Dungeon 1: Crystal Cave - Final Fantasy XV Part 2

Dungeon: Crystal Cave
Dungeon Level: 4
Guest: Noctis (Level 8)
Current Level: 2

I'm going to be very honest with you about what I've experienced in playing Final Fantasy XV.
I love this game so much.
I love the Gameplay more than I ever thought I would ever since I played Episode Duscae. And truth be told, I was a little skeptical about how the Battle System would work. But they did just fine with it and I'm so glad that I got to watch as Square make immense progress with it while keeping the fans up to date.
I love the Characters.
Well the main playable characters mostly. But People like Cindy and Iris and Aranea really does get in on the love. And you get Ardyn too, one of the most memorable FF Villains in a while. And don't get me started on the interactions.
I love the world that was created for Eos and how big it is for the player to explore.
And I love love LOVE the music. Yoko Shimomura was just the perfect choice for this game.
But while I loved this game a lot, there will be things that I'm not going to give as much love to.
I'll start with the story.
It starts out simple and direct. It's not convoluted and hard to understand. And you'll find yourself pleased that the direction this game is going is good.
But then it eventually takes a nosedive.
Spoiler alert, this post is going to contain some sensitive information for those who haven't played through at least Chapter 3 or something.



I'll start with Luna, the designated Heroine of the story.
You know how they've promoted Luna as this strong character and how she's someone we just can't reach.
Well uh... She doesn't really have too much screen time in this game. I'm not joking.
You see her for like 3 or 4 cutscenes before you reach Chapter 9 or 10. And a few more times after that.
And to put some people who've heard rumors at rest, no she will not be a Guest Party Member. Which is a pretty big bummer.
She gives off the vibe that she can be a good character given proper development, but we don't see enough of her to care. She goes around Eos talking to the Astrals(Summons) to get them to give Noctis a trial. So basically, she's a background support.
Noctis doesn't even get the chance to talk to her in person really.
I'm not going to say anything too much about what happens during Chapter 9 or 10, but you'll find that you won't see her as much anymore either after that.
And it's pretty sudden. It's supposed to have an effect... But honestly, not really for my taste.



Then I'll get to the part where it gets linear.
After Altissia, you lose the open world for a while(Unless you call Umbra and go back). And while it's not really that bad, you start to realize that this game was pretty rushed.
Look back on past trailers and information, and you see that some of the places you travel to could have been bigger. But its been cut to pieces to try and piece together a game for the release.
So much of what happens in the game could have been better, that's what I have to say about it.
A fair warning, if you're entering Chapter 13, it is by popular opinion the worst chapter in the game.
And to mentally prepare you for it, i'll give you some info on why is that.
First off, you lose all your weapons and magic. No no, it's still in your inventory.
You just can't use it.
So you can't just slash your way through this chapter.
And your friends aren't going to be around for it either.
You're going through a frustrating maze by yourself, practically defenseless until Noctis finally puts on the ring and you're forced to use the Death Spell, which is cool by animation terms but takes a while to actually kill the harder enemies.
This game stops being Final Fantasy for this chapter and becomes a Stealth/Survival game because you'd be surprised by the jumpscares the chapter has and how annoying it is.
Of course, you can opt to just kill everything in sight with the Death spell, which I totally did instead of hiding. But it gets tedious after the nth time.
And it takes so long to finish this chapter really.
But I'll stop from there.
Despite the nuances I have with the story, I can't deny that Square Enix did what they could to try and make the ends meet, and though the latter half of the experience felt lukewarm compared to the open half, the ending was spectacular.
Though I can't help but feel like I just got Type-0d from this game. It's bittersweet in comparison to the mass death Class 0 had, but still...
It makes me wonder what Tabata's obsession with death is. Seriously. Crisis Core. Type 0. Now FF XV? I do wonder when the last Mainline Final Fantasy Characters had a sweet ending.
12? 9?
I'll jump to the Characters at this point.



