Final Fantasy XIII Review

 I was a Solider

Final Fantasy XIII cuts back to the heart of who I am in a way. Back when I was still fresh eyed, bushy tailed and curious about the world of games outside that which I had been introduced to by my grandfather all the way back in those halcyon days of Metal Gear Solid. RPGs had already had their way with my interests, sparking a passion for slipping into the mind of fantastical 'others' and leading a journey of my own- but the mythic JRPG remained mere hearsay. Those would talk about them with bated whispers, but never enough to justify what they are to exist apparent from western RPGs. And so when I saw how Final Fantasy was considered the genre mecca, and one just happened to be on the Xbox 360, I rushed out to try... Final Fantasy XIII-2. But I decided I wanted to understand the story first so went out and got Final Fantasy XIII.

I'll tell you right now that I never finished it back in those days. In fact I skirted all the way up to Chapter 11, the chapter when the game actually opens up, before I became aggrieved at the fact I was still receiving general tutorials by the 20 hour mark! I felt like I was under some sort of endless Greek curse, pushing a fantastical boulder up a never peaking hill buckling under the weight of my self-inflicted horror. In some ways I thought I would never go back to Final Fantasy ever again. Then the marketing for XV cured me of that delusion right away. Still never played my 360 version of XIII-2 though... waste of money, that one.

So now I can come back with more aged eyes, experience like some sort of vintage beverage, matured on gaming, on RPGs, on Final Fantasy- that I can truly judge this game not just as a product of it's tumultuous time, but as a timeless product of it's storied peers. Sure XIII had a reputation all these years for being painfully linear with poor gameplay systems and a confusing plot- but those were the gripes of a new generation of gamers coming into a franchise they knew nothing about, which likely relied a bit on franchise recognition to score it's appeal, right? I mean, XIII has it's die-hard fans like any other game in the franchise; could that be because there's a seriously charming little game under the somewhat lacklustre presentation, such as with IX or perhaps due to a little of self-delusion spurred by personal bias- as for XII?

Coming back to the game was kind of like stirring old memories, first of that- I don't care what anyone says- gorgeous soundtrack- and next of that, even to this day, actually over-cluttered cutscene design. Final Fantasy is no stranger to hyper cutscenes, don't get me wrong- I've now finished one game out of all the major numbered releases and I can attest- when CGI entered the tool-box the Final Fantasy devs lost a little bit of their collective minds. But XIII seems special. A mix of seriously high-quality art being delivered, but edited together as though by a blindman on acid with a deep fear of visual action storytelling. As a kid I straight couldn't follow the action and assumed it was too complex for me. As an adult I can see- no it's just messy and unclear- hiding what appears to be truly top-tier animation work for some incomprehensible reason. At least the story isn't confusing to the point where such bad visual storytelling would become an issue right?... right...

As I alluded, Final Fantasy XIII does indeed have a reputation for being one of the most confusing of the franchise and to this, on the otherside, I can both empathise and pooh-pooh. Following the game is fairly easy to do when you're uninterrupted and insistent on paying attention, but unfortunately being in such a state does highlight the ways in which the scenario is honestly poorly told in a lot of the small ways. I'm talking the ancillary little tidbits, side character conduct and motivation stuff, but that does build towards a general problem. I don't know anyone who likes having to keep up with an unlocked codex to comprehend what was bizarrely omitted in the previous chapter. That is until the final chapter wherein the big moments start flying by unexplained and the story kind of falls on it's face. Bit of a shame really.

But I'm jumping ahead of myself. Final Fantasy XIII is the first, and so far only, game in the franchise to go truly Sci-Fi. VII flirted with Cyberpunk elements, but XIII whipped out the colossally impractical gravity trains, cybernetically trained animal-robot police force and embarrassingly fragile, constantly erupting into balls of hellfire, spaceships. (Honestly, I don't think a single spaceship survives longer than 5 minutes throughout this game.) Many of the classic Final Fantasy monsters have returned with metal make-overs, not quite as charming as the cyber-makeovers of ATLUS' monster-roster in Soul Hackers, but different enough to be genuinely distinct amidst a franchise that dances a little close to stiflingly homogeneous at times. (Then there's whatever the hell this game's version of Goblins are meant to be. I don't like them. Goblin Slayer would never.)

