The fourth installment has finally arrived, and although the game itself has been delayed for several months, the pre-launch content is still rolling out! It’s time for Ignis’ tale.
Watch the new episode right here.
Episode Review
“Bittersweet Memories”
One of the most impressive aspects of this short series is just how normal everything is in the story prior to the imperial invasion. You may have seen the opening scenes of Kingsglaive by now, and it paints a drastically different picture. In this episode, we see people going about their daily lives, heading to and from work, attending school, and working their shops in the market. Mix that in with the fact that the setting is so modern and you have something a lot like our world, if there were truly imminent threats on the horizon. Politicians are dealing with the aggressive actions of a neighbor state (no, Mexico is not an evil empire and you don’t need a magic wall, crazy Americans), but the world goes on.
So here we have Ignis, the final member of the quad that will be staring in the game proper. I expect to see a Lunafreya episode next, but we kind of already got a little bit of that. It would make the most sense though. As for Ignis, he seems to be an aide to the royal family. He watches over the prince, and reports to the king and advises on matters we aren’t privy to. And once again, this series forms a strong emotional connection between characters that will greatly benefit the story in the game.
Noctis is of course a bit of a rebellious teen in this part of the story, living sloppily on his own and moonlighting at the arcade. It’s almost too obvious, but on the other hand we also see Noct displaying a wide range of emotion present in a normal guy of his age. There are a lot of things he has to deal with as a prince, and knowing that your future hinges on your father’s death is a pretty big cloud hanging over your head. He’s not the stoic and angst-ridden Squall, or the over-the-top energy case that is Tidas. If anything, he most resembles Cloud, but the more modern iteration of that character has skewed further in to Squall territory thanks in part to Advent Children. He was always joking around and properly serious in Final Fantasy VII! Not exactly the strong, silent type.
I’m quite surprised that testing those pastries over and over throughout the years hasn’t made them all quite fat. They do all work out though, at least. The connection to the pastry itself is that Noctis had a special dessert when he visited Tenebrae, a neighboring country and home to Lunafreya from what I gather. It’s an important connection, and a believable emotional through-line for these characters. Most importantly, we’re also seeing the connections between supporting characters, with Ignis and Gladio exchanging thoughts. It’s come to the point that no matter what happens with the story in-game, the characters are believable enough and so well established that I might be able to forgive some obvious cliches.
Episode Score
9.0/10 (Great)
Extra thoughts:
– Rated T for partial nudity. What?
– You don’t get extra credit for being the prince.
– Please your highness, ban exams.
– Please also write to your girlfriend, jerk.
– How many years has he been testing recipes?
– Arcades still exist in this alternate reality.
– Gladio’s house is still spectacular.
New Release Date! 11.29.16
Although this might be one of the most anticipated games of this generation, and last, and the one before that probably, we’re all going to have to wait a little longer to get our hands on it. But don’t fret, if anything this is for the best. The team gets a bit more time to iron out the kinks, and we’ll get to play it over the winter holidays!
Clouded Anime 
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