A mixed bag that ends out coming out ahead, just. The game being built around these four boys and their relationship, roadtrip, perspective of the world and the events there in is a really inspired bit of design. Throw in a more tamed art style comared to other recent entries to go along with a less complex narative and FFXV is the first one in a very, very long time that's actually worth playing. Even the dungeons and side-quests are bloody good fun. Though some of the side-quests to take the piss. All that said, there are certainly flaws.

The port isn't perfect. The game will only use 8x anisotropic filtering and 4GB of VRAM without ini edits, the story telling is a bit of a mess, with a required movie and three multiple pieces of DLC, an entire season of which has now been cancelled. Narrative issues don't end there sadly.

The game is too desparate to hold to the established FF formula, so a LOT of narative tropes are here, none more than "execute ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.exe return emotional response". That's how it feels when it happens. Mechanical. An established norm in video games that is frankly old and trite. Kill something to have emotional moment. This game is sadly built on that. Which brings me to the ending. Now, minor spoilers, a lot of people die. Mostly the nebulous "population of the world" as well as charecters (this is a FF game so of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ course people you know die) and it carries a huge issue. It's crap. Like, really bad. Plot threads go totally ignored with some out-right broken with this ending, and some charecters had to be clarified on post-launch as to whether they died or not! If that wasn't bad enough, they made an alternative ending as part of the Ignis DLC that was still flawed, but better and from a thread perspective, more complete, that was then rejected with the original continuing to be cannon! I even went as far as getting a FF fan I know to listen to my adapted alt ending, and even they admitted it was better! If a twenty-one year old Computer Science student writing, what is in effect, bad fan-fiction can make a better ending than the game's creators, ♥♥♥♥'s ♥♥♥♥♥♥ mate.

So, should you buy it? Well, if you're looking for a deeply entralling and fresh take on the open-world formula and gameplay, that throws in some fun combat and reems of eye-candy, go for it. If you're looking for a deep narative RPG experience, maybe get this on sale for the sake of that sweet eye-candy as you'll be let down otherwise.

For me though, it does come out ahead. Yes it's narative is a bit ♥♥♥♥ and trite as hell, but the gameplay makes up for it. Either that or I'm so bored of pissing on every FF game that's released in the last God know's how long, that I'll take anything at this point.