Final Fantasy XV Retrospective - A Royal Effort 

The scene with Noctis and the bros at their final campsite at the end still makes me tear up when I think about it. It's definitely okay to love flawed things and games are no exception

The Cup Noodle quest might as well be my favourite quest in th game because the English voice cast is taking the piss the entire time. Noctis at the end sounds like he's going to stangle someone.

The fact we now know that episode Ardyn was supposed to be the first on a canceled three episode line DLC that would eventually lead into the true ending where not only the Starscourge is defeated but also humanity is freed from Bahamut, where Noctis, Luna AND Ardyn all get their redemption while being able to stay alive and help build the new world is a punch to the gut. Like, fucking hell, why did they take this away from us

The difference between hearing stand by me in the opening when you first start the game and then when you decide to replay it is something that really got to me as well.

3:45 - fun bizarre fact: the actor who plays King Regis is literally my next door neighbour, Jon Campling. It was so weird just suddenly living next to him, but he’s a really awesome friendly guy. He only did the motion capture and they based King Regis’ appearance of him (the look is uncanny!) but obviously not the voice.

If you're interested in the cooking aspect of Final Fantasy XV, several fans have actually made comprehensive cooking books based on Ignis' recipes! Two I can name of the top of my head: 'That's It! : An Unofficial FFXV Community Cookbook, and 'Honey & Toast FFXV Cook Book Diary' , and both do an excellent job of translating the recipes within to life. I recommend Grease Monkey's Snitzel Sandwich myself personally!

The extended final camp scene where Noct and Ignis talk and we see a young noct reflecting in Ignis glasses (the last visual sight he has of noct) is a nice chefs kiss touch of a tearjerker for me.

My best photo in the album was one where the car was driving through the tunnel to Lestalum and Prompto had taken a photo of bare wall.. That photo means the world to me, it captures the spirit of every brick.

I never had a game that made me feel so much love for a car, losing it in the later half was painful.

The city should have been the first 10 hours of the game. Then like when you leave Midgar, suddenly you're on the open road and the world opens up to you. It would have added opportunities to introduce the characters to us one by one, given the losing of the city some weight and made leaving the city feel like a big deal.

I really wish we got Arenea's story. She was mad interesting and that weird parallel between how she came in and how Bahamut came in always stuck with me

Developers knew items were a broken mechanic when they included dungeons like Costlemark which make you battles 50 floors of absolute chaos without the ability to use items. An actual challenge for some.

Gonna be honest I played the entire game without knowing you can “tilt modify” your attacks, and I played the tutorial! I can also vouch that miss dragoon will randomly join you in OG 15, it caught me off guard once.

The reason those Japanese lines were changed to "I love you" probably has something to do with the fact that in Japanese, outright telling someone "I love you" is really weird and not something people do very often if at all, even if they're in a devoted relationship (you might say to someone "I like you", but it doesn't really carry the same sort of weight. It's more like saying "I think you're likeable" and wouldn't be very fitting for those scenes). I think the localisers rightly surmised that having big emotional romantic scenes end with just a simple "thank you" would sound oddly casual or even a little cold-hearted to a lot of western audiences. In Japanese you show someone how you feel through your actions, as an English speaker, having a romance story without even a single "I love you" would be kinda weird, wouldn't it?

On a side note, I dont believe any game will ever awaken all of these emotions within me this rapidly and harshly as ffxv did. Holy hell, this surely was a ride. And it was a damn good one at that. What a beloved game this is to me.

This game was good in my opinion I just loved the characters the gameplay and how they all interacted with each other wish I could play it for the first time again.

While I don't think Noctis, Gladio, Prompto and Ignis are among the best characters in the series, I think XV has the best party. The way they play off each other just makes them a great group- the whole is much greater than the sum of it's parts.

One thing I've always thought they should've done with the content patches was add a "Chapter 0" set in Insomnia. That could've been the tutorial (instead of a random empty room) and also a perfect place to introduce the world and most of the characters you will meet later on in the game.

the way someone found Luna's attack animations suggested that in earlier development as 15, Luna was meant to be playable! Also love the touch of that Sephiroth music when you talk about Ardyn's character writing

Not sure if you mentioned the Terra Battle crossover side mission (still watching and this video is long lol) but that quest was so fun and really showcased the flaws of Noctis and Luna's relationship in the game. I cared more about Noctis and Sarah's relationship in a 45 minute sidequest than I did about the MAIN relationship of the game.

