So, a couple of days ago, I completed Final Fantasy 15. The only reason I was playing it really was that I have a load of great games in my backlog and I decided it would be a good one to start with. Going into the game, I had heard about how much of a let-down it was and how it was never able to live up to the expectations people put on it after its ten-year development cycle. Thus, many can imagine my surprise when I finished it and felt as if something in me had changed the way it only ever does with a handful of games.
There was just something about the central theme of the game, which is brotherhood (although, personally, I like the word fellowship or friendship more because it doesn’t have certain requirements imposed on it) that just stuck with me and made me somewhat introspective. All of a sudden, I began thinking about the same experiences of friendship I had in my own life and the idea of youth and limited responsibility.
It was like a highlight reel of all the misadventures I had been on with all my friends in the last seven or so years, and how amazing my life has been just for being able to share so many different experiences with some really great people. (If any of you are reading this, thank you for everything. I really do appreciate it.)
Source: Square Enix
Not All Games Make You Introspective…
Now, it’s not just any game that is able to make me introspective. I completed about 50 plus last year and I can’t really think of one that made me feel somewhat introspective after the fact other than maybe Detroit Become Human. And, this is despite having played games like God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2, among very many others that have been suggested to have absolutely marvellous stories.
In saying this, I’m not suggesting that Final Fantasy 15 is a great game, or better than those mentioned above, or even one of my personal favourites. I mean I really enjoyed it, but the game definitely has a few flaws. Firstly, the extra reading required to understand the game’s story is all too real. I felt as if I had to watch the movie and series to get a better understanding of the overall narrative, which is kind of odd for any sort of game.
Secondly, I personally feel that the game’s difficulty is a bit unbalanced. I played through on normal and never really struggled all too much until I got to the last run heading towards the final boss fight. Then, the experience really became a thing about going back to buy potions before every damn battle except for the one that involves Ardyn, who is supposed to be the game’s final boss.
The face you make when you find out you’re going to have to travel back in time to get potions.
…But You Never Know Which Will
However, all this said, I did not expect it to be a game that made me think about my own life in any way as I never play games with that in mind. I mean, all things considered, video games tend to be very inconsistent in the quality of their narrative writing. The fact that players even have to go out and consume extra information about the Final Fantasy 15’s story outside of the actual game kind of shows that the overall narrative suffers from some questionable writing decisions. But, even so, it was still able to elicit a response from me.
I’m not saying that if you play Final Fantasy 15, you’ll have the same experience I had. However, it’s just amazing when anything – be it a game, book, film, TV series, song or drawing, whatever – does that to you. It just makes the experience you had so much more fulfilling in ways that some others will never be able to understand. You will always relate that thing to those positive feelings you experienced it with, and at the very least, at times this enough to make you happy when thinking of it. And, the fact that video games are able to do this is one of the reasons I love them.
Have there ever been any games you have finished that had you somewhat introspective afterwards? Please share in the comments down below.
