I liked the game a lot, it just felt massively disappointing. I never had an issue with Chapter 13 - if anything, I liked that for a change the game seemed to give us some story after forgetting entirely to do so in prior chapters, and that chapter also features what's the hardest (or for me it was at least) boss in the entire game. This being said...

The game is just a monumental mess. It's a mesh of ideas that never collide properly. Cutscenes that act like the player should have any clue about what's going on when no one really does. Blocking important information in the strategy guide. Pace of the game going in the weirdest ways (hello Chapter 12 where you go outside a train, kill three monsters then come back inside the train and the chapter is done). Combat was serviceable, but I never thought it ever evolved on the entirety of the game, leaving me to abuse warping as an easy method to cheese almost every single combat situation. Liked the main cast a lot, particulary Prompto and Noctis.

It unfortunately falls into the "weaker" Final Fantasy games for me, but still enjoyable. Also don't you freaking love all the villains this game has? It's mindblowing that Lo'qi or whatever his name was is supposedly some longtime foe of Cor, but you only see him for two seconds before blowing up. Oh, and that dude you capture in Chapter...7 I think? That Ignis lets escape? Yeah, no shame in saying you don't remember him because the game didn't remember him after that. Seriously, what a monumental mess. At least Ardyn is extremely cool.

I guess sad is the word that defines FFXV, because all the pieces are there for something amazing, but in the end it turned out average. Some of the most questionable decisions are doing so much stuff off-screen. The emperor dies off-screen, Noctis realtionship with Regis and Luna are all implied but never shown, Ravus being in two scenes despite his importance, I just don't get it. Especially when they introduce "villains" like Loqi that die immediately, i mean why not use that space to characterize one of the existing villains? At least the gameplay and party characters were enjoyable, i guess...
I'm waiting for all the dlc to come out to see if they can fix some of my issues, but by now I've already accepted that this game is just never going to be as good as I was hoping.

FFXV is definitely in my top 5 FF games of all time.

The gameplay was really fun and the characters were awesome! The story was really great!....except it was just poorly executed. (the only really bad thing i'd say about the game).

I'm hoping that after the release of the all the DLCs that the game would feel more complete. Unfortunately the damage is done and not many will give it a second chance. I will though when that time comes.

I will forever be curious and wonder how much better this game could have been if Tetsuya Nomura stayed on this game to the very end. FF Versus XIII had a different feel than FFXV.

Suffer unto thee a most painful ending.

i did not read the OP (sorry)

but i'm on the fence about buying this on the PSN black Friday sale for 20 euro... the deal is this... i've never played a FF game before and i'm not really knowledgeable in JRPGs only play action RPG but since this is somewhat a action RPG too i'm really inclined into buying it, but i fear that this is a little complex and it looks like lots of skill is needed to finish this game... without spoilers, can you address my concerns to confirm my fears or to put my mind to ease???

lol, and you got to play the patched Chapter 13. A year after beating it and 6 months after Platinuming the game. It's been a rollercoaster of emotions. Right now I am just eh...ugh with FFXV. I think FFXV will be the same as Dragon Age Inquisition in a couple years. Praised on release but down the line the general consensus will be one giant "meh"

I believe they added story and other gameplay features that were 100% absent from the initial release of Chapter 13.

I watched the movie, then the anime, (you pretty much have to to understand half the story) and then I played the actual game and Platinum it.

I really did not like FFXV very much, but it is definitely not my least favorite though.

*spoilers*

Luna is written more as a plot driven character rather than story driven and her impact is more for Noctis with some impact for her own character being the good natured healer she was; and the after effects of her death causing the world to get darker(iirc).  At the very very end you don’t even need to feel for her, but rather  Noctis in that he had some sort of consolation to be with someone that could make him happy in the afterlife after everything he goes through. The main story is written from Noctis’ point of view. Maybe not everything that people wanted because they wanted more points of view in the main story , but as The Rolling Stones say ”You can’t always get what you waaant!”

I enjoyed the game and really liked the protagonist, however I felt someoarts felt really rushed like they just wanted to get the game finished quicker and while the story was ok, it was also underwhelming and disappointing in parts, the ending was really bad I don’t think they should of killed off all the protagonists.
It’s the only FF I felt like I wouldn’t playthrough again, but saying that, just recently I’ve been itching a little to play and explore the world again.