I like refer this game as a broken masterpiece. The way it came out as broken pieces seems disappointing; where you have to watch the anime, the movie and play the game (as well as dlc) to understand the whole story but when you DO take in everything, and game is a masterpiece (to me). The whole journey where you face dangers and build strong bonds with your brothers really hits me.

The brilliant thing about the cooking is that the people who made the game actually went out camping and made the dishes in real life with a campfire set-up, which is also how they achieved the lighting from the fire too.

A game doesn’t have to be perfect for me to have a deep connection with it, and after spending all that time with those guys, that campsite scene hits me anytime someone even mentions it. FFXV is one of my favorite Final Fantasys-not only was the music fire (Yoko Shimomura DOES 👏 NOT👏 MISS👏) but the visceral and raw emotions that these characters evoked made this game feel like it was a part of me, in the same way all your favorite stories help shape you as a person. You could have made a video that was 3 hours long and I’d still be here listening so long as it was about FFXV haha! Excellent job ❤

My brother played it for me the first time, and even though I barely payed attention the ending still had me sobbing. After a year I played it for myself, knowing the ending and it still hit just as hard, if not harder after spending 100+ hours with the boys. (i was so over leveled arydn was nothing 💀)

This game's development is proof that Tetsuya Nomura needs a handler or at least an equal on the project to keep him in check.

I love this game so much. The plot is incredibly tragic, the villain is arguably my favorite FF villain ever, the soundtrack makes me tear up, and some parts of this game whether it’s the summons or the areas are really beautiful. That said I know everyone else hates this game, so part of me is dreading watching this.

Thank you for making this. Final Fantasy XV is my favorite game because of the visceral story and my emotional response to it. Separated from its tumultuous development, it is refreshing to hear an honest review that acknowledges the beautiful parts it does well.

I remember there was a theory that the ending with Noct and Luna on the throne was just another timeline that played from King Regis trying to get thigns right and that the ending with song playing and the Chocobros trying to start up the car was the timeline resetting

I adore ffxv. It's the only game my sister stuck around to play with me, and one of the only things that connected our vastly different worlds... That and the emotional rollercoaster that is the second half. That last camp scene rips me apart, because it's so genuine to both noctis and the player. You spent so long struggling together with your friends, and you don't want to lose it. The English VA is really good too, localization flubs aside. Even prompto really grew on me after a bit. Also comrades is a guilty pleasure of mine...it's a whole other can of worms but I loved the various weapons and combat that came with it. Maybe I'll pick it up again after 6.2 in FFXIV.

Honestly in my circle of friends, I’ve been known to harp about this game. But, I’ve waited for this video ever since the XIII one. I’m excited to listen to your thoughts regardless of my own feelings on it.

Seriously this is such a great video. You especially nailed the combat segment

This is honestly one of the best retrospective review ever! Thank you. This video alone deserves a subscription.

This game and Persona 5 made me realize how important friendship is

As someone who bought vanilla FFXV, this was the game where I put in a “no more preorder” rules. The DLC just solidifies how badly burnt vanilla players were.

I really enjoyed this video. I played and absolutely LOVED this game at launch despite all its faults. You just bumped a replay of this to the top of my gaming priorities. Thanks!

I started this game about 4 times and couldn't get into it. Then finally some thing clicked and fell in love with it

the camping equipment ( Coleman) also being used for marketing on top of Cup Noodle was definitely a good laugh when first playing it

I've only made it past the Gameplay section now, but I just wanna say that after 11:50 - 12:07 I had to pause the video and give standing applause alone in my room. After seeing so many videos where the author clearly didn't even try to learn the combat system and simply repeated the uninformed "automated combat" take to get away from talking about gameplay, this alone made this video the best FFXV review/retrospective out there.

