The Main Characters Aren’t Merely Lifeless, Goofy-Haired Automatons 

Early RPGs deliberately made their protagonists as nondescript as possible, so the player could project their identity onto the character they were controlling. MMOs and modern single-player RPGs like Mass Effect and The Elder Scrolls games have taken this concept and evolved it drastically, giving the player a basic model at the start of the game that they can mold into a reflection of their corporeal selves. J-RPGs — and the Final Fantasy games, by extension — have taken a different route over the years, becoming more linear and story-focused than their western counterparts. But it’s hard to stay invested in a story anchored by wholly unmemorable characters, and protagonists from the past several Final Fantasy games had pretty much the same amount of personality as their 8-bit forebears, even if they looked way cooler (see: big hair).

XV’s lead Noctis already seems more interesting, based on what little we know about him: he’s the heir apparent to the Kingdom of Lucis, the last country in Eos whose infrastructure and society still relies on old-fashioned magic. Noctis is sympathetically reserved, but he doesn’t seem disinterested or “mute” like the series’ weaker leads. Plus, he doesn’t have big hair.