FFXV is 50-60% complete

[Sora96 17,256]

 

During TGS last week, Square Enix announced that Hajime Tabata is now directing Final Fantasy XV. That wasn’t the only big news about the game; the publisher also revealed a playable demo called Episode Duscae will be available for free to those who buy Final Fantasy Type-0 HD. If Square Enix wants to reignite enthusiasm for Final Fantasy XV and demonstrate the game is moving in the right direction, these announcements are a perfect start.

 

 

However, even with two big pieces of news hitting recently, we still wanted to know more about Final Fantasy XV. We sat down with Tabata to get his thoughts on a wide range of topics pertaining to the highly anticipated RPG and its associated demo releasing in 2015.

 

On The Name “Episode Duscae”:

Duscae is the name of an area within the world of Final Fantasy XV. So, we took that as the name of the episode for the playable demo.

 

On The Reason For A Demo:

It is the first time that fans who have been waiting for XV get a chance to try out the game. I can’t say what their reaction is going to be. The reason I wanted to make a demo is to let players see whatever portion is available right now and to understand that XV is still coming and we’re still working on it.

 

On The Length Of Episode Duscae:

If you just play straight through the story, it’s about one hour worth of gameplay. If you go and explore the world map or go into a dungeon, it would be somewhere upwards of three to four hours.

 

On FF XV’s Progress: 

In terms of development, about 50 to 60 percent of the game is complete. We kind of started from the beginning of the game, so the first part is more complete than the others.

 

On The Open World:

Not literally everything is open world, but it is pretty vast, and you will be able to freely explore. You may have noticed that they’re traveling in a car. You can technically walk around the world, but we recommend using a vehicle, and it’ll be a journey driving through the continent.

 

On Encounters:

In XV, it’s all seamless; you’ve got enemies that are roaming around in all areas…there’s not an “encounter,” per se. It’s all seamless.

 

On Stances:

We won’t go into too much detail, but you can switch between an offensive stance and a defensive stance with the push of a button.

 

 

On The Final Fantasy Icons:

In creating a new game, if you throw in familiar elements just to please the fans, it gives an impression that we’re very shallow. I’m very careful that. With each element of a familiar Final Fantasy icon that I include, I have to think about how it applies to the setting of the particular Final Fantasy numbered title, and make sure that it’s there because it’s necessary. In Episode Duscae, there is a sort of surprise element incorporated toward the end.

 

On Release Dates:

During the “Versus era” – though it might be weird to refer to it that way – we weren’t able to reveal any information on release timing because that was a project in which we had to overcome so many different problems that arose. Unfortunately, while we were trying to work through the issues, the timing never matched. But about two years ago, when I officially joined the project, we did a pretty major directional change when we decided not to go with the previous generation. I also had to talk with Nomura-san about the direction FF XV is going to take. Unfortunately, it’s still going to take a while, but I’m hoping people will reset their timers from when I joined the team and restart the count from there.

 

On Fan Reaction To XV:

We can’t gauge very well quite yet. Now that we have decided to put out a demo version, I’m hoping that the fans will come back to us with their input and feed us the passion that everybody has and let us know how they feel about the game.

 

Thanks to Game Informer.

[Cucco 1,907]

This is looking to be one of the best yet.

[Xian Cano 78]

I'm just happy that this game isn't holding kingdom hearts 3 back anymore...

I hope...

[Sora96 17,256]

I'm just happy that this game isn't holding kingdom hearts 3 back anymore...I hope...

 

Completely different teams. The old KH team doesn't exist any more.

[sagman12PC 280]

50-60% huh. I don't think 1 year is enough time to finish the game if its only half way done at this point. Im expecting it to release sometime in 2016 after hearing this; the demo will just be there to build up hype until E3 2015, TGS 2015, and Jump Festa 2015.

[Jim 2,990]

50-60% done? Aw, and here I was getting optimistic for a 2015 release. 

[sagman12PC 280]

50-60% done? Aw, and here I was getting optimistic for a 2015 release. 

could still happen but its highly unlikely. SE wants FFXV to be really good quality-wise and i think finishing the other half of the game will take them another 10+ months

[Soravids 1,056]

50-60%? So if things go at the same speed as before, it could be another 7-8 years? Wow.... I sure hope not.  

[Sora96 17,256]

50-60%? So if things go at the same speed as before, it could be another 7-8 years? Wow.... I sure hope not.

 

Wrong. Tabata has asked everyone to reset it to early to mid 2012.

[Soravids 1,056]

Wrong. Tabata has asked everyone to reset it to early to mid 2012.

I just hope he's serious about that, lol.

[Xian Cano 78]

Wrong. Tabata has asked everyone to reset it to early to mid 2012.

well by that logic, the game will ccompleted late 2015 or mid 2016. Seems reasonable

[Sora96 17,256]

well by that logic, the game will ccompleted late 2015 or mid 2016. Seems reasonable

 

Exactly.

[Soravids 1,056]

well by that logic, the game will ccompleted late 2015 or mid 2016. Seems reasonable

 

Which means it could take till early to mid 2017 to localize it.

Edited September 22, 2014 by soravids

[Sora96 17,256]

Which means it could take till early to mid 2017 to localize it.

 

Lol. Nope. They don't take that long. They could easily do a global release and if not then similar to XIII-2 a month later.

[Soravids 1,056]

Lol. Nope. They don't take that long. They could easily do a global release and if not then similar to XIII-2 a month later.

Well, not with everything anyway, lol. 

[Sora96 17,256]

Well, not with everything anyway, lol. 

 

All major releases.

[Soravids 1,056]

All major releases.

Except for FF type-0 that didn't reach the US till it got an HD remaster. 

[Sora96 17,256]

Except for FF type-0 that didn't reach the US till it got an HD remaster. 

 

Type-0 wasn't considered a major release, it's a spin-off. And it only wasn't released outside of Japan due to the PSP being dead. I like how you only care about the U.S.

[Soravids 1,056]

Type-0 wasn't considered a major release, it's a spin-off. And it only wasn't released outside of Japan due to the PSP being dead. I like how you only care about the U.S.

It's not all I care about, it's just that I'm speaking from my point of view. Yes I know you in Australia and Europe never got it either. Why they released on PSP so late is a huge mystery.

Edited September 22, 2014 by soravids

[Sora96 17,256]

It's not all I care about, it's just that I'm speaking from my point of view. yes I know you in Australia and Europe never got it either. Why they released on PSP so late is a huge mystery.

 

Forgetting about the other countries in North America.

 

It's not a huge mystery. It was originally a mobile phone game and when they changed it to PSP they couldn't develop it yet since Tabata's team was busy making The 3rd Birthday.

[PrinceNoctis 1,011]

Aww, only 50% done  Doesn't matter. I'm still hoping for a 2015 release even though it's unlikely! I'm a dreamer

Edited September 23, 2014 by PrinceNoctis