20 Things We Learned From Gamescom 2016

13. Final Fantasy XV Is Fantastic, But It's Not Going To Be A Witcher 3

Square Enix really, really need Final Fantasy XV to do huge numbers. In development for almost 10 years and now releasing at the tail-end of September alongside an anime and Spirits Within/Advent Children-style CG movie, FF XV has drained the company of resources and money, the end result hopefully being a title that'll shake the foundations of the industry itself.

Luckily I got to go hands-on with the game for a good chunk of time at Gamescom, playing through its introductory sequences and getting to the standard 'loop' of heading out on quests, as well as driving your spruced up sports car from place to place.

The thing is... it's just fine - combat involves simply holding down an attack button and watching animations play out, whilst character designs and voice acting is serviceably 'Final Fantasy' (inasmuch as every line isn't that far away from FFX, and characters look like they belong in Square's misguided brawler, The Bouncer). Still, visuals are impressive enough, if not leagues behind the likes of Uncharted 4 or The Witcher 3.

Basically, like The Last Guardian, you can tell this originated on a different generation of hardware. I had fun with FF XV, but I'll be amazed if it sets the world on fire like Squenix need it to.