Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition arrives on Windows 10
A small fantasy
The boys are low-poly now. As someone with a fairly fancy PC, it's easy to forget sometimes that not everyone has the GPU muscle to run the likes of Final Fantasy XV. An alternative presents itself today (for Windows 10 users, at least - it's OS-exclusive, sorry) in the form of Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition, a low-fi demake of the game designed for mobile devices, but now available for less beefy desktops. There's even a demo.
While the Pocket Edition of FFXV does miss out on some of the perks of the full-fat version of the game, such as modding, the optional co-op multiplayer mode and the character-specific DLC chapters, it does present a complete - if abridged - run through the cinematic JRPG's main story arc. While simplified a little, the evasion-heavy combat engine is still there, and you can see how some of the bigger setpiece moments of the game hold up in cute bobble-headed style in the comparison trailer below.
Of course, this all begs the question; Which is the Best Boy now that they're all teensy and twee? Prompto's photography loses some of its edge when the textures are so simplistic, and Ignis' food isn't looking nearly as delicious here, so I'm just hedging my bets and saying Gladio wins, because they had to make his character model twice as wide as everyone else just to fit in his bare chest.
This isn't the last we'll be seeing of Final Fantasy XV on PC either. While the Pocket Edition is self-contained, the complete mod toolkit for the game proper is still yet to be released, plus there's an entire second season of DLC in the works, including the chance to play as some of the leading ladies, and shoot for a happier ending in an alternate timeline.
Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition is out now on the Windows 10 Store. The first chapter is free, with the remainder available per-episode, or all together in a $20 bundle (most likely around £15) sold in-game.