I've already discussed Luna, so I'll start with the Guest Characters. You have 3.
Cor, Iris, and Aranea.
I don't care what people say, Iris is best girl.
But I advice you to not get attached.
While the Guest Characters are amazing... They don't stick around too much.
Cor is the first one, and he's really powerful. But after that boss fight with Loqi, you don't see him anymore until you leave for Altissia. And he's only mentioned once or twice, even though he's technically supposed to be an important character to the people of Insomnia.
Iris is Gladio's younger sister. You bring her to Caem, but you can take quests and undergo battles with her in the party.
Her HP is around 100 or something. You didn't read that wrong, its' in the 100s. Not 1000s. 100s.
I'm like, what? Really?
But guess characters don't die so you don't really have to worry about that.
In truth, she is the most useful guest character because she heals you without expending any of your items. And her Team attack is just fucking awesome.
But again, after reaching Cape Caern, she leaves the party. I mean she's still around, but she doesn't have too much impact after that.
Aranea, story wise, doesn't suffer for leaving the party. She's a mercenary by nature and part of the Niffelheim forces so it's only natural she doesn't help out too much. But she does come back every now and then to help you in a fight, so that's awesome.
Now that I think about it, I don't really have anything negative to talk about Aranea, aside from her Team attack being 3 bars. Seriously, I'd rather use Piercer or Mark even if Highwind is powerful.
Now for the party members.
When I first saw the characters in the trailers, I almost immediately thought I would HATE Prompto.
You know what, the exact opposite happened.
I LOVE Prompto compared to Gladio and Ignis.
By all means, I love all the Chocobros, but Prompto had the most impact with me.
He's not just one dimension playboy, he actually has depth hidden beneath all it. Especially if you watched that motel scene.
But I can't help but feel that his thing in Chapter 13 was a weird addition to his story. It gives him the ability to be a plot device and some added background, but it feels inserted than told really.
Ignis is a loveable character that you just can't help but enjoy. He doesn't get much background, but his cool and smart addition to the party while still maintaining a sense of humanity makes him a good character, despite some quotes that get repetitive(THAT'S IT! I'VE COME UP WITH A NEW RECEPEH) But its what happens to him around Chapter 10 that melts peoples hearts.
Spoiler alert.
He gets blinded and he tries desperately to be of help but he ends up being a handicap and often needs help. Its through his sheer determination and words with the party that he continues on, standing his ground.
Gladio has one of the best interactions with Noctis and the party in the game and is more often than not the big brother. He is a knight that acts as the shield, the brother who will look after you no matter what.
And while I certainly appreciate that and the snark, there is one thing I can never ever get from Gladio.
Another spoiler.
On the way to a Tomb in the later half of the game, Noctis becomes sullen after the events of 9 and 10 and Gladio just randomly starts being a dick to him.
He's angry at Noctis for being so disconnected and insults him for not acting right.
I mean for God's sake, the events that happened would shake anyone up, but now Noctis is insensitive to what happened to Ignis or the others who suffered? Jesus, Gladio, you're being insensitive yourself!
The next thing is the quests.
The best quests you really have are the Hunts, where you get to kill things. But the other sidequests feel more radiant(Gameplay terms) and not creative to be honest. It's not like Skyrim where there are random quests with different stories to it. The sidequests in FFXV are too simple to a fault.
Of course we have the dungeons and they're always a good thing to go through.
The last gripe I have is the latter half's world. I mean most of my gripes are from the latter half but really.
I discussed this earlier that it seemed like the game was rushed.
By Chapter 14, you're treated to somewhere that does seem like there's more to it. But instead, you later end up being picked up and dropped off into Hammerhead and not able to leave without going to the final Area.
And boy, Insomnia could have been a good place to be an open world.
I think everyone is in agreement that FFXV, no matter how good it really is, felt half baked.
Its just... It could have better.
That's all i can really say about it.
And with that, I've exited the Crystal Cave!
*Victory Fanfare*

