Should I watch Kingsglaive or Brotherhood before starting this?

I went ahead and rented Kingsglaive so I'm gonna watch that thing before I start XV. I guess I'm wondering more about Brotherhood. I like anime but that thing just looks bad. I don't like the drawing in it and it just looks like a cheaply made webseries for god knows what reason. On the other hand, it's really not that much content so if it really enhances the XV experience, I'll sit through it.

If Brotherhood is recommended, should I watch that before or after Kingsglaive?

UPDATE:

Finally got done watching both and ready to start FF15! Did anyone watch Kingsglaive in theaters? I don't know if it's because I saw it on my 32' but man, it's the most expensive looking CG movie I've ever seen. I was reminded of the fucking balls on Square-Enix. I've been wondering why the hell they would make this thing and watching it, the answer is "because we can, because we're Square". Wow, it's almost a fuck you to the haters. Surely a financial disaster but god damn, I respect the pure audacity of the thing.

If anyone's in the same boat as me, watch both. Actually ended up enjoying Brotherhood more which is surprising 'cause I went in ready to just trash the thing. What I like about it is that it didn't need to be cool, it was ok with being lighthearted and silly. What's annoying about the costly CG stuff is that it has to be so cool all the time, it gets quite tiresome. With Kingsglaive, I would suggest reading the synopsis before hand so you know what's going and just be able to enjoy the visuals of it. The way it's told seems a lot more complicated than it is and trying to figure out what's going on can be frustrating. Halfway, I read what was going on and I was able to enjoy it a lot more.

I will say, now I'm freaking hype to play this thing but all this stuff should be in the game. This is probably the only series I'd go out of the way to watch 3 and half hours of content before even starting the game but it got me wondering about all the other cartoons out there that came out alongside their respective games like Dead Space Downfall. Were any of them good?

Doesn't really matter the order you watch them but Kingsglaive is kinda mandatory, it gives you main plot backstory the game doesn't. Brotherhood is passable, gives some neat insight into the crew but is mostly filler. I'd say if you wanna try one of the episodes out, Prompto's episode is the best one.

Brotherhood is fluff. Kingsglaive is actually important which is ridiculous but what's done is done. I really liked the action of kingsglaive even if the story was nothing.

@fugoy: you say Kingsglaive is important but the story was nothing?

You need to see kingsglaive to see what the hell is happening in the world. And yes, it is important and the story is still nothing. It's more of a catch up mechanic for the game than it is a decent story on it's own.

Kingsglaive for what the hell is going on & the Prompto episode of Brotherhood are must see. Promto might seem like a one note, annoying character otherwise. You don't really need to see the other episodes.

already started but think i'll rent kingsglaive tonight and get drunk to it so it makes even less sense.

I honestly got more out of Brotherhood than I did from Kingsglaive.

@ripelivejam: which rental service do you like to use? Amazon has a promotion atm. You can rent any movie for a $1 with promo code MOVIE99 (at the rental page, Click 'More Purchase Options' -> Click 'Redeem a gift card or promotion code' -> apply code ->Your next digital video rental will be $0.99). The discount won't be reflected at the rental page, only on your receipt.

Yes, Kingsglaive is mandatory but I would also say the same of Brotherhood only becausethe game itself doesn't give you any background on the boy band either. Yes, the individual stories in the episode are fluff, but they are better than the nothing in the game.

Kingsglaive you have to see it before Chapter 2, Brotherhood can be watched any time after Chapter 2.

@flstyle: I would say if they decide to watch Brotherhood then they shouldn't disregard any episodes...except maybe the Ignis episode (as the only payoff is a comment from the end of a side quest). Prompto's episode you are correct, it is important. It adds to his character, but I would say Noctis' own episode is more important than Prompto's as the episode gives an explanation to the whole situation at the very, very beginning of Kingsglaive, the Platinum Demo (if they had played it) as well as those multiple flashbacks in the game itself. Gladio's episode introduces a character which you can take it or leave it, but I would say since you spend some time with the character its best to have a proper introduction to them via the episode instead of the way the game just drops them on you.

@liquiddragon: Watch Brotherhood if you feel like you'd remotely care about the back stories of Noctis crew. There are 5 episodes total and 3 of the 5 are vignettes that show Noctis at various younger stages in his life and how he became friends with Prompto, Gladio and Ignis.

Kingsglaive however is pretty much mandatory. The movie itself as a movie is middling at best but the reason it is so important is because it directly sets up a LOT of character motivations from important characters in the story. And there are also a few scenes where the game directly picks up after Kingsglaive and if you don't have the context of what they were doing before there are a few early scenes that would feel like almost non-sequiturs because the game assumes so much that you have watched the movie.

If you want to know the story and characters both are mandatory. People who say to pass on any of them don't know what they're talking about. If you don't care then skip both.

