Excited for FFXV? Here’s Everything You Need to Know Before Playing

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The decade-long wait is almost over. Final Fantasy XV is set for release this November 29 and hopefully, there won’t be any more postponements. Here’s everything you need to know before playing:

You can only use one character

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Meet Noctis, the crown prince of Lucis. He is accompanied by his best friends Gladiolus, Ignis and Prompto on a trip to Altissia for his upcoming marriage to the game’s leading lady, Lunafreya. On the journey, they learn that the kingdom of Niflheim ravaged their home so turn back to save what’s left of it.

If you’re expecting to be able to play all four characters, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Unlike the past Final Fantasy games (not counting the online and non-numbered ones), you can only play as Noctis.

New battle system

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The battle system is no longer turn-based. It’s now similar to Kingdom Hearts where your actions are assigned to buttons. When you press the button, you immediately perform the action assigned to it, except for “Item,” which still opens up a menu where you can choose which item to use. Your companions move and act on their own, though just like the Gambit System of FFXII, you can create a set of actions for them to follow during battles. You can even give them commands during the battle, but once they execute the commands, they immediately return to following their respective action sets.

Giant monsters and epic battles

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As seen in the trailers, you will encounter mainstay monsters of the franchise such as the Behemoth, Iron Giant and Orthros. Only this time, they’re at least three times larger than they were in the previous games. Simply choosing to target them and pressing the attack button cannot defeat them. You will have to weaken certain body parts in order to gain advantage and ultimately beat these monsters.

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Summoned creatures are also still part of the game, and this time, they are called Archaeans and they are absolutely gargantuan. Like the Guardian Forces, Eidolons and Espers of the previous games, you’re going to have to engage in battle with them and/or solve puzzles in order to gain them as allies. Summoning them will level the playing field if you’re on the verge of being annihilated. There are, however, specific conditions for some of the Archaeans: Leviathan can’t be summoned without a body of water nearby while Titan can’t be summoned in enclosed spaces.

It’s probably the best video game road trip ever

Photo via Final Fantasy

Since it took Square Enix ten years to develop the game, we can assume it’s going to be an incredibly long and epic journey. It's literally a barkada road trip with the goal to recover a stolen crystal, and reclaim and rebuild the kingdom of Lucis. The world of Final Fantasy XV is so big and breathtaking; it probably has more lands and dungeons than the previous Final Fantasy games. Given the size of the world, you can expect hundreds or even thousands of side quests, monsters and treasures. In the beginning of the game, you’ll also have a car that you can use to drive around the world in. Who knows? At some point in the game, you might get an airship and open up more places to explore.

This is one of the most highly anticipated Final Fantasy games of all time and it looks like it’s not going to disappoint. Besides, have they ever?