Exp Gained: 95
Exp to Next Level: 40
Obtained Engine Ring
Obtained Avenger
Obtained Noctis Summon Card

Save File: 1
>ThanosVenge
Level: 2
Class: Thief Mage
Equipment: Avenger
Armor: Thunder Hoodie
Accessory: Cross Ring
Accessory: Swiftness Brace

New Game Plus: Shibuya - The World Ends With You

Dungeon: Shibuya
Dungeon Level: 104
Guest: Neku (Level 99)
Current Level: 1
Past Level: 99


The World Ends With You (Or Subarashiki Kono Sekai in Japanese) is my Favorite Game of all eternity.
For years, I've played a thousand games in different consoles.
But none has captured my heart as fast as The World Ends With You (TWEWY) did.
I first played The World Ends With You when I was in High School. That was approximately 6 or 7 years ago. I was either a sophomore or junior then.
Do not kick me for this, but I had downloaded the game on a whim from the internet and played it on the emulator because I didn't have a DS at the time.
When I first played it, I wasn't very enthusiastic about it. I had nothing to do so this game was just on a list I had so I played it and the initial gameplay didn't quite intrigue me at first since you start with Neku just burning stuff with his Pyrokinesis Pin and Shiki just throwing Mr. Mew at Noise.
The dynamic of the Dual Screen Combat system just didn't make a strong first impression. At least until the game built up the system one Chapter at a time.
The story is direct and mysterious at the same time.
At the start of the game, you are treated to Neku's iconic Hate the world monologue.


"I don't get people. Never have, Never Will."


And immediately, you are dumped into the middle of Shibuya with absolutely no explanation. Just a pin that lets you read minds, weird mail, a timer on your hand, and a bunch of evil frogs trying to kill you.
For the sake of easy understanding, I'll cut to the chase.


You play as Neku Sakuraba, the game's antisocial teenage main character. He hates people and will try as hard as possible to not be involved with others.
But in a large turn of events that I cannot say due to spoilers, Neku ends up in the Underground, or U.G. Shibuya, where he's been entered in the Reapers Game.
He has no memory of this or anything at all except his name and was just lucky enough to run into Shiki Misaki, his first partner in the game
The Reapers Game is a a test where people who have died undergo a week of trials to see if they're worthy of being granted a second chance at life.
The game is basically gauntlet of Missions given at each day for a week where Players must do the mission and survive against what the Reapers and Game Masters throw at them as well as the Noise, TWEWY's large variety of monsters.
Failure to complete these missions or being defeated by Noise will subject the players to Erasure. Meaning they lose their rights to exist.




Since the Reapers Game is only playable by Partner, Neku is forced to cooperate with Shiki if he wants to stay alive, and while he;s extremely cold to Shiki and even considers her a nuisance, he slowly warms to her and his antisocial ice wall begins to thaw.
The game is divided into 3 Weeks, 1 for each possible Partner.
On the first week, you get the fashionable (but maybe a little scantily clad) Shiki Misaki, a bubbly young girl constantly serving as the source of optimism in the first week. Shiki fights using Mr. Mew via a pin using Psychomancy.



For the second week, you get the Sly and sarcastic Joshua Kiryu. He is shrouded with mystery and is the only other person sassier than Neku. He drives Neku insane. He is cunning, confident, and extremely smart and you'll find it difficult to trust in him. He's my favorite character.
Joshua fights with a cell phone. Yes you heard that right. He drops things from the sky. Each varying in size. While he will appear like the weakest of the partners at first, his true strength emerges later on.



For the last week, you  get the Skateboarder Idiot, Beat.
Beat isn't a very hard character to understand. He's too simplistic, and literally dumb, but is in a sense imposing and much more aggressive than Shiki or Joshua. This is emphasized in his quick fighting style and strong attack power, but weaker defenses. A glass cannon. He fights with a skateboard, and while he can get the fastest fusion stars(Explained below), he has the riskiest combat system in the game.



