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eliseofsoleanna 's review for:
Final Fantasy XV: The Dawn of the Future
by Jun Eishima, Final Fantasy XV Team
3.75 stars rounded up!
Anyone who knows me knows I am one of the biggest Final Fantasy XV apologists despite the game's story turning out the way it was. It had so much potential and fell so flat in many ways.
I don't care what anyone says. This book is the true canon ending.
Since this is basically a compilation of novellas, I'm going to break this review into four parts.
Part 1: Episode Ardyn (☆/5)
One thing this game will never do well is convince me why Ardyn is a good villain and honestly the way this actually published DLC was novelized here was jarring. The time jumps were strewn about and didn't do a good job establishing when things were happening in context to other events. I had watched a playthrough of Episode Ardyn online before so I knew what was happening, but I don't think it was transcribed well here, nor was it very interesting or entertaining to read about.
Part 2: Episode Aranea (☆☆☆☆☆/5)
Oh my god THIS IS WHAT WE COULD HAVE HAD. This story was a blast to read. I'll admit I was never sold on Aranea's character in the game--she just kinda showed up for me and seemed cool but never grabbed my attention. After reading what would have been Episode Aranea, I am fully converted. This was such a wild ride from start to finish and had me HOOKED. Damn shame we never got this in game form, I think this would have been the turning point for a lot of people.
Part 3: Episode Lunafreya (☆☆☆☆/5)
Lunafreya my beloved. The base game absolutely ruined you and you deserved better. And you got it here. This was the point where the alternate ending to the game really got started and I think this, as a final act, works signficiantly better compared to what we got in the original game. I loved the exploration of what Luna would do with her life if she wasn't tied to her job as the Oracle, and that she finally got to have some agency in what she does for the plot.
Part 4: Episode Noctis (☆☆☆☆☆/5)
What a send-off. What a finale. What a showstopper final boss fight. What a wonderful, finally, happy ending for our main cast. Noctis getting to make his own choice and fight actively against his fate, and that of his beloved's, made me so happy. I genuinely could not be happier at the conclusion to a story--especially one conceived as "what if" DLC.
In summary,
If you played Ardyn's story or are familiar with it, just skip the novelization here and get to the good bits in the previously unpublished Episodes Aranea, Lunafreya, and Noctis. If you liked Final Fantasy XV but found the final product to be lacking in some way, this may just change your mind.
Anyone who knows me knows I am one of the biggest Final Fantasy XV apologists despite the game's story turning out the way it was. It had so much potential and fell so flat in many ways.
I don't care what anyone says. This book is the true canon ending.
Since this is basically a compilation of novellas, I'm going to break this review into four parts.
Part 1: Episode Ardyn (☆/5)
One thing this game will never do well is convince me why Ardyn is a good villain and honestly the way this actually published DLC was novelized here was jarring. The time jumps were strewn about and didn't do a good job establishing when things were happening in context to other events. I had watched a playthrough of Episode Ardyn online before so I knew what was happening, but I don't think it was transcribed well here, nor was it very interesting or entertaining to read about.
Part 2: Episode Aranea (☆☆☆☆☆/5)
Oh my god THIS IS WHAT WE COULD HAVE HAD. This story was a blast to read. I'll admit I was never sold on Aranea's character in the game--she just kinda showed up for me and seemed cool but never grabbed my attention. After reading what would have been Episode Aranea, I am fully converted. This was such a wild ride from start to finish and had me HOOKED. Damn shame we never got this in game form, I think this would have been the turning point for a lot of people.
Part 3: Episode Lunafreya (☆☆☆☆/5)
Lunafreya my beloved. The base game absolutely ruined you and you deserved better. And you got it here. This was the point where the alternate ending to the game really got started and I think this, as a final act, works signficiantly better compared to what we got in the original game. I loved the exploration of what Luna would do with her life if she wasn't tied to her job as the Oracle, and that she finally got to have some agency in what she does for the plot.
Part 4: Episode Noctis (☆☆☆☆☆/5)
What a send-off. What a finale. What a showstopper final boss fight. What a wonderful, finally, happy ending for our main cast. Noctis getting to make his own choice and fight actively against his fate, and that of his beloved's, made me so happy. I genuinely could not be happier at the conclusion to a story--especially one conceived as "what if" DLC.
In summary,
If you played Ardyn's story or are familiar with it, just skip the novelization here and get to the good bits in the previously unpublished Episodes Aranea, Lunafreya, and Noctis. If you liked Final Fantasy XV but found the final product to be lacking in some way, this may just change your mind.