Final Fantasy XV Character, Story Details Announced

Final Fantasy XV, formally announced at E3, just became a bit less mysterious today. Square Enix has released information on the game's cast as well as a plot synopsis.

"The only crystal left to the world lies in the Kingdom of Lucis Upon striking a peace with the garrison state of Niflheim, Lucis rejoices in having at last brought the cold war to a close," reads the synopsis (via IGN). "Their celebrations, however, are premature. Under the guise of amity, Niflheim dispels the anti-armament runewall and launches a full-scale invasion of the kingdom. The peaceful lives Crown Prince Noctis and his entourage once knew are consumed by the flames of war as they struggle to mount a resistance."

Noctis, heir to the throne of Lucis, is the main protagonist of the game. In spite of his royal blood, he's rather brash and unconventional. Speaking of unconventional: he can sense other people's deaths.

The crown prince is joined on his quest by three friends of comparable age. Gladiolous Amicitia is a member of the House Amicitia, a noble bloodline that has always devoted itself to protecting the royals. "Gladio" is no mere bodyguard, though; instead, he's more of a brother to Noctis. Ignis is a scholar and counselor to Noctis who tries to keep the prince grounded and rational. He'll be a counterweight to Prompto, a playboy and childhood friend of Noctis. Prompto is the wild one of the bunch and is an overall bad influence on the prince. He's not of noble birth and this makes him eager to prove himself to the group.

The chapherone for this group of youths is Lord Commander Cor Leonis. Cor Leonis is described as a "living legend" in Lucian. He's the head of the royal guard and is sworn to keep Noctis safe.

The group sounds interesting on paper. I'm less enthused about their look, though. They look like they all belong to the same rock group (the matching red soles on their footwear is icing on the cake). Maybe I'm just being nostalgic, but I prefer the motley crews from games like FF6 and FF7, with both non-human and human characters alike. It looks like FFXV is going for a slightly more realistic world than those games, though. It's also possible there are more bizarre characters for FFXV waiting to be revealed.

FFXV, formerly known as Final Fantasy Versus XIII, is in development for Xbox One and PlayStation 4. No release date has been announced yet.

Pete Haas

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.