14 DAY TRIAL // Final Fantasy XV debuted a new look during the Tokyo Games Show 2014 and the development team working on the title at Square Enix says that some of the core ideas that underpin the experience have changed since the game changed its directors.
Hajime Tabata, the new leader of the team working on the Japanese role-playing game, tells Eurogamer that he wants to ground it more in realism in order to give players more ways to relate to the characters and the story.
He explains, “When you're battling a really strong boss like a behemoth, if you go at it from just the front you're going to get hit with his counter-attacks. You have to think about baiting it to attack forward, but then break its stance and attack it from the side. I wanted to make it so you're fighting a real animal, but with easy-to-manipulate controls as well as dramatic effects.”
Final Fantasy XV is a huge project and the franchise has traditionally focused on larger-than-life situations and bombastic characters, so it is unclear how a shift towards realism can be executed while the core elements of the experience stay in place.
Emotion will drive gamers forward
While realism might be one preoccupation of the new game director, he also wants to infuse the story his team will tell with emotion.
Tabata adds, “Personally, I'm working on 15 to make it the most emotional Final Fantasy title that I've worked on. My goal is to have people play Final Fantasy 15, and for them to think this is the best Final Fantasy they've ever played.”
Development on the title has been going on at Square Enix since before the final installment in the Final Fantasy XIII saga was launched.
The company has suggested that the franchise has not managed to reach its sales potential and that it might even be terminated if the next major installment does not do very well.
Some fans have already expressed their disappointment with the new direction and say that the casual-focused gameplay mechanics need to be eliminated.
A demo, which will include an unique episode called Episode Duscae, is expected to arrive in March of next year alongside the full release of Final Fantasy Type-0 HD.
The title is expected to be offered on the PlayStation 4 from Sony and the Xbox One from Microsoft later in 2015.