Both are super important imo, for all the reasons people have stated. I wouldn't recommend anyone play the game without watching both.

Welcome to Final Fantasy XV

@xanadu: lol, that made me laugh. I think I'll still enjoy it though. I haven't liked a FF story since X but I've enjoyed the gameplay or at least the combat from X-2 all the way to Lightning Returns.

People saying to ignore Brotherhood are crazy. It makes the best thing about the XV story (which is Noctis's crew) a little better and gives you a bit more insight into why they are even joining the prince on his journey. It's not really important like Kingsglaive but unlike that thing it's not crap.

Plus as I've said before... it's completely free to watch and the entire thing is barely an hour long.

Late to the party, but I kind of forced myself to watch Brotherhood because it was free and I wanted to know more about Noctis' crew. Other than Prompto's funny, heart-warming episode, it was very badly written. Kingsglaive was actually decent, with great action and firm explanations about what was going on in the world.

Honestly, that first little world introduction in Kingsglaive should have been thrown into FFXV, or maybe the whole movie given away with the game as an additional download. It's ridiculous how little I understood of the world in the game before I watched that movie...

Kingsglaive felt pretty much required if you wanted to give a shit about anything going on in the game.

Watch your tone sunshine.

Yes

Wow, someone mentioning the FFXIII series without a ton of vitriolic hate? I guess you and I can be friends then.

@liquiddragon: I haven't played Final Fantasy XV, but I have seen Kingsglaive. It was rather good. I recommend seeing it just for that reason.

Finally got done watching both and ready to start FF15! Did anyone watch Kingsglaive in theaters? I don't know if it's because I saw it on my 32' but man, it's the most expensive looking CG movie I've ever seen. I was reminded of the fucking balls on Square-Enix. I've been wondering why the hell they would make this thing and watching it, the answer is "because we can, because we're Square". Wow, it's almost a fuck you to the haters. Surely a financial disaster but god damn, I respect the pure audacity of the thing.

If anyone's in the same boat as me, watch both. Actually ended up enjoying Brotherhood more which is surprising 'cause I went in ready to just trash the thing. What I like about it is that it didn't need to be cool, it was ok with being lighthearted and silly. What's annoying about the costly CG stuff is that it has to be so cool all the time, it gets quite tiresome. With Kingsglaive, I would suggest reading the synopsis before hand so you know what's going and just be able to enjoy the visuals of it. The way it's told seems a lot more complicated than it is and trying to figure out what's going on can be frustrating. Halfway, I read what was going on and I was able to enjoy it a lot more.

I will say now, I'm freaking hype to play this thing but all this stuff should be in the game. This is probably the only series I'd go out of the way to watch 3 and half hours of content before even starting the game but it got me wondering about all the other cartoons out there that came out alongside their respective games like Dead Space Downfall. Were any of them good?

@liquiddragon: I was also surprised by Brotherhood. That was surprisingly enjoyable (and essential for character development). I also thought Kingsglaive was fun just for the shear madness of the visuals. They really went all out with that thing, and I'm kind of amazed more mainstream stuff didn't talk about it at least from that standpoint. On that note, Final Fantasy: Advent Children is decent. A nice little epilogue that wraps up the super vague ending of FFVII.

Dead Space Downfall is pretty good. Dead Space Aftermath is...weird.

The Devil May Cry anime is cool. Bridges the gap between DMC1 and DMC4 alright in terms of Dante's character and Trish and Lady.

Mass Effect: Paragon Lost is a nice little thing if you like James Vega. Just shows his backstory and everything. On the other hand, the Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker thing is a little more suspect. Crappier animation, unimportant plot. Just isn't necessary at all.

I think the Assassin's Creed stuff was...just sort of there? Well, except for the one about the latter years of Enzo. That was probably more of a thing to watch.

All of Halo's stuff is growing increasingly more important. From Forward Unto Dawn (I liked it a fair amount) to Nightfall (haven't seen it) on the live action end, to Legends (which also has some important stuff), they just are factoring a lot into the actual plot of the games.

I mean, you don't have to, but it provides more backstory to the main characters (anime) and context to what went down back in Lucis (Kingsglaive). I ended gaining an affection for the characters after seeing brotherhood. It's pretty chill and kinda fun. It in some ways made me get the game sooner than I would've. And of the two, I would recommend at least watching the anime before playing the game. But given that both the movie and anime require such a small investment of time I would say just go ahead and watch the them both.

@quarters: whoa, are you a big lore person or just super open-minded? Can't believe you saw all that. Actually, I think I watched the 1st ep of that DMC anime and didn't hate it. And I just remembered I saw that Bayonetta movie. Wayyy forgettable.

@liquiddragon: I'm a big lore person. I like getting the full scope of universes. Which reminds me, Resident Evil Degeneration and Damnation are good as well. I'm actually looking forward to Vendetta.