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Will Final Fantasy XV Screw Fans with DLC?

Will Final Fantasy XV Screw Fans with DLC?

An entry in a series you wouldn’t think you’d need to pay additional money to play is, well, going to ask you to consider paying more money to play. Final Fantasy XV will be the first entry in the series to offer a season pass. The concept was introduced when the $85 Digital Premium Edition appeared on the PlayStation Store, suggesting people get a season pass with unspecified extra content for $25. Said extra content was later revealed to be Booster and Holiday Packs, an Expansion Pack, and Episodes Gladiolus, Ignis, and Prompto. The question is, exactly how bad of an idea is this?

Final Fantasy XV is a JRPG. These are known to be sweeping epics with content hidden everywhere. Prior to Final Fantasy XIII , the entry that gummed up the works, people could enjoy over 60 hour games filled with nooks, crannies, extra equipment, and sidequests. Look in the right places, and you could easily spend 80 hours or more with the game. By introducing the idea of a season pass at the outset, especially one that seems to have at least three side-quest centered storylines, you have to wonder if this means content is being cut to sell to us later.

After all, this sets a bad precedent for a genre that is known for giving people a fully contained adventure. Any missions or experiences essential to the story are supposed to be there. Especially since Final Fantasy XV is a game that doesn’t exactly have a huge cast. It’s an open-world road trip where we follow Noctis and his three friends, Gladiolus, Ignis, and Prompto on a mission. If there are episodes that allow us to play as his allies and see a bit into their past or present, shouldn’t we be stumbling across these character-building excursions as we play?

The idea of packs with additional equipment and items are worrisome as well. Part of the fun of a Final Fantasy game is earning everything your character has and owns. While the Holiday pack could clearly be some cosmetic extras making the guys more festive, what about the Booster Pack? And what if the Expansion Pack isn’t more story content, but even more equipment? Would you really be okay with ultimate weapons, ribbons, or experience boosters being sold separately, when previously we could come across them as we’d play games like Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, and Final Fantasy X?

Will Final Fantasy XV Screw Fans with DLC?

You don’t think about that when you think about a JRPG or Final Fantasy game. Money-grubbing isn’t what comes to mind. Instead, you wonder how many secrets and sidequests await you. You wonder what you’ll get to do and see, not how much money you’ll have to pay after your initial investment just so you can learn a bit more about the only three party members you’ll have in the game.

It’s a concerning development, especially after Final Fantasy XIII . That was a pared down game where you essentially walked a straight line toward a goal until your team touched down on Pulse. And, even when you did land on Pulse, it wasn’t like there were towns and people to interact with. It was an open-world battling experience with occasional side-quests. Final Fantasy XV was looking so promising, but now we’re left wondering if it could be using a season pass to wall off story content that already exists and would make it feel more like a traditional JRPG. It’s unfortunate, and hopefully there will be some sort of extensive explanation and reassurance that this isn’t as disappointing as it sounds.

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