Future Final Fantasy Games May Never Pull One of FF15’s Strangest Stunts

Across its lifetime, the Final Fantasy franchise has picked up a lot of little quirks that endear its games to fans. From the optional job changes in Final Fantasy 1 to the assorted sidequests and trials in Final Fantasy 16, this series has never been afraid to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. Even different genres entirely, like the shift towards pure action in Final Fantasy 15 and 16 or the MMORPG natures of FF11 and FF14, have been used in major entries. However, the series’ modern era may have a tough time topping Final Fantasy 15 in this respect.

Final Fantasy 15 is a bizarre and divisive game, and not just because of its rocky first shot at actionized combat. The entire game operates under a distinct road trip structure, jumping between linear sequences and small open world areas in a chapter-based adventure. Supposedly, the story of Final Fantasy 15 shipped unfinished, and an entire alternate ending was released for it via the first episode of a canceled DLC season and several novels. Among all the fun party interactions and strange side activities FF15 has to offer, there is one special encounter in it that other Final Fantasy’s should probably leave behind.

Final Fantasy 15’s Adamantoise Is Impressive, But Not Particularly Fun

Once players reach Final Fantasy 15’s endgame or postgame, they can travel back to the pre-timeskip Chapter 15 to tackle launch-FF15’s superboss. It won’t take long before players are face-to-face with an Adamantoise, one of Final Fantasy‘s rarer recurring enemies, that is literally the size of a mountain. What follows is potentially one of the most epic encounters in Final Fantasy history, with a fittingly enormous battlefield, a unique group party where the whole party warp strikes the Adamantoise’s head, and an epilogue to the fight featuring quest givers from across the game showing up for a celebration.

The Adamantoise Aimed Higher Than Any Final Fantasy Could Hit

It all sounds very cool, and at points it can be. Unfortunately, there may be several hours in between those highlight moments. Boasting the strongest boss health pool in FF15 at a staggering 5,624,400 HP, it accurately reproduces the feeling of fistfighting a mountain. Players with different levels of preparation have reported battle times ranging from under 10 minutes to over 3 hours. This is still an improvement over official claims before FF15’s launch that it would take over 30 in-game days, which is close to 15 real hours, but capping the fight at 3 in-game days isn’t much of a condolence to those over an hour in.

What Final Fantasy 15 Reveals About Designing Superbosses

Despite the ambition behind it, the Final Fantasy 15 Adamantoise fight didn’t go as planned, and future Final Fantasy entries need to learn from its mistakes. Its biggest folly was massively inflating the Adamantoise’s health and defenses compared to everything else in FF15, something that other numbered entries have been guilty of before. FF10’s Nemesis and Penance, FF11’s Pandemonium Warden and Absolute Virtue, and FF12’s Yiazmat have all famously taken way too long compared to everything else in them, and Yiazmat even allowed players to take breaks. The Adamantoise’s size, while impressive, was also too unwieldy for the combat system to handle.

Final Fantasy 15’s Adamantoise Should Be Avoided In The Future

Patching in Ring of the Lucii cheese strats, probably so the relatively easy but time-consuming Adamantoise doesn’t overshadow FF15: Royal Edition’s new superbosses, also doesn’t reflect well on the fight’s design. Less deliberate cheese strategies like those involving swapping between FF15’s powerful party members can still derive some satisfaction from the fight, but at that point, the Adamantoise isn’t even remotely functioning as intended. Final Fantasy 15 made an impressive showing in trying to realize the largest and most resilient foe Final Fantasy has ever seen, but future entries should let it keep that achievement for itself.