Within that Sci-Fi world is spun a narrative detailing an unlikely team spun on the loom of a fate they do not want, and fleeing a society that vilifies them and realities that haunt them. I think that last part might contribute to the actually bizarre level of distaste this main cast are instinctively fed by the wider Final Fantasy community. Honestly, I think this is an okay cast by Final Fantasy standards, Lightning is actually a solid leader who really confronts her own demons and grows caring, maybe a touch too caring, for her tribulations. Fang is a fun sarcastic hard-ass, Vanille uses her innocence to hide her habitual lying, Hope has a genuine purpose for being 'mopey' and develops from it, Snow... well, Snow is kind of annoying in an endearing way. Of course no one has anything bad to say about Sazh- dude, is just a real one. However- I can see how people can get fed up with the fact the majority of the story is just them running away.

Yes, there's a surprising lack of forward momentum in the narrative despite the oodles of lore fed throughout the story thanks to the level design which shackles Final Fantasy XIII. You might have heard of the 'curse of Hallways' this game is infected with, but I don't consider a linear level design to be the end of all quality in the world. For me it's more how Square handles those hallways. Filling them to the brim with an obscene amount of enemy encounters, most of which are copy-pastes of the last encounter despite the fact these aren't randomly decided fights but explicitly placed- for no other reason than to provide players with the correct amount of Crystarium Points to level up a pretty linear iteration of the Final Fantasy X levelling system, which itself was a levelling system I found restrictive and not that interesting. (XIII did it worse, go figure.)

The real problem here comes from the fact that Final Fantasy XIII, like XII before it, really doesn't have it when it comes to combat. In another attempt to evolve away from turn-based, XIII evolves the ATB system into a completely real time action combat mode only without direct control of your character. You feed them attack instructions which they carry out when the ATB bar fills, meanwhile they wander about and position themselves completely randomly- which might put them in or out of danger of group sweep attacks depending on how evil the AI is feeling. It already feels disconnecting, taking us out of the button-to-action relationship we expect with our characters, but that becomes even more of an issue when you realise that there are so few actions actually available to the player that the most effective way to play, even through to most of the endgame- is to just tab the built-in 'auto que' button which selects moves for you.

I quite literally played my way through most of the first 20 hours of this game treating it as a complete second-screen experience whilst watching 'Gotham', because the combat was that mindless to get through. Until chapter 3 there's literally nothing to combat but tapping A and occasionally throwing a 'heal everyone' potion down. From there you unlock the 'Paradigm shift' system in which you dynamically switch classes and roles. It's basically the Dress-Sphere system from X-2 only with it's own problems to be neither better or worse than that system. It changes the entire team at once so you actually work into a strategy, but you can only switch to pre-decided formations you created outside of combat- so no adapting to the situation at hand. It's also largely moot of a system until the end of chapter 10 because Square are terrified of actually challenging the player until they're certain they know how to press the R1 button on their controllers to change the party. (Or is it L1? Whoops, guess I need another 10 hours of baby-fights, Square!)

But Chapter 11 is where is gets good right? That's what everyone says! No, Chapter 11 is where it becomes active. Where you finally get battles that require you to actually know what you're doing. But by that I mean- slot in a utility character to build up buffs or debuffs, then switch to combat roles and tap auto until you win. It still isn't engaging or interesting. The best this combat gets is the hard boss fights where buff and debuff timing becomes relevant, but then that creeping feeling of not being in direct control rears up and you start feeling never quite in the moment. Meaning that Final Fantasy XIII either feels totally dull or frustratingly hands-off; which might make it just as bad as XII's combat in a way. Except XII is challenging just for trying to figure out to program those idiots to be useful, XIII at least comes packed with competent AI companions who dynamically update to take advantage of revealed weaknesses. I'll give them that.

But where XIII really let me down was with it's world. I've said it before but the worlds of Final Fantasy are really where they go above and beyond the genre to deliver unforgettable adventures across iconic world spaces- and given that this was the first SCI-FI focused title I expected something totally unique for the planet Pulse and it's techno-moon of Cocoon. Indeed I'm certain there's a little bit of Midgar expectation here, with the highly developed Moon inhabiting the majority of society starting off the game until you are set free in the wild expanses of the planet fully- juxtaposing aesthetics and nature. Only the game struggles to back that up. A lot of your time in Cocoon feels oddly aesthetically inconsistent. You'll travel across totally industrial caverns of Sci-Fi train yards to neon techno forests and then just hit a natural looking forest. Or a sunset soaked beach. The only real distinction between Cocoon and Pulse is that you never meet anyone actually living on Pulse, so it feels abandoned. They don't really feel distinct enough. Additionally, because of the linear nature of the story which keeps you constantly in combat and literally never provides an opportunity to explore a hub outside of one ill-fitting carnival-esque chapter, there's no sense of space and world even in Cocoon. The world doesn't feel real, I don't know it's people, I'm not sure why I'm supposed to care about saving it's brainwashed citizens from their self-inflicted fate.

