Hands-on With Final Fantasy XV's Real-Time Combat

But one thing fans have been dying to know is how the gameplay actually works. How does it feel to pull off those impressive acrobatics and swing those giant magical swords?

At PAX East 2015, we were able to go hands-on with Episode Duscae, the first-ever playable demo of Final Fantasy XV. After spending close to two hours with it, we came away impressed, and can definitively say that this is an FF like no other.

First off, the combat happens entirely in real-time. That's a huge shift for the series, which has always employed turn-based battles.

You freely move your main character, Noctis, on the battlefield while your allies are controlled by the AI. You can hold a button to enter “defense mode,” which lets Noctis dodge any and all incoming attacks at the cost of MP, but prohibits him from attacking. Sometimes, while defending, a button prompt will appear that allows you to parry an oncoming attack, then follow it up with a devastating counterattack.

Holding a different button prompts Noctis to unleash a series of basic attacks at your target (or just swipe in whatever direction he’s facing, if none is selected). He’ll continue swinging as long as you hold the button down, or until he’s interrupted by an enemy attack.

The trick is to watch your enemies’ movements, then figure out when to attack and when to guard—you can’t do both at the same time. Nearly every attack has a windup, a delivery, and a recovery period, as in traditional fighting games. Between every swing, Noctis is completely vulnerable for a few milliseconds; that means reckless offensive moves are ill-advised.

Of course, battle isn’t as simple as attacking and defending. Noctis has a series of unique attacks he can unleash at the cost of MP, which introduces another layer of strategy. The more MP you spend on these attacks, the less you’ll have for dodging the enemy. That said, you can take cover behind rocks, walls, or other barriers to recover MP faster.

Lastly, Noctis has a “warp” ability, which allows him to teleport by throwing his sword. This ability also costs MP, but it allows him to quickly escape an encounter, close the gap to a fast-moving enemy, or (most importantly) warp to locations out of harm’s way to recover MP (while enemies far below circle around, confused).

On the whole, Final Fantasy XV seems to borrow the best mechanics from several different genres to form a unique package. The combat reminds us of Kingdom Hearts, the open world and seamless battle transitions recall Xenoblade Chronicles, and the experience system is reminiscent of Dark Souls. The EXP you get from killing enemies doesn’t actually do anything for you until you rest at a save point, where it will be “processed” and your characters level up.

Despite the sprawling demo area, we were told that Episode Duscae is just a miniscule part of the Final Fantasy XV world. Unfortunately, Square Enix didn't provide us with a release date for the game, nor did they tell us how much of its gameplay mechanics have been finalized. In fact, we don’t even know how close the Episode Duscae experience is to the full game.

Still, if we eventually get more of what we saw from the demo, then this is shaping up to be one of the greatest Final Fantasy titles ever.

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Johnny Yu

Former Reviewed Staff Writer

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Johnny Yu is a former news and review writer for Reviewed.

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