A few days ago as I was listening to Florence and the Machine’s fantastic cover of Stand by Me, I started thinking about Final Fantasy XV, which features that cover as its theme. Even though it’s been almost nine years since I played XV, memories came flooding back of my road trip with Noctis and friends.
Final Fantasy XV in general seemed cobbled together from whatever scraps could be salvaged from its decade or more of development hell. It’s been so long since I’ve played it that my memory of the plot and overall sequence of events is spotty at best. I remember it being an absolute nonsensical, incomplete mess – so much so that Square released a bunch of DLC to fill in the gaps. You even had to watch a prequel movie and an animated series to know what the hell was going on, even before the DLC!
I never played that DLC, so my only experience with the game was the base day-one playthrough. Add in some questionable design decisions, pacing issues, and the absolute dumpster fire that was Chapter 13 (at least at launch – I can’t speak for it post-update), and you’ve got the makings of a disaster of a game.
But despite that, I thought Final Fantasy XV was a good game and greatly enjoyed my time with it. Somehow all of those disjointed facets came together, flaws and all, to make a game that’s much better than the sum of its parts. And I think the glue that holds it all together and elevates it is the main party and their relationships and interactions with each other.
Final Fantasy XV tells the tale of Noctis Lucis Caelum, heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Lucis. On the way to marry his childhood friend Luna, princess of the neighboring kingdom and an Oracle of the gods, he embarks on a road trip with his best friends Gladio, his bodyguard; Ignis, his royal advisor; and Prompto, his childhood friend.
Things immediately got controversial when it was announced that XV would have a main party consisting entirely of early-20-something guys. At a time when representation in games was coming to the forefront of developers’ minds, and when women in gaming were being harassed by online chuds during the days of Gamergate, not featuring any female playable characters was…concerning to say the very least, and rightfully so.
It didn’t help that the game’s treatment of its female characters leaves a lot to be desired too. Luna, the closest thing XV has to a female lead, is hardly seen until later in the game, where she gets hardly any screen time or development before becoming unceremonious emotional bait. Aranea, a hardened free-spirited mercenary who could have been a strong female character forging her own path in the world, is given next to no development. And then there’s the mechanic Cindy, who, despite spending her time working on cars in the middle of the desert in the baking hot sun, sports an open cropped jacket with her bra and cleavage gratuitously hanging out, leather stockings, and very short shorts.
Especially with such unfortunate handling of female representation, the all-male party could have gone incredibly wrong. But instead, Square Enix delivered one of the best portrayals of healthy male relationships I’ve ever seen in media.
So often, men in video games fall into the stoic, “macho” stereotype – avoiding showing emotion or affection or anything other than machismo and manliness. Final Fantasy XV subverts this almost entirely. Despite his royal upbringing, Noctis and friends are just four normal guys on a road trip. They read comics, play games, and zip around the kingdom sightseeing while blasting classic Final Fantasy tracks and taking selfies. But beyond all that, they have the utmost loyalty, respect, and affection for each other, and they’re not afraid to express it.
It’s those little moments that make Final Fantasy XV good – the ones where we get to see the guys just being…normal guys. Whether it be spending time fishing with Noct, receiving tough love from Gladio, hearing Ignis’ brilliant British-isms and exclamations when he cooks and discovers a new “recipeh,” or Prompto just being an adorably lovable dork singing along while riding a chocobo, those moments truly endeared me to the characters and made them imminently relatable.
But don’t think that everything is just surface-level dorkiness or all fun and games. The four guys are the best of friends – so much so that they consider each other brothers – and they’re not afraid to show it. Gladio is fiercely defensive of the rest of the party. Ignis is the constant caregiver, making sure the gang’s needs are all met. Prompto is immensely loyal and not afraid to show his affection despite his feelings of inferiority, being the only one not of noble heritage. And Noct is the glue holding them all together, and he’s not afraid to wear his feelings for his brothers on his sleeve. The relationship between the four guys is a bromance in the most unironic terms, and it’s refreshing to see that type of relationship not being portrayed as a joke or “yeah these guys are totally straight, wink wink nudge nudge.”
If anything, I feel like this sort of portrayal of healthy male friendship is even more important now than ever. We live in a world where young men are being sucked in by the manosphere, where they’re told that empathy is a weakness, where they’re told that real men keep their emotions to themselves, where showing affection or even saying “I love you” to your guy friends is “gay.” And the end result is a bunch of angry men who have no respect for women or each other, who have no empathy for the struggles of other people, and who have no idea how to deal with their emotions to the point where they often become violent and abusive.
This is a world where vice presidential candidate Tim Walz was routinely criticized for wearing his emotions on his sleeve during the campaign, and for showing empathy and compassion to children as governor of Minnesota. Hell, the toxic masculinity in our society is even so pervasive that his neurodivergent son was mercilessly mocked for crying and yelling how proud he was of his dad while Governor Walz was giving his acceptance speech.
When we look at things through that lens, the camaraderie, empathy, and affection shown between the young men in the Final Fantasy XV party stands in much-needed contrast. Noctis, Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto endure so many trials and tribulations throughout their journey, but the one thing that remains constant is their inseparable relationship and love for each other. And the way that the challenges they face strengthens and reinforces that relationship makes the heart-wrenching conclusion of their journey hit even harder.
How would things look if the stain of toxic masculinity were relegated to the dustbin of history where it belongs? What if, like Noctis, every young man had healthy friendships that they could rely on for love and support, rather than taking it on the chin like a “real man”? What if those men allowed themselves to be open and vulnerable about their emotions and fears, rather than suppressing them and allowing them to build up into anger against other people and even society itself? I daresay the world would be a much better, more stable place, with a lot fewer fragile egos to go around.
Yes, Final Fantasy XV is a mess of a game in a lot of ways. But ultimately it’s a touching tale of brotherhood and coming of age, with a portrayal of masculinity and camaraderie that serves as a firm rebuttal of what we often see both in media and in society. It’s a refreshing example of healthy platonic male relationships that’s sorely needed in our world today, and I think it’s worth revisiting in that light.
