Final Fantasy 15's 10th anniversary is giving it the second chance it deserves

Final Fantasy 15The 10th anniversary isn't here until November 29, 2026, but it already feels like the game is getting the second chance that I personally think it deserved a long time ago. Maybe it's just nostalgia doing what nostalgia does best, because apparently 10 years is long enough for even one of the most divisive moderns Final Fantasy game to start feeling like a lost part of someone's life. But the more I see players talk about Final Fantasy 15 again, the more I think this is about something more than people simply missing the experience they had with the game in 2016.

A recent Reddit post by user WeepTheHorizon asked about Final Fantasy 15 is still worth playing in 2026 sums this up pretty well, as the question itself is loaded with all the unfortunate baggage this game still carries. The original poster mentions hearing about its controversial history, unfinished world, and fear of sinking time into something that never reaches its potential. But many of the comments in the thread confirmed Final Fantasy 15 as one Final Fantasy game that is more than worth playing, despite how controversial it may be. Meanwhile, other players on social media platforms such as X have declared their love for the divisive entry and declared their plans to play it in time for its 10th anniversary. In other words, Final Fantasy 15 gets a second chance not because it suddenly fixes its problems, but because people are finally far enough away from the mess to consider what was actually worth loving about it.

Family

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation Cast guarantees emotional payoff

A Final Fantasy 7 Revelation actor has just guaranteed that the third installment will leave players “sobbing” at the end.

Final Fantasy 15 was always better than its reputation suggested

Before I start confessing my undying love to Final Fantasy 15let me go ahead and just kick this off with a more affirming attitude: I will openly admit it Final Fantasy 15 received much of its criticism. This was a game that came after a notoriously strange path to release, having once existed as Final Fantasy Versus 13 before eventually becoming the 15th mainline. When it finally launched for PS4 and Xbox One on November 29, 2016, there was no way Final Fantasy 15 to just be a normal game. Instead, it had to carry years of expectation, confusion, reinvention, and probably far too many promises that no single game could fulfill.

What kind of weapon is that?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

What kind of weapon is that?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s) Medium (5.0s) Hard (2.5s) Permadeath (2.5s)

And somehow it still worked more than it didn't, and despite how it might sound to someone on the outside looking in, I'm not the only one who thinks so. That's the part I think gets lost at any point Final Fantasy 15 is reduced to a “wasted potential” conversation. Yes, Final Fantasy 15the story is fragmented. Yes, important contexts live outside the base game. Yes, some of the later chapters feel like the game suddenly remembers it needs to finish the plot and starts pushing players towards the end faster than it should.

Final Fantasy 15 gets a second chance not because it suddenly fixes its problems, but because people are finally far enough away from the mess to consider what was actually worth loving about it.

But for much of the game, Final Fantasy 15 has something that many modern RPGs never come close to having. It has a mood. It has a road trip that actually feels like a road trip. It has four friends sitting in a car, stopping at diners, camping under the stars, taking pictures, listening to oldies Final Fantasy music and act like people who have known each other long enough to get annoyed with each other without ever losing the love underneath it. Honestly, I could avoid the game's combat and story altogether and just enjoy the long stretches of road alongside the bros. Maybe it's something in me that needed to be fulfilled at the time, but I'm more inclined to say that it was probably just how relaxing and cozy Final Fantasy 15 could feel between its more chaotic moments.

And I'm not the only one who feels that way about the game either. In WeepTheHorizons' aforementioned Reddit post, many fans commented that the game was “chill,” with user far_257 accurately describing Final Fantasy 15 as “a game that rewards calm, patient playthrough.” I couldn't agree more, far_257. The same user went on to describe the game's excellent use of atmosphere to establish its tone and atmosphere, which again was a huge part of the experience for me. Users Kitski and LeeHazuki also mentioned that it made them cry at the end, which I can unabashedly relate to. Of course, none of that erases the bad parts, but it explains why people keep coming back to it.

All this said, Final Fantasy 15 is at its best when players stop treating it like a basic open-world game with a checklist of chores they need to complete if they hope to make any significant progress. Driving, fishing, camping, shooting, and party pranks may sound like one-off jokes when listed as features, but in practice, these are the parts that give the game its heart. The more players rush towards the next main mission, the more Final Fantasy 15 is starting to look like the incomplete game everyone warned them about. The more they slow down, the more it becomes something else.

And that is also why Final Fantasy 15's Royal Edition and later updates are important. Final Fantasy 15 still isn't a perfectly repaired version of itself, but it's also not exactly the same game people were playing at launch. Character episodes, Royal Edition add-ons, expanded combat options, and extra endgame content helped make the full version more complete than the original release did, though the missing pieces are still easy to spot.

Now is the right time to give Final Fantasy 15 another try

Just take my word for it when I say this is probably the best year to revisit Final Fantasy 15 for it no longer needs to be anything other than what it is. It doesn't have to prove where the series is going, and it doesn't have to represent what anyone wants Final Fantasy became after that. In 2026, with its 10th anniversary in November, it might just be the weird, wonderful road trip RPG that many gamers seem to be missing more than they expected.

The more players rush towards the next main mission, the more Final Fantasy 15 is starting to look like the incomplete game everyone warned them about. The more they slow down, the more it becomes something else.

In fact, it has already started to happen. MoreLimitless said on X that they plan to revisit Final Fantasy 15 for its 10th anniversary later this year and is dedicating a video to it, and it feels like the kind of thing we'll probably be seeing more of as November approaches. They're not the only fans of the game who have made public commitments to replay the game this year, either, as the sentiment regularly popped up in my X feed as I scrolled through last week.

I think it's more than worth a second chance at this point, especially for anyone patiently waiting Final Fantasy 7 Revelations release. Final Fantasy 15 scratching a completely different itch Remake or Rebirthand that's part of why it feels more valuable now. It's slower, lonelier, and more interested in letting players sit with Noctis, Ignis, Gladiolus, and Prompto until the party starts to feel like the actual reason to keep playing.

It also helps with that Final Fantasy 15 has the Switch 2 conversation working in its favor right now. Square Enix hasn't announced a Switch 2 version, but it has reportedly said to bring one Final Fantasy 15 to the console is “not completely impossible”, even with hardware obstacles involved. For a game that's already getting a 10th anniversary wave of attention, a possible Switch 2 release just makes this feel like the right time for people to come back. It really just needs players to slow down enough to see what still works, and 2026 feels like the year more people are finally willing to do that.