What better topic to start with in detail than Final Fantasy XV? Many of my friends associate me with the game (and vice versa) and for good reason. It's a pretty good contender for my favourite game ever!

A screenshot of the Regalia driving on the open road.

Final Fantasy XV is an odd game. It broke a lot of conventions in the series and was adversely affected by a protracted and restarted development cycle. For many people, it even represented a new low for the series! So why does it continue to have its own base of fans, and what did it do right?

Well, few can argue that FFXV was not a success commercially. It sold 5 million copies in its first 24 hours - the best in series history! - and powered on to 10 million sales, far exceeding more recent Final Fantasy titles. Yet its legacy remains complicated due to its turbulent development, flaws in execution and its drastic divergence from expectations.

If you'd like to find out the problems with the game, feel free to look them up elsewhere, but I'm going to talk primarily in terms of why I enjoy this game so much. It comes down primarily to its world, music and characters.

What A Wonderful World

The world of Final Fantasy XV is magical. The pre-release material drummed up the beauty of its landscapes, presented by the beautiful Luminous engine developed for the game - and it's easy to see why. Even now, it's easy on the eyes. The game's focus on real-time time and weather has served it tremendously well - it existed at a great intersection where the tech was good enough to make complex and beautiful real time lighting, but before the dawn of raytracing and AI upscaling. With the beauty and detail of the open world, combined with the great party you travel with, FFXV has a virtually unparalleled sense of presence; it is a world you can continually revisit, just to drive around, explore and enjoy the sense of immersion in the world. No two trips are the same!

The game's design creates a great game loop around its world. XP is cashed in only at the end of the day, encouraging players to explore, complete tasks or slay enemies, then return to a camp or lodging to tally up XP at night. Even its gameplay systems interact with the world more than any other Final Fantasy game! Using an ice spell in a lake will freeze the water, trapping anyone (friend or foe) in it; thunder near water will electrocute anyone or anything standing in it, while fire magic will burn vegetation and even fur off of monsters, as well as sear the party's clothes and ashen their faces. You can end up zapping a whole array of crocodiles in one spell, or electrocute poor Noctis if he's standing in it.
This level of depth and interactivity between the gameplay, overarching design and world is unique to FFXV, and is one of the great joys of experimenting in or revisiting the game.

The Fantastic Four

A group selfie.

The party is the obvious highlight. Noctis, Gladio, Ignis and Prompto are strong contenders for the most engaging and dynamic main party of any Final Fantasy. Exploring the world, they constantly talk and interact with each other organically. Sometimes, Gladio will tell Noctis to lose his jacket in hot weather; others, Prompto will express his shock at hearing the normally reserved Ignis humming a tune. It's clear a huge amount of effort went in to developing the core cast and their chemistry, because they are brilliantly reactive, with huge variety in conversations and chatter. More than perhaps any other JRPG, the party feels truly alive, reactive and organic.

Like any good story, each of them has their own style, nuances and character arc.
Noctis is a great main character; he really wants to be cool, but he doesn't quite know how to let things go. He is insecure about how other people see him, even his friends - and during scenes at camp and side quests, you see that he is often more fumbling and even dorky than he would like people to know. Prompto is funny and ebullient, but the story does a good job at bringing out the sense of alienation that he has never fully been able to shake off. Being the only non-royal in the party, he has a unique sense of impostor syndrome, compounded and explored more deeply by his great DLC and Brotherhood episode. Ignis is a fantastic character, and its easy to see why he's a fan favourite - his haughty accent, dry sense of humour and passion for recipes and strategy makes him equally the group's tactician and cook as he is their caretaker. Once again, his DLC is a real highlight. Gladio is perhaps the least explored, though his presence is very heavy-handed. He does care about Noctis and the guys, but finds it difficult to communicate. He's Noctis's primary protector and prides himself on his strength.

A group photo at Galdin Quay.

I won't delve into how their characters change over the course of the game, but needless to say that as short as the game is, it does a great job at forming, developing and completing each of their stories.
The game also does a brilliant job of passively developing your relationship with the characters with Prompto's photography. Prompto will take up to 10 snaps each in-game day at random times - whether it's combat, driving, fishing or just plain old walking around. There are also photo spots around the world where Prompto will ask you to stop and get a snap together with the whole party. It's an ingenious mechanic that really rewards you for spending time in the world, guaranteeing variety every day and exploring all sides of the bros in a very human way.

An older Noctis looking emotional.

Music

Even its harshest critics are unlikely to detract from the music. Led by Yoko Shimomura, the soundtrack of FFXV is fantastic and diverse. Right from the title screen, "Somnus" pulls you right in; it's a beautifully haunting piece for string quintet and piano, with an expressive and lamenting solo violin. Ever since the game's first reveal 10 years ago it has rightfully remained one of the main themes.

But the score quickly reveals itself to be surprisingly diverse. There's a strong Americana influence to much of the music across the continent - "Hammerhead" and the other pitstop themes are driven by harmonica and grimy mid-century Hammond organ. "Lestallum" is refreshingly Cuban with acoustic guitar and piano, while "Galdin Quay" is a smooth nylon guitar piece with jazz harmony.

All of these pieces - and indeed, several others throughout the world - are dynamic, meaning their arrangements grow bigger or softer depending on where you are. Hammerhead takes on classic rock guitars when entering the diner, Galdin gains piano and jazz drums in the resort centre, and Lestallum is just guitar in the outskirts before it gains piano in the streets and the markets add cheery trumpets. It adds a lot to the feel of the world to have this detailed and dynamic music arrangement.

It goes without saying that the dramatic music in the game is top-notch, owing to Yoko Shimomura's talents and the assistance of Yoshitaka Suzuki. There are a few standouts.
"OMNIS LACRIMA" is the other piece inherited from early reveals, and it is fantastic - it's an explosive orchestral arrangement with strings, piano and choir that knock you off your feet. "APOCALYPSIS NOCTIS" is one of the game's better known pieces, and it's a heroic sounding piece that is sadly used just twice - though its motif does appear in the other notable track, "Hellfire". A terrific fan favourite, Hellfire is a very visual track with chanting vocals, heavy guitars and moments of triumph as the violins break through to quote APOCALYPSIS NOCTIS. (Did you notice it? Check Hellfire at 2:05 - and if you need a refresher, 0:45 in APOCALYPSIS!)

Special credit must be given to the DLC episodes. The list of personnel on the DLC is practically a fantasy lineup:

It would be too long to delve into all of them here, so I may do it in another article. All of the DLCs have some standout pieces of music in their own right.

Conclusions

A sunny day in Leide.

Few games accomplish what Final Fantasy XV does. Its world feels genuinely lived in, with beautiful dynamic conditions and a party full of natural chemistry. It gives me, personally, endless fun that no other RPG - or perhaps, no other game - has been able to; it feels great to return to this world and simply spend time there. None of the flaws or critiques of the game dampen the experience of the world, its music, or the joy of hanging out with the bros. And that, to me, is why I love Final Fantasy XV!

I might update this blog with links if I post something relevant down the line. But for now, hopefully this gives you an insight into why I keep coming back to this game - and if you haven't played it, hopefully it will inspire you to give it a try too! Thank you for reading.