Each Week will delve heavily around a much deeper story than a week of survival and you will learn that there really is more to the game than Neku sees, which will eventually rock the foundation of the weeks itself before a series of revelations force characters into action.
Sorry for the vagueness, but I'm trying to keep this spoiler free for people who have not played this game.
Returning to the gameplay, you start out slow and you will feel the game move at a slow pace for a short while before you start to learn variety in combat and pins, learning to make proper combinations to make battles easier.
For the most part, you'll find yourself switching between the upper and lower screen if you are serious in trying to do good in battle.
There is only one HP bar which connects from both top and bottom screen. The partners share it and if either Neku or his partner take damage, the hp screen will slowly deplete.
The lower screen is where Neku is located, fighting with a variety of pins you assign to his deck. Each pin has a unique power activated by a different touch command such as Drag for Pyrokinesis, or Slash for Shockwave, etc...



The upper screen is where Neku's partner is located. Unlike Neku, the partner stays stationary in a single spot and attacks enemies from either the left or right side of their screen.
Partner's are controlled with the D-Pad where you will initiate in a short card game with each press of the left or right directional button leading to a card. At the end of the arrows, a card will be shown and used for each partner's specific card requirements located on top of their screen. Each of their combat styles are different and you will have to be adaptable for each as they all have their own strengths and weaknesses that can frustrate you.
Shiki's is called ESP Cards, where you try and guess the hidden cards atop the screen. Its safe and easy enough. Joshua's is High and Low, and is the easiest of the partners. You have to match the cards that appear on the top of his screen. This easy system is however at the cost of a slower card system than Shiki or Beat.
Beat's is Suit cards, reminiscent of Poker(Well, he says so, but I have no way of knowing cause I don't play Poker) You basically align a bunch of similar cards and try to activate them all via a Skull card. While perfectly executing this insures a fast and sometimes instant Fusion Pin, the cards only remain on his screen until he activates it or the fire that accompanies the screen burns the cards. Burning of cards will damage Beat.
The card system the party members have are for the Fusion Pin (This game's Limit Break) where by accumulating Fusion stars, you can activate the Fusion Pin to initiate a devastating AOE attack on all enemies on the screen.



The benefits of Clothing(The game's armor system), Food, and the Light Puck are also strong implementations of the game that start small, but become heavily important as you reach the harder parts of the game.
Yes, the game becomes further complicated as you progress, and while you are told you can just leave the top screen on auto when doing the dual screen combat... I wouldn't recommend that.
Unless you want to play the game on easy mode all the time and not have a good time, the game's strongest point is how unique the system works when you've fully understood how the game should work. You work on your best partner, you tirelessly grind and do everything possible to make sure you aren't going to suffer the boss fights, and you will.
The bosses on the first Week of the game aren't too difficult, even on hard mode, because Shiki's week is how you ease in to TWEWY. Its when you reach Week 2 and 3 that the game forces you to learn all the mechanics.
And I beg of you, when you play this game, please do not forget to buy your Partner's Fusion Level stickers and find the Pin Slots for your Pin Deck. Week 3 is a killer week and I suggest you try to be diverse. While there are three partners, you can't swap between them in the main story until you beat the game. You will need to be at least competent with each partner if you want to survive the game's enemies.



If you feel you will be frustrated at the game's difficulty rise, fret not. A good way to forget about this frustration and use it as force, listen to the game's soundtrack.
The game is unique enough to change soundtracks every time you enter combat. And while you can't change them manually, they're all usually pretty good.
You might find yourself humming Someday instead of throwing your DS across the screen if you can't beat Week 2's boss, or rocking out to Emptiness And... while you're fighting against this duo of reapers you've been waiting to fight.
But if you're really worried, just tone down the difficulty. You can change it any time in the menu screen.
The difficulty is not only for a challenge, but pins drop from certain enemies on certain difficulties so keep that in mind.
Either way, this game will keep you entertained.
What should be a weird mess of mixed and complicated elements in a game becomes a well blended and worthwhile experience as you come to hone the game's system and appreciate the well thought out scenario the game has for you. At the end of the last week, you'll come out feeling a sense of happiness, relief, and maybe even anger.
But don't just turn your game off at the end of the game.
The World Ends With You has an extra chapter that is mostly entertainment and mini games, but holds a difficult boss rush and even more difficult secret boss.
As a bonus, you can replay the chapters while doing a set of conditions to unlock secret reports that will give more clarity to the game.
By completing these reports and finishing the game again, you'll be treated to the secret ending.
I hope you take my word when I say that this game is absolutely amazing.
Give it a chance, and you'll find yourself not just invested in a game, but maybe even learning from the philosophies and values this game shows you.
The World Ends With You.

