The Hype is REAL! | Kingsglaive Final Fantasy XV Review

So if you're a gamer, you might have heard about an upcoming video game called "Final Fantasy XV". If you haven't, then you must be living under a rock because it's FUCKING FINAL FANTASY. Sorry, got a little too excited there.

Anyway, with the game's release now being delayed until November, you have plenty of time to learn about FFXV's story and characters. And thus Square Enix brought us "Kingsglaive"; a CGI movie that serves as the introduction to the game. If somehow you're not into Final Fantasy at all, then this movie, excluding its visuals, is most likely not going to grab your attention. However, if you like pretty CGI visuals, then by all means, it's your call. Now if you're anticipating FFXV's release, then this movie is some hot shit for you, and it will more than likely get you hyped for Noctis Lucis Caelum's journey.

Before I talk about the movie, it's a good idea to also explore the other bonuses that SE is offering for FFXV. There are already five free episodes of the "Final Fantasy XV: Brotherhood" anime series available for you to watch. The anime basically shows us how Noctis and his friends became close, and it also delves into Noctis' past. Aside from the anime, there are two demos. The Episode Duscae demo is only available if you purchased "Final Fantasy Type-0", though if you can't get your hands on it, there are also several let's plays of the demo on YouTube. And there is also the Platinum Demo, in which you play as young Noctis and try to find your way out of a dream world with Carbuncle as your cute little companion.

BEWARE, THE CONTENT BELOW CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS!

And now, let's delve into Kingsglaive!

Shirtless Nyx for all your fanservice needs <3

The events of Kingsglaive happen while Noctis begins to set off for Altissia to marry Lunafreya Nox Flueret. Whereas the start of his journey with his loyal friends is fun and bright, shit goes down in Insomnia, the capital of Lucis. Thanks to magitek, Niflheim is slowly taking over the world and eventually starts invading lands in Lucis. In attempt to fight back the evil empire, King Regis assembles a group of soldiers from these lands and lends them his magic for battle. This group is obviously called the Kingsglaive, and the star hero of the glaive is Nyx Ulric. He's pretty much your typical badass and is the one who's constantly saving his friends and comrades. And I must say, DAMN HE'S HOT. Bless this movie for such great CGI (though there's this one scene where the CGI makes his buns look like bowling balls lol).

Within the first twelve minutes, it's clear that despite the glaive's best efforts, Niflheim is the dominant force in this war. However, they retreat and approach King Regis, offering terms of peace. Their terms are that they acquire all the Lucian lands outside Insomnia, and Lucis can keep its prized capital that's protected by the crystal and the king's power. The peace treaty also requires Noctis to marry Lunafreya. Though these terms aren't so great for Lucis, it'll end the harsh and long war. And Regis' magic is steadily getting weaker; he can't keep defending Insomnia much longer. Lucis has no choice, so they accept the terms.

As Niflheim's Chancellor and a classy NoctisxLuna shipper, Ardyn presents the peace terms to King Regis' court.

Flared nostrils and gun in hand, Niflheim's Emperor is ready to start fucking shit up.

Ravus, just stfu and help your sister for once.

But with Niflheim being the evil empire, they sabotage the treaty by taking Lunafreya hostage and revolting against Lucis in order to acquire the power of the crystal and the king's ring, which allows the user to summon the great power of "The Old Wall" if the ring deems the user worthy. Amongst the erupting chaos, Nyx is tasked with protecting Luna and getting her to Altissia to meet Noctis. Before they try to leave Insomnia, they bump into King Regis, but Luna's brother, Ravus, is also after the ring and is pretty much a lapdog for Niflheim. He wants the ring because he wants to eliminate King Regis for failing to save his mother and his home kingdom of Tenebrae from Niflheim's clutches. However, the ring rejects Ravus and starts to burn his arm, so Luna snatches it and makes it her mission to give the ring to Noctis since only Lucian royals can wear the ring.

And if this war wasn't enough for y'all, there's also this impending doom on the world called "the plague of the stars". In other words, it's complete darkness and hell on Earth if it comes to pass. I'm not going to elaborate too much on this since this is a conflict to be resolved in the game with Noctis, but all you need to know is that he is pretty much the only person who can stop this and save the world, but he needs the ring in order to do that.

Anyway, back to the movie. Knowing that certain doom is eminent, King Regis squares off with the benevolent General Glauca, the main antagonist in the movie who also murdered Luna's mother, in order to give Nyx and Luna a chance to escape. Also shoutout to that moment when he threw that cane away LIKE A BOSS and didn't even flinch when he stared Glauca down. But tragically, King Regis dies in combat.

"All those years captive because I failed you; not again. Locked doors will seal your fate no longer."
-King Regis' final words to Luna

I spy with my little eye a room full of traitors.

