Final Fantasy XV Demo Footage Impressions... Good, Bad, Meh?

For those that havent seen the 40 plus minutes of footage, here it is - FINAL FANTASY XV DEMO FOOTAGE

It was hit and miss for me.

BIG ISSUE - There were no particle effects for when weapons dematerialised (i'm no graphics snob but combat looked stiff and lifeless without it), phantom swords didnt look as impressive as previously shown.

That targetting reticule was REALLY bad, like something out of an 80's action tv show.

Demo felt as though it was versus XIII crammed through an FFXIII filter. Co-op moves also didnt look too impressive, either that or they were lost in the frenzy of combat. They promised in a previous active time report that combat would be 'fully featured', but it wasnt...this came across more as an MMO or FFXII. Not the action game it is supposed to be. This could all be fleshed out in the final game however.

Love the open world, and game mechanic aspects, as well as the graphics overall.

@moinsyyed: I haven't played a lot of Final Fantasies. But this one looks good in terms of visuals.... like really good.

The combat looks unfinished to me.

@acp_45: yeah combat indeed does look like it isnt fully fledged. It's a shame. There was some extended footage tabata showed in october last year which had all of those particle effects and smaller air combos finished. Yet, they dont seem to be in this demo several months on.

@acp_45: they also didnt cover whether summoning will be in the demo? there didnt seem to be a visible option for summoning.

In previous interviews he said that there would be summoning in the game, but it would not be the titan seen in the trailers. And I think some of the air combos you are thinking of might be some high level moves.

@cooolio: a lot of people keep telling me certain moves are 'high level' moves but there seems to be no evidence to corroborate it. You'd think that if noctis had multiple 'rush' weapons equipped he'd be able to to do more than one hit when jumping. Noctis just comes crashing to the ground after doing 1-hit in the air. Maybe they just left all this for us to discover. I hope tabata does a Q&A after the demo comes out.

I personally hoped at this stage that noctis would would be the badass we've seen him as in all the gameplay footage. It would be redundant to ration out his development, considering its an action game.

@moinsyyed: Well, the only evidence we have is the a fact that director said that the Noctis in the earlier footage was high level. And the possible high level air combo I was thinking of was when noctics teleported to the side of a building and attack an enemy who was climbing at high speed to the point that there were after images. It could be that that move, and the sky slash you saw were merely special moves or abilities. Who knows.

I think an important think to note is that they probably do not want the combat to be too much like an action game. It seems like swings make yo commit to the animation, as oppose to being able to interupt it before it starts. Come to think of it, have we even seen jumping yet? Maybe the teleportation ability is how you zero in on targets in the air to initiate an air combo

@cooolio: they have jump, and perhaps in the final game 'double jump' too, if they carry it over from versus XIII.

When I look at the FFXV I get the same feeling that I got when I was looking at the first batch of videos for FFXIV. Not a good sign. The gameplay they showed just scream boring. For a FF game you will think there would be a high level of fantasy and fascination but this game feels so blah.

it's not good because it's great

I can't get over how this game was meant to be something else on another system, and now it's being re-molded to be a main entry in the series, as an up-rezed PS3 game.

@Bigboi500: it's not an up-rez's ps3 game, versus XIII was being created on crystal tools/white engine, this is on luminous engine, a current gen only engine.

Is their a pc version of the demo? If their is would love to hear how it turned out, as I don't really care how it runs or plays on consoles.

@ribstaylor1: there was never a PC version announced for this game, even when it was versus XIII. Not every game is supposed to make it to PC just because it's cross platform on consoles. This game has been made for console first and foremost so if you want to play it buy a ps4 or an xbox one.

Then why are the graphics so bad, and why does the battling look so unpolished?

@Bigboi500: they're not BAD by any stretch of the imagination but let's say I entertain that notion. It's a demo, and the version of the engine it's running on is not final. To my knowledge (based on what the devs and apologists are saying) things like advanced particle effects, weather effects, advanced water effects, animations, resolution and frame rate will all be drastically improved in the final product.

I agree there is a lot not quite right with what they've shown but the graphics are not one of them. My issue is with the particle effects, they're not as elaborate and robust as previously shown.