Exp Gained: 85
Exp to Next Level: 135

Save File: 1
>ThanosVenge
Level: 2
Class: Thief Mage
Equipment: Rune Switchblade
Armor: Thunder Hoodie
Accessory: Cross Ring
Accessory: Swiftness Brace

Side Quest: Pokemon Sun Part 1

Side Quest: Gotta Catch em All
Quest Level: 5
Given by: Professor Kukui
Quest Details:
Play Through Pokemon Sun

Current Level: 1

I got Pokemon Sun the very same day I got Final Fantasy XV, though I opted to go back to my apartment after getting XV to play it then return to the mall in the afternoon for Pokemon. Why? Because there's a freaking line out in our local Gaming store (Datablitz). I know, I know. Why didn't I just buy it the same time as I did XV? Well uh... I wasn't really planning on Pokemon Sun at all yet. I planned to get Pokemon Sun, but didn't have a date for when I buy it yet.
Then I just realized I might not be able to go to the mall in a while since I'll be going back to my hometown later and opted to return for it (And thank God, the line had died down.)
I'm one of those grouchy skeptical types whenever I see new Pokemon, mostly because I like to judge the starters (And I see some Pokemon that looked weird from the Black/White and X/Y era.)
I saw all the trailers in Sun/Moon and they seemed to be moving in a different direction from usual. From what I've seen, they've been making interesting moves and I thought I'd give it a try.
Also, I found the Starters very adorable. (I picked Litten.)



I'm not usually one for adorable when it came to choosing a starter, but this time was different. On every other Pokemon game, I would choose Water. I've been on team Squirtle/Totodile/Mudkip/Piplup from when I played the games (I opted not to play Black/White or X/Y but did pick up Alpha Sapphire to see what was new with the remake).
But this was an extremely different case.
I'm a cat person and I really really liked Litten, so that was a big factor (Don't know why people pick Rowlett tbh.) and I was torn between picking Litten or sucking it up and just going with Popplio since I did water types.
But... I'm sorry to fans of Popplio around the world but... He is just so ugly to me. No no, hear me out.
I wait until the final evolution comes out to fully judge. And... Primarina was just not doing it for me.
I expected some awesome Walrein action over here and instead... We get a mermaid seal thing.
And its typing. Fairy type.
I know how advantageous that type is ever since it was introduced but... I'm sorry but I HATE Fairy type pokemon. For one, I LOVE dragon types and by end game, I've had at least 2 in my party. And I really liked Gardevoir. A pure psychic type at the third stage that wasn't Alakazam? Sign me up!
But Goddammit, now she's weak to Poison. Yes whatever, they're strong against Dragon types. But why Gardevoir? Why?????
Maybe I'll learn to love them, but not right now.
Anyway, back to my point. Primarina isn't really doing it for me, she's a fairy type, and honestly the kitty looks cute and then cool when it evolves.
So, in a move I never thought I'd do again since the first time I opened Red, I picked the fire type Litten.
Pokemon Sun is a beautiful game, and I would have the time to just go around playing this game all day...
But yeah, Final Fantasy XV is first priority.
Fret not though, Pokemon Sun has the advantage of being portable.
I'm still in melemele island, trying to catch Pokemon. I haven't done the trials yet though.
The first thing I appreciate is that "Mom" finally has a room on her own. I was surprised since they're usually just recovery slaves around the living room. And not only that, she has a Meowth.
Away from home, the graphics are beautiful enough for a 3DS game, though it doesn't make heavy use of the 3D function.
The game is direct enough to get you to go where you need to and will activate a chain of events before reaching the point of choosing a Pokemon.
And so after Choosing Litten, I encounter Hau.
Hau.



