Final Fantasy XV Complete:

I finally finished FF 15.  What can I say?  They sacrificed everything for the sake of good graphics, and as a result all they ever had was good graphics.  The gameplay was awful -- you can either choose to attack or defend, and that's basically the entire depth to the combat.  The plot was confusing and nonsensical.  People would just suddenly be sick or dying with no explanation for why, or when this started, or how.  The empire turned out to be composed of like two people, rather than a mighty nation, so it makes no sense how they even administered their territories.

The plot just did whatever it wanted, without any real interest in establishing the continuity between anything.  The characters had sudden reveals, but none of them mattered, so it was bizarre that they were even mentioned at all.

I have no idea why the whole world went dark, or why the crystal was the cure.

It was impossible to lose a fight in this game because you can take endless restorative potions at essentially no price.  However, it was easy to lose during their endless puzzle sequences, making life ridiculously frustrating, because during said puzzle sequences none of the leveling or equipment you gathered matters in the least.

The game transitions from WoW for the first nine chapters to 'interactive movie' for the remaining 6.  The shift is so sudden and bizarre it feels like two separate games were grafted onto each other.

I can't even decide if this game was better or worse than FF 13.  It's better than 12, since I was actually able to complete it, but that's all I can say for it.  It took them ten years to make this?  And what does this portend for the quality of gameplay for the FF 7 Remake?

At least for the FF 7 Remake, it will be impossible for them to ruin the plot.  So the next Final Fantasy game will have good graphics, good music, good characters and a good plot.  The only thing they can ruin is the gameplay.  And if you just imagine the gameplay as this annoying price you have to pay in order to watch the FF 7 movie, then even the bad gameplay will be excusable.  But FF 15 had bad gameplay with zero payoff.  None of the characters were interesting, the plot made no sense, and the music was only passable.

I decided to give FF XV a chance based on its superb graphics, and at least they didn't fail me there.  I will give FF 7 Remake a chance because it's FF 7.  But I don't see giving FF 16 a chance.  The last good Final Fantasy was 10-2.  After that I've been suckered into buying game after game based on the brand alone, and I'm tired of playing the sucker.  The Final Fantasy of today is in no way comparable to even the original Final Fantasy.  Even Final Fantasy 2 was better than this.  Ever since 12 came out, it's just been continuously awful.  I played 12, 13, 13-2 and 15, always assuming that they would eventually get back to making stellar games, but it just never happened.  Final Fantasy is dead.  The name lives on, but none of the magic does.