Final Fantasy XV’s opening screen makes the ambitious claim that it is designed for newcomers as well as veterans to the series. This open world RPG has been in development for 10 years so it is no surprise that developer Square Enix is trying to reach as many players as possible. It is obvious from the start that the developers put a lot of care and thought into the universe this time around. Attention to detail is one of the many praises I can offer to this game that quickly captivated me right after the intro.

The focal point of the story is the protagonist, Noctis and his group of misfit heroes as they set off on an epic journey to reclaim the throne from the evil kingdom of Niflheim. I immediately felt invested in this group of friends and their charmingly unique personalities. Each one of the party members feels like a living person, this is due to the constant dialogue and character building Square Enix carefully put into the game. The characters all have their quirks from Prompto’s love of Chocobo’s to Ignis’ skill for cooking. Your party will remark on what’s happening in the overworld on a moment to moment basis, even sidequests are ended with a conversation about the mission. Ironically enough Noctis may be the most bland of the group but his combat style certainly makes up for his lack of personality.

Combat is handled much differently in this Final Fantasy then it has been done in the past. In lieu of the typical strategic combat the series is known for, the developers have gone in a more action oriented direction. Purists will be happy to hear that if you’d like to play tactically that is still an option that can be turned on, this pauses combat in between hits and feels more like a classic Final Fantasy. Personally I had the flashy action combat on the entire time, making my experience feel similar to that of Kingdom Hearts. Each character has a unique fighting style and all of your teammates will interact during fights. Interactions can be as simple as shouting weaknesses or they can be high octane combo moves which inflict devastating damage. My one complaint about the action combat is that large groups of enemies can be very difficult to keep track of.  A lot of unnecessary damage was taken due to my inability to see where my character was. This is only made more chaotic with your character’s insistence on teleporting from one side of the battlefield to the other with his warp ability.

The living open world adds a nice touch to the series and makes you feel like you are making a change to the kingdom. Sidequests litter the map and mini games are never too far away, leaving the player with a ton of distractions. In fact one of the biggest things I noticed about this iteration was how heavily inspired by western RPG’s it felt. Right from the start the map feels like something right out of The Witcher. This is certainly not a bad thing and the game is still very much a JRPG, but it is not hard to tell that modern RPG’s from the west have had an impact on the development team.

Traversing the open world is done mainly with your convertible, the Iron Regalia. This car serves as your trusty steed through the large expanses of the overworld map. Unfortunately this vehicle is only able to operate on paved streets while Chocobo’s or your feet are used for navigating off road areas. Eventually you get another mode of transportation that makes everything more convenient, but I won’t spoil that here. The Iron Regalia can become a tad monotonous after 20 hours of gameplay due to not being able fast travel all the time and some necessary drives can leave the player doing literally nothing for up to 10 minutes. This can be made a little more exciting by playing some of the CD’s that come loaded up in the car’s radio.

Music in the game fits in well with the rest of the series but it certainly doesn’t stand out as one of the better orchestras. Music queues can feel a little wonky at times but it does not take too much from the game. The car’s CD selection offers the choice of any soundtrack from the prior games or a couple of unique songs made specifically for the game by famous DJ’s like Afrojack. These songs feel a bit out of place but they are never forced on you, so it’s possible to pretend like they aren’t there. Overall when push comes to shove and the battle music kicks in, it does a great job of making the cool fights feel even more epic.

Final Fantasy XV does a lot to change up the series and in my opinion does it very successfully. With a cast of characters that is impossible not to get invested in, a battle system with very little shortcomings, a sprawling open world and enjoyable music this is one of the best Final Fantasy’s to date. This game goes above and beyond what I expected from it and truly immersed me in the world Square Enix made. I highly recommend this to any RPG/JRPG fans as this is a title that will definitely go down as a classic.