He's our "Rival"
As a Pokemon Player from the era of Red, let me tell you what a Rival is.
A rival is this jerk who goes around pissing you off and being better than you and you just want to pound their face in. And let me tell you about the rivals I encountered in the games.
Blue/Gary was a good rival (Not the personality, he's a dick) and I was so happy to pulverize him into the ground just when he thought he was finally champion, but it took massive effort from my part when I was but a young kid. I especially loved it when they remade it into Fire Red.
Silver was technically my first Pokemon game before I played Red.
I hated Silver(Rival) immediately for kicking me when I tried to see what he was up to. And really, he's an asshole. So beating him down just to hear how he tries to say we just got lucky is music to my ears. I mean the way he treats his pokemon...
I wasn't particularly fond of Brendan (I picked May because I was trying to follow Anime canon at the time)  but I liked his battle music a lot and he does seem genuinely surprised you can beat him even though he got a head start. (I liked that they added a battle with him at the end of Alpha Sapphire for one last time)
Barry was... strange. That's all I have to say about him.

Now lets return to Hau.
This goofy Alolan kid who just ran up to you and initiated a battle because he was bored.
Okay?
What do you know, he picked the starter weak to mine.
Rowlett didn't last very long against my Litten.
The guy smiles at his defeat and genuinely makes friends with you. I'm starting to think I'm the bad guy around here.
I'm from Kanto, maybe I'm Blue's relative? Nah.
The single hour I had when I played the game and wanted to walk around the first city, you'd be amazed how quickly Hau began to annoy me.
I wanted to go to Route 2 to try and catch Chikorita through the island scan. But no. Lilie and Hau has to show you what's up with the city. Yes, that's fine okay.
But the thing about Hau is just he's way too hyper about everything and he just smiles like he's being forced to all the time.
I mean there's nothing wrong with being happy but this guy... He just gets on my nerves for some reason!
I haven't done the trials yet but I'll be sure to talk about it when I do.
I'll move away from the cinematics and story and just move on with the gameplay.
THe first thing I love about the gameplay is the improved Ui because it is just beautiful.
When I heard there weren't going to be HMs anymore I was puzzled by the mixed feelings I had. I know it's a chore to have them, but I usually found Surf and Fly useful to me so it was definitely off.
But I appreciate not having an HM slave around to do all this stuff for me.
Wondertrade and GTS is back and is now part of this Festival mode thingy.
Its easy access and very much the same.
I uh.. tried wondertrade for the sake of wondertrading and see if I can get something good.
Um, to the people I sent Yoongus and Wingulls and Meowths around, I'm so sorry.
But I appreciate the Rowlett, Litten, and other pokemon you gave me!
I immediately put Litten in GTS and got a Popplio by night time.
So now I'm running a team with complete starters, yay!
Speaking of good pokemon, I got the Greninja from the demo and let me tell you, its good to have a strong pokemon to grind for EXP Share. He wont always obey, but he sure can kill.
So far, the only thing that irks me about Pokemon Sun is how they separated the move pokemon from the pokemon menu and is now a separate button.
Its easy access but its muscle memory.
On the other hand, I've found myself enjoying the Pokemon Center just giving up on the whole Deposit and Withdraw thing and went with just Moving Pokemon around.
The Pokemon Amie... Er Pokemon Refresh is a nice way to care for you pokemon, but it becomes a chore if it means you're only doing it to get the bonus you get for having max hearts with your Pokemon.
But I'll always love you Litten/Torracat.
I'm really not quite happy about learning that I can't trade Pokemon from Alpha Sapphire to Sun. I want to put all my effective Pokemon into the current gen. That way, I can try to be competitive in playing online, though I don't exactly have the best record hehe. People are just way better Pokemon Trainers.
Maybe I will get a Pokemon Bank... But the 5 dollars is annoying. At least I can use the extra money to buy DLC for SMT IV Apocalypse or Cloud in Smash Bros.
I'll go on through this Side Quest as I move through this game and update as I make any good progress.