your FF Retrospective videos series is pure gold, man

awesome video, thanks for all the time invested in making it

It took me a few years playing it in spurts, but I finally completed the Royal edition this year and it has become the first FF game I've actually finished. 180 hours and a platinum trophy. I agree it was flawed, like very flawed, but I was not part of the hype train and knew that the final chapters had issues. When I look back on my time with it what I remember was adventuring with the boys and road tripping across a beautiful world with characters I really cared about. I have fond memories of my time with it and feel you nailed it with your thoughts

My main gripe with FF15 is the story telling. I don't think the player should use outside sources or find hidden books in game to explain the back story to help the main story be more understandable when the appeal of FF15 is the story like most FF games. FF15 was my first FF game and I hardly learned anything about the crystal, the starscourge, the astrals, King Regis, or the other important imperials and the goal of the imperial army when playing the actual main story, but after playing the other single player FF games I can tell that their stories were way more explained especially the older ones. If the devs got way more time the story could've been explained way better and could've used all cutscenes that were only in trailers.

Very well done , very informative thank you for taking the time and doing this !

Dude described me perfectly. From announcement to release I graduated high school and college, started a family and had several career moves. Finally in late 2023 I picked up the game.

I love this game, and I played the day 1 edition of xv. The ost is fantastic and I really enjoyed the gameplay with how fighting feels.

I played the royal edition of this game and i got my first emotional breakdown in my life this will forever be my #1 faverourite game ever made. I never cried so much in my life and it was full on for 30 min nonstop

Finally a proper closer in explaining everything for me. Thank you!!!!

Thank YT recommendations, I knew I was missing something from my YT home page, for some reason despite being subbed & notifications on I missed this until now. Thanks for the amazing content as always!

say what you want but to me, this is my favorite final fantasy game of all time and noctis is one of my favorite characters.. the gameplay was super fun for me, the story.. while having some issues, is amazing. I’ve never felt such care for the characters and understanding their emotions and goals. Its a game that i truly loved from start to finish and i think it deserves better respect for what they were able to accomplish in a troubled development that lasted for so long. Definitely give it a chance if your reading this

I’m only part way through but I had to comment that I had no idea this game had a directional attack system! I played the whole thing! And some dlc! I’m floored. Also excellent timing and sense of humour as always! I can’t wait to watch the rest.

That was a great video and I really liked hat you had to say and pride the work and humor you out into this video. Thank you for your insight and opinion of the FFXV experience.

FFXV was the last time I bought a game day one.

If the Gladio episode of the Brotherhood anime had been used as a gameplay level, maybe where the combat tutorial would be, that would have solved a lot of issues around Insomnia not having that much presence in the game since it has younger Noctis going around the city looking for the lost Iris, the rescue being a major turning point in now Gladio sees Noct.

I watch Kingsglave (I love the movie) before playing the games so I could understand what was going on, but I never got any interest on the main cast of the game. I actually prefer Nyx Ulric and it hit me hard when he die. When it comes to game play I actually kinna cheese it using Promto, killing everything from a distant with the rocket launcher and grenades. I literally will always find a location on the map where the bosses cant hit me and span the rockets and grenades.

this was an amazing and fair review of my fav FF game. i also learned a whole bunch of new stuff so thanks a lot

I think a prologue (optional even) to explore the city before heading out would’ve been a great way to get a feel for the controls and to establish the city. Could’ve had Nyx, Cor, Iris, etc all there and would’ve added to the emotion of wondering who lived and didn’t later on. To progress the story, would be meeting up with King Regis (and Gladio’s dad) so that they are better fleshed out. There could even be call backs to things you did (or didn’t do) later on. This was my Covid game and it took the lockdown for me to finally finish it so I’ve played its various versions, but it’s definitely improved now. It would’ve benefited from more towns and people as well as a variation in quests in general such as with the hunters/car rescues - like actually having to rescue people from demons or not having them all look like identical twins. If Zelda can have unique NPCs so can Final Fantasy btw. Turning off friendly fire and allowing less elemental consumption for spells or even more spells would make magic more viable.

It has been a while- I really appreciate the awesome in depth analysis to a game I genuinely enjoyed, and it wasn't even the royal edition- it was the original version. I remember being so immersed in the story and the characters that after it ended, I was kind of in a moment of emptiness for a few days after.

