Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV is currently streaming on my laptop. I’m sitting at my parent’s house unable to attend, the last several months have been interesting, to say the least, and other obligations kept me from even trying for tickets. While the stream plays I find myself waxing nostalgic over my history with the franchise.
Growing up, I played games. I played them on our home computer running on DOS, (spoiler alert, I’m old), I played them on the Nintendo I convinced my parents to buy, the Gameboy for when I coulnd’t be home, and eventually the SNES. I continued the trend into college and purchased my very own N64, eventually I bought myself a Playstation at the same time I purchased the recently released Final Fantasy VII. But, let me back up, I’m getting ahead of myself.
From my early childhood I loved games, I would play them solo or with friends, but I would never label myself as hardcore or particularly dedicated. I played the games until I beat them or lost interest. It wasn’t that the desire wasn’t there to play the games, or unlock all the secrets, or find all the cheat codes, it’s that my time wasn’t there. We moved, we moved again, I was in sports, I joined multiple teams, I traveled for sports, I had a massive commute to and from school, I had an avalanche of homework. The demands on my time added up and I needed to sleep at least a little bit each night. I gamed when I could.
When I went to college I had a new pull on my free time, social activities with no parental oversight. So while I had a N64, it normally lived in the hub of our social activities, a friend’s living room. If I wanted to play I went over to their place and started Wave Race 64, or Golden Eye, or Killer Instinct, basically all of my games had a multiplayer aspect to them because I always played with other people. I rarely played solo and, on those rare occasions when I did, I eventually gained an audience as I worked through a campaign. Even solo games would become co-op with us passing the controller around each time we died.
Final Fantasy VII was the game that changed it all; it was the game that turned me from a casual, childhood gamer into a full-blown obsessive adult gamer. I fell hard for that game; it stole my heart and, to this day, has not let go.
As the game neared release, I remember seeing an avalanche of advertising for it. I’d played the previous North American releases for Final Fantasy but I’d lost track of what was coming out. The ads were relentless, and a fairly intreating, the graphics looked fantastic (for the time). My interest was piqued, but I didn’t own a Playstation and the wallet was not exactly overflowing, so I decided it was not meant to be.
As fate would have it, the guy I was dating at the time did end up with both a Playstation and Final Fantasy VII shortly after release. He would play, I would watch, and I found myself getting more and more invested in the game. Shortly after he started playing, I bought my own memory card and started up my own game while he was in class. Well, shenanigans ensued because I started monopolizing his system and game. If I wanted to continue, I was going to need to purchase my own Playstation and my own FFVII. Purchase them I did.
One problem, I didn’t have a TV and, with how many hours I was not putting into the digital world, none of my roommates wanted the system hooked up to the shared TV. Honestly, I understood, no one I knew in college was a “gamer”. However, a friend had an old, tiny TV that I could hook my console into, so I set everything up on a small desk in the back of the living room. There was so little space I played practically with my nose to the screen but 90% of the time propped my feet up on the desk, chair balanced on the back 2 legs, hands and controller dangling into empty air between my knees. There I sat, obsessed, until I finished the game and found every single secret I could manage.
My roommates had fights, I played through them. Parties happened, I played through them. My boyfriend visited, I played on. Seriously. During the parties I moved long enough to protect my electronics from the drunks stumbling around, my hands coming off the controller long enough to grab an offered drink. I only put the game down to fulfill my college duties, take care of bodily needs (including hygiene), and sometimes sleep.
I forsook all other games and hobbies and turned my entire focus on Cloud and his companions. I wanted to
know everything about the world. I wanted to be Tifa, I wanted to have a chocobo and race. I wanted to summon Bahamut when people pissed me off. I wanted to, somehow, make my hair defy gravity like Cloud, I wanted his Buster Sword and motorcycle. I cried when Aerith died, at first not convinced she was truly dead, eventually accepting it and moving on. I beat Ruby and Emerald Weapons, after running around like an idiot trying to level up on random encounters.
The world turned around me and I did very little other than play FFVII until it was completed. Then I started it all over again, this time not as all consuming.
I’d never had a game capture me the way this one did. I learned who Yoshitako Amano is and became obsessed, I can’t tell you the amount of imported art books I now own. I purchased everything VII related I could get my hands on, well, everything I could afford. I played every VII spinoff game, I was awed during Advent Children, I’ve purchased two different released, maybe three. I imported the orchestral soundtrack, eventually owning just about everything Nobuo Uematsu has done.
I love FF and the music Uematsu-san created. He's a big influence on me & music is more of an emotion so I'll do my best – Shimomura-san
— FINAL FANTASY XV (@FFXVEN) March 31, 2016
From the moment I willingly crawled down the rabbit hole known as Final Fantasy VII was the moment I became a lifelong gamer. There is no other game that holds such a special place in my heart.
So here I sit, streaming the announcement for Final Fantasy XV. Already knowing I’m going to play it no matter what is announced, looking at the art and longing to drag out my Amano books. Losing my mind when they announce not only a movie, but also a 5-part anime tie in. So here I sit, having flashbacks to Final Fantasy VII and waxing nostalgic.
I’ve played Final Fantasy VIII, VIX, X, X-2, XII, XIII but I’ve never been as captivated as I was with VII. I never got into either version of Final Fantasy Online, every so often I consider it, but I already play more than my fair share of MMOs, I don’t need to add one more to the list. I’ve been excited for all the other installments in the series, but after more than five years since a main game, going into Uncovered I thought my excitement for the series had waned, only my love of VII living on. I was wrong.