No EXP gained.
Exp to Next Level: 70

Save File: 1
>ThanosVenge
Level: 1
Class: Thief Mage
Equipment: Rune Switchblade
Armor: Thunder Hoodie
Accessory: Cross Ring
Accessory: Swiftness Brace
Quest Progress: 8%

Dungeon 1: Crystal Cave - Final Fantasy XV Part 1

First Dungeon: Crystal Cave
Dungeon Level: 4
Guest: Noctis (Level 7)
Current Level: 1

So its been 5 days since Final Fantasy XV has been released.
I saved up for this game for practically 2 years, 3 if I count the money I saved to buy a Playstation 4.
And let me tell you.
It. Was. Worth it.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not done with the game yet.
I'm at least 30 hours in but I haven't left Chapter 5 or 6 yet.
Before I get into my experience, I want to talk about the basics of this game first so its easier to take in gameplay from a written perspective as well instead of just watching a video and thinking about how this must be easy for players or not.
The first thing you'll find yourself immersed in this game is the combat. While it may look strange for those Final Fantasy fans who have been used to the standard Turn Based system they're used to, maybe even wrong, it's very fun.



The first thing that will come to mind is "This is so like Kingdom Hearts!" from a viewers perspective.
And maybe it is kind of like Kingdom Hearts, but its entirely different.
While Kingdom Hearts, an action based jrpg in itself, rely on defeating the foe by mashing the attack button, guarding, dodging, using magic or special attacks to defeat the enemy, Final Fantasy XV relies on a more tactical set than you'd expect.
You play as Noctis Lucis Caelum, Crown Prince of the Lucian Empire.
Like any main character in any game, Noctis has something special that makes him unique. Cloud had a gigantic sword and really spiky hair, Tidus had a water sword and that asymetrical pair of pants, Neku had pins, a funnel collar, and hates everyone, and Sora had a Keyblade.
Since this is a Final Fantasy, Noctis also has a sword. And a lance. And a greatsword. And a gun. And every freaking weapon with the power to warp around like crazy and make his weapons slash around everything like crazy.
This is found in trailers and directly in his gameplay.
While Kingdom Hearts has you just attacking, Noctis can switch weapons on the fly to perform various combos. But not all weapons are effective against all enemies. You find that there are some that are weak to swords but are totally okay with being shot. Then there's the warp function. Warp lets you zip around the field in an instant at the cost of mp. You can use this function to get away, get to a far enough distance and warp strike your enemies, or close in. Dodging and Guarding is far different as well. While the iconic Dodge roll is there, you can hold a button down to "Phase" through attacks. There is no permanent block function, but occasionally, a marker appears to tell you to hold the Phase button to guard and counter attack.



