This is my second half of the Final Fantasy Review and starts with chapter 9 and beyond.  This is the phase known by the fanbase as the section where the game completely falls apart.  A sentiment I now agree with.

 

I had some serious problems with the plot of this game, but with the open world nature of the first half of the game, I was willing to ignore this major flaw.  But with the second half of the game really focusing on plot, now I was forced to come to terms with Final Fantasy 15’s biggest weakness. 

 

Minus the big four main characters, a couple supporting leads, and the main antagonist, I did not care about any of the characters.  Chapter 9 is where this begins to really hold the game back.  As major deaths of characters starts to happen, I felt… nothing from their painful ends.  Perhaps I am spoiled by powerful plots with characters that really speak to me on an emotional level, but I really could care less about most of the characters in the plot.  As a result, their deaths don’t matter to me much.

 

Worse is what happens when the open world aspect suddenly ends, and the game is literally railroaded.  There are a few good parts in this segment, though the twists require a little bit of suspension of disbelief.  There was one notable part of the game that I really did enjoy and it comes at odds with most of the fan base.

 

Chapter 13, hailed by almost everyone as the worst part of the game was actually one of my favorite segments.  Sure the plot was still weak, and a villain that most of the time I liked, decided to act even more hammy than usual as I stealthed through his base.  Without mentioning specifics, just know that lots of people hate this part of the game due to the drastic changes in gameplay.  Suddenly Noct is the main character of a survival horror game with jump scares a plenty, and none of his weapons save the Ring of Luci which is an item that I only recently figured out how to use properly.

 

The part of the game that really pissed me off and really showed me why the games ending segments are getting so much hate is what occurs right after Chapter 13 ends.  Once again avoiding spoilers, Square had a chance to effectively double the main game in both scope and size, and decided not to. 

 

With an ending that was very obviously rushed, I was very disappointed in the second half of the game. There was a chance to follow in the footsteps of Final Fantasy 6, my favorite video game of all time, and this did not deliver.  So while I am getting a chance to enjoy the bonus dungeons, this is not one of the best games in the series which is a shame because this game was stuck in development hell for so long. 

 

With Square hopefully realizing what they did wrong with this game, perhaps the next game in the series will remedy the decreasing faith I have in the Final Fantasy Series of late.