50 Fun Facts About Final Fantasy XV

Which real instant-ramen brand does Gladiolus love in Final Fantasy XV, with a side quest built around it?

Cup Noodles gets a quest called The Perfect Cup, in which Gladiolus has the group hunt toppings for a custom cup, only to end up appreciating the original even more.

Which classic song did Florence and the Machine cover as the official theme song of Final Fantasy XV?

Stand by Me was meant not as a love song but as Noctis's message of gratitude to everyone who supported him on his journey, something he cannot put into words himself.

What is the name of the black convertible that Noctis and his friends drive across Final Fantasy XV?

Regalia was designed to resemble Rolls-Royce luxury cars, and the game's director counted the car as a member of the party in its own right.

What are the six gods of Final Fantasy XV, some of whom Noctis can summon in battle, collectively called?

Astrals guard the natural world, and whether one answers Noctis depends on the surroundings: Leviathan only comes when there is a body of water nearby.

Which real city inspired Altissia, the canal-filled capital where Noctis is due to marry in Final Fantasy XV?

Venice gave Altissia its canals and gondola stations, and the artists drew on the Piazza San Marco and St Mark's Basilica for its buildings.

Under which title was Final Fantasy XV first announced in 2006, as a spin-off for the PlayStation 3?

Versus XIII made only fragmentary appearances over the next six years, and when it was renamed in 2012 it was described as just 20-25% complete.

How does Prompto record the road trip in Final Fantasy XV, a lifelong hobby he dreams of turning professional?

Photographs pile up as the journey goes on: Prompto shoots the scenery, the people the party meets, fights in progress and plenty of selfies.

What does Ignis permanently lose during the battle in Altissia, causing friction among the friends in Final Fantasy XV?

His eyesight never returns, yet by the time Noctis comes back years later Ignis has relearned everything from cooking to combat without the use of his eyes.

Which feature-length CGI film shows the fall of Noctis's home city, parallel to the opening of Final Fantasy XV?

Kingsglaive reused story material cut from the game's own opening, and had a limited cinema run in 2016 a few months before the game came out.

Which recurring series name belongs to the gruff old mechanic who upgrades weapons in Final Fantasy XV?

Cid is a name that recurs through the series, usually for an older man with a gift for engineering; this one once travelled with Noctis's father as mechanic to the royal house.

Which blonde mechanic tunes and customizes the party's car at her grandfather's roadside garage in Final Fantasy XV?

Cindy lost her parents young and learned the trade from her grandfather; outside the series she has been referenced in games such as Minecraft and Blue Reflection.

What is the name of Noctis's father, the king of Lucis who dies when the empire attacks in Final Fantasy XV?

Regis looks far older than his years because the magic barrier shielding his capital feeds on his life energy, and the designers aged him to show that exhaustion.

Which dog in Final Fantasy XV carries a notebook between Noctis and Lunafreya and can return players to earlier areas?

Umbra is one of twenty-four Messengers who link humanity and the gods, and is waiting with a message when Noctis wakes from his long sleep.

Which goddess turns out to be the true form of Gentiana, Lunafreya's attendant, in Final Fantasy XV?

Shiva never says I or you while she speaks as Gentiana, a trick the English writers used to make the gods sound impersonal.

Which god, the first to lend Noctis his power, sleeps near Lestallum shouldering a fallen meteor in Final Fantasy XV?

Titan, known as the Archaean, is said to have absorbed the force of the Meteor as it fell, and later shields Noctis and Lunafreya from Leviathan's rampage in Altissia.

What office in the Niflheim empire does Ardyn Izunia hold when Noctis first meets him in Final Fantasy XV?

Chancellor is the post from which Ardyn really runs the empire: its ruler has withdrawn from frontline politics and left the administration to him.

Which fighting game added Noctis from Final Fantasy XV as a downloadable guest and friend of Lars Alexandersson?

Tekken 7 took in Noctis at the suggestion of series producer Katsuhiro Harada, who revived crossover ideas dating back to the original PlayStation era.

Which hobby of Noctis in Final Fantasy XV was spun off into a standalone PlayStation VR game?

Fishing became the VR game Monster of the Deep, which began as a first-person shooter add-on and switched because angling felt more immersive in virtual reality.

Which composer, known for the Kingdom Hearts series, wrote most of the music for Final Fantasy XV?

Yoko Shimomura joined in 2006 and stayed through the whole ten-year development, even though she had never composed for the series before.

In Final Fantasy XV, what has to happen before experience earned in battle turns into new character levels?

The party must rest at a camp or lodging before banked experience is tallied; skip sleep and nobody levels up, and the boosts from meals fade as well.

Which designer created the concept and main cast of Final Fantasy XV and directed the project in its early years?

Tetsuya Nomura pictured a road movie about a group of men travelling together, an idea drawn from the single-gender groups he saw taking long trips in his youth.

Which director, fresh from Final Fantasy Type-0, took over Final Fantasy XV and saw it through to release?

Hajime Tabata reshuffled the team and started development over, and later said the game's strong launch sales had saved the franchise as a whole.

Which heroine from early trailers was cut from Final Fantasy XV, her design reworked into Lunafreya?

Stella could summon weapons from thin air just as Noctis does, and her cut first meeting with him was re-imagined as a rooftop scene in the film prequel.

Which actor voices the soldier Nyx Ulric, hero of the CGI film prequel to Final Fantasy XV, in English?

Aaron Paul headed an English cast with Lena Headey as Lunafreya and Sean Bean as the king; the leads were picked partly so a wide audience would recognise them.

Which five-episode anime, streamed free online, tells the backstories of Noctis and his friends from Final Fantasy XV?

Brotherhood grew out of its producer's wish to expand on an in-game hint about one character's difficult childhood, and was co-produced with the studio A-1 Pictures.