The event is an hour long but it is an unmitigated success. My twitter feed explodes with my friend’s comments and I’m bouncing up and down with excitement, attempting to not wake my parents in the next room. I’m far older than I was when VII released, almost a full 20 years older, but that doesn’t diminish my giddiness.
As announcement after announcement is rolled out, I experience another surge of excitement. The opening trailer has me hooked, I don’t care that it looks like “boy band on a road trip”. The story centers around the power of friendship and maybe that makes me a bit cheesy and cliché, but I like that theme. I’m on board with the power of friendship. I’m ok with being cheesy.
Square Enix is trying to recapture the lightning in a bottle from VII. But instead of playing catch up and creating new stories in the same world after the release of the blockbuster, FFXV is coming out of the gate with an expanded universe. An anime, Brotherhood, a movie, Kingsglaive, a demo that is actually a stand alone story, Platinum Demo, and a mobile game, Justice Monsters Five.
FFXV is swinging for the fences. Everything I’ve seen looks high quality, everything is intertwined with everything else, including the mobile mini game. It’s a true shared world, one where we can explore different narratives within the same main story. A story where we get tales from before the game and, if Square Enix follows their recent model, more stories after the game in FFXV-2.
Of course they are banking of this being a success, releasing multiple version of the game. Standard version for both Xbox and PS4; Standard, Day One, Deluxe, Ultimate Collector’s Edition. All come with various price points, all come with various bonuses. Although, the UCE is limited to 30,000 copies, per platform, world wide and was listed as sold out/wait listed less that 12 hours after it went live.
Everything points to this being a success but only time will tell. Of course, we still have Final Fantasy VII: Remake to look forward to.
The #FFXV Universe was created to make the main game #FFXV better and create a world people want to get lost in – Tabata-san
— FINAL FANTASY XV (@FFXVEN) March 31, 2016
FINAL FANTASY XV
Enroute to wed his fiancée Luna on a road trip with his best friends, Prince Noctis is advised by news reports that his homeland has been invaded and taken over under the false pretense of a peace treaty – and that he, his loved one, and his father King Regis, have been slain at the hands of the enemy.
To gather the strength needed to uncover the truth and reclaim his homeland, Noctis and his loyal companions must overcome a series of challenges in a spectacular open world – that is filled with larger-than-life creatures, amazing wonders, diverse cultures and treacherous foes.
Release Date: September 30, 2016
The inspiration behind the seamless open world in #FFXV is The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time – Tabata-san
— FINAL FANTASY XV (@FFXVEN) March 31, 2016
BROTHERHOOD: FINAL FANTASY XV
A 5-episode anime that will directly tie in to both Platinum Demo and the main game, a prequel telling the story of how Noctis and his 3 companions came to be friends. The episodes will be released free on youtube, originally one per month leading up to the release of the game but Episode 1 is available now for your viewing pleasure.
Episode 1 is streaming for free now.
We originally planned to release #BrotherhoodFFXV one episode a month but made an exception for #UncoveredFFXV
— FINAL FANTASY XV (@FFXVEN) March 31, 2016
FINAL FANTASY XV: KINGSGLAIVE
King Regis of Lucis commands an elite force of soldiers dubbed the Kingsglaive. Wielding their king’s magic, Nyx Ulric and his fellow glaives stand before the crown city of Insomnia, fighting to stay the inexorable advance of Niflheim’s imperial army.
Before the overwhelming military might of the empire, King Regis can only salvage his kingdom by accepting an ultimatum—he must cede all lands outside the crown city, and see his son, Prince Noctis, wed to Lady Lunafreya, the former princess of Tenebrae now captive of Niflheim.
As the war of wills rages, the machinations of Niflheim transform Insomnia into an awe-inspiring battleground, pulling Nyx into a struggle for the very survival of the kingdom.
PLATINUM DEMO: FINAL FANTASY XV
Platinum Demo whisks players away to a fragmented dreamscape, introducing an original story with a number of unique twists. Join young Noctis and his magical guide, Carbuncle as you explore the fantastical world of his dreams.
You will be able to explore driving, magic, and the latest combat system in this exclusive gameplay experience, which won’t be available in the main game.
Available for download now on both Xbox and PS4.
The Platinum Demo has a light tone because it's set in Noctis's dreams. #FFXV will be more serious but there'll be a playful tone at times
— FINAL FANTASY XV (@FFXVEN) March 31, 2016
JUSTICE MONSTERS FIVE
Justice Monsters Five is a brand new pinball game for mobile devices combining role-playing elements with some of the Final Fantasy franchise’s most iconic monsters. This game will be also be available to play in Final Fantasy XV when it launches on September 30, 2016.
The mobile version will be coming soon, and players can enjoy both solo and co-op play by downloading the game for FREE on Google Play for Android devices, on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, or on Windows mobile and tablet devices.
Justice Monsters Five will be free to play on mobile but will not be buy to win. I promise you that – Motohashi-san
— FINAL FANTASY XV (@FFXVEN) March 31, 2016
https://youtu.be/1g3_q2k6tAc
Follow Stephanie Cookies on twitter, here!
Follow Geek Girl Authority on twitter here and Google+ here!
- Netflix Drops First Teaser for Upcoming Will Smith Movie, BRIGHT - February 27, 2017
- Finally, New Information Regarding the GREEN LANTERN Reboot - January 12, 2017
- Woody Harrelson Officially Cast in Young Han Solo Film - January 11, 2017