It may sound either simple or complex, but its very manageable once you get used to it. I find that its very fun switching weapons on the fly and thinking up a strategy on defeating enemies.
I forgot to mention, but there's magic in this game as well. Though not like most Final Fantasy. It's more reminiscent of Final Fantasy 8's Draw Function.
I know.
I groaned too.
So basically, you gather from these elemental spots around camps or dungeons and then craft your own spells. The basic spells craftable are limited to Fire, Thunder, and Blizzard. Frankly, thats kind of disappointing. Cure isn't even in this game. Makes one too reliant on Potions (I swear to you, you will be extremely reliant on potions and Elixirs.) You can craft the spells as well as add items to add in bonus effects.
And while the Magic is potent and powerful, it has its major drawbacks. For one, spell casts are limited to how much you can craft. At start, its mostly around 3 or 4. And second, while it's super strong... It will hit your allies too. Friendly fire is a bitch I tell you, and you'll be really annoyed to know that the AI in your allies force them to basically just run at the enemy like its Black Friday forever.
Allies in this game are generally okay.
As characters, I find they are pleasant and not the stereotypes I imagined. Prompto has especially grown on me even though I thought I wouldn't like him.
So you basically have 3 supporting allies through out the game.
Gladio, Noctis's personal bodyguard with the greatsword, Ignis, the tactical commander and the chef, and Prompto, Noctis' friend and the team's sharpshooter.
One of the best thing about this game is how these 4 characters are so memorable and well put together. Their friendship is strong and you can really see the strength in their relationships as friends throughout the game even in simple banter or conversations.
Each has their own special ability in and outside of combat.
Outside, Gladio is good at survival skills such as camping, Ignis can cook, and Prompto has photography. Oh, Noctis has Fishing.
Skills are learned in an ascension grid (Similar to the Sphere grid in FFX) where you expend AP acquired through various means on skills regarding combat, teamwork, exploration, skill, and other more.
In combat, you'll find yourself relying on team attacks and link strikes to deal damage. Team attacks are sort of like the character's limit breaks. They have differing skills that work best at different situations.
At battle, you'll find that they all serve a good enough purpose to know they all hold their spot very well in the team.



But there will be nitpicks.
For one, Prompto, while he is one of my favorite characters, JUST WONT STOP APPROACHING THE ENEMY. He's got a freaking gun! Why do that?!
And he's got the lowest hp in all the party. He's bound to fall in to danger state far faster than the rest of the party and you'll be spending half of your potion supplies on him.
Another is that you'll find that Ignis has weaker and fewer attack options early game. I haven't unlocked Sagefire to know how well it works against enemies yet, but Mark, on its own, is effective as an equalizer or multi warp strike shot, but not strong on normal impact. You will however be grateful for his Regroup skill. And once you get Overwhelm, he does get pretty strong at Power based Team attacks.
If you, the reader, have or is thinking of getting this game, I'll let you decide on your own nitpicks about the game's combat.
The game is so big and open world, I found myself running around the place looking for stuff to do. I've heard about the game's length regarding the story, so I thought it be best to appreciate everything the game has to offer, and boy did this game do really well in its open world content. While the side quests are nothing to write home about, they've taken quite my time. The hunts especially.
But be warned. By doing the side contents too much, you'll find that you'll be too overleveled by the time you start the story. I was Level 34 by the time I started the main quest in Chapter 3.
It was a bloodbath I tell you.
I spent 4 days clearing quests and racking up so much EXP and AP just so I can take on the tougher foes that come out at night. (Damn you Iron Giant)
But be warned... When you get to Chapter 3 and you start being too strong for the Imperial Army that pops out randomly anywhere you go (Grr) they suddenly get stronger as well. They're so annoying that they just pop in to your random fights and some fights become too hard to beat because of the overwhelming mobs trying to kill you.
There's another thing I want to praise to the high heavens and its the music.
Final Fantasy Music has never ever been bad in my case, but God Damn, Yoko Shimomora was heaven sent for this game.
There are so many battle themes in this game, but she manages to capture hearts with almost all of them.
I especially love the Hunt Themes, the Cleigne Battle Theme, and Veiled in Black.
I'll talk about the story in the next post for this when I've finished the game, but so far it's been simple enough to follow.
I recommend watching Kingsglaive and Brotherhood first to get a better idea of what's going on.
Until then, it's time to Save a file before moving on.
This was Dungeon Crawler, hope you liked my first post.
Hope you read again soon!

Exp gained:  130
Exp to Next Level: 70

Save File: 1
>ThanosVenge
Level: 1
Class: Thief Mage
Equipment: Rune Switchblade
Armor: Thunder Hoodie
Accessory: Cross Ring
Accessory: Swiftness Brace

(Note: All Pictures are taken from Prompto's Pictures in Direct Gameplay.)