While it won’t be until November 29 that the eagerly anticipated role-playing game Final Fantasy XV finally arrives on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, in the meantime, Square Enix is whetting our appetites with Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV, a spin-off movie with a story that feeds nicely into the game’s.
Far from hurriedly cobbled together, Kingsglaive is a sumptuous feast of CGI that clocks in at 115 minutes, making it – theoretically, at least – an enticing watch even if you aren’t usually interested in the legendary Final Fantasy franchise. Compelling voice performances from top stars Aaron Paul, Lena Headey and Sean Bean could only increase the film’s allure – if it weren’t for, well, the story…
Kingsglaive, which follows the chaos that ensues after the empire of Niflheim invades the kingdom of Lucis and as soldier Nyx Ulric battles the empire’s forces, feels like pure Final Fantasy in terms of its writing. However, suffering as it does from the common action film problems of bewildering plot strands and an assortment of cookie cutter characters, it’s unlikely to find a broad audience.
Still, the action scenes in particular are genuinely well-executed and thrilling – and, if you want to experience them for yourself, you can buy or rent Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV from the iTunes Store.