PixlBit

I read that THIS game has actually been in development for like 3 years, which is why there is only an  "outline" of a story, and that makes sense to me. I mainly enjoy the hunts because they feel like Monster Hunter, which is a series I really love. I ended up doing like 60 hours before progressing the story at all, and I did enjoy my time with it. Haven't finished it yet. I also read that SE is planning a major patch with added story content to fill in gaps or whatever. Unprecedented for a games company.

If you have a fast internet connection, I recommend downloading demos from PSN store. Gravity Rush 2, Nier Automata, and Resident Evil 7 are quite good for demos. I might buy a Nintendo Switch next year instead of upgrading PS4 or XBOX One.

I heard this back-to-back with Castlevania 4 cast. Wish you guys did more! 

This was a fantastic podcast you guys! I listened to this and previous Castlevania cast over holiday and it was really fun to listen to it. Very interesting hearing opinions from new players to retro game.

Combat is a mess, it's not just the camera, but it does exasperate the problem. I was a bit confused as to why the devs chose to start off the journey with the least populated and empty area, a desert. But actually, the open area is best for this combat system and especially when you are just fighting a few enemies at a time, espcially one large enemy at a time. The early hunts in the desert are fun, but as the game extends to a forest and jungle area, with slopey hills, boulders, and foliage, add in to that herds of creatures, and fun disappears. Magic is the main means of elimaniting large groups of enemies at once to focus on the stronger boss, but having to refill magic flasks is ridiculous considering how essential it is to combat. Closed quarters simply does not work with this combat system. FF13 trilogy looks far more elegent in comparison to 15. Nonetheless, I enjoyed XV for all the reasons you mentioned, and hated it for all the reasons you mentioned. I enjoyed it despite my issues, so don't think I'm dissing the game. In the end, I enjoyed all my time, but jeezus. Unlocking Ascension nodes helps a bit later game, but still. 

Maybe having just 3 character party with smarter AI, fewer enemies at at a time, and more open combat arenas would have helped. Magic should be more accessible, maybe less powerful, but not a chore to replenish.  

I agree. I think the way Ubisoft does their open worlds is annoying.

There are parts of FF15 open world which are empty, but the unpredictability of what monster you might find by exploring freely, seeing the new interpretations of classic FF creatures makes it worth poking around. There are also hidden dungeons that you find on your own without sidequests or NPC guides, you just stumble into them, and sometimes there are really tough bosses, or important treasure. Either way, worth exploring. FF15 does open world right. It feels like older games like Zelda or Metroid or FF games that just let you wander around.  

I also love taking screenshots of the creatures like Pokemon Snap. I also did this in Xenoblade.

No Elite for me. The only open world space game I enjoyed were Rebel Galaxy, and Star Trek Online, but they both had missions and Star Trek had nostalgia and familiarity to TV shows. 

I think, in the video, Jim brings up that the president or whoever is running Ubisoft mandated open world design for all their games, which is why Division is open world shooter when it didn't need to be, or at least didn't benefit from running around massive environments shooting the same enemies all the time. I only really liked AC that took place in Rome, and the rest were bleh. I liked the story in Liberation. Ubisoft is doing the same open world thing with Ghost Recon for some reason?

I liked the openness about Type-0, 12 and Lighting Returns actually. The remakes for DS 3&4 were also more open world too if I recall. Actually the original FF games 1-6, even 7&8 let you roam around a bit more. 

I think my problem is that I haven't been exposed to an actual good open world game that clicked with me. I've really only enjoyed Xenoblade and FF15, but not so interested in Assassins Creed or GTA, although I hear GTA has good sidequests which does interest me. 

No Man's Sky is exactly the type of game that I would hate. Procedurally generated content is the worst. Bloodborne added horribly boring procedural dungeons that just recycled enemies. 

That game with added storyline you mentioned reminds me of souls games. A lot of the story and lore are put together by item descriptions and NPCs, as well as an active online community that shares theories like a giant jigsaw.

I agree. However, skipping the open world in FF15 at the beginning, which you can actually do in favor of following the story content would be missing the best part and whole point--the road trip. I think that some games have great open worlds to explore and poke around in, like FF15 or FF12, but then FF10 linearity is still great. Open world is good when it is good.