History VideoGame / FinalFantasyXV

In the world of Eos, the Kingdom of Lucis possesses a PowerCrystal that affords its nobility magical powers. For decades the expansionist Empire of Niflheim has been at war with Lucis, but while they have conquered most of the rest of the world, they cannot touch Lucis due to the Crystal powering a magical barrier that shields the nation from harm. Over the years Niflheim develops technological advances that allow them to press their advantage, forcing the Lucians to retract the Wall to merely shielding the crown city of Insomnia. Niflheim continues their push into Lucis, their eyes ever on Insomnia and the Crystal.

While Niflheim and Lucis war, the entire world lives in fear of the darkness. During the night daemons rise from the shadows, horrific monsters with supernatural powers that seek only to destroy and kill. The daemons can only exist in the dark, though, and are weakened by light. For this reason settlements across the land erect floodlights at the edges of their territory to repel daemons. However, some reports say the nights have begun to grow longer and the days shorter, causing fear that there may come a day when the sun does not rise at all, and with the world trapped in TheNightThatNeverEnds, daemons will overrun civilization. Legend tells of the day that the "King of Light" will arise from the bloodline of the Lucian kings, and he will eradicate the daemons from the world and save humanity from darkness. This Chosen King is the current Crown Prince, Noctis Lucis Caelum, son of King Regis Lucis Caelum.

The game was released worldwide on November 29, 2016. The road there, however, came after an infamously protracted TroubledProduction. ''XV'' was first announced in 2005 as ''Final Fantasy Versus XIII'', one component of the ''Fabula Nova Crystallis'' compilation alongside ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyType0'' (then called ''Agito XIII''). Despite a [=CGI=] teaser trailer in 2006, ''Versus XIII'' at this stage was more or less a loose collection of scenario ideas and concept sketches. For several years, little additional information about the game was released until development finally entered full swing in 2011 with the first actual gameplay trailer, when director Tetsuya Nomura was joined by Hajime Tabata as co-director. Tabata would eventually take over full directing duties. In those six years the game had outgrown its engine, its name, and even [[UsefulNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames its console generation]], so the new Luminous engine entered development and the game was retooled for [[UsefulNotes/TheEighthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames PS4 and Xbox One]] and rebranded as ''Final Fantasy XV''. This new development was revealed in 2013 and the game continued its development cycle more smoothly up until its release in 2016.

* A [[UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows Windows Edition]] port for PC was released on March 6, 2018.

* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: A rare aversion for the series. While it's perfectly possible to complete the game around Level 50 as is often the case, sidequests into the end game and post game will advise party levels well up to Level 99. Further, thanks to the experience bonuses from resting at hotels, especially the 3x bonus in Altissia, the +100% experience Lasagna Al Forno (which, when stacked with the hotel, will effectively multiply acquired experience by 6x), and the craftable expericast spells (which give roughly 10,000 xp base per cast in their level 96 configuration, which can be multiplied by all of the above), it's perfectly feasible to hit Level 99 without having to rely on LevelGrinding very much. Moogle Charms also give bonus xp as well, for even faster leveling.

* StatStick: Your total stats are determined by the weapons you have equipped, like in the main game. It might be beneficial to grab a weapon simply for its good stats to boost those totals, whether you stick with them short-term or long-term.

* TooAwesomeToUse: In ''Pocket Edition'', basic magic becomes this due to the removal of Elemancy. Magic now hearkens back to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'': it comes from Draw Points and is carried on the character as inventory. But Noctis can ''only have one spell at a time''; if he draws a new one, it overwrites his old one. And backtracking to unused Draw Points is difficult if not impossible. The result is that you are constantly having your face rubbed in missed-opportunity costs. Fortunately, Ring Magic is here to save the day.

* TraumaInn: Inns, caravans and hotels offer many of the same benefits as campsites, including regaining HP and leveling up your characters. Caravans and Inns are typically found within a rest stop or somewhere closeby, making them handy for if just want an easy means of getting some rest. Hotels also have multipliers that increase your experience points when you stay, making them ideal for after you fight big bosses or have been using the Nixperience Badge to stockpile EXP for a while. They have their drawbacks though. Ignis doesn't cook dinner when you use an inn meaning you miss out on the stat bonuses gained from them and lose out on the chance to feed your chocobo to boost their stats as well. Additionally, you can't directly change the time of day, engage in training or trigger sidequest tours with one the other party members outside of one optional cutscene with Prompto.
* TravelToProjectile: Noctis's "Warp Strike" has him throw his equipped weapon at a target, then immediately teleport to its position so he can continue attacking up close. Not only that, but it also the does more damage based on how far he can toss the weapon forward, saving him some time for finishing off enemies.
* TomatoInTheMirror: [[spoiler:Chapter 11, which is rather aptly titled [[MeaningfulName "In the Dark"]]. Ardyn makes an abrupt appearance beside Noctis, so Noct attacks him and demands answers. However, Ardyn himself appears rather uncharacteristically shocked and horrified by this. And then Imperial forces assault the train, and Noctis is greeted by none other than Prompto, who fights alongside him in keeping the Imperials at bay. At the end of the chapter, Ardyn is holding Prompto at gunpoint, so Noctis swings for him and Ardyn falls off the train... except it's all an illusion engineered by the Imperial Chancellor, having switched appearances with Prompto for almost the entirety of the Chapter.]]

* ObviousBeta: ''Heavily'' downplayed compared to most examples, but it is still very evident that the game was not 100% finished as the developers intended. Aside from complaints about the cumbersome UI, uncooperative camera, inability to switch party members and difficult-to-follow story due to several plot points not being properly explained, there's a lot of DummiedOut world areas not accessible in the final game, including Tenebrae, more of Altissia, Angelgard island, and [[spoiler:the World of Ruin beyond Insomnia]]. Many patches post-release added party switching, new story scenes, the ability to explore Altissia and the ocean on the boat, and a lot of other things, but it was clear the developers were patching in things they had intended to have already but didn't have ready in time for the game's launch.

* BonusBoss:
** The Adamantoise returns, and it's even larger than in ''Final Fantasy XIII''. Depending on how prepared you are, it can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 10 hours.
** Beyond that is the Naglfar, which is the game's version of the "Omega Weapons" from previous titles.
** Then in the UpdatedReRelease we get the actual Omega Weapon and he makes Naglfar look like a wimp.
** The numerous Menace and Legendary Weapon quest bosses certainly which cannot be fought until completing the game. Additionally the Time Quest DLC offering one-week-only superbosses, including the lvl 140 Dread Behemoth.
** Noctis himself (both pre and post-timeskip) in Episodes Ignis and Ardyn.

* A [[ReformulatedGame Pocket Edition]] was released February 9, 2018 for iOS and Android. This is a highly streamlined experience with simplified controls and [[SuperDeformed visuals]]. It was later given an HD release on Windows 10 and home consoles (including the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch Switch]]), meaning that the PC, as well as the UsefulNotes/XboxOne and UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, has access to ''two'' different versions of the game--the computationally expensive normal version and this less intensive version that runs on more machines.

* JustForPun: In the 2015 trailer, Cindy says she'll service your car. In Japanese, she uses the English word "service", which usually refers to FanService. Guess what half of Cindy's role was going to be...