FFXV's Royal Pack: Facing The Dangers Of "Games As A Service"

Released to coincide with the release of Final Fantasy XV’s PC edition in March of 2018, the Royal Pack downloadable content is the apotheosis of XV’s bizarre, and often disjointed, approach to post-launch content for a single-player game. The fifteenth mainline entry of Square-Enix’s storied Final Fantasy franchise was a divisively modern and unconventional JRPG. Despite launching with the intent to appeal to both new players and long-time fans, XV proved so unpopular with those fans who had numerous preconceptions of what a Final Fantasy game should be that each piece of downloadable content has sought to resolve the criticisms held by the core fan-base. This featured everything from extended narrative sequences to a plethora of combat extensions and, as the content plan has progressed, the changes have become more and more profound. The Royal Pack, and particularly the changes to XV’s Chapter 14, is the culmination of this.

The expansion to XV’s final dungeon does not only add optional content (though it has this in spades, featuring vehicular exploration, side-quests and a new super-boss), but makes fundamental changes to the tone, pacing and even story of XV. These changes expose the poorly conceived post-launch content plan, as each instance works individually but, when combined, fail nonetheless. The new “Rulers of Yore” boss fights are some of the games best, featuring some fantastic music and well conceived quick-time events, and it’s hard to shrug off the other gameplay enhancements (the scale of the City of Insomnia is particularly pleasing). The additional character crescendos work similarly, as each party member gets a “Ruler of Yore” boss to defeat of their own, and these prove necessary to cap off their inclusion in the game as main, playable characters. But, the game wasn’t designed with these instances in mind and it shows. Retroactively adding content to the chapter affects its tone and continuity, as characters transition from sombre to melodramatic seamlessly. The Royal Pack content sticks out blindingly and appears to have been implemented with very little care. Adding a new boss fight between the party’s entry of the citadel and exploration further in leads to the party’s odd exclamation that the room is lit up, long after first entering.

The original XV has, what I feel is, one of modern gaming’s finest endings. It’s sombre, regretful and often feels like a counter to the conventional JRPG ending, which requires incomparable action feats and melodramatic character exclamations. That one of XV’s most powerful scenes is a man struggling to express his emotions to his friends around a campfire highlights the uniqueness of vanilla XV. The Royal Pack content runs antithesis to this, with party members who no longer look, talk and act like the genuine people we had previously enjoyed in the rest of the game. Even when the game provided a fantasy setting, just with cars, the party fulfilled the promise of a “fantasy based on reality”. These melodramatic reimagining’s of the characters which we see in the new Chapter 14 are not only at odds with the rest of the chapter, but with their appearance in the game itself.

It’s not only the characters who are more melodramatic and conventionally ‘JRPG’ either, the relentless boss fights and cinematic moments dilute the special moments that were already there. An addition of Lunafreya and the host of Summons (in-game deities) removes the thrill of seeing both Lunafreya again and the debut of Bahamut, most powerful of the Summons, as he had already showed up in this additional sequence. It shows in actual gameplay, also. With the transformation of a generic encounter into the cinematic Cerberus boss, the already present Ifrit boss, three new “Rulers of Yore” encounters (The Fierce, The Rogue and The Mystic) and Ardyn’s final boss, the Chapter 14 pacing is completely transformed. No longer is there a sombre, regretful walk to your final encounter, its place is taken by bombastic action; there’s no anticipation in the Royal Pack Chapter 14, only the next set piece.

It becomes clear that the Chapter 14 expansion became more about the transmedia Final Fantasy XV Universe than the game itself, working primarily to embed Kingsglaive (the CG prequel film) and Comrades (the multiplayer expansion) into the universe some more. Monsters and themes of Kingsglaive are suitably realised in the expanded dungeon, whilst you can also encounter the player’s custom character and others from Comrades. The failure of Comrades was in its fundamentally misunderstanding of the appeal of XV, creating a dark, bitter world, with no exploration or character, for its multiplayer mode and it is this misunderstanding of their own product that has caused such a tumultuous post-launch content plan to take hold.

So, why, months after release, is it critical to imperil XV’s Royal Pack? Simply, the post-launch meddling sets a concerning precedent for live-service single player games. The original Chapter 14, as it stands, may never gain the benefit of hindsight or any future reconsideration. To question the archivist, which goes in the vault: the Day One Edition, the Royal Edition or both? Those who have paid for the Royal Pack content have a perfectly functional game transformed into something new, whether you feel it as a lesser experience or not. Here, the consumer is paying to have a product renovated according to populist whims, with currently no option to experience the vanilla version (particularly on PC). This brings into question the entire notion of video games as a storytelling medium; are they to tell the stories developers want to tell or stories that fans want to experience?

