I was not sure I was going to get this game to be honest with you all.  While I loved the franchise all yhe way through 10 (never played 12), the XIII trilogy ruined the franchise for me.  While I did enjoy XIV ARR, I feared for the future of the single player mainline games.

So here I was doing some last minute xmas shopping, and for some reason this game popped into my head.  Xmas has always been the time of year I would get the next Final Fantasy growing up, so maybe nostalgia had a hand in it, but I did an impulse buy and fired it up.  I expected critics to pick the game apart, but it actually scored very well by today's standards.  Also the user reviews also seemed very well recieved, aside from the usual haters of the franchise trying to drag the score down.  In the end, it remained in the green.  Aside from this little bit of research however, I knew nothing about the game.

I went into it truly blind as to what to expect due to my initial lack of interest.  I must say however, I am so glad I ended up buying this game.  Now I will be very brief as this is not a review, but merely my first impressions after 15 hours of play.

Pros

Cast: I was initially worried in this regard, but the more realistic group of friends approach is actually a nice change of pace from the stereotype rag tag team that the franchise normally uses.

Story: Very solid and very interesting.  My only issue with it is some of the pacing so far, but I will get into that.

World: Absolutely beautiful, and a joy to explore.  It would appear that along with certain hot spots for items to spawn, there are also random item spawns that you can come across as well.  This encourages you to constantly explore.

Content: There are a ton of hunts, side quests, and optional dungeons to explore in this game.  I am happy to say that the amount of things to do fits the open world setting of the game.

Combat: Very fast paced and fun.  It is also suprisingly requires strategy as well despite only controling one character.  Also your companions still feel like a true element of the battle as you will need to use teamwork in order to be victorious, especially in harder battles.

Cons

Pacing: The pacing of the game leaves something to be desired as it can sometimes be hard to follow.  The Kingsglaive movie really helps make sense of what is going on in the beginning of the game, but I feel like not enough people would know to watch it.  I was lucky enough to come across it in my research trying to see if I missed something, but it should not have to be that way.  The movie is a hood watch and I did not mind watching it to get the whole picture, but a reference to it at the start of the game would have been great so everyone would at least know it exists and should be watched.

Repetitive side quests: Final Fantasy XV suffers from what most massive open world games do that actually deliver on content, and that is repetitive fetch quests for side missions.  This is nothing new and the fun combat minimizes it, but it is still there and had to be mentioned.

Lack of focus: Again this is a bi product of open world games, but it is so easy to get lost in side quests that you forget that there is an evil empire you must take down.  Minor issue and it is nothing we have not seen before, but it is there.

All in all

So far, this game has restored my faith in the franchise.  It actually feels like a Final Fantasy game in a modernized setting.  I am lovong it so far, and from what I understand it only gets better as the endgame content after the story is actually the best part.  If you are a Final Fantasy fan or even have had been curious of the franchise before XIII ruined it, give this one a shot.  It is by no means the best in the franchise, but it is a great and worthy entry overall.

Also be sure to rent or buy the Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy  XV movie off of the PSN or XBL store.  It is a good watch and it really helps shed some light on the back story surrounding the plot.

There is also a less important five episode anime that you can track down and stream called Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV as well that focuses on the back stories of the the game's main cast, but it is only available subbed to my knowledge.  I watched both and think it was worth my time, so check it out.

I hope this helps some of you who were on the fence as I was.  Happy gaming!

What is the point in losing "faith" in anythiny when it can be restored in as little as 5% play timee with the game? Did you really lose faith or were you just pissy because the game(s) did something you didnt want. For being a series, Final Fantasy is so different each time that the previous game should not even have any barring on the current installment.

Final Fantasy XIII was a trilogy...thats three games in a row that had the franchise pointed down a direction that was just horrible.  Not one, but THREE games.

So yes, faith was lost by many people in fear of that being the new direction of the franchise.  As far as being restored in "as little as 5% play time", that is all anyone needs in order to see that things are at least back on track.

Funny thing is, I actually defended XIII at first.  It was the two following entries that did me in.  In the end, I am very happy I ended up giving XV a chance.  I feel all is right in the world.  I have not pulled all nighters like this over Xmas eve and day for over a decade.  Really takes me back.

Hmm from all the reviews I'm conflicted in buying it. But I might as well since this would be my first main FF game. As long as the combat is good and there is good content then I'm game. I however feel that this game shouldve included Kingsglaive as a playable story. Kingsglaive actually gives a good back story and intro into the world.

Funny thing is if they included Kingsglaive as a playable story it would be like KH2. Roxas would be like Nyx and Sora like Noctis in a way.

Yeah, I agree with what you said about Kingsglaive.  It was a good movie and I really enjoyed it.  I still feel like that much critical info should have been given in the actual game somehow though.

Personally, the only FF game that I consider a genuine dissapointment, as a whole, is FF13 and its spinoffs (and FF-X2 as well) so I wasnt really dissapointed with the franchise as a whole, 1 bad main entry does not ruin it all for me, and after finishing FFXV Ive to say I do consider its the right direction for the franchise, but the excecution has a lot of room for improvement. Not among the best FF by far, but still much better than the worst, which to me would be... 2 and 13.

Its just, with all that time in development I expected more.

Not really. In my opinion the game was doing fine until the middle, after it... it gets lost and almost becomes another game. I won't spoil for you, but you'll understand when you get there.

But anyway, I'm with you. Overall I liked the game a lot, it's a step in the right direction.

I keep seeing it on sale and get so close to buying it but for some reason don't.