Then there's the brunt of the writing itself, which is hardly Square at their best. I can tell there's a level of nostalgia played up for points, from the moment Lightning haughtily declares "I was a Solider", I knew they were playing the hits- if in reverse. But then you get characters who feel like they're written for a more light 'FFIX' style world. The teenage revolutionaries of NORA, for example? "What's our Motto" hero-obsessive Snow asks, to cries of "The army's no match for NORA!" I'm sorry that's just dumb and uninspired. Like an intern was tasked with coming up with that quip at the nth hour. I found myself really hoping that NORA would undergo some wild sort of subversion and this didn't turn into another SeeDS situation. But of course, I was wrong. They're are inexplicably correct child-soldiers for the whole game. Yippie!

This story is also chock full of the kinds of lore stuffing that Final Fantasy is typically a lot more natural with. In the first few chapters you'll be attacked with terms left-right and centre which, if you're not one to pay attention and file away fantasy terms, is going to overwhelm you. Fal'Cie, Pulse Fal'Cie, L'Cie- it's all a lot to get to grasp with- and then you'll have plot points which are really badly shoved into the story but explained in a bit more detail in the codex entries shoved you way. Unfortunately those same entries are stuffed with ancillary overlapping summaries as you try to parse them for anything new. Then there are straight omissions to the story which make what should have been important plot points fall flat. Cid doesn't ever get to explain his intentions so his twist falls flat when Snow attempts to throw his motivations back at him (given we never knew those supposed motivations to begin with), Vanille casually drops that She actually turned into Ragnarok last time around and no one reacts to that bombshell. (As though it had already been revealed in a scene earlier that was just never actually shot.) You spend a whole chapter looking for Obera, first just for a place to regroup and then suddenly it's about finding a way to lose your brands? It feels badly cut, as though from a first time director stressed for time. 

There's also a few narrative inconsistencies with gameplay, such as the electric bird fights in Chapter 9 which feature a cutscene wherein Lighting, Fang and Snow square up to a monstrous battle only for gameplay to fix you with an unswitchable team of Lightning, Fang and Hope. Kind of feels like the left hand didn't know what the right one was doing when inconsistencies like that start popping up.

But for all it's faults I did find charm here, largely in the core cast. Lightning's guilt is apparent and drips into her wrath- creating an interesting early dynamic between her and Hope, whose blind-anger is hilariously ignored by Snow for far too long into the game. Snow's obsessive hero-complex goes unaddressed for the entire game, unfortunately, making him a regression even from VII's Barret. Sazh and Vanille are adorable together, surrogate fatherhood always works well in stories like these. And Chapter 11's mission system does feel like the game at it's best- as through the bulk and heart of the game was always waiting on Pulse and you've just been treading water for that moment. But given how that is 20 hours in, I'm not sure I can call that a complete positive.

Chapter 10 might be the worst in the game actually, an endless spiralling dungeon of identical fights, reused assets and no-where storytelling culminating up to five hours of nothingness. It exists purely to give you the points to level up so that Gran Pulse is feasible- but here's the thing- Square could have just balanced the levelling experience more so they didn't have to flood crappy fights so often! Isn't that how you're supposed to design your damn games? You'd think designers like Larian and Square were in totally different industries for how differently they grasp seemingly basic topics. (Though to be fair, Larian of this time were putting out Divinity 2 which is hardly any better in it's own right.)

But the worst it all, which really put me off sticking around to the endgame, was the ending. I expect an ass-pull from a Final Fantasy game- they're not exactly known for their impeccable storytelling, but Final Fantasy XIII felt like it was stitched together by 12 different writers at the end who had never met each other in their lives. Let us not forget the moment where >spoiler< Fang tries to save Vanille from becoming Rangarok by submitting herself to be turned, and when Vanille cries "What about saving Cocoon, we promised" Fang remarks "I also made another promise, to protect my family." only for Fang to, inexplicably, turn around and try to kill Vanille, you know: her family- which would kind of defeat the purpose of deciding to become Ragnarok in her stead, no? That's probably the biggest mess but unfortunately the ending is stuffed full on miracle nonsense that flies in the face of the facts the story attempt to run on to that point. To such a degree that I'm reading online the sequel games have to retroactive script-doctor these events so they aren't total gibberish- which no other Final Fantasy has ever had to do before, XIII is a trail blazer for terrible endings in this storied franchise.

