15 hours in.

I'm the one that doubts if you have played it tbh. How do you compare this to DMC, Ninja gaiden, etc?

I mean i already explained what is wrong with it. You strafe while holding defend and you back attack the mobs. Thats is it. You can teleport around like a lunatic wasting mp if you want or you can try to do a team skill, but really theres no actual combos that you have to execute (hold down the button lol). You just have to strafe and back attack.

Does that strategy work in Ninja gaiden and DMC? Do you get the same enjoyment out of that? Because what you are doing is insulting the great combat those games have.

Sheesh, not comparing it to those games. 

I used those games as a reference to point out that I also enjoy games with extremly conolex or skill based combat systems and yet don't find the simplistic mostly automated combat system of FF15 mediocre. 

And for anyone that does, that's their problem, couldn't care less. As long as when they say it's bad they state that it's just their opinion. This is why you will never find me in game specific threads. Csuse gamers domt seem to realize that game preference is completely subjective. 

I get the feeling this comes from the word mediocre. Mediocre is average. I'm saying its  a simplistic combat system, not that its outright awful. It just leaves alot to be desired. It could be so much more, and it needed to be more for it to be a return to form for the series.

Is XV a step in the right direction? HELL YES.

Is it for everyone? No.

All Final Fantasy games have glaring faults, and XV is no exception, and the stories--no matter how heartfelt--are always a bit wonky. If you can't live with these, I suggest you pass and find yourself a different brand. If you no longer like these things, I suggest you stop buying FF, as it may no longer suit your tastes.

That said, even their failed games are fascinating. XIII, for instance, was an attempt to deconstruct Judeo-Christian salvation and Predestination. This colored certain parts of the design, like the corridors and lack of options for most of the game. It's a steaming turd of a failure, but at the same time, it's an amazing conversation piece.

XV has nailed the verisimilitude out of the park. Getting a meal is no longer a menu interface; it's going to Freddy's 50's style diner and getting an order of fries. I can actually see XVI or XVII dropping menus for shopping entirely in favor of picking items off shelves and ringing them up at the register. Driving in the car to your destination is a bizzare and bold decision, especially after XIII was criticized for being non-interactive, but it reminds me of riding Agro in Shadow of the Collossus; a quiet moment before the storm that deepens immersion and lets you admire Squeenix's purdy grafix. Cooking a meal is anemic mechanically, but it's a good marriage of flavor and function, and it's the kind of thing I want future FF games to keep around.

Camping Sponsored by Coleman makes me giggle every time they set up camp. I just see it as a fourth wall gag. It's also a clear Dark Souls nod, the way you gain spurts of experience when you rest.

I enjoy the Coleman part as well as the Cup of Noodles piecel.  Haven't noticed any other not-so-subtle advertising in it but I am sure it must be there.  I disagree on the Dark Souls nod though, but that is because I liken it more to D&D where you get your experience at the end of the adventure/day/whatever.

FFX was the last great FF imo. It was the last time I actually cared about the world in which they created. It's also the last time there was really, really moving music in one of their games.

There are several nods to Dark Souls, or at least similar ideas executed at a similar time. Both are action-RPG hybrids which work by inputting action melee commands, they both have a limited degree of queuing commands going on, and the way you have temporary health shielding permanent health is somewhat reminiscent to Demon's Souls and DS2. 

Make no mistake; XV is way easier and has a lot less going on under the hood, but there's a lot of shared design ethos.

it's just a step in the right direction, not a big leap.

The outposts are all copy pasted gas stations with the same tavern/inn structure and a bunch of hunts, and all the fetch quest is really meaningless, it offered no lore or anything interesting. spent several times going back and forth to the same guy with his quest chains, and just when you think you're done, surprise surprise there is more just like him out there. If you want that trophy you got to do them all.

The fun factor is there but overall the game seems limited.

YES, for me.

This is a huge leap from where they left off. While it's not perfect, FFXV is building a great foundation for the series to move forward. Here some thoughts about this game..

(+) Seamless transition from exploring to battle, no random battle.

(+) Battle system is good. I have played every FFI-X in the past - I can do ATB all day long. But it just can't do justice for FF game anymore - at least pure ATB system. FFXV certainly move toward the right direction in this regard. What it lacks is the feel of coordination between party members. While there are some strategic commands, like Ignis' Regroup, but certainly SE need to develop a better way to incorporate strategic elements as per default. Like making Prompto stay far from the main battle area (he brings gun, why should he jumps around very close to the enemies??). And I really really think that combining real time battle with turn based system isn't impossible at all. One of the let down is the camera, it's so annoying at times.

(+) Great summons - not just the animation, but the concept of their presence. Since old days I always thought that summons should be superior beings, but in the past, summons attacks were overpowered by some chars limit break. That's just not right.

(+-) Random summon system - there are plus and minus about this system. In the past we easily get bored from summoning since it's a repetitive animation over and over again. But having summons that rarely appears is not good either. It's in the right direction, SE just need a balance.

(+-) Summons design. Some are good, some are just what-the-fudges-had-you-done-with-them. xD

(+) XV world. I really really like how the world's shaped up. I can feel the dedication of the dev team when building XV world. It's a bummer tho that we can't really have access to certain cities. But it might not their intention at all. With what it's filled, the game already sized 50GB + 9GB day one patch. I think had they decided to add more contents (cities, places, etc) - the game data would need to be stored in 2-3 BDs (VII came in 3CDs & VIII in 4CDs after all). And I have read somewhere that XV was planned to be episodic at first, and then the management wanted it to be compressed into single release.

About the story.. well, it's not really a direction - since every FF has its own story. I am not really like how XV story progressed, at some points it feels like the story jumping too far. But again, with this game was intended to be episodic and they cramped it into a single release, there are many parts of the story bound to be deleted. The planned DLCs (Episode Gladio, Prompto, & Ignis) might be filled with the story parts that had been removed from the original storyline and could fill the gaps in the plot.

This right here is the gospel of this game...you nailed it on the head.
I think you summed this up in the perfect review. 

Imagine many of the problems with this game like the camera ...can be fixes with an update!