In just few more days, it will be one month since Square Enix officially launched “Final Fantasy XV”. Since then on, players all over the world have enjoyed the new installment after painstakingly waiting for a decade for its official release. With fifteen main installments in the “Final Fantasy” video game series, people are curious as to what makes “FFXV” different from its predecessor titles.
One thing for sure that avid fans of the “Final Fantasy” series can expect from Square Enix is an original and immersive story wherein players will grow along with and become fond of places and even characters. There are no characters who are unknown from any of the installments but many can attest that Square Enix clearly has some favorites such as Biggs, Wedge, and of course, Cid. Biggs and Wedge appear as Aranea Highwind’s trusted guards while Cid turns out to be the aging owner of a car shop who reprises his role as a talented mechanic possessing uncanny obsession with vehicles and weapons.
But that does not exactly distinguish “Final Fantasy XV” from being a different kind of role-playing game fans will adore. The said video game clearly beats the competition with its gameplay despite its combat system being slightly similar to “Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII”. The similarities end there as this recent installment might just be the first in its series to have only one playable character in the party.
In previous titles, players can control all the actions of the characters used in the party but in “FFXV”, players only get a hold of what Noctis can do and relies on ascension and skills to spice up the teamwork with the rest of the members. Aside from that, the new leveling up feature has given players a challenging route of gaining experience and even maximizing it. Not just the experience points, but Square Enix has made the game more exciting by limiting the use of magic.
Unlike the previous installments wherein players can just install materia or draw spells to their hearts’ content, the use of magic has also been restricted with players having to make spells they need by utilizing the only available elements—the three fundamental elements namely thunder, ice, and fire. With this limitation, players have to go through combat with a strategy in place especially ones that require magic.
Another thing that has made “Final Fantasy XV” quite diverse is its summoning of guardian forces, otherwise referred to as astrals in this video game. Again, unlike in the previous “Final Fantasy” games, players do not have the liberty of pummeling opponents with summons for a quick fight as the astrals can only be summoned when they permit Noctis to do so. Square Enix has also developed the game wherein astrals can only be conjured in certain places such as Leviathan being summoned only near bodies of water and Titan being made available only in vast wide areas.
Remove all that were mentioned above, “Final Fantasy XV” would have been just another role-playing game that is full of side quests and short of story chapters. But thankfully, just like any other “Final Fantasy” game, it boasts of a unique story and tough gameplay, which Square Enix has promised to lengthen with the release of updates and more downloadable contents.
