Downloading the demo now. Wee!
Final Fantasy XV
I played 30 minutes of the demo and Iâm not feeling it. The tutorial combat was fun, but once Iâm out in the forest fighting mobs itâs very chaotic. Itâs easy to get locked into combat animations and I the camera kept getting stuck in weird angles. Maybe Iâll get used to it with some more experience.
The opening cinematic cutscene was very impressive. Once outside in the large open area itâs not as nice visually.
Embarrassing âtrailerâ. What the fuck is that bullshit? More than half of the trailer was Noctisâs father holding him. At this stage, they should be showing us content from other parts of the game. The annoying thing is, Tabata said that trailer was going to show their progress so far. I think that they continue to struggle on development.
Here is everything from the latest Active Time Report:
Q: Will there be airships?
- A: Weâre currently looking into the technology to see if thatâs
possible. If the height that the airship can fly is limited, then it
would technically be possible. There is a good chance it will be in
the game and at least fly at birdâs height. If itâs not in the base
game, I want to have it released after the game launches as
downloadable content.
Q: Why do the edges of the screen look so dark?
- A: This is one of the after effects to change the visuals. This is
because everyoneâs TVs have different technical specifications.
Q: Is the Cross Chain combination system finished?
- A: Currently itâs at a state where it responds correctly whenever the
techniques are used. The system will be tweaked and be polished, but
the basic design is complete. There is also a third type of Cross
Chain not featured in the Episode Duscae demo.
Q: Final Fantasy Versus XIII was supposed to have a sad and deep dramatic story. Can we still hope for something really deep and emotional in Final Fantasy XV?
- A: The core elements of Versus XIIIâs story are still present in
Final Fantasy XVâall of the things that we thought were important for
tragedy and calamityâbut has been expanded with other elements like
the focus on friendship, the bond between father and son, etc.
Q: Previous Final Fantasy games had some charismatic villains like Sephiroth. Can we expect a new bad guy for Final Fantasy XV?
- A: Weâve got a really good villain for Final Fantasy XV. There will
be a time soon where weâll release information about this character.
Heâs going to top all of the previous villains.
Q: Who is the mysterious lady with the black hair?
- A: We can only really at the moment say thatâs what she looks like.
Weâve only revealed her face so far. Sheâs a very important character
in the story and needs to be very mysterious right now. On the
development team, we call her the straight, black-haired girl.
Q: What happened to the playable city demo? Have you forgotten about it?
- A: We havenât forgotten. They canât announce launch timing yet, but
they want to release it as soon as possible.
The malboro looks cool, but everything else going on there is a visual and mechanical mess. Framerate issues and Noctis dying right away. Iâm finding the latter to be a common problem that Iâve played in the demo and other footage Iâve seen. Character death during battles is constant and frustrating. They need to ramp down the difficulty.
They better include that airship on the disc. No paywalls. Please donât go down that rabbit hole for FF15, SQEX. Smh. The FF15 villain topping Kefka has to be a hell of a villain.
Tabata did a new Active Time Report at PAX Prime.
New details:
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Confirmed 2016 release.
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Square Enix will hold a major event on March 2016 to announce the official release date.
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A new video was shown where you could see Cor Leonis, a mysterious swordsman, and Noctic holding a revolver and shooting it at an enemy.
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The main menu was shown for the first time and you could see the options âMapâ, âDriveâ, âQuestsâ, âStrategyâ, âEquipmentâ, âAbilitiesâ, âMagicâ, âSummonsâ, âItemsâ, and âCollectionâ.
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Altissia is a town modeled after Venice, Italy. The quality of the in-game city will be equivalent with the pre-render.
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Hammerhead is a maintenance shop modeled after the hammerhead shark. While Cindy is in the artwork of the shop, she is not the owner of it. Tabata hinted that a sleeping old man in the corner of the concept art is the owner.
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The middle of Lestallum has a large structure that plays a pivotal role in the city. That structure is how the town gets its power. Inside that structure, there is a large crater, and within that, the meteor is still burning.
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Various concept art highlighted that no matter where the party was in the world, they could stop at any time, set up camp, and socialize with each other.
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The car is used for Noctis and his friends to go on their journey. The owner of the car is King Regis, Noctisâ father. The main theme of the game is âbond between friendsâ, but another main theme is âbond between father and sonâ. While Noctis is travelling with his friends, he is also indirectly bonding with his father.
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Eidolons will have their own personalities, will be intelligent, and play a âvital roleâ in the story. Leviathan is female and connected to Altissia in some way.