Overall Final Fantasy XIII feels like an attempt to reconcile the expectation of Final Fantasy to a 2010's Western audience, which the games industry of that day were convinced only found value in simplified action-movie style experiences- which led to a stifling homogenisation it would take nearly a decade for the industry to shake off. A lot of Final Fantasy XIII's decisions feel muddied in this pursuit and it results in what I would honestly call the worst Final Fantasy game I've played, and by this point I have actually played them all. It's boring for far too long, and never rises to be interesting enough to offset that delay- even at it's absolute best. I'm glad I played it for my own history with the franchise, finishing the first Final Fantasy game I ever fully owned (I played XIII-2's demo first) but I could not recommend this title to anyone, It lacks in gameplay, story and world building. A decent cast cannot cut the slack here. It feels like a bit of shame, given how excited I was for this game, but I can't award this game anymore than a D+ on my rating scale, earned largely because Chapter 11 has a bit of interest, but a single chapter in a 13 chapter long game does not count to a lot on the grand scale. I really wish this game were better, and that it's derision were undeserved. But whilst I think those feelings might be misguided at times, Lighting is a fine character, I cannot relieve Final Fantasy XIII of it's sins. It is indeed the worst mainline Final Fantasy game.

Worlds I want to live in: Part V

Across the Universe

Okay, so as you'll maybe have heard it from sticking around this blog, but recently I've been making full use of my quarantine time by diving into the weird world of Kingdom Hearts. This does mean I've pretty much spent the past 3 days try-harding a kids game (Those Superbosses are no joke) so I need something more familiar to soothe back into the rhythm of things. But at the same time, I can't really take myself out of the mindset of spiky hair and oversized swords, so why don't I just strike a balance for this special edition of 'Worlds I want to live in'? As Kingdom Hearts is borne from an unlikely union between Final Fantasy and Disney, perhaps it would behove us to look into one of gaming's largest franchises to find some cool fantasy worlds to postulate over.

Of course, the idea of this blog is to wonder about what it would be like to live in a virtual world, not as a godly hero but as an everyday scrubby nobody. This way I intend to form a fair opinion on the cons of the fictional world in question rather than on the the heroes who inhabit it. Final Fantasy, if you don't know, is a series of anthology stories, with each full integer entry containing an entire new cast and world whilst retaining a few overarching themes, styles and monsters. This means that there's literally 15 games worth of unique worlds to shift through that would work absolute wonders for this list, but I'm going to keep things relatively sedate for this selection by only going through the three games that were part of Fabula Nova Crystallis.

Now for the uniformed, and I'd imagine there's even a few FF fans who have no idea about this, Fabula Nova Crystallis was a sub-series of Final Fantasy games that existed within the main line-up and followed all the traditions of the franchise only with more of a similarity between narratives. Roughly translated as "Tale of the new Crystal" from Latin, these games would tell stories of worlds where mortals are caught up in wars between the gods, or the aftermaths of such, with the divine link between the two planes being through the mystical power of some sort of Crystal. That means that these games are technically completely disconnected, whilst sharing similar story beats, so I'm allowed to count each entry as it's own separate entity and you can't admonish me for it! (Although one could say that by coincidence each game could be argued as having taken place millennia apart from each other on the same world if you squint your eyes and tilt your head a bit.)

The first game in this series just happens to be Final Fantasy XIII, which takes place in the futuristic cyberpunk-esque world of Gran Pulse. This place is a giant and wild planet full to the brim of toothy monsters and giant stomping beasts, with a distinct lack of large chunks of society. That's because the majority of this world live on the artificial moon of  Cocoon, a giant technologically advanced sphere that is ruled by the theocratic Sanctum. What theology is that, you ask? That of the god-like fal'Cie, who are these mechanical primordial beings all based upon the classic summons in the Final Fantasy series. All the major infrastructure of this sky-city is granted unto the people through the mysterious power of these fal'Cie, and the Sanctum are the ones who dole those resources out to the people. (A responsibility they take fullest advantage of.)

Of course, things aren't all sunshine and rainbows on Cocoon (Or Gran Pulse, for that matter) and the slight tyrannical leanings of the government has the tendency to evoke the odd cry of unrest from more unruly elements of the populace. The NORA paramilitary company are known to strike against the Sanctum through flashy terrorist strikes, and if this sounds a lot like FF7 that's because it pretty much is. The Sanctum are so afraid of losing power, in fact, that they will send the entire city into lockdown upon the appearance of a l'Cie, (A human branded as a servant of a fal'Cie) upturning everyone's lives in order to hunt down these beings and ensure that the careful balance of their world is not upset by a change of heart from their godly hosts.

