Since I started playing Final Fantasy XV, I’ve managed to beat the game’s main storyline and all of the currently-available DLC packages, including that Assassin’s Creed-themed one.
I unlocked the Regalia F-type as soon as I beat the game, and for the last 10 hours of my ongoing, 50-hour playthrough, I’ve basically just been flying around Lucis looking for stuff to do. It’s been really neat seeing how all my hunting-related antics early on have turned me into a go-to guy for just about any menial task imaginable, from picking up abandoned shipments of produce to checking fuses on electrical boxes across Duscae and Cleigne. And what’s even more interesting is how excited I am to maneuver Prince Noctis and his royal retinue through this landscape in pursuit of these tasks.
It’s safe to say that FFXV has charmed the hell out of me, and it’ll probably continue to do so as long as there are still things for me to do in it. But tonight, as I was playing through some Lestallum-based missions (all of the EXINERIS Energy missions, actually), I stumbled into a moment that about bowled me over and made me spill my hummus.
As I was walking toward Holly’s location near the power plant entrance to finish the sidequest where I checked all the power pylons for damage, a quick-time event popped up on my screen for a split second. Not knowing what it was all about, I doubled back to discover that it was a lady walking around the street. The QTE was pretty simple: “Press A to Greet.”
I mashed that A button and Noctis did a little wave and it was cute and I just sort of grinned for a minute before carrying on.
We make fun of copious amounts of QTEs in games taking away actual player choice and limiting interactions to what the game devs want us to do (For example: “Press X to Pay Respects”), but as far as I can tell, taking the time to wave hello at someone doesn’t serve any particular story function. It’s just cute and I loved it.