Final Fantasy XV is arguably the biggest “live-service” single player game we’ve so far seen, which is why the post-launch content has often felt so strange. It’s really the first of its kind. The story is now developed according to the whims of service payers, leading new additions to be implemented in an incongruous and unfocused way. This is important to note in the context of live service multiplayer games damaging interest in single player games (or, at least, the belief of developers that this is the case). Already we have seen a transition towards open, sandbox single player game design, foregoing linearity in exchange for potential Twitch popularity. XV is the next step in this development. It may have been a hybrid live/conventional dlc model (XV had no lootboxes or microtransactions, operating its service on sales of a Season Pass), but the Royal Pack content exposes the future of single player games that attempt to emulate it. For future development of “live” single player games, the lessons on this subject are all to be found in the fraught (and on-going) history of Final Fantasy XV.

On Final Fantasy XV's Royal Edition

'Final Fantasy XV: Royal Edition' was announced today as the 'Game of the Year' style collection of the main game, all previously released downloadable content and a wealth of additional extras. In addition to the already impressive amount of post-launch content and updates, there are exclusive features such as quests, an expanded map locale and new mechanics that are included in this new edition or with a 'Pack' that can upgrade your base game into the new edition. Quests to improve the implementation of the Regalia Type-D, an off-road vehicle introduced somewhat clumsily in a previous update, are really welcome and, whilst it being tied to an accessory is somewhat disappointing, the new 'Armiger Unleashed' update looks fantastic. There is also a first-person mode, coming across to the console editions from the forthcoming Windows Edition. There will also be some new lore details and trophies included, however, the main appealing content here is the Royal Vessel and Expanded Insomnia Ruins map.

Below is the trailer for the 'Royal Edition':

https://youtu.be/lPHypsuXNKs


The Royal Vessel is a much more low-key exciting feature than the other things included, particularly in the face of a much more realised city of Insomnia, but has an incredible amount of potential. More so than the expanded Insomnia, this new feature will add to the core appeal of the game. The road trip with your bros feeling that permeates the majority of the game's content is fully focused on here. Including new fishes, new dishes and expanded exploration out on the world's sea. I may be being somewhat optimistic here, but this could be a gateway to a Niflheim expansion later down the line. This is unlikely, as I expect Niflheim to remain a mostly linear experience even after the post-launch work is complete, but I think this is the kind of world most fans are invested in. The game's world map is huge, but it isn't all encompassing, rather it often feels like you're exploring a much smaller area than you actually are because of how little scope there is. It's an interesting duality between that scope and the value of detail, FFXV, at launch, focused on the detail, leaving some fan's disappointed that the exploration of a fully-fledged game world never manifested. The Royal Vessel, using a boat to explore the waters between Caem and Altissia, is also exciting to me because it was something I had asked a question about in a survey about FFXV way back in early-2017. My idea for it, however, was nowhere near as ambitious as what this iteration appears to be; I merely wanted to be able to take the boat on its guided track at will.

Expanded Insomnia Ruins is clearly the most exciting content here though. It is the content that is spurring up the most discussion and seems to be where a lot of effort has been invested in by the developers. Chapter 14 was already my favourite chapter in the game, having no personal qualms with the amount of time you spend in the 'World of Ruin', but now it's set to become even more dense. I must confess to some nerves with the developers going back and messing with one of my favourite parts of the game, frankly the entire chapter is one of my favourite game finale's of all time and I have some concerns with regards to the pacing and how this expansion will affect the game from after you go through the citadel gates, but this is overall exciting. More story content, featuring an older Cor, the nefarious Ardyn and what appears to be an apparition of Lunafreya is inherently exciting. Whilst I never felt Ch.14 needed more, the chance to explore Insomnia at large is just tantalising. The small glimpse of it we had in the main game actually had a fair bit of depth to it, featuring a lot of easter eggs and unique party dialogues that really rewarded exploration. The level of detail is something that, no doubt, will be given up in exchange for a much larger area to explore. Losing a comprehensively detailed moment in the story in exchange for a less detailed, but more expansive version of that same moment feels like a fair, if unfortunate change. I have no doubt that the portion of Insomnia explored will remain, my fear is more that, in relation to the other areas, what was once comprehensive will be unable to make up for a wider sense of lacking. Despite this concern, just the idea of an increase of content in XV's coolest, most definitive location is driving me wild.