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There was a concept art shown which depicts how the world of Final Fantasy 15 was created. The father figure on the right side is Ramuh. He and other Eidolons were involved in the creation of the gameâs world. While the art may look western, Tabata noted that the concepts have a âvery Japanese backgroundâ.
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Another concept art shows a girl running away from a town after itâs been invaded. That girl is Lunafreya Nox Fleuret. Tabata simply said that sheâs a very strong character and a very strong woman.
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Concept art of the Caim Outpost was shown. Right behind the outpost is the ocean. During their adventure, Noctis and his friends will arrive there and take a boat across the ocean to a town called Alcordo.
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Boat travel will be rendered in real-time and have seamless travel, however, you wonât be journeying on the boat. Itâs a one-way trip.
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The position of the steering wheel in the car has been changed from the right side of the car to the left side as a result of discussions with the team.
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When you get in the car, you can choose between auto and manual mode. When auto is chosen, you can set a destination and the car will start running towards that destination. Ignis takes the wheel in auto, but youâre still in control and can stop the car whenever you like. You can also run out of gas. If that happens, youâll have to get out and push the car to the nearest gas station.
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In the auto mode, there is a âJoyride Viewâ, which allows you travel as âone of the guysâ and see how characters interact with each other. In âDriver Viewâ, you can see the road through Ignisâ eyes. In âScenic Viewâ, you can view the drive in a broader cinematic perspective.
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When you get out of your car and run off somewhere, your car will sit where you last left it until you return to it.
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Areas that are labeled with a âPâ are parking designations that you can have your car drive towards and automatically park.
Not sure how to feel about itâŚ
Iâm really just indifferent at the moment. Not sure why.
I liked it.
Sneaking into the base, and using the teleport ability to assassinate guards somewhat reminds me of Metal Gear. The teleporting doesnât remind me of Metal Gear, just the sneaking into the base and using stealth to kill guards.
Gematsu has received word that Square Enix plans to launch Final Fantasy XV worldwide for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on Friday, September 30. This information was corroborated by three independent sources who would have knowledge of the matter.
The release date will be officially announced during âUncovered: Final Fantasy XV,â an event set to take place at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on March 30 that will also share a collection of other information about the game.
http://gematsu.com/2016/03/rumor-final-fantasy-xv-launches-september-30
Tabata did an interview with Famitsu about FF15 on a NicoNico livestream.
Some new details:
- Cactuars will make an appearance. Theyâre powerful opponents that will be able to dodge Shift Breaks.
Square Enix will have plenty of surprises for their event on March 31st, and to expect a trailer in Japanese as well.
The father of Final Fantasy in Hironobu Sakaguchi called out Tabata saying âLet me tell you my impression on the Final Fantasy XV demo.â While Tabata canât say what they talked about, he mentions with a laugh that Sakaguchi had a whole lot to say.
A playable tech demo will be properly shown at the event.
As for the play time, at first Square Enix estimated that it would take about 40 hours to clear the main scenario, but this has since then been bumped up to 50 hours. Theyâre currently not at the final stages of balancing out the game, but making optimal balances. They say that the game has more volume than they thought it would.
As for the Airship, it has been decided from long ago on how they would introduce it into the game. Itâs something that would have you say âthis is the kind of Airship that should be in Final Fantasy XV.â
Maintaining a frame rate of 30fps is their objective. This has not been completely optimized as of yet, as there are times where it breaks 30. They will continue making adjustments until the last minute before the game goes gold. If theyâre unable to fixate on the 30fps, they will do something different.
As for the gameâs resolution, itâll be revealed at the release event on March 31st.
As for a PS4 bundle version, Square Enix is working on making it happen.
Iâm surprised no one posted this by now.
Final Fantasy XV will launch for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 30, a GameSpot video (now private, backup here) published ahead of Square Enixâs âUncovered: Final Fantasy XVâ event tonight has leaked.
Gematsu exclusively shared news of the September 30 release earlier this month.
A new demo, which first leaked this morning, will be available today, where you control a younger Noctis as he journeys through a dreamscape. According to Square Enix, the demo is meant to show off the gameâs final visuals and combat system. If you finish it, youâll get an exclusive Carbuncle summon for use in Final Fantasy XV. Itâs actually the only way to unlock Carbuncle in the full game.
The official announcement is expected at tonightâs âUncoveredâ event, which will be held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles at 7:00 p.m. PT / 10:00 p.m. ET.
http://gematsu.com/2016/03/final-fantasy-xv-launches-september-30
Footage of the new demo:
I love the music playing. <3 Shimomura. Itâs cool when Square does things like this. Engaging with the fans, and being open to feedback is how you make better games. They should have done that for FF13 and FF14 1.0.