Different meals confer different status boosts for the next day, but only one dinner option was available to me in the demo.Įxploring Duscae feels great. Camping also saves the game and allows the group’s cook, Ignis, to prepare any number of meals with found ingredients. EXP bars fill up, characters’ levels increase, and the victory theme plays with a flourish. The screen is similar in function to the post-battle screens in most other Final Fantasy games. In Final Fantasy XV, players will have to camp at night to tally their gained experience and level up. I couldn’t even pull up a status menu to see details about Noctis’ attributes or equipment, other than an obtuse weapon screen that still makes little sense (more on that later). Unlocking new abilities is disabled, as is any real sort of progression system besides just leveling up. The demo’s boss monster is the aptly-named Behemoth, with claws the size of Noctis himself.Įven after spending four hours in Duscae, I’m still guessing about the deeper aspects of gameplay, though. Dinosaur-like monsters wade through the lakes in the center of Duscae, big enough to stomp our heroes flat.

Massive stone spires reach into the sky, standing at least 15 or 20 stories high. If anything, Episode Duscae shows off Final Fantasy XV’s devotion to building a large-scale world with real breathing room and impressive vistas. Angered by FFXIII’s infamous linearity? The demo starts with a short cinematic and tutorial, and then drops you into a large gameplay area to do whatever you want. Did you miss vendors and NPCs in FFXIII? There are two small outposts in the Duscae region, filled with chattering, well-dressed NPCs. As if to atone for the massive fan backlash over the controversial entry, Episode Duscae marginalizes most of the RPG elements to be found in FFXV and focuses on open-world exploration. Named after the region in which players can explore with Noctis and his buddies, Episode Duscae is exciting, disappointing, and downright baffling in mostly equal parts.

A sprawling, four-hour demo of this long-awaited entry into the series is here, subtitled Episode Duscae. After nine years since its announcement as a completely different game, Final Fantasy XV is here.

Down on your luck ffxv