(This review is based on 48 hours of gameplay with the English-language PlayStation 4 version of Final Fantasy XV Deluxe Edition.)

MANILA – When you boot up Final Fantasy XV, the first thing you see on the screen is this text: “A Final Fantasy for fans and first-timers.”

Just when we thought the promotion for Final Fantasy XV is already over-the-top (read: two demos, a full-length prequel film, a short anime series and a smartphone application, to name a few), Square Enix continues to pull out all the stops to lure new gamers and bring back old fans.

The stakes are high, after all – the company hopes to bring back the lost allure of a once-dominant franchise through a game that is long overdue, 10 years to be exact. The initially titled Final Fantasy Versus XIII was shelved to make way for two more sequels of the highly divisive Final Fantasy XIII.

• READ: Review of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

Fortunately, Square Enix succeeded in steering the Final Fantasy franchise into a promising direction. Despite its flaws, Final Fantasy XV is worth the 10-year wait, with the game introducing innovations while retaining elements that endeared fans.

MESSY BUT BEAUTIFUL

Final Fantasy XV centers on Noctis, a reluctant prince who leaves his kingdom to marry his childhood friend, the oracle Lunafreya, as part of a peace treaty.

Noctis is joined by his advisor Ignis, his bodyguard Gladio, and his friend Prompto in his journey. The black-clad boys always manage to look picture-perfect, even after battles and camping in the wilderness. The fine-looking ride Regalia only added to the game’s “boy band on a road trip” vibe, which initially turned off some fans.

In true Final Fantasy fashion, however, what started out as a road trip among bros eventually leads to something grander. If you’ve watched the prequel film “Kingsglaive,” you already know how the peace treaty turns out. If you haven’t, let’s just say Noctis embarks on a quest to reclaim his birthright and, as with other lead RPG characters, save the world.

Final Fantasy XV is a mix of the mundane and the magnificent, with its characters doing anything from battling larger-than-life creatures to pulling over to take selfies.

All these were effective in establishing a connection with Noctis and his crew as you get to see them grow, not just in stats, but also as emotionally vulnerable characters, their friendship held together by mutual trust and respect. And just when you start caring about them, Final Fantasy XV hits you right in the feels in its last chapters – true to what the game’s director, Hajime Tabata, mentioned in an interview last March.

Plot-wise, Final Fantasy XV is messy at times, but nevertheless beautiful. It reminded me a lot of Final Fantasy VII – a personal favorite, by the way – with its emotionally charged narrative that is both memorable and compelling.

FLEXIBLE GAMEPLAY

Final Fantasy XV provides two difficulty levels (Normal and Easy) and two battle styles (Active Mode and Wait Mode), staying true to its promise of pleasing both long-time fans and new players. Both can be changed anytime during the game.

The Active Mode does away with the random, turn-based battles that served as the centerpiece of most Final Fantasy games, edging closer to a seamless, real-time hack and slash set-up where players can do rapid-fire combos using different weapons, jump, dodge and parry attacks, and warp around the battlefield.

It is refreshingly fast-paced, taking elements from Final Fantasy Type-0 – which was also directed by Tabata – and Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix’s other popular RPG franchise. The director of the latter, Tetsuya Nomura, initially helmed the production of Final Fantasy XV.

Traces of Final Fantasy XIII can also be seen here in the sense that you only get to control one character, the rest being AI-driven. If Noctis dies, the game ends.

Wait Mode, on the other hand, is for players who want to plan their action at their own pace. This is also particularly handy when scanning an enemy’s health, strengths and weaknesses.

Even leveling up is considerate of varying preferences. Noctis and his party gain experience points after every battle, but these are only tallied when they decide to rest at camp, trailer houses or hotels.

New skills and stat boosts can be unlocked anytime using AP or Ability Points, which are gained by performing certain tasks in and out of battle and making good dialogue choices. The abilities are laid out on an Ascension Grid, similar to Final Fantasy X’s Sphere Grid and Final Fantasy XIII’s Crystarium.

Magic spells are consumable projectiles that can be crafted using a base of Fire, Ice or Lightning energy, each available at deposits around havens and inside dungeons. Unlike in previous Final Fantasy games, MP or Magic Points are not for spells, but for Noctis’ blade-warps.

Even crafting spells allows for flexibility – various items can be added to the mix to provide extra effects such as healing and multiple casting.

Players, however, have little control over summons, which are among the most popular and long-running features of the Final Fantasy franchise. Called Astrals, the colossal creatures can easily wipe out large groups of regular enemies, but they only appear under specific battle conditions.

OPEN-WORLD, THEN LINEAR

Final Fantasy XV takes place in Eos, a world of varied landscapes and cities, most of them too beautiful for words.

The game starts off with an open-world environment, with players able to freely explore by foot, via the recurring large avian creatures called Chocobos, or using the royal car Regalia. Side quests, which range from killing certain monsters to fishing, cooking and playing an arcade game, can be done as early as the first few chapters.

Towards the end, however, Final Fantasy XV becomes more story-driven and linear. This is exactly the opposite of Final Fantasy XIII, which only provided an open world to players after around 30 hours of gameplay. It’s hard to say which one worked better, as each served a different purpose.

OVERALL

Final Fantasy XV is far from perfect, with its occasional glitches and sudden story pivots. But what game is?

The pros vastly outweigh the cons in this emotionally engaging and action-packed masterpiece, which has effectively opened the world of Final Fantasy to newbies without being inconsiderate to fans.

Should you play this game? Yes, as it offers an experience worth waiting a decade for.