I remember when Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children came out 11 years ago. My friends and I had been following its development online for what seemed like forever, stalking fan forums and scouring for any grainy stills uploaded from Famitsu. Since we absolutely couldn't wait any longer, we downloaded an awful quality Japanese rip of the film along with a fan sub that was only barely coherent. These were characters we'd wanted to see in action again since we were children, and coming from it at that angle, even with our horrible bootleg copy, it didn't disappoint. Advent Children is not a good film, I know this, but for all the meaningful stuff it worked to undo from the game and for all the awful characters it introduced, I was just excited to see Tifa be a complete babe while being thrown by the leg around a ruined church. That fight with Bahamut Sin was all I'd really wanted from the film's entire 101 minute running time.
Advent Children demanded that you care about the characters and the world to be invested in the nonsense of the film, so it's a bold move by Square to attempt the same trick in reverse, essentially releasing Final Fantasy 15's opening cutscene as a standalone film several months before players will be able to immerse themselves in its world. But, for the most part, it works. It doesn't focus on the game's protagonist Noct, but takes place roughly around the same time as the start of the game, depicting the actions that set the game's main plot in motion with a lengthy flashback providing context to the ongoing political machinations.
Simply put, there are two warring nations, the technologically advanced bad guys Niflheim, and the good guys of Lucius, ruled over by Noct's dad, King Regis. Niflheim has taken over pretty much the entire world bar Insomnia, the capital city of Lucis, which is protected by a magical crystal that gives King Regis and his elite protectors, the Kingsglaive, magical powers. Niflheim really wants that crystal, basically. Focusing on Nyx Ulric, a refugee and a member of the Kingsglaive, the film takes place almost entirely within Insomnia as Lucis and Niflheim come close to signing a peace treaty. All this is exactly as waffly as it sounds, but thankfully there are other, smaller conflicts within the film that are far more worth our time and attention.
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