The new boss fights featured look incredible. Both visually amazing and lore-friendly, Cerberus, Omega and the Rulers of Yore promise to really give players, (like me) who have long since seen everything the game has to offer, a reason to return in force. For new players, I can only envy the journey they are about to go on. Whilst I wouldn't give up the year I've spent in the FFXV community, experiencing all the highs and lows that came with it, new players, particularly on PC, will be able to experience one of my most beloved games in a glorious new state. The Rulers of Yore section shown though is where my concerns for pacing have manifested, yet there's a lot to unpack in the very short clip we saw. Straight away, we see the added boss fights taking place inside the Citadel. This is an area only accessible after the Ifrit fight, providing a slow, sombre walk-up to the final encounter with Ardyn. It is a marvellously well done segment and not something I'd like to see thrown away for the sake of these boss fights. Whilst it initially seems like I just need to deal with the fact that this is how the game is now, there is a small detail that gives me some semblance of hope.

Noctis' cape.

While this may seem the nitpickiest of nitpicks, in the Ifrit boss battle Noctis' cape very noticeably catches fire. The majority of the cape is no longer there when the party ascends through the citadel, posing the question: how come it is there in full in the Rulers of Yore fight? This could imply a few things. My reading is that this is an optional sidequest, either taking place in a similar looking area or the same area through some reality-bending magic (we see the world start to break down in the background. However, we do still see the main quest "The Cure For Insomnia" in the upper-right corner. So this is clearly very confusing, it's certainly unclear just how this fight will manifest in the game itself. It's possible that, of what we see in the trailer, more is part of Comrades than we'd like to think. As Noctis, Gladiolus, Prompto and Ignis have all been confirmed to become playable in the multiplayer expansion, it's possible that Insomnia could be opened up as part of that expansion and not the main game. Certainly the character-creator-styled Kingsglaive we see in the trailer hint to this. That is a key question in the run-up to the release, as the debate over pricing will certainly transform if we learn that much of the content will manifest in Comrades, and not the main game. I do think it's unlikely, as the story content we've previewed seems much more in line with FFXV (the UI particularly looks exactly like the main game) rather than Comrades, but, the problem lingers; returning players just don't really know what they're paying for.

This is currently one of, if not the, biggest discussion points surrounding this edition. The 'Royal Pack', that will allow owners of the game to upgrade to the 'Royal Edition', is supposedly around £20. Now, Square Enix have since come out and said that the pricing of the pack is still in flux, but for the short amount of time before that there was some really intense debate around forums and social media on whether the pack had been priced fairly. There was a sense that comitted fans are being made worse off for purchasing and playing the launch version because the game at launch, season pass dlc and 'Royal Pack' would add up to around £100, compared to the 'Royal Edition's about £60. It was clear that there would have been a 'complete' edition, compiling the main game and dlc, somewhere along the line from the season pass announcement, but, because this edition doesn't seem to mark the final piece of post-launch dlc (Director Hajime Tabata having mentioned a desire to produce Ardyn and Luna themed content pieces) and features exclusive content beyond the season pass, fan nerves are being tested.

From what we can see in the trailer, it's hard to tell whether the 'Royal Pack' is priced fairly at the £20 mark or not. The collective response has been that it is too much, but I do think there are ways it could justify that price, even if these ways seem to be particularly unlikely. For one, the bosses we've seen already exceed the standard for the episode dlc format, indicating that the map expansion could be an expansion comparable to Comrades. With sufficient story backing and the openness of the ocean, this could justify that price tag. It could also be that the pack will serve as the second season pass, allowing purchasers of the pack access to newly released episode dlc. Yet, if more dlc is produced and charged for, will this not undermine the very nature of this riff on a 'complete' edition?

There are many questions as we move forwards to release, but much of this discussion is undermined by what seems to be a Square Enix backpedal on the pricing. When we know the final price, we'll be able to resume discussions on value and whether the content is worth the price. I'm uncharacteristically optimistic that the final price will reflect the content included, based on how the previous season pass dlc pricing was very fair. Overall, I think this new content looks incredible and I'm very excited about it. Critical as I am about the seemingly high price tag, when I first saw the announcement trailer my eyes lit up and I was ready to pay full price to get to explore more of Insomnia, to get more story content and ride in a boat with my bros. Final Fantasy XV remains one of my favourite games of this generation and the post-launch support has me falling in love with it over and over again.


'Final Fantasy XV: Royal Edition' launches 6th March, 2018.