Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV truly is anime in the most digestible, bite-sized form perhaps ever made. Announced and then subsequently debuted on YouTube by Square Enix on Wednesday night, Brotherhood lays the prequel foundations for Final Fantasy XV, launching on September 30.
Clocking in at just 11 minutes (make that 8 if we’re discounting the end credits), the first episode of Brotherhood is merely an introductory tale for Noctis and his early-2000’s boyband. The action kicks off as the group embark on their journey of reclaiming the throne that rightfully belongs to Noctis, as well as rescuing Luna, his bride-to-be.
If you were expecting anything outside of foundation-laying for the opening episode of Brotherhood, then you might leave somewhat disappointed. The episode, in its short run-time, only allows for glimpses into the personalities of each member of the aforementioned group of friends, and as such this opening episode is enjoyable, albeit it at the cost of anything outside of straightforward world building and exposition.
The action for the entire episode can be summed up pretty easily: troupe travels in car, has some exposition-laden talk, and is finally halted by a robot patrol for a climactic showdown. Considering the run time of the episode, it’s hard to expect more, but Square actually do a fairly nice job of showing some quirks of the characters featured in this opening episode.
Recently Square announced that the campaign of Final Fantasy XV would take around 50 hours for the average person to beat, and it’s easy to be apprehensive of this. If you didn’t play the Episode Duscae demo and only just boarded the hype train, you won’t have a clue about any of the main characters of Final Fantasy XV. Brotherhood will be your first introduction to these guys before you be spend all that much time with them come September.
As already mentioned, this opening episode of Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV will sell you on the featured cast of characters surrounding Noctis, our reluctant hero. We’re properly introduced to the group through a brief scene in a diner, and it quickly becomes apparent that each member of the group is decidedly different from one another, which can be considered a big win for Final Fantasy XV.
