Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV (PS VR) Review - Graphically it looks excellent with a high fan service content

braini (61)in #gaming • 7 years ago (edited)

During the E3 presentation of 2016 it was shown with a lot of fanfare that VR also has a place in the Final Fantasy universe. Monster of the Deep is part of the Final Fantasy XV multimedia offensive and it is also the first official virtual reality game from Square Enix. Since the presentation of the action-oriented demo in 2016, however, a lot has changed, because Monster of the Deep is anything but an action-laden shooting event. No, this time we're going to... fish!

Go fishing anyway!

When you start Monster of the Deep, you are immediately asked to try the tutorial. What immediately stands out is how good Monster of the Deep looks in VR. The water, the environment, the fish, it all looks idyllic and relaxed. In short, the ideal environment for fishing. With this, Square Enix certainly inspires a lot of confidence that it can and will do nice things in VR in the future. Okay, now I personally have never fished myself because I can not really put up with the patience, but I can imagine that it is a way of relaxation for many people.

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Anyway, you are standing on the water with a fishing rod in your hands. The DualShock 4 controller functions as a fishing rod. The casting of the rod works just like in real life (as far as I can judge as a layman) and when you release the cross, the line is thrown out. The combination of throwing and releasing the cross determines how far the line is thrown. Then you bite after a few seconds and if that is the case, then by turning the left stick on the controller you have to catch your catch.

A fish can start sprawling a bit, which can be solved by pulling your controller to the left or to the right, although I have not yet seen that a fish actually escapes. Throwing your fishing rod is often inaccurate, so you need a few attempts to get the fishing rod to do what you want. Collecting a catch also shortens the lifespan of your controller, because the continuous rotation of your left stick becomes very annoying.

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After the tutorial you can make an avatar in true Final Fantasy style. The possibilities for adjustment are very extensive, but the question is a little bit why. The majority of Monster of the Deep you play from a first-person perspective so that making your own avatar actually adds quite little.

The radio warns that the weather is so bad, that it is absolutely not wise to go outside. What does your character do? Precisely, he / she decides that fishing from a wrecked boat from a rickety boat in bad weather is a good idea. That goes horribly wrong, of course, but you are happily saved by Cindy from the water and she is of course well known to the Final Fantasy XV players. Then you pick up a little in her garage and afterwards you get a fishing rod, crossbow and yet the assignment to go fishing.

Beautiful Final Fantasy XV fanservice

From the central hub you visit places in Eos that are familiar to you when you played Final Fantasy XV with a cameo of a famous character at each location. These figures will always encourage you while fishing, but you can take the comment with a grain of salt, because it is not always consistent with the size of the fish you catch. Walking around with your character is limited to 'transportation', where you point your cursor to where you want to go. Then you will be transported there, a way we see more often in VR games.

Normally that works against the immersion in a virtual reality game, but given the main purpose here is fishing, it is now not very disturbing. The goal is the same in every environment you do; catch an x number of smaller fish to lure the big fish that also acts as the final boss of the environment. When the boss turns up his fishing cup, you exchange your fishing rod for the crossbow and then the shooting is blown. Sounds a bit strange, but the execution is good. Shooting with the crossbow feels nice and precise, in contrast to the inaccuracy of the rod, which as mentioned can be a bit annoying. The scale of the bosses is actually very well worked out, because you really have the feeling that they are Monsters of the Deep.

Conclusion

Square Enix is literally testing the VR waters with Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV. Graphically it looks excellent with a high fan service content for the Final Fantasy XV enthusiasts. The accuracy of the rod is often doubtful, while that problem hardly exists with the use of the crossbow. I have never fished in my real life, but I think Monster of the Deep is a very relaxed experience despite - or maybe even - you always do the same throughout the game. We are certainly curious what Square Enix will do with VR in the future, because Monster of the Deep is - although not groundbreaking - certainly a successful first VR title.

The plus and the drawbacks

✔ Graphic very beautiful
✔ Relaxed atmosphere
✔ Sense of scale at bosses
✔ Fun for FF XV enthusiasts
✖ Inaccuracy fishing rod
✖ Perhaps too monotonous for some

Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it!

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