This is still to date one of my favorite games (behind NieR Automata and NieR Replicant actually) and I really appreciated the detail to which you broke the game down and explored a lot of fine details that I definitely had not noticed despite having sunk almost 200 hours into the game. Thanks for the great video, looking forward to watching more.

"Just turn it off! You can do that! My Brother in Christ you made the game!" Absolutely killed me

No matter how flawed, incomplete, and/or inconsistent this game is, it is full of heart and when the final campsite scene comes around, you can't help but reminisce about the precious memories with your brothers in arms. Walk tall, my friends.

Okay you convinced me to give this game another try. The Royal edition is downloading now

Note: I am writing this before actually finishing the video. 15 is definitely overcompensating for the backlash that 13 got. I was too concerned with the open world aspects of the game and not enough on telling a story. There is a big chunk of this game where the story just stops. It goes out of it's way to divert your attention away from the main story. Like Prompto wanting to go see chocobos or Gladio getting all weird over cup noodles. Lunafreya only appears in cutscenes. Her only interactions with Noctis are in flashbacks or though that book. The only time she interacts with Noctis in the present is in a dream, after she is already dead. And I am meant to care when she dies, I don't. Her death and relationship with Noctis just doesn't work. Noctis clearly feels something over her death and if anything could get you to feel anything for it is Ray Chase's performance. I just don't feel an emotional connection to it. I do have to say that I am against having to go to outside sources to get the full story of something. For 15, it's story is split between a movie, an anime, the game itself and a novel. Not to mention DLC that honestly, outside of Ignis and Ardyn you don't need Gladio or Prompto. I am supposed to be playing a game; I should not have to do homework to learn everything I that should have been in the game. DLC, or movies, or novels should be supplemental material; NOT required to fill in missing pieces. I look at 15 as the antithesis to what 13 was. 13 was focused on the story it wanted to tell. How well it told that story is another discussion but it WAS focused. 15 let's the player do whatever until chapter 9 when it suddenly gets back to progressing the story all the way to the end.

Ah yes, chapter 13, Ardyn's 2 hour ball twisting dungeon. I too chose noctis' path and understand your pain.

The final camp scene, the picture you pick, and the credits are the hardest I have ever cried in response to a piece of media. Not the best final fantasy game, but absolutely the best at evoking sheer emotion and I will always love this game for that. I did a 100% playthrough for my first ever experience and the picture I kept at the end is still so meaningful to me today. I kept the picture that's taken at the very end of the last fishing quest. Noct, the player, and all your friends gathered celebrating this huge accomplishment of catching the biggest fish. I kept that picture, it's a representation of my 100% completion being one of the last pictures taken, and it shows all my friends so happy and excited, the perfect way to remember, this picture means more to me than any other game I've ever loved

Thank you for recommending A King’s Tale, I had never heard of it and its actually pretty fun, and beautiful!

Dude this review is on an entirely different level, its perfectly balanced and reasonable you see the games strength and praise it you see its weakness and criticize it while also trying to understand why it was handled like this instead of blowing it out of proportion, its almost impossible to find an FF review like this, usually reviews are gushfest or hatefest something that even projared sadly fell into, i really hope you review other games in the series in a similar fashion to this.

great video. Amazing work!

I genuinely had no idea about the directional attacks! Watching this is making me want to play through it all again

I really enjoy your FF13 videos and this video! After so much criticism about FFXV, your video is very refreshing, especially about the role of the photos you took throughout the journey. I have been wondered to purchase the royal edition and your video convinced me to do just that. Thank you for the video!

FFXV was my first ever JRPG and I will always have a soft spot in my heart for it regardless of its flaws. Was super upset when they canned 3 of the 4 season 2 dlc’s. FFXV introduced me into weebdom which might not be a good thing but it’s crazy to think how different my interests might be now if I didn’t randomly pick up this game in GameStop when I was 14. Also I think this game has the best fashion design in any jrpg ever made.

I love Ardyn as the bad guy. He is extremely memorable, and he has an amazing story. He's probably my favourite antagonist in any game I've ever played.