@moinsyyed: I wont go digging, but on several occasions directors and high level developers have stated a pc version was going to happen though they couldn't offer more details. Besides it's being made on an engine built from the ground up with DX11 and pc architects in mind. I'm assuming it will garner support rather fast for Dx12 as well. So even if it's a year or two after, the release will still happen, especially with the recent successes like MGS on pc. Recent ports of FF tittles to pc will only further push them to branch for more pc releases as they finally realize they actually have a following on markets outside consoles and hand helds.

I'm assuming it's the whole reason they ported 13 and 13-2 (Though they did a horrible job with them and all the other recent pc ports or remasters). To use them as examples to investors that the pc is a valuable market to invest time in through actual sales data of previous tittles. Though if that was their plan they should really have invested in a guy or a couple that can properly show their team how to do a proper system for menu's options and shortcuts, because so far they've failed on every front only to be shown up by emulators and modders a day after release.

Midi music instead of the original is unacceptable, so is having the game exit to desktop by hitting Esc. Hope they take a note from the new fox engine, as that thing runs well even on old hardware, and has non of the issues I've seen come out of SquareEnix's development teams over the last two years.

@moinsyyed: Obviously, it is hard to say for sure without playing it myself.

My one concern was not having turn based combat. I know some people are ready to move on from turn based combat, but I always felt like it was a part of what made Final Fantasy..well Final Fantasy. Simply running into a battle and doing moves almost feels too arcady, or something along those lines, its hard to really say.

That said I am still excited to get my hands on the demo.

@xcazx: you might like the XV combat as it stands then, which funnily enough I like least about it as it stands right now in the demo. The combat seems more start and stop, it isn't you just fluidly running in and hacking shit up. There are parries, weaknesses you have to exploit (you'll notice once a weakness is exploited you get a bunch of free hit ala persona), there is dodging which uses up MP, there is taking cover to recharge MP (wasting a turn to do it as it were in turn based terms) not to mention they havent even shown magic or summoning yet. The only thing that make this game anywhere near a true arcadey hack and slash like dmc is the phantom swords, now i'm starting to think that 'phantom swords' is just 'hack and slash MODE' but even that has a limit on use.

Meh, looks like an average JRPG and really... The Final Fantasy games have had their time they schould pass it on to the next franchise instead of milking the poor cash cow.

Honestly speaking, ever since Final Fantasy X, the Final Fantasy franchise has not been as appealing to me. My personal opinion is that they need to go back to their roots in order to create an FF game that will once again captivate players and provide a much needed sense of nostalgia. In terms of FFXV, the graphics are good, however the gameplay leaves much to be desired; of course, because it is a Final Fantasy title; especially one that has been so many years in the making, I am still willing to reserve my judgement until I am able to play the final product. ;)

@angelcrr: Tabata is certainly saying all the right things, the games that influenced XV are all the old FF's, FF 2-6. The old ff's were about the way the world was designed and the way side quests helped you explore the world.

I find the combat looks like FF12 and that is my least favorite of all the combat system. For combat I would it more if it was more like FF9 system.

The setting just look boring and lame compare to the other more newer FF settings.

As for the worlds I would like a world map instead of the current or even FF12 style.

@wiouds: XII was awful, but I don't think this is anything like XII. XII had lame MMO combat system where your party's hit boxes were gigantic, a giant tortoises farted and you'd get hit when you were hundred metered away from the front of its head. The combat in this is more like a tales game, except there no restrictions on battle space.

I do enjoy the Tale of games but I find combat of them to not be as fun as combat from FF9 or even turn base like FF10. Right the combat still does not impress me. I would even take FF13 combat.

@hummer700: yea, really we all just need to get the demo in our hands and play it. I wanna do a video review of it when it comes out.

@hummer700: I was actually complaining that the combat didnt looks as graceful as previously shown and that was due in part to the 'hit stop' pause breaks between each attack. When they announced today that they had rectified it and the pause wasn't there on the LIVE 'active time report' stream, I be like...

FFXV left bad impressions of course, is that really a surprise? i don't think so this game certainly will be a upgraded version of the infamous FFXIII ''saga'' veterans don't have to stick with the saying ''play first before saying anything'' we know this franchise very well to come up with that conclusion.