Now if we are take a positive look at this world than we would have to be honest, is living in freedom really that alluring? I mean sure, everyone wants freedom until they get it and realise that they have nothing to do and now their life lacks structure and they'd be better off growing the balls to finally hang themselves instead of wasting their time writing stupid blogs everyda- (Huh, got a little of track there.) The arrangement that the Sanctum have with the fal'Cie ensures that literally every need of the city is met without any real requirement for maintenance jobs. (that being said, you do spend a lot of the game running through maintenance tunnels for some unexplained reason) That essentially means we're looking at a society wherein there are no service jobs because our robot gods handle everything; doesn't that just sound like a seedbed for creative thought? Maybe that's why much of the architecture around Cocoon looks like something dreamt up in an enlightened seraphic haze. Imagine the life you could live in such a world!

Of course, the toss-up would be living in a hyper vigilant world where everybody's life is dictated by the whim of the Sanctum, to the point where everyone pretty much works for them. Everywhere in the city is patrolled by heavily armed guards and at any point the paranoia of the Sanctum can reach such a point that they are willing to 'Purge' huge chunks of the city for 'being touched by Gran Pulse' (Basically for receiving influence from any fal'Cie that aren't on the same page as Cocoon's fal'Cie) Also, you'll be living your entire life in synthetic sunlight, as the Sanctum go above and beyond themselves to weave grand lies about the savagery of Gran Pulse (Okay, half-lies; the wildlife will really kill you.) and you cannot even go for so much as a visit without being permanently exiled from your home. So if you're cool with hanging around in a basically fascist society (and who isn't?) than Cocoon is the vacation paradise for you.

Although perhaps you're looking for something a little more 'rustic' and 'down to earth'. Rather than giant architectural marvels and marvellous feats of engineering, maybe you prefer the surrounding of quaint terraced roofs with the odd touch of history to it. if that's the case, then maybe Final Fantasy Type-0's 'Orinence' is the right destination for you. Divided between the four crystal states of Rubrum, Milites, Concordia and Lorican; Orinence mirrors a feudal Japan style to the world albeit with strangely modern technologies for the world. Rubrum specialises in teaching it's students magic whilst Milites works on rustic automatons and automatic weaponry. Concordia is the home of the beast masters who control the skies and Lorican is the home of... I dunno; Shields? (It's never really made clear.) Each of these nation's society revolves around their respective Peristylium: a research academy dedicated to the study of their godly crystal which grants each country it's prosperity. (Albeit in a more abstract way than for XIII's robot gods)

So this is a land of quite stark diversity and variance to it, right? Well unfortunately that also means it's a land of great strife with the four nations locked in a conflict that has, at this point, transcended generations. Each country has scarified a lot of their own society towards forcing an army to war, to the point where practically everyone is born into the worn effort and will eventually die there. Lorican was even unfortunate enough to lose their entire home as their's was the first to taste the power of Milites' superweapons. These wars are all in the hope of gaining control of the other nation's crystals under the vague hope that doing so will grant the nation who unites them the power to change the world. This is fuelled by the frustratingly vague prophecy; "When Nine and Nine meet Nine, a voice like thunder will sound, the depths of reason shall stir and thou shalt know: I have arrived" (No there's no secret meaning behind that. The writers just thought it sounded cool)

In the realms of the positive, sure it's likely that you'll be born into the war machine of whichever country you're unlucky enough to be sired in, but that doesn't mean you have to live a terrible life. (Although perhaps a short one is inevitable.) Those of Rubrum have an academy dedicated to training the next generation of magical soldiers, you could get a job as a janitor there in order to avoid the frontlines. Or you could just go and live in one of the quaint vaguely-Germanic villages which dot the landscape in the knowledge that the war likely won't touch you too badly. As this is a world of so many disparate societies, that means there will be much to see and learn for those that are willing, too. This world boasts masters of technology and magic, alongside those who have learnt to live side and side with powerful wyverns; imagine the sorts of people you could meet in such a landscape, the things you could learn only there and nowhere else!

