A deeper look at some of Final Fantasy 15’s systems and mechanics

While many who pre-ordered Final Fantasy Type-0 HD are eager to venture into the world of Orience and take on the Empire as Class Zero, as they should since it is a pretty fantastic game, there is another reason to be excited. Each copy of Type-0 HD also comes with a voucher for Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae, a lengthy demo that showcases a lot of what we can expect, when the game hits.

I won't talk much about the game's graphics, as you've seen them on multiple occasions already. Suffice to say, it's a gorgeous game. If there's one issue that seems to be prevalent in the demo, it's framerate dips when the combat gets a little too hectic with a lot of enemies on screen.

However, what I want to talk about are the various system and game mechanics that will seemingly make the transition to the full game, how they work, and how none of them seem to be overpowering one another.

Combat

I'll touch on this first, since that's easily the biggest component of the demo. The game's combat is comprised of two major buttons, Square and L1. Square will unleash Noctis' barrage of swords as he materializes them out of thin air, while L1 will allow him to dodge any incoming attacks. While that may seem somewhat overpowered, it's offset by the fact that dodging requires MP. It also makes sense lore-wise, since Noctis actually teleports slightly when he dodges.

While you won't see the strategy element when fighting the demo's early monsters, once you take on some of the bigger beasts or the soldiers that are constantly air-dropped on you, you'll realize that you have to carefully balance being offensive and defensive. But don't worry, combat does actually get deeper than two simple buttons. Triangle is used to unleash a skill that's tied down a particular weapon. For instance, one of the spears allows Noctis to perform a Dragoon Jump, while the heavy Zweihander unleashed a devastating spinning attack. The X button is used for mobility. It allows Noctis to teleport and strike far off enemies he's locked on to, but it can also be used defensively to teleport out of danger. Sometimes when surrounded by a bunch of enemies, you simply have no choice but to get yourself out of harms way by teleporting. You can also teleport to high ledges where Noctis' health and MP will recharge quicker.

Weapons

The demo comes with five pre-selected weapons, and doesn't include any extra to find, however, they do a pretty good job at showcasing the various fighting styles. Before I got a chance to play the demo, I was under the impression that the weapons materialize in the order that you have them set in the menu, but that's not really the case. Each slot has a particular function, making the weapon materialize based on the situation.

For instance, the first slot is called the Initial Assault. That's what Noctis always opens his combos up with. The second slot will be your main combo called the Melee Barrage. Whatever weapon you slot here, will be the one that's being swung a majority of the time. If you're going agains a heavily armored enemy for instance, it might be smarter to set the Zweihander there, as that weapons ignores defense. Alternatively, you can set the Partisan Lance to that slot which doesn't have a huge attack value, but has increased critical damage. The rest of the slots are even more situational, making a weapon materialize after a successful dodge, or when jumping. Changing up which weapon goes into which slot will change up your overall combat strategy. It's certainly much deeper than it lets on.

Summons

The demo lets you pick up Ramuh, if you manage to complete one of the game's sidequests. Let me tell you, it's extremely overpowered, and from personal experience, can take down a Behemoth in a single strike. But there is a downside, and it's a pretty big one. While I'm not sure if this is how it's going to work in the full game, it would make sense considering the Summon's immense power.

Ramuh can be summoned whenever Noctis' health reaches 0. Don't worry, that doesn't mean he's dead. The game has two health bars essentially, the main one which allows you to participate in combat, and a downed state health bar that also has to be drained to die completely. After Noctis loses all of his health, you can hold the X button to summon Ramuh.

Unlike some of the previous Final Fantasy titles which had you take control of various Summons, Final Fantasy XV goes back to pure cinematic sequences. The first time I summoned Ramuh, I was completely shocked as his massive hand reaches down to pick you up to safety, and then unleashes a world ending blast upon all the enemies in the area and burns them to a crisp. So what's the downside? You don't earn any XP. While this may sound like a minor inconvenience, not earning any XP from a boss fight for example means you're not leveling up for future fights. Again, I'm not sure whether it's going to work the same way in the full game, or whether Summons will have some sort of global cooldown, but I actually liked how it was handled here. In older games like Final Fantasy VIII, I used to rely on summons a bit too much, but here I actually held back on using it, making sure I can get as much XP as possible.

Armigers

Armigers are combat modifiers. The first one that you have unlocked from the start, and is one I mentioned in the Combat paragraph, is the ability to warp around the battlefield. For exploring the region and completing some of the sidequests, you unlock two more; Knightswords and Knightshield.

Knightswords we're showcased in previous videos, where Noctis' weapons fly around him and deal damage while he teleports around the battlefield and unleashes them rapidly one by one. It's an amazing ability that can certainly deal a lot of damage, but one again, it has a downside. As you use it, it drains all of Noctis' MP, which could be a problem as you won't have any MP to dodge attacks once it wears off. Also, you're certainly not invincible during it. You can still take damage, even when warping around, so it discourages continued reliance on it.

Resting

Camping or taking respite in one of the game's trailers is one of the game's most integral parts, as it's the only time you actually earn all the XP you pooled. While the demo didn't have any additional techniques the characters can learn, you can see a spot on the screen that showcases where new skills would be.

So what's the difference between choosing a campsite or sleeping in a trailer? Once again, it's a great tradeoff. Seeking a campsite and camping out for the night will have Ignis prepare a meal. Eating food provides the party with extremely helpful buffs like granting extra offense and defense or even increased XP. However, when sleeping in a trailer, not only do you have to pay a fee, you also lose the food buff for the next day. However, the benefit here is that you gain 1.5 times more XP than you would at a campsite. This is extremely beneficial for when you pooled a very high amount of XP, and want to increase each character's level exponentially.

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It seems like Final Fantasy XV is built around these trade-offs, sacrificing one beneficial thing for another. I really enjoyed my time with the demo, and I'm certainly excited to see how the game shapes over the coming months (years?).

Did you get the demo with Type-0 HD? How are you enjoying it? Love it, hate it? Let us know!