After years of waiting, Square Enix finally gave the general public a small taste of Final Fantasy XV via a playable demo that was included in the Collector’s Edition and Day One Edition of Final Fantasy Type-0 HD. While we have some glowing impressions of Final Fantasy XV Episode Dusace, the trial version did get dragged down by some nagging issues. Below is our top five list of problems in the demo that Square Enix should fix in the final release.
5. Losing Side Quest Progress When Saving
Aside from the main quest of tracking down the Deadeye Behemoth in Final Fantasy XV Episode Dusace, you can also take on smaller side quests located throughout the same region. However, you will lose progress every time you decide to rest and save your game. This mechanic doesn’t really make sense as you get to pick up where you left off with the main missions. While this may be a minor irritant in the demo, it could become a big issue in the final game, which should be much bigger and have multiple regions to explore.
4. HUD and UI
You will spend a lot of time looking at the menus and heads-up display of Final Fantasy XV Episode Dusace. Unfortunately, you may have to sit closer to the television screen than expected due the small text font. You will otherwise have a hard time reading, especially when it comes to combat since you need to keep a close eye on your party’s status while trying to dodge and attack the enemies at the same time.
3. Lack of Control Over Party
While the combat in Episode Dusace already has plenty of depth, it did lack in some areas. One of the biggest was the lack of direct control of your A.I. partners. While your computer-controlled allies are pretty competent (as they will rush over and help you up when you reach zero HP), it would have been nice to customize how they would react in certain circumstances a la the Gambit System in Final Fantasy XII. Fortunately, Square Enix already confirmed that being able to issue commands to your teammates will be in the final version of XV.
2. Inconsistent Frame Rate
Even at its demo state, Final Fantasy XV is still easily the best looking game in the JRPG genre. With that said, there are some notable issues. While we can overlooked some of aliasing and texture problems, the inconsistent frame rate is another story. The game can get choppy even when you are just running around in the fields. It gets even worse when you are engaged in combat with multiple enemies. Hopefully, the developer will further optimize the full version, smoothing out the frame rate as much as possible. Otherwise, it could really hinder the experience.
1. Camera During Battles
The biggest problem we had with Final Fantasy XV Episode Dusace is the camera during battles. The angle is simply too close to the action, which is especially troublesome when you are surrounded and/or dealing with fast enemies. The problem further escalated in an enclosed space like the cavern area of the demo. As a result, the game is a lot more chaotic than it should be as you will spend most of the time figuring out where the enemy is located. This makes attacking and dodging a lot trickier than necessary as well.
Square Enix still hasn’t confirmed when Final Fantasy XV will be released. Hopefully, they will be able to iron out some of the issues we encountered in Episode Dusace by the time the full version launches for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. If you haven’t already, you can preorder Final Fantasy XV on Amazon through this page on the retailer’s website.