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Brotherhood serves as a prequel to the video game Final Fantasy XV and gives some insight on the characters that had to be cut from the video game itself. It does well in what it sets out to do, which is to serve as a supplement to the game.

Story: 5/10 Mediocre

The central plot itself isn't very exciting, Noctis is to be married as some sort of peace agreement with Niflheim and must go on a long road trip to meet up with his bride so they can protect the fate of the world. The majority of screentime is devoted to banter and bromantic moments ... between the main cast ( I mean what else do you get when you send four hot guys on a roadtrip). There are some fight scenes where you get to see the awesome weapons the guys have but they are short and only exist to create an actual plot in between the character interactions. For 3 out of the 5 episodes something happens to one of the main characters which triggers a flashback on how they become friends with Noctis and the entire episode is spent in that flashback. Not saying this is necessarily bad but its very clear that the central plot exists just to tie the flashbacks together and create a story.

Art: 7/10 Good

All the main characters are designed to be good looking and are enjoyable to look at. The backgrounds are beautiful and diverse and the animation is fluid enough. However nothing about the art in this series is above average. The main characters do not get much expression and at times appear stiff. As a result I found the characters rather bland compared to other anime I've watched. I tend to enjoy more over the top expressions but some may prefer the more scaled back emotional displays. The art is solid and is no way bad enough to hinder the viewing experience but is nothing special either.

Sound: 6/10 Fair

First off I have to say the video games OST is much better than the anime's but that's to be expected with the anime only being 5 episodes. I'm a sucker for piano music so I enjoyed those bits quite a lot (the main theme is my favorite out of the soundtrack). I am by no means a music genius so take my opinion in this section with a grain of salt, but I didn't find much of the music to really enhance the scenes for me. It had the classic danger music when an enemy appeared but no songs that had me thinking to myself "this is awesome". The voice acting was good but average, I like Prompto's voice the most. The majority sounded like the typical anime male to me.

Character: 7/10 Good

Brotherhood is all about the characters. The goal of this series was to provide background information about the characters relationship with one another and in that they succeeded. It is almost crucial to watch this anime if you have any interest in playing the video game because it gives much more depth to the characters relationships than what is provided in the game. The game sort of just plonks you down on a roadtrip with these four guys with little explanation. It made me care much more about the characters after seeing the anime. Prompto is the most interesting character in my opinion and his episode was my favorite. However all the characters seem to fall into a stereotype. Prompto is the happy go lucky comedic relief, Ignis is the serious silent one, Gladiolus is the gruff but caring older brother type and Noctis is the distressed pretty boy. They are still enjoyable but if you're looking for unique characters you won't find them here.

Enjoyment: 6/10 Fair

I started playing Final Fantasy XV and heard about the anime and figured I would give it a watch. I'm glad I did so because it let me appreciate the characters and gave me an actual sense of why I was on a road trip with four hot guys who screamed bromance. Prompto's backstory made me laugh and was the best episode in my opinion. The others were interesting enough to keep my interest and enhance my experience. One thing the anime did right was the length, the episodes put together equal about an hour. So whether you enjoy it or not, it doesn't waste much of your time.

Final Verdict: 6/10 Fair

If you plan on watching this anime by itself I don't think you would enjoy it very much. There is no "ending" that leaves you satisfied since its basically a prequel to the video game. In order to enjoy this anime the most I would watch it as a companion to the video game. If you're playing Final Fantasy XV this anime serves as a great way to get more immersed in the characters and actually care about them. Otherwise I would give this show a pass.