The last episode of Brotherhood picks up where the first episode left off, with Noct launching himself into battle against the same snake daemon which had killed his security team many years earlier. Ignis and the others yell for Noctis to stand down, but he refuses. In the meantime while Noctis fights the daemon, Gladio, Ignis and Prompto have their hands full with mechanical soldiers.
Until the daemon wipes out the mechanical soldiers, that is. Ignis again yells for Noctis to back off, and once more the prince refuses.
We get a flashback to the events of the first episode, when the snake daemon first attacked Noctis’ group. The snake kills all of the security members in the cars, and then Noctis’ wet nurse as she tried to flee with the prince. The snake daemon is about to kill Noctis when Noctis’ father shows up and squares off against the 
creature.
Eventually Noctis’ father is able to slash the daemon across its face, and then push it backwards off a cliff. The king comes over to check on Noctis’ condition, but Noctis passes out.
Back in the present Noctis continues to attack the snake daemon, but he’s not able to get the upper hand. Then a particularly strong strike from the daemon sends Noctis flying into the ocean, and it seems like all is lost.
As he slowly sinks, Noctis remembers his father yelling his name in a panic, and it seems to wake him up. He concentrates and we can see some familiar white particles forming…
Up on the cliff, Ignis and the others are not able to damage the snake daemon at all. Then Noctis flies up from the sea to strike a blow to the daemon’s chest. He reveals that he now has the same ability his father has, to generate weapons of white light. Along with this new ability Noctis’ strength, stamina and speed seem to be vastly improved.
Noctis is now able to go all out against the snake daemon, and it doesn’t take long for him to slash off several of the enemy’s arms. Ignis and the others rally around him and together they finish dismembering the snake daemon’s other limbs, with Noctis ending the fight by decapitating the creature’s head with a large sword.
After the battle everyone is relieved that the daemon is dead, but they stand back to give Noctis some space. Noctis flashes back to when he woke up after the snake daemon’s attack, and his father was holding his hand. “I won’t let anyone hurt you,” his father had said. Noctis falls to the ground in tears; the idea that his father may be dead is almost too much for him to wrap his head around.
Later on Noct and the others continue in the Regalia to Altissia. The four of them discuss the upcoming battle, and they do their best to remain optimistic about the upcoming war. Noctis teases Prompto about seeing Lunafreya, and Prompto takes the bait and gets all worked up. As Ignis and Gladio try to settle Prompto down, Noctis closes his eyes and takes another nap.
My thoughts: I think that this anime short serves as a good introduction to the upcoming Final Fantasy XV video game. Viewers have a good grasp of the events leading up to the game, as well as the main cast of characters they will be playing as and interacting with if they choose to play the game.
Final Impression
Story: It’s hard to have much of a story with only five episodes, but as previously mentioned the anime sets up the events leading to the beginning of Final Fantasy XV. Most of the series is covered in flashbacks, but that’s alright with me.
Characters: I really liked the format of having the middle three episodes be an introduction to each of Noctis’ friends and guardians. Prompto’s the lighthearted comedic relief, Gladiolus is the muscle and Noctis’ trainer, and Ignis is Noctis’ protector and mentor. Each character serves a different role in relation to Noctis, which is why they make such a good team.
However I still think Prompto’s gun is pretty useless in comparison to the others’ swords. Maybe there will come a point in the game where Prompto will save the day with his gun?
Music & Animation: The animation is pretty solid and the music, particularly the songs played during the end credits, is fantastic. I will definitely be finding a way to get my hands on the game’s soundtrack once it’s released.
Overall thoughts: Fantastic short! I only wish there was more. No complaints about this short at all. Bring on November!
Final Score: 10/10
Brotherhood’s technically more of a character establishing/building series of the main characters, IMO. The Kingsglaive movie’s the one that explains the story events and fallout leading up to FFXV’s plot.
Brotherhood will also be screened on Japanese TV from Oct 1.
I don’t have a PS4, and don’t have the budget, so until then I may have to rely on YouTube Let’s Play videos to see what gameplay’s like…
That’s a good point, I hadn’t really looked at it like that.
I hope you like what you see with XV’s gameplay. 🙂 My only worry is that it’s really high speed, and I am not sure if I can keep up. I guess I can practice enough til I can get used to it.
Excellent episode, excellent series, bit disappointed that we didn’t get to see more of Luna…and yes, you can do all of that (even possibly slicing off the limbs, haven’t seen Mariliths fought in-game) in XV. Especially the bit where he briefly lost his breath – that’s Stasis kicking in since he used up all of his MP.
XV nerd for the win!
It does take a while to get used to XV, especially dodging and parrying, but you’ll get the hang of it. If I remember rightly I think that there’s a lot more indication of when to parry, I’m not sure…
Sweet, thank you for sharing!