But, of course, there will be wars going on twenty-four-seven, and that'll be a little bit of a downer for folk I'd imagine. In fact in the land of Rubrum, which for my money is the most well-rounded society, you'll find yourself 'blessed' with the boon of 'forgetfulness'; to the tune of you literally forgetting the faces and names of the deceased the second that they die. This is meant to make it so that folk aren't crippled by mourning and can continue the war effort, but that is a pretty depressing world to live in, don't you think? Your life is dedicated to fighting a war which you won't even be remembered for once you die. What makes everything worse, and yes this is a huge spoiler; the powerful godlike crystals which rule the land have used their servants, the l'Cie (Yeah, that's another lore crossover) to lock the land in a literal time loop until the war ends in the outcome that they want. Yup, that means being locked in a literal hell of being bought back to life and dying over and over forever. But if that's worth the cute little houses, than by all means; enjoy your time in Orinence!

Finally there is the world that is the most similar to our own; that of Eos in Final Fantasy XV. This is a world that is almost identical to ours in terms of modern convenience with the obvious exception of there being magic and monsters. (As far as I'm aware, we don't have those.) Just like in Orinence, the world is split between nations, however only the holy kingdom of Lucis boasts their own Crystal. Theirs was given by the gods (or Astrals) and supposedly contains the soul of the world. Eos itself is made up of two huge continents, with only one really being all that habitable, ensuring that the nations that do exist have to do so in extreme proximity to one another. (A situation which always seems to breed contempt, somehow.)

Recent years haven't exactly been kind to the land of Eos as tensions between the two biggest nations, Lucis and Niflheim have steadily soured after the arrangement of a forced political marriage between the crown prince of Lucis and the Princess of Tenebrae. (The kids seem to love each other well enough but no one really wants this political move to take place.) As a result things suddenly broke out into open hostilities between the nations as  Niflheim assassinated the king of Lucis and started hunting down the crown prince, apparently wilfully forgetting the widely accepted fact that the royal line of Lucis is meant to birth the King of Light who's job it is to save the world from eternal night. So, yup; this means we have another world fraught with warfare and chaos. (I'm starting to see a pattern in these Square Enix worlds)

On the upside, Eos is home to many modern conveniences that most will find familiar and comforting. You have cars, skyscrapers, heated beds, everything your little heart could need for a comfortable vacation. Also, there are no seas between any of the nations, so you can go and visit a new country will minimal travel stress and engulf yourself in a brand new culture. You can also rest assured that this time the war in the world is unique to the nations of Lucis and Nilfheim, so you pretty much just hop off to the Venice-inspired town of Altissia and enjoy the stunning sights and friendly locales. You also live in a world where healthcare is completely replaced with much more efficient healing magic, all the world's currency is unified under Gil and despite the known and accepted existence of godly presences in the world, no theocratic superstate has yet to form and force everyone to bow to their ways. (Isn't that nice?)

However there is the downside that living as a nobody is this world is going to make you unfortunate collateral no matter where you go. Sure, Altissia is not 'technically' part of the war, but you can bet the army will subjugate it the second they think the Crown Prince has gone there, robbing Eos of it's number one holiday spot. Yeah, you live out in the small town Lestallum, away from all the action and chaos, until that place falls under the thumb of the military for the same fears. Basically no matter where you go you'll find freedoms being revoked because of someone else's war, and that's not really fun for anyone, now is it? All that's not even taking to account that the second the True King starts to realise his power, everyone in the world becomes subject to frankly apocalyptic events which makes living as a bystander literally impossible. (Because you'll be dead.) Hell, he summons an Astral to Altissia and literally floods the entire city; what a bastard! And even if you're lucky enough to dodge catastrophe for the majority of your life, you'll only be greeted by the unavoidable 10 year night once the True King goes into his slumber. That's ten whole years where the entire world is besieged by constant hoards of demons and monsters whilst waiting for pretty boy to come back and save everyone. But if you're use to staying indoors for decades at a time, then maybe Eos' natural beauty and magical conveniences will win you over.

There's three more fictional worlds that seem fun to live in until they don't, and I found myself wondering exactly which one catches my fancy most, as if I had to choose from the three. Out of these on offer, personally I would find a small bed and breakfast to live out of in Eos, as that's the only world which really has a happily ever after. (Provided I survive the long night.) Plus, as cool as it sounds to live in the futuristic Cocoon, I'd imagine that living under a dictatorship might clash a little with the benefits of being in an artistically freeing society. (And Orinence's 'Time loop' nonsense can take a hike) But that's just my opinion, which may be slightly tainted by the fact that Final Fantasy 15 was my most liked game out of the three, and I'm sure you have your own leanings. Maybe next time I'll pick three more distinct worlds. (I don't know, I haven't planned it yet.)