Final Fantasy XV was not great

For years, fans have waited for the next great Final Fantasy game. After the lackluster FFXIII trilogy, hopes were high that Final Fantasy XV would be a return to form for a series that has suffered greatly in recent years. Sadly, FFXV falls short of its goal—and falls short of being a good game in general. It's not unplayable by any means, but it's just not all that fun. The plot is nonsensical, the characters are flat and boring, and the world feels unfinished (or at least uninspired). Although some good ideas are present in FFXV and there may be some hope for future entries in the franchise, this game will likely be remembered as one of gaming history's greatest missed opportunities.

The world was almost a canvas

The world was huge. It took hours to drive across the map. You could explore it on foot, but you'd die of boredom before you got anywhere interesting.

The world was beautiful. The graphics were gorgeous, and the art direction was perfect for the game's tone.

The world was open - in theory, anyway; there were no boundaries or barriers to keep players from exploring where they wanted to go (except maybe some mountains).

The world was empty - there wasn't much going on outside of what was necessary to advance the plotline and get your next objective completed; mostly just monsters roaming around with nothing else worth looking at nearby them except maybe some plants here or there (but even then those weren't always worth paying attention too).

The final result? A beautiful but boring game world that felt like more work than fun

Final Fantasy XV wasn't interested in its own universe.

It's not that Final Fantasy XV wasn't interested in its own universe. It's just not interested in you, the player.

It's a game with a universe that isn't explored or considered beyond the narrow confines of its main story. The characters don't care about their world and don't seem to want to be there; they're just along for the ride because it makes sense for them to be there. And as far as any narrative goes, it was pretty much all over after chapter 8 during which one character is separated from her friends for most of the game and yet struggles not at all with being alone for 10 hours (although she does fuss about having no money).

The plot was nonsensical and disjointed

The story was nonsensical, disjointed and boring. It's hard to get invested in it when you have no idea what's going on half the time. Why does Noctis' father want war? Who is Ardyn? What's the deal with this four-armed lady? What even happened to my car? The game never answers these questions or tells us anything about its characters that isn't superficial at best.

The story is not engaging; there are no stakes because nothing really happens until the last 10 minutes of the game. Even then it doesn't make much sense or feel like it matters; you're just doing stuff for no apparent reason other than "this is what games with good stories do." All this builds up to a climax where literally all that happens is someone dies and another person gives birth--and yes, they're related in some way (you can probably guess how).

The characters were flat and boring

The characters in Final Fantasy XV were not likeable. They were not relatable, and they are not fun to watch. I could go on, but this is my last chance to rant about this game before I'm out of space, so let's just say: The characters were flat and boring!

This game will be on a list of bad RPGs.

Final Fantasy XV is a bad RPG. It's not just a bad Final Fantasy game, though; it's also a bad RPG overall.

It lacks the depth and complexity of other games in the series.

Conclusion

The whole game felt like a tease. It left me hanging on the edge of my seat, waiting for something to happen—but in the end, it was just more disappointment. Not to say that it wasn’t pretty, or that there weren’t some fun parts (“Let’s turn into a flying motorcycle and explore!”), but I was hoping for so much more from such a long-awaited title.