BLOND CLIVE???? WHERE. Imma google RIGHT NOW. Is it disturbing? Is it weird is it uncanny
Tadaa!! From this post by @run4urlife1014 on twitter! Go look and see, there's more pictures. I don't know if the person who took the photos is the one who made the mod, but whoever made the mod made the right choice by having slightly darker roots and darker eyebrows for Clive.
Now all this has set me afire because like. Can you imagine how much worse it would be if she had to constantly look her "failure" in his face like that? Bad enough that Clive shared more facial features with her as a teenager, but to have a haircolor that compliments her own? Ough their dynamic would get so much tastier. Especially if you throw in the idea that Clive eventually starts dying his hair so he doesn't look like her, so she doesn't have to see her failure constantly.
Anything you'd change about FFXV? I'd probably have the bros spend some time in Insomnia before they left, not like a lot tho. Establish basic concepts like the Wall and Ring of Lucii, basic tutorial stuff, and then an imperial attack. Tone of the game is funny until the Wall collapses, Imp troops march enmass into Insomnia, and it's a fight just to escape. Could witness some horrors, like the Diamond WEAPON deamon, the miasma turning citizens into deamons, and casual Imp cruelty to the citizens. That would really get you invested in the game right from the start I think.
Bestie I need you to know that I got this ask, read the first sentence, then proceeded to laugh so hard that I ended up wheezing and couldn't finish reading the ask for two minutes.
What fucking wouldn't I change about this hot mess of a game, wicked white.
Buckle in this is gonna get Long.
There's two different ways I'd go about this. 1) To just enhance what's already there (it's possible) and make a coherent game, or 2) make a story that I find personally satisfying.
If we do the first one, my primary modus operandi would be to make XV as coherent as possible, and nix a good portion of the "extra" stuff (the DLC, the movies, the Brotherhood OVA) and just. Incorporate it into the game from the get go. A large portion of that would to be, like you said, have the bros start out in Insomnia and establish a lot of basic concepts, give weight to Insomnia as a whole, explain why the Wall is important and why the daemons are so threatening, etc.
(funfact: Kingsglaive actually was supposed to be the opening portion of the game, but it got scrapped for a movie. I mourn every day.)
I'd also want to give a greater emphasis on Noctis being a king via physically helping his people, listening to their woes and doing what he can to make it better. It's sort of there already, with the game's focus on hunts and a few sidequests, but I'd make it go further with things like tangibly affecting the towns you go to, or having people with real problems say how their lives get better. Notably, I'd go so far as to have the chocobros save a village or town that's on the verge of being overrun by daemons, just to drive home what the "King of Light" moniker means and what Noctis can do that's a step up above the rest of his subjects (ie magic). If the first few hours are spent in Insomnia with a lot of pro-royalty sentiment, I'd then spend the next long time in the continent then tearing that apart. Have some citizens express pro-Imperial stances, or anti-royalty stances; have the common citizen talk about how the war has affected them, and how neither state seems to care for their well being. Really drive home that it isn't just Noctis who lost something with the Fall of Insomnia, it's the people as well.
Luna needs to be more present, and with her own character. Have her and Noctis communicate more via the journal, with Noctis adding in bits and pieces of the sidequests that they player has completed, or add some photos that Prompto took. When we get a letter back from Luna, the narration of her voice fades out and we actually get to see what she's been doing, where she's been traveling and start playing as her. Show what her life is like under Imperial occupation, show what her duties as the Oracle even are, show that she has a lot of political weight as 1) the princess of Tenebrae and 2) the Oracle itself. Highlight the tension between her and her brother, but also his care about her through smaller things (a phone call here, a note saying he left her something, etc).
Take all the bro dlcs and just. Put them in the main game. Tie the character arcs into the way they actually interact with Noctis and the others-- Make Gladio have more of an issue about being a Shield and worrying about measuring up (to his ancestors, to his Dad [that he barely knew, that he knew without being told died for the king]) be brought up before all of it, have him talk about some of his feelings. Sure he can keep most of them close to his chest and only express it to the player, but for fuck's sake the macho posturing only hurts him.
Ignis' dlc is largely alright, but I'd have there be a bit bigger focus on his political role, and also the Empire. I'd maybe sneak in the headcanon that his family actually used to be Tenebrae royalty some generations ago, and fled for Lucis when Tenebrae got taken over. Add some depth to the nobility lines, have him and Ravus talk about a few things here and there.
Prompto's is, potentially, the one I'd change the most. Prompto's whole "reveal" about being a clone is... so fucking stupid. There's no weight to it, and by the time that it's revealed there's no reason to even care about it. Tweak it to where your "random encounters" are because Prompto's got a subderminal tracker in him, have him know about it. Really drive home that he's an actual, real, liability to Noctis and the others, while also desperately trying to be normal and desperately wanting his only friend to not forget about him with the advent of his Kingly duties. Drive home the idea that his loyalty to Noctis (and thus his representation as "the common person") is a choice that he is pursuing with all of his heart, not something that's intrinsic to being Lucian or a citizen of Niflheim.
MAKE IRIS AMITICIA A PERMANENT PARTY MEMBER Y2K FOREVER. Have her join relatively late, around Cape Caem or so, but by god add her as a permanent member. Actually, have her join up when Gladio is gone, and just... not leave. She already brings so much life to the party when she's there, and she raises up some interesting questions; is it morally right to bring a 15 y/o girl with them on their dangerous quests, even if she's been trained for this since birth? Is it right to deny her her birthright of being a Shield to the king and also serving like she's been told she's headed for her entire life?? Just! C'mon!! Agh why is she only a guest I'm going to chew thru glass.
Since we're following the canon route of "Noctis has to die to save the world from the Scourge", lets add in more hints about it. Have him question why his father never trained him how to be King, have him remark that his upbringing was pretty "normal". Talk about how Regis seemed to Know Something about it, and how even Luna doesn't quite know what it was. Make more of a big deal about the lines of the Oracle and the line of Lucis effectively ending, and that with them, all the magic in the world will also be gone.
Emphasize Noct's willingness to find a solution, any solution for the horrors plaguing his people, have him witness them die for him, for others, have him be unable to save them. Drive home the thesis of "many have sacrificed themselves for the king, now the king must sacrifice himself for all", make it have weight and mean something. This isn't something Noctis is doing lightly, but because there is no other solution to be had, because everyone has suffered and he has the chance to make it worth it. This isn't about him anymore, this is about his duty as a king, the duty to the people that he is supposed to protect.
The actual ending of XV can stay relatively the same imo, keep the ambiguity of the rest of the bros dying, keep the "happier" end of Noct and Luna in the afterlife. Makes it feel earned, really. Now they finally get to rest, they finally get to have some peace and the promise of a better tomorrow fulfilled, and be able to spend their days together like they were always able to. The problem isn't exactly the ending itself, it's that it doesn't really feel earned in the base game.
Now.
If we do the second, to make a story that I, Personally, find satisfying, we're gonna have to do some restructuring.
