don't think this is fair to XV. Obviously, if VII were reworked to be executed well by modern standards, it'd better than a game that fell short execution-wise. That's just implied by the terms of the hypothetical. But if you're going to give VII the benefit of that hypothetical, it's not particularly meaningful to compare that hypothetical to a real game that was subject to real production pressures because it actually exists. XV doesn't exactly lack a foundation on which better execution couldn't have improved. (It certainly has a more solid ending!)

It's also worth pointing out that executing VII to a modern standard would require a lot more changes than people tend to assume. Like... FFVII has a woman problem. Aerith is fridged and kind of lucks into helping to save the world because of it. Tifa abandons a party leader role to go take care of Cloud even though the world's ending, and her outfits and the camera angles used to show them are... questionable at best. Oh, and you can go into her drawers and look at her panties, because, why not? Don Corneo is a sexual threat to both Tifa and Yuffie (who, by the way, is a teenager). The situation with Lucrecia is pretty messed up. I think Elena had a thing for Tseng. And the less said about Scarlet, the better (that slap fight, *sigh*). The remake will probably get some leeway because it's a remake, but if a new game handled its women that way in today's environment? I think there'd be a big problem.
cid talking to her wife/co-worker would generate so much hate, i can see it from afar.
 
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Ikkin

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cid talking to her wife/co-worker would generate so much hate, i can see it from afar.
...hah, how did I forget about Cid and Shera? XD; Yeah, that would probably be the biggest problem of all. Even with the extra leeway the remake will likely get for being a remake of a game from the '90s, I think that'll have to change a lot to fly nowadays.
 
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Jubileus

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Very insightful responses, each with their very own valid line of reasoning.

Man how the gaming industry has grown and changed in such a short amount of time.

I d agree that if FF7 were to be completely updated to match the gaming industry standards nowadays in terms of graphics, presentation, storytelling and gameplay, it would be a hit no doubt, regardless if other games have great storytelling too.

Its story is definitely very unique and intriguing enough to make it stand out.


cid talking to her wife/co-worker would generate so much hate, i can see it from afar.
Sadly I can see this too. They're gonna have to change a few things here and there because people are gonna label him as a "drunken, abusive misogynist" otherwise.

Cid's character is meant to be funny and charming, but from a tsundere perspective. Personally I find him likeable and quite funny.

He swears like a sailor at everyone, not just Shera lol
 

Jubileus

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Oct 7, 2016
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I don't think this is fair to XV. Obviously, if VII were reworked to be executed well by modern standards, it'd better than a game that fell short execution-wise. That's just implied by the terms of the hypothetical. But if you're going to give VII the benefit of that hypothetical, it's not particularly meaningful to compare that hypothetical to a real game that was subject to real production pressures because it actually exists. XV doesn't exactly lack a foundation on which better execution couldn't have improved. (It certainly has a more solid ending!)

It's also worth pointing out that executing VII to a modern standard would require a lot more changes than people tend to assume. Like... FFVII has a woman problem. Aerith is fridged and kind of lucks into helping to save the world because of it. Tifa abandons a party leader role to go take care of Cloud even though the world's ending, and her outfits and the camera angles used to show them are... questionable at best. Oh, and you can go into her drawers and look at her panties, because, why not? Don Corneo is a sexual threat to both Tifa and Yuffie (who, by the way, is a teenager). The situation with Lucrecia is pretty messed up. I think Elena had a thing for Tseng. And the less said about Scarlet, the better (that slap fight, *sigh*). The remake will probably get some leeway because it's a remake, but if a new game handled its women that way in today's environment? I think there'd be a big problem.
You're right. A LOT of changes are gonna happen within the Remake so it's not advisory to go in expecting everything to be exactly the same, even though I have a feeling that's what people actually are expecting...

I'm alright with changes since things do need to be updated in order to keep up with the times.

I've never seen FF7 as having a women problem tbh. Never saw it that way before.

Don Cornea and his associated scenarios were always viewed as being humorous in my eyes. Lucrecia's story was very tragic but I don't think it needs to be changed all that much.

If I think about it.. the only truly offensive material in the game was Tseng slapping Aerith out of nowhere when she was kidnapped.

That was truly completely random and uncalled for.
 

APZonerunner

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I don't think this is fair to XV. Obviously, if VII were reworked to be executed well by modern standards, it'd better than a game that fell short execution-wise. That's just implied by the terms of the hypothetical. But if you're going to give VII the benefit of that hypothetical, it's not particularly meaningful to compare that hypothetical to a real game that was subject to real production pressures because it actually exists. XV doesn't exactly lack a foundation on which better execution couldn't have improved. (It certainly has a more solid ending!)
It's more about: "If FF7 were executed to an equivilant level of quality by today's standards as it was to 1997's standards, yes, it would be just as successful."

I'd argue that if you transplanted that in reverse - FF15 executed in 1997 to the same standard as FF15 today (which on balance I'd argue is worse), FF15 would do similarly too - IE worse than FF7. Though slightly better, because the market isn't great for JRPGs right now.

Regarding FF7 -- well, gonna split this one out, cos I have a lot to say: http://www.mognetcentral.com/threads/on-aerith-female-leads-and-fridges.6691/





 

Storm

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Oct 26, 2013
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Edge #302:

Reviews

The Last Guardian [9]
Final Fantasy XV [7] / PS4
Dead Rising 4 [6] / Xbox One
Steep [7] / PS4
Let it Die [7]
I Expect you to Die [7] / Rift
Superhot VR [8] / Rift
Super Mario Run [7]

what i expected, better score than FFX and FFXIII.
 

Bunansa

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Jan 3, 2017
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This might be off topic, but I have to say one thing about MGSV. I think it deserves the great review as a stand alone game. Most of the biggest complaints about it are when comparing to other games in the series. Personally I loved the game and MGS is my favourite series after FF.
 

APZonerunner

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This might be off topic, but I have to say one thing about MGSV. I think it deserves the great review as a stand alone game. Most of the biggest complaints about it are when comparing to other games in the series. Personally I loved the game and MGS is my favourite series after FF.
The story is pretty bad, no doubt, but I think it's the best MGS by a country mile mechanically.
 
Mar 23, 2015
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Hey guys I wanted to make this post to open up some discussion overall about the game in a sort of ordered format breaking it down into 4 categories.

These categories include Story, Music, Gameplay and Replay-Ability. By all means please voice your own sort of formula on rating a game. I have rated Final Fantasy XV based on this scale out of 100.
  1. Story- 30
  2. Music- 20
  3. Gameplay- 30
  4. Replay-Ability- 20
=100
Taken the scale into account, once again, feel free to comment your own values for each given category. That being said, I provded a video review to help establish my point and provide a visual aid to the review. I hope you guys enjoy and feel free to comment anything on there too.

#FFXV #FF15 #finalfantasyxv #review