Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ardyn – Prologue

A man of no consequence

With the news of Tetsuya Nomura’s departure from Square Enix resulting in a stop to the development of upcoming DLC for Final Fantasy XV (FFXV), it was nice to know that at least would be getting Episode Ardyn. Not only that, we get a prologue to his DLC just as we did with Noctis and Co in FFXV: Brotherhood.

Ardyn Izunia is quite an interesting villain in my opinion, but he had very little screen time, hence the DLC which hopefully fleshes out his character a lot more. Yet, you have to love how much impact he has to the story whenever he turns up (which isn’t a lot until the final chapters of FFXV, but if you haven’t played the game or seen the cut-scenes, what are you waiting for?!). But he wasn’t always a villain as Episode Ardyn here shows, and I’m sure there was some mention of this in the game.

Amnesia

Teams Toma and Shin all the way!

I say that, but Kent is the most sweetest and genuine out of the four (bless him), followed by Shin. I say Team Toma cos he’s my favourite, but I’d take either Shin or Kent to be my BF if they were real. With Toma’s looks.

So Amnesia. I came across the game first on Vita since it was free on PS Plus last month, and because I’ve never played visual novel games before I thought I’d try it out. And wow was it gripping. I started off with Toma and the Diamond Route, followed by Ikki and the Spade Route. After it was Shin and the Heart Route, and finally sweet sweet Kent and the Clover Route. Respectively I got a bad ending, a bad ending, a normal ending, and a normal ending. Now I’m playing through Toma’s Route again to see if I can get a better ending with him. Hopefully I do. It seems to be going well (for now).

I then went onto the Amnesia Wiki to see what else is in the game (there’s another Route which I haven’t unlocked yet), and turns out there’s also an anime. So of course I’d check it out, and the first thing I’ll say is that it needed a couple more episodes.

Final Fantasy XV – Brotherhood: The Warmth of Light (Episode 5)

Action-packed finale!

Square may have released another episode to make up for the delayed release of FFXV since Bittersweet Memories (Episode 4) had end credits and I assumed that to be the final episode. This one has been confirmed as the final episode, and who cares about an extra episode as compensation? It’s totally worth watching.

Final Fantasy XV – Brotherhood: Bittersweet Memories (Episode 4)

And for the final episode: Iggy the Baker!

Ignis will probably hate me for that, but who knew he was such a good baker? Apart from Noctis, Prompto and Gladiolus. And the chef. Moving on.

It’s Ignis’ turn this time, as the Sakamoto version of himself (to me he looks like Sakamoto from Sakamoto desu ga?) rather than the version we all know and love (you know the cool looking one) takes to the screen to look after our beloved Noctis, who is now in high school along with now slim Prompto. Time flies when you wait for an episode to air that doesn’t have a notified release date, with the game being delayed by two months. Square Enix why?

Final Fantasy XV – Brotherhood: Sword & Shield (Episode 3)

Gladdy, Gladdy…Gladiolus

So episode 3 came out a while ago, and for those of you who follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that I had some issues with Internet and I couldn’t do much blogging. It felt like living in a modern version of the Stone Age since everything is pretty much online nowadays, but I can happily say that as of yesterday I am back online! *insert any cheers here*

Moving on from my temporary absence and complaints about Internet issues, it’s time for episode 3 of Brotherhood. As you can probably guess from the name of the episode and who is yet to have a backstory (and from my attempt at something funny at the top of the post), this one is about Gladiolus. He’s Noctis’ bodyguard and close friend, and how their bond strengthens is quite a good one.

By the looks of it, Gladiolus is the oldest out of the group, with Prompto being the closest to Noctis in terms of age. Ignis is probably slightly older than Noctis and the first or second one to befriend him since he’s already with Noctis before Prompto meets him. But that doesn’t really matter; it’s just something I wanted to mention before I got on with the review. ^-^

Final Fantasy XV – Brotherhood: Dogged Runner (Episode 2)

You gotta love Prompto

Square Enix announced like a couple of weeks ago that the next episode of FFXV – Brotherhood would be released during E3, which turned out to be today! Good times.

 

We return to see the group travelling to Caem the day after the events of Episode 1 with Prompto driving (I bet Ignis regrets letting him drive) and who seems to have the best eyesight out of the four of them, whilst Noctis catches some royal shuteye. I guess this is what he does when he’s not fighting or being a picky eater.

Final Fantasy XV – Brotherhood: Before the Storm (Episode 1)

Square Enix have really gone all out with Final Fantasy XV. At around 3am on 31st March 2016, there was an Uncovering of FFXV, and wow did it amaze. And as you can see, one of the Uncoverings shows Noctis and Co in anime form in FFXV – Brotherhood, a 5 episode anime series. If they’re going to stick with the same duration, then each episode will be around 12 minutes long.

Before the Storm is pretty much an intro as to how the game itself will start, but in a much condensed (and animated) form of course. Young Noctis is the first glimpse of his anime version that we see (not including the preview in the Uncovered show), and his encounter with a monster we’re bound to meet again later on in the series. Fast forward and we’re in the present with Noctis and Co travelling by car. And this is where we find out what’s happening in the world of FFXV.