I remember staying up past my bedtime to watch streams of gaming conventions like E3 to see whether a new trailer for the game would come out; More often than not, I’d go to sleep disappointed. I have never anticipated a game as much as I have this one, and for good reason.
I was seven at the time that the game was announced under its original title, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, and now I’m a freshman in college. People have graduated, married and started families while waiting for this game to come out.
The game’s premise is simple, and it’s nearly the only thing that’s stayed constant throughout these ten years of development. You follow Prince Noctis and his best friends on a journey to reclaim his kingdom, Lucis, which was invaded by the empire of Niflheim.
I’ve followed this game through its entire development, which means I’m inevitably going to notice even a slight deviation in the tone of the game from its pre-2013 trailers. Not that there haven’t been major changes during its 10-year development. In fact there were three that occurred around the time the game was renamed Final Fantasy XV in 2013.
Firstly the game no longer begins with the invasion by the empire of Niflheim. (Characters learn about it later on by reading it in the newspaper, instead of seeing it firsthand).
Secondly several rival or villain characters were scrapped or reworked. For example the character Stella was meant to be both a love interest and rival to Noctis; Several trailers even teased her as a boss battle. She was replaced by a character who serves only as a love interest and takes a background role in the game.
Thirdly moral ambiguity was a central theme of the game. One of the first trailers even featured the famous Shakespeare quote, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” Newer trailers make the game much more black and white; Noctis is simply taking back the kingdom of light from the evil empire.
These changes all serve to simplify the story and make its subject matter less heavy. While I preferred the darker tone, I can understand why these changes happened; The developer, Square Enix, needed to extend the game’s demographic.
The director of Final Fantasy XV, Hajime Tabata, has expressed deep interest in making the game accessible to all players, even those who never thought about playing a Final Fantasy game before. I welcome this sentiment, because I hope this new entry in the series brings in new fans.
Despite the changes that I don’t like, I’m still confident that this will be one of my favorite games when I get my hands on it over winter break. Most critics so far have reviewed the story as lackluster, and the storyline most likely would’ve been more intriguing had they retained the original concepts for the game.
However there are many more aspects of the game to enjoy. The graphics are gorgeous, the gameplay looks fresh and refined and the main cast of four friends has been left unchanged. The cast of characters still seems as lovable as it did in the old trailers.
There hasn’t been a Final Fantasy game I’ve played that I’ve disliked; Even Final Fantasy XIII, which many fans criticize, was a game I deeply enjoyed.
I’m all for the success of Final Fantasy XV. I don’t want it to be known as that game that took ten years to make and didn’t live up to the hype. If this game isn’t successful, then I may soon have to say goodbye to one of my favorite video game franchises, which is one of the things I want to happen least in this world.
So, with that being said, Final Fantasy XV is the game I’m most excited to finally play when I’m back home later this month.
