Final Fantasy XV: everything you’re too embarrassed to ask

Final Fantasy XV is a joyful payoff for fans who followed the role-playing game through its rocky decade-long development. But is it worth visiting if you only played Final Fantasy VII? Or what if you’ve never tried Final Fantasy and the word chocobo sounds like a flavorless dietary chocolate alternative?

Final Fantasy XV’s creators declare in the game’s opening screens that their game is designed for new and returning players alike, but Final Fantasy’s long and weird history can be daunting. If you’re curious about the franchise, or specifically Final Fantasy XV, we’ve prepared an introductory FAQ to get you started. Trust me, it’s worth your time.

Actually, kind of? But not so much in the *NSYNC way. Let’s first talk a little background.

Final Fantasy XV is the latest entry in the main series of Final Fantasy. The game was first announced 10 darn years ago as Final Fantasy Versus XIII — it was supposed to be linked to Final Fantasy XIII, which launched in 2009. We still don’t have the definitive story on what went down there, but here’s the short version: a lot of development complications and story scrapping. The project was essentially rebooted into its current form with some of the original elements — lead character Noctis and his merry band of boys Prompto, Ignis, and Gladiolus — intact.

Final Fantasy XV opens with prince Noctis taking a road trip with his three best buds so he can wed his bride-to-be, Lady Lunafreya; the wedding is part of a peace treaty between warring nations. Before Noctis can even get to Lunafreya, however, his city is attacked, his father is killed, and the fun road trip becomes a quest to save his kingdom. The story gets a little convoluted and weird, but there’s a movie and an anime series you could watch on the side if you want to learn more, along with a short, novelized prologue.

TL;DR: Four cute boys get bit with wanderlust. Sometimes they go camping! In a medium largely dedicated to emotionally closed-off meat bags, here is a sincere celebration of young male friendship.

There are important female characters present throughout the game, but your main party are the aforementioned four dudes. Final Fantasy games usually have mixed-gender parties, but Square Enix has done this kind of thing before. Final Fantasy X-2’s playable cast was three ladies.

If you’re not into the extracurriculars, no worries. If you’ve never played a Final Fantasy game in your life, also nothing to sweat! This story is totally unrelated to the past games. Veterans of the series will pick up on the series’ commonalities, but it’s not required knowledge.

If you’ve never played a role-playing game, you might want to try the optional tutorial. If you have even minimal familiarity with the genre, you can skip them. The tutorials throw a lot at you at once, and the core game does a good job of introducing the basics at a more leisurely pace.

The original Final Fantasy, released in 1987, was expected to be the first and last in what has become one the oldest and largest series in video games. The story, as confirmed by Wired in 2009, goes like this: Developer Square was on the verge of going bankrupt, and so it expected this game to be its last release.

Obviously, that didn’t happen. Final Fantasy was a hit and the rest is history.

Worth noting: the franchise is far bigger than 15 games, despite what the name suggests. There are dozens of spinoffs, mash-ups, and remix projects, though numbered entries are considered to be the main series.

No, not really. There are a few games in the series that act as direct sequels, like Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XIII-2, and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. A few games tease at connections or Easter eggs, like Final Fantasy X-2’s Shinra sharing a name with Final Fantasy VII’s evil corporation.

Mostly, the Final Fantasy games just share core elements. Items and magic spell names are reused throughout each game; monsters and magical summons reappear consistently with new designs; you can always find characters named Cid, Biggs, and Wedge.

Okay, yes, this probably sounds weird. You may see a character named Cid in every Final Fantasy universe, but it’s not the same Cid. Think of it as an homage, or a long-running tradition. With Biggs and Wedge, the gag is actually that they’re named after Star Wars characters — Biggs Darklighter and Wedge Antilles.

Same goes for moogles and chocobos, although these super cute types of furry-slash-feathered friends tend to appear mostly the same in each iteration. Moogles look like a sort of cupid-based bear; throughout the series they’ve been everything from sentient, talking party members to cute toys.

Chocobos act as the franchise’s horse stand-ins. They’re like big yellow chickens you ride around. It’s great! They even have a theme song (which differs slightly by game, of course).

I mean, yes? But that’s actually kind of gross and I don’t know why you’d want to. It’s like eating your pet horse, if your horse were cuter.

No! I said don’t eat Chocobos!

Great! So glad to hear you’re not a pet-eating monster. The game is available for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, so you’ll need one of those consoles.

As I mentioned earlier, Final Fantasy XV can be a little daunting at first. Don’t rush. Talk with each character you meet. Take time to flip through the menus. Take in the sights and sounds. There are a lot of easy side quests to do while you get comfortable, and there is no wrong way to play. If you’re really concerned, the game does have a newcomer-friendly easy mode.

And remember, Final Fantasy XV is more than just battles. There’s a lot of cool stuff to explore — finding new recipes for your friends, tricking out your ride and cruising around, fishing, sorting through photo memories. There’s a high level of detail in this game that makes it enjoyable beyond its story or fights. Or, you can skip all the side stuff and just plow through the story.

Magic, my friends. Magic.