Which recurring series swordsman does Gladiolus challenge in his own downloadable episode of Final Fantasy XV?

Gilgamesh once served the kingdom's founder as his Shield, and hands Gladiolus the sword he took from the marshal Cor Leonis in a duel years earlier.

What is the multiplayer expansion of Final Fantasy XV called, set during the ten-year gap in the story?

Comrades casts players as custom-made survivors of the king's elite force, based in Lestallum, and gave a mainline single-player Final Fantasy its first online multiplayer mode.

In what form was The Dawn of the Future released after three planned Final Fantasy XV story episodes were cancelled?

A novel by Emi Nagashima used the scrapped scenario, which gives the story an alternate ending in which the lead characters defy their fates.

Which Ubisoft series crossed over with Final Fantasy XV in a limited-time festival held in the town of Lestallum?

Assassin's Creed brought stealth and climbing sections to the event, and the swap ran both ways, with elements of XV turning up in that series' own entry Origins.

Which mercenary commodore, known as the Dragoon, duels Noctis before turning on the empire in Final Fantasy XV?

Aranea Highwind grows uneasy at the empire capturing monsters for experiments, cuts her ties with it and puts her resources into helping refugees.

By what nickname is Cor Leonis, marshal of the Crownsguard and early guide to Noctis, known in Final Fantasy XV?

The Immortal earned the name as a teenager, as the only survivor of a squad that met a legendary swordsman, whose arm he cut off while losing his own sword.

Which brother of Lunafreya rises to high commander of Niflheim's army, wearing a Magitek arm, in Final Fantasy XV?

Ravus lost his own arm when he tried on the royal ring and it rejected him; though he seems an enemy, he had simply judged Noctis unworthy.

What is the plague in Final Fantasy XV that swallows natural light and turns its victims into Daemons?

Starscourge made the villain what he is: once a healer, Ardyn cured the sick by drawing the plague into his own body, and was cast out for it.

What is the capital of Lucis in Final Fantasy XV, known as the Crown City and modelled on Shinjuku in Tokyo?

Insomnia started out so close to the real thing that fans complained, and the designers added Western elements to make it look less like Tokyo.

What title did Lunafreya inherit from her mother, Queen Sylva, in the world of Final Fantasy XV?

The Oracle pays for her gift: speaking with the gods was slowly killing Lunafreya, and she was counting on her brother to finish what she started.

Which god, once the patron of humanity, is enslaved by Ardyn and fought as the penultimate boss of Final Fantasy XV?

Ifrit gave humans fire and founded their first great civilisation, then turned on them when they betrayed him, which set off a war among the gods.

What is the magic system of Final Fantasy XV called, in which absorbed fire, ice and lightning fill throwable flasks?

Elemancy begins with Noctis drawing energy from deposits dotted around the land; once a spell is bottled, his friends can throw it too.

What is the skill system of Final Fantasy XV called, where Ability Points unlock nodes on branching trees?

Ascension runs on points earned from activities out in the world, and a later update added a node that lets players control the other three friends in battle.

Which superboss of Final Fantasy XV is revealed when a mountain in the Leide region turns out to be alive?

Adamantoise is listed in the in-game bestiary as the largest and oldest living creature known to man, said to have been born at the dawn of time itself.

Which carmaker built a custom sports car as the royal family's transport in the film prequel to Final Fantasy XV?

Audi made a one-off version of its R8 for the film, part of a push for a fantasy based on reality that also put Japan Airlines on screen.

Which behemoth must be tracked through the Nebulawood in Final Fantasy XV before chocobos can be rented?

Deadeye is named for the scar across his right pupil, and players must trail him through the misty wood unseen before the fight can begin.

Which real-world fashion designer created the wedding dress Lunafreya was meant to wear in Final Fantasy XV?

Vivienne Westwood made the dress for her 2014/15 couture collection, one of several real brands worked into a game pitched as a fantasy based on reality.

Which veteran series artist painted the logo of Final Fantasy XV, including a new version shown at the ending?

Yoshitaka Amano joined at the very start of production, and his logo art survived a decade of upheaval almost unchanged apart from its colouring.

Which actor voices Noctis in the English version of Final Fantasy XV, having reworked the role after a 2015 demo?

Ray Chase faced talk of recasting after the demo's feedback, but instead reworked the voice, aiming to connect with Western players, not to copy the Japanese performance.

Which imperial fortress is the setting of Chapter 13, the stretch of Final Fantasy XV patched after player complaints?

Zegnautus Keep strands Noctis without his friends or his usual weapons, a change of style so abrupt that a free update reworked it four months after launch.

Who is the emperor of Niflheim in Final Fantasy XV, a ruler whom Ardyn eventually turns into a Daemon?

Iedolas Aldercapt dreams of using the Crystal to bring the whole world under his empire, and becomes the Daemon Foras before Noctis kills him.

Which optional dungeon in Final Fantasy XV has no enemies at all, just hard platforming, and opens only at night?

Pitioss Ruins can only be reached from the air after the main story, and the game's lore calls it a training ground left by a long-fallen ancient civilisation.

Which Messenger guides the comatose young Noctis through his dreams in the Platinum Demo for Final Fantasy XV?

Carbuncle was a gift from Noctis's father to guard the boy's dreams, and later starred in a tie-in manga of its own.

Which lost civilisation in Final Fantasy XV fell long before the story, its technology revived by the empire?

Solheim rose under a god's patronage and then turned on the gods themselves, setting off the conflict remembered as the Great War of Old.

Which game engine did Final Fantasy XV move to after its early years on Crystal Tools?

Luminous was shown off with the E3 2012 demo Agni's Philosophy, and its lifelike hair began with a stylist cutting a mannequin's wig.