On re-playing FFXV: 2/?
These are just a few other things I’ve noticed changed/improved. As I said before, I sped through and beat the game in its first week with no updates, so I’m reworking my way through it slowly with the 1.05 patch as of this time.
(as of writing this, I am still fairly early into the game - parted ways with Cor and arrived at Lestallum to meet Iris. I’ve been more focused on exploring and doing sidequests.)
- There is a new graveled area across the road from the Ceornix station at Alsto Slough. The layout of the garage’s shop has also changed.
- The entrance to Wiz’s Chocobo Post has been tweaked - the drive is longer and that parking area across from the side-road is new. Along with its firewood and shelter.
- Also at Wiz’s the space between the actual outpost and its fences pre-Deadeye hunt has drastically increased. When I first played the game, the caravan was maybe twenty, thirty feet away. Now it’s more like eighty and almost backing onto the woods.
- The hunt for Deadeye has more dead ends and blue shiny collectibles. Also, the fencing around the outpost disappears after you kill Deadeye - first time I played the game I had to travel away from the post and back for this to be triggered. And Wiz hands out new quests like they’re going out of fashion - this is another tweak because in my first playthrough, I had to walk like a hundred feet away and back to him before a new sidequest was offered.
- The old farm off of the chocobo racing track now has an upstairs (which can’t be explored grrrrr ...) and haven-like music plays when exploring it for collectibles.
- New smaller water areas in Alstor Slough and fencing around them.
- Sania’s frogs are waaay easier to find with their handy ‘check’ pointers, especially at the Fallgrove’s fishing area. I lost two days on those fuckers in m first game.
- At the Kettier Highland parking spot there are barrels and four benches that are new and weren’t there in my initial game.
- The wooden panel fencing around the front of the Mother of Pearl in Galdin wasn’t there to begin with. Neither were all the trees in the water. And I didn’t get greeted at 6am in the morning ... I wanted to hear Robbie Daymond’s “Welcome to Galdin Quay!” ... *grumble-grumble*
- Coernix Station Cauthess has been overhauled; outside market area instead of diner. More graveled areas with blue shiny collectibles and a radio outside on the tables.
- More cones and bollards by the parking lot in Lestallum and along the main road. New tables with a woman eating on the lower level - Ignis learns a new recipeh from watching her.
- There is a second garden area in Lestallum. The main promenade has been extended towards the tunnel and there’s a new shop-front, a newly-accessible shop and a tipster at a cart. He doesn’t offer hunts though.
-Noct’s first flash-look at Titan is far more intriguing with just a quick, ominous scene cut into the cinematics. The Kingsglaive cinematics at Iris’ explanation of Insomnia’s fall make the story flow soooooo much better. As I said in my first post, these scenes weren’t in the initial game and they just help the flow and experience far more immersive.
- The inside of the Leville is a white scheme now, not the dark green it was before. Much brighter and affluent-looking. We are given names for the market area and outlook that weren’t offered in the first playthough - Partellum Market and Peglar Outlook.
- The civilians playing the instruments are in a different area of Lestallum now. During my first game they were always by the fountain at the Leville and played the background ambient music of the area. Now they’re by the outlook and actually playing their own music and singing. Kids surround them and argue whether it would be cooler to be like Sania or a hunter - interesting to note they are little girls discussing these things.
- The aforementioned fountain has been changed too. It’s longer and more ‘blocky’ for want of a better word. It’s also been turned ninety degrees and is horizontal when you find it, running perpendicular to its first placement.
- Jared’s words could be seen as foreshadowing when he says that Talcott readily mingles with the locals.
- The tipster at the market has been changed slightly - he has three stalls in his corner when he initially just had one.
- Quests are a hell of a lot easier to trigger and access now with new pointers and separate engaging points for them.
- The car’s radio doesn’t go all static-sounding when you drive through a tunnel anymore. Also, the in-car music is louder since the first patch came though - I could barely hear Calling for Rain in my first game.
- There’s waaaay more abandoned buildings to explore at the side of the road when compared to my first game. Areas like ‘Alpine Stable’ weren’t there during the first game.
- There seems to be millions more ‘Imperials above us!’ and “Magitek engine, it’ close!” ... I barely got any Imperial encounters during my first playthrough, had to wait until I beat the game to get most of them.