On release this game really made me think about my friends who at the time had pretty much all moved away to university, It was kind of therapeutic. The ending with Noctis at the campsite for the last time legit made me cry. It wasn't the kind of final fantasy game I really expected but it absolutely had a big impact on me and playing the royal edition I could see a lot of the improvements and made me more invested in stopping to smell the roses so to speak and complete waaaay more side missions and explore the world, which I feel has a really great mix of modern feel with mythology and fantasy. I might complete the run I was doing before 16 releases, which I am immensely looking forward to.

One of my favorite moments in 15 was finding out about a postgame glitch that allowed Aranea to permanently remain in the party. She even has campfire scenes when resting and will have small conversations with party members when exploring. (Could be wrong about the conversation part, not played in a while.) Amusingly though she isn't able to get into the car so will just sprint behind, kinda funny honestly. She also shows up in the party screen but you obviously don't get to change any of her equipment or special attack. Don't know if it's still possible to replicate the glitch but it is kinda fun to have if it's still possible. Don't think Iris or Cor had bugs like this which is honestly a shame. Would've been fun to see.

this is my most favorite game of all time i love it so much

Great video! Enjoyed every minute of it as much as i enjoyed the game itself!❤

I agree. That end credits and final camp scene T_T this was a great video!!!

Still to this day I never discovered a legitimate reason why Noctis and Lunafreya should like eachother, their relationship is pretty much "I'm a magic lady and you're royalty so we should be a thing". The Game's world felt barren at times However music and graphics was on point as always and Ardyn was a fantastic villain

Something I didn't find out about until reading a guide is that there is an upgraded armiger called "armiger unleashed". It makes Noct truly badass and it's a shame its so hidden most people probably never experienced it.

Ty for giving this game some light.

Absolutely love these deep dives. I just finished XV for the first time myself and have....complicated feelings about it. One suggestion for the vids though, having the VA be Japanese makes it hard to listen to this video without actively watching it to read the subtitles. I love listening to these while driving or even falling asleep, but feel totally lost when the Japanese VA happens since I can't read the subtitles. Even having it on in the background while doing other things. Just a thought anyway, keep it up! Excited to hear thoughts on FFXVI

I remember not even knowing about this development till 2013, and was hyped, short I enjoyed the game spent about 300 + hours since day one, building the relationship with the boys hit hard towards the end of the game, my only complaint since the last patch I had the same summon attack like 40 times in a row I stopped using them after that unless nesseary. Oh and the add on of alot of the big hits ost from various ffs I thought it was amazing just wish it stayed on during battle, Oh and the cross over with ff and AC origins were pretty odd but it was cool, with having a costume for ff15, and ardyn coming to assassin's Creed to transport Inside a tomb just to drop off his weapon and shield.

The fact I sat through someone doing a no death no item speed run of this game is beyond nuts. He beat the game in like 2hrs

Brando, I have now watched this video five times and have completed FFXV RE including beating Ultima Weapon. This game is now my third favorite FF of all time. Thanks so much!

The ending and final parts get me emotional every time man. So dad but so fantastically written. It reall feels like a deserved conclusion

FF15 is my favorite Final Fantasy. And tbh it was in my top 3 games last gen. Played thru it twice and still can't get enough. I haven't watched this whole video yet. It's alot in one sit down for me but I'll finish soon. So far seems like you put alot into it. Very well done.

Played FFXV when it first came out and honestly besides Ch. 13's old infamy for a slog of a solo run the game was still fun for the most part and I was genuinely struck by Noctis' end if a little befuddled on some of the lore. Only thing I could've wished for after the DLCs fleshed things out more was for Square to just finish what they started because the potential was there. Of course I also acknowledge the criticisms of how most of this content should've been there from the get go.

This game still has my favorite open world setup, it's the first game since FF9 to actually try to solve the world map issue. And the road trip aspect works really well.

I was crying at that end credits “stand by me” with the saved pictures playing.

Regardless of the many faults this game had at the beginning, still had a wonderful time with it that I platinum it. My only gripe is that I wish they could have update the game UI and assets to a higher resolution with the next gen update, it didn't age well.