Even without the king's magic, Nyx still does his best to see Luna safely out of Insomnia, but Glauca and traitors within the glaive are constantly pursuing them for the ring. One of the twists in this movie is that the commander of the glaive, Titus Drautos, is General Glauca, and like many others in the glaive, he hates King Regis for the destruction of his home. The last act of the movie is a giant showdown between Nyx and Drautos. Without any magic, Nyx sacrifices himself by wearing the Lucian ring and calling forth the power of the Old Kings. And the damage around them during this battle is collateral. Daemons and the Old Kings are destroying skyscrapers as they're going at it, Libertus and Luna have to pull some GTA moves in order to survive, and the duel between Nyx and Drautos is long and difficult, and all this still manages to look beautiful. SE really knows their CGI.

"Fear of death is illogical" -Nyx
"Fear of death is what keeps us alive"-Drautos

As dawn finally approaches, Nyx finally manages to defeat Drautos, but as a result of wearing the ring, Nyx's body turns into specs of ash that float in the air and blend into the fallen city of Insomnia. Libertus and Luna survive, but they part ways since the Imperial Army is on the hunt for her, so she must make the trip to Altissia alone. But at least she still has the ring, which she will inevitably deliver to Noctis in the game.

"Rule well, young king..."
-Nyx's last words

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the fall of Insomnia in one giant intro cutscene for this game. Credits roll, and then we get this little cutscene of Noctis & co. having fun in the Regalia as they drive to Altissia. They talk about how it's been twelve years since Noctis and Luna have seen each other, and they also tease Noctis a bit before the Regalia breaks down, which leads us right into the opening cutscene in the game where the boys have to haul ass and push the car to the nearest station while "Stand by Me" plays in the background.

This looks like it could've been taken straight out of a horror game.

In terms of character development in this movie, it's not totally spectacular since we only have two hours with these new FFXV characters (not even because most of them die early on). I'm a little disappointed they didn't show off Crowe and her abilities more. To quote Libertus, "she deserved better". Although I did actually gasp when I saw her corpse; I wasn't expecting to see it at all, let alone be prepared for the ghastly sight. It was cool nonetheless. Still, her death was meant to help develop Libertus' character, since that caused him to leave the glaive and participate in the uprising until eventually siding with Nyx once again.

Nyx was okay to me. I enjoyed him the most whenever he was with Luna; those two had a natural chemistry, each bringing out the other's vulnerabilities, and for that reason I'm a little sad that Nyx died.

Awww they're holding hands <3

As for Luna, clearly Hajime Tabata wasn't kidding when he said that Luna was a strong, modern woman. On multiple occasions, Luna risks her life to fulfill her duty: she jumps onto another airship miles above the ground, she jumps off the airship to land on a balcony with no way of knowing she'll stick the landing, she busts out some GTA moves for a while, she blows up an airship, and she willingly tries to put on the king's ring knowing full well that she'd die.

Don't be fooled; Lunafreya is more than just a pretty face.

Aside from her moments with Nyx, Luna shines when she's around her brother and King Regis. There's obviously tension with Ravus since he harbors a massive grudge for King Regis, whereas Luna realizes that Niflheim was responsible for their misfortune. You can easily tell how pained she is because the only family she has left isn't even on her side; he doesn't even try to see things through her perspective because hate has clouded his reasoning for the past twelve years. Yet despite Luna loving her bother and feeling sympathy for him, she doesn't excuse his actions just because they're family. That to me makes her a strong character. Jumping off airships is cool and all, but strong characters are ones that overcome emotional and mental obstacles, not just physical tribulations. With that said, I'm hoping to see some sort of resolution between Luna and Ravus in the game.

Will they ever go back to being normal siblings again?

As for her moments with King Regis, I thought those were some of the most powerful scenes. Things come full circle when Regis dies, this time successfully saving Luna unlike that time twelve years ago when he was in Tenebrae. It's tragic, but there is poetic justice in this story. And Regis' statement about "locked doors" reveals that Luna's journey has only just begun, which is quite impressive when you think about all the things she's accomplished in Kingsglaive. So there's still so much left of her that we have yet to see in the game.

Moving on, it goes without saying that the music was marvelous. Let's be real, can Yoko Shimomura really do anything wrong? Her work is stunning. Period.

So to wrap this all up, before this movie I was already excited to play FFXV, now I can hardly wait for Thanksgiving break so I can spend my time losing myself in this game. I really want to see how Noctis responds to the tragedy of Kingsglaive and how he'll grow, not only as a king, but as a man.

"Thanks for everything, Dad. I'll take it from here."
-Noctis (FFXV)

Again, this movie isn't meant for a general audience. However, the movie is the perfect begining if you're planning on playing FFXV. I'M HYPED!

"Don't know about you, but I'm ready as I'll ever be."
-Noctis (FFXV)

Thank you so much for sticking around if you made it this far into the review! May the Nerd be with you!