Final Fantasy XV

Final Fantasy XIV vs. Final Fantasy XV

Back in November, 2016 we were treated to one of the best Final Fantasy games in recent years that follow the streamline of the franchise, but how does it compare to the game prior to this one: Final Fantasy XIV? It may be an MMORPG, but it doesn’t hurt to find out which of the two is better in general.

Let’s start off with that oh, so important nature of any video game: the gameplay!

Final Fantasy 14 if you’re not already aware is an MMORPG in the same way as something like World of Warcraft, so expect to be filling up your hot-bar, levelling up your character, and getting grouped up with strangers and friends alike to take down that next big raid boss! In terms of longevity, FF 14 definitely has the winning point for that one; especially when you consider that people spend hundreds upon hundreds of hours in this game and that may not even necessarily mean they’ve reached the end game as of yet.

FF 14 comes with a surplus of classes for the player to enjoy, so it’s no wonder you can spend so much time in this game and that doesn’t even include everything else the game has to offer.

Final Fantasy 15 doesn’t have the same scope as FF 14 does, but despite this fact, the game is a considerable size with a whole host of dungeons and new locations for the player to explore. To top it off, the action-based combat system that Final Fantasy games have never really seen before does kick the game off into a strong positive. It can take you around 40-60 hours to beat the game with all your exploring and quest-taking; yet throughout all of that time it’s quite difficult to ever find yourself getting tired of the combat. Not only is the combat satisfying and fun, but depending on the weapon you prefer to use at the time it can really affect just how impactful the weapons feel when you strike your opponent.

Even with the knowledge that the combat is fun either way, FF 14 takes it on the longevity scale, as the game revolves being able to participate in the same combat systems over and over again without being bored to tears.

When it comes to the story-aspects of these two games, Final Fantasy 15 takes it without question! Not to say that FF 14 doesn’t have a decent story, but MMO’s aren’t known for their storytelling capabilities and FF 14 doesn’t alternate from this sad trope of the genre.

Considering that FF 15 was praised and hailed for its great and beautiful story, it should come as no surprise that this was the result. The characters inside the game all had their parts to play – be they good or bad – and with each chapter you managed to play through you’d get an extra piece of the puzzle to figure out what is going on in this world. Every part of the story in FF 15 is told as close to perfectly as it can get away with and even the ending leaves a satisfying conclusion to a story that you won’t be forgetting any time soon.

It has to be said for these two games that they’ve both come across numerous problems during their development. Final Fantasy 14 at its original launch was an unplayable mess, but soon got fixed and even got rebooted by Square Enix somewhat recently to make it one of the most played MMORPG’s in recent years.

Final Fantasy 15 can’t even ignore this plea either, as it was very touch and go on whether the world would ever see FF 15. One year it would be cancelled, only to be rebooted a year later and this on/off development cycle did not put the game in the highest of spirits for fans of the series, but when it was confirmed the game was finally coming out fans rejoiced and it turned out the game was one of the best Final Fantasy games in years.

In regards to these two games, it’s pretty darn difficult to decide which of the two of them is better: it all depends on your preferred genre. Fans of the MMO genre will easily prefer 14 over 15 and fans of story will feel the complete opposite; yet honestly it doesn’t matter which of the two groups you fall under, it can be argued that fans of the Final Fantasy franchise have been treated well over the past couple of years.