There were a lot of great moments in XV. Three things that could have brought it to way higher highs were if Iris and Aranea joined the party permanently throughout the game, the later especially. Also, it still bums me out that we never really got to see Lunafreya shine. They just didn’t give us enough time to really care for her. Having more interactions or letting us play as her could have been huge. Finally, the fall of Lucis was was originally supposed to be playable that would have been amazing! Splitting moments across a movie and an anime really took away from the game. If the invasion had been in the game it could have been huge. Even if we only got to play out after Noctis finds out. I liked your idea of cutting to the DLCs as the moment in the story came up. If those had just been chapters sprinkled throughout the game it could have been really immersive and helped us to feel each characters tension even more.

This game is so personally inspiring for me ... thank u for having my biases and tastes confirmed xD

Noctis and his crew are pretty much human versions of the Ninja Turtles and I love it. Noctis is the flawed but loves his brothers leader - Leonardo Ignis is the strategic and intelligent - Donatello Gladious is the tough love and slight rival to Noct when they butt heads - Raphael Prompto is the comedic relief but knows his heart is in the right place - Michelangelo

The biggest issue with FFXV is that you have to basically go through the entire universe of content from the movie, trailers, web series, dlc, main and post game, and multiple books to get a complete story..

I thought one of the few really, just plainly good things about 15 was it’s ending, even in the base game. Like you said, he finally assumes his role as the protector of the realm and the world, saying goodbye to his dear friends, and makes the ultimate sacrifice, eventually reuniting with his bride. It was truly moving to me.

Really appreciate you doing the hard work for this game at the end of the road, long after the hype has died. Watched your video from beginning to end. This is my favorite game and influences my life in a lot of ways, even meeting my relationship partner. Have you given the Dawn of a Future book a read?

I played through the game on it's original release, and now I'm currently replaying it at the end of 2022, and it's Royal Edition with all the DLC and episode Ardyn. It's it was a fun game on its release date, but it's so much better in it's current form. Where you can switch party members, and have a much more flushed out story. Worth the revisit.

I love this game for the bros, the camping, the bonding, the photos only you can take, the stories that can happen in tough encounters. Because the story itself skips about 10k needles of context

Personally, I loved my experience with FF15. Even without all of the new cutscenes/DLC added in throughout it's life, since I was there Day 1. The main story with the bros was solid, and I really enjoyed their chemistry. It's definitely required to watch the Kingsglaive movie and Brotherhood anime miniseries beforehand though, for the best results with understanding the background of the story.

Hello, I don’t know nor have I watched this channel before. I’m at the last part of the game, just before the final battle. Ch 9-14 was a crazy ride & not my typical chill and go for a drive, so side missions kind of game. As someone who knows nothing about FF, the series, characters, etc. I bought this game to specifically play on my steam deck. I played it on PS4 when it launched, never beat it & forgot where I even left off. First off, this video is great. KUDOS to the creator, really happy I actually listened to the 1+hr video, gives me more context to the game. I would second the creator in saying ; I loved what I played here. On my PC @ RTX 3070, 1080P 120fps is amazing at 4K 60+ fps is insane. Game looks, feels awesome. It’s a beautiful game. Better yet, this game is so addicting and great especially with Noct, Prompto, Gladio & Ignis, some of my favorite parts about the game were actually just.. the simple stuff. Driving to & from side missions. Looking at the visuals as Ignis drives, allowing me to chill, smoke a bowl, etc. The combat is addicting and fun, and the steamdeck allows me to play this game pretty much everywhere. My comment is a bit all over the place since I’m writing this at my work, just getting off of my 1hr break where I’m in the last open area before fighting Ardyn, playing on my steam deck. I went to the “dorms”, and used Umbra to travel back to Luci’s (the main open world map) because I’m too sad to see this story end. I don’t want to see Noct lose his friends. Every single one of them is so interesting and quirky, coming from a dude who’s played 130hours+ strictly on my steam deck, whether at home, or in my car on my break. This game is incredible. Eventually once I’m satisfied with the amount of side missions/bored of Ignis driving me around, I’ll finish the main story. But man… This video, and this game, really hits hard in a great way. 10/10 video. 10/10 game that I cannot stop playing just from the good simple vibes I get out of fishing, driving, leveling up, etc.

I friggin' LOVE the Cup Noodle quest!