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[Foolworm]

I can say you are wrong. There are big cities where you can drive the car, there are huge fields & shit between those cities where you can drive the car. That's not speculation, it's fact as stated by Nomura. Of course you can't drive the car down a mountain cliff, but Nomura has talked about driving around the world map in the car and we know world map means fields, not cities.

EDIT. I mean, yes, the driving will be like in GTA, not like FFVIII (and lol at you trying to force your opinions on other people, a lot of people actually like FFVIII). But you can drive around elsewhere than just cities.

And you called me blind? You've bought this hook, line and sinker. This is the company that called HD towns 'hard to do' for heaven's sake.

 

[injurai]

And you called me blind? You've bought this hook, line and sinker. This is the company that called HD towns 'hard to do' for heaven's sake.

PR... how does it work?

 

[Famassu]

So after spending 10 years developing the game, now they start to talk about "sequels" to complete the story after this game finally releases?

It's been in full production from mid 2011 onwards, before that in different levels of pre-/early development (but only after a long time after the announcement, not immediately after that) by a small team when they haven't had to help with other stuff (i.e. a year went to help finish FFXIII), hardly 10 years in development.

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

Based on the content and scale of XV I'll like it to The Witcher which spans 3 games and In now way to sequels hurt it. In fact the bolstered the story greatly. This game is coming from Nomura too, and people herald the coming of new KH games.

Sequels in general are getting a bad rap due to the way the video game industry is using them (aka anything the least bit successful gets an unplanned sequel no matter how much the story and quality of the game suffers). Some stories need multiple sequels to tell their story (Mass Effect, The Witcher, etc). Some stories are are the kind that are left open to multiple entries down the line (Bayonetta, Devil May Cry, Resonance of Fate). Some stories, like Final Fantasy XIII, honestly work better as a stand alone due to the nature of the ending and overall plot. That's not to say that an XIII sequel couldn't have worked, only that a hell of a lot more thought and effort than what was given needed to be put into making it. And then some stories, like The Last of Us, are meant to be single entry titles. Any sequel to a title like The Last of Us will, 99% of the time, diminish the impact of the original title.

The fact that Final Fantasy XV is being made with the intention of expanding the story in mind is encouraging to me. It means that the people involved accept the reality and inevitability of sequels due to the current state of the industry and the massive scale of the project and are learning from past mistakes. It means that the games will hopefully be more cohesive as a whole and that there will be a lot more continuity. Most of all, though, it gives me hope that we will get a fleshed out universe unlike what we got with XIII.

Whether or not XV will deliver on all this remains to be seen, but what I'm hearing has made me hopeful.

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

And you called me blind? You've bought this hook, line and sinker. This is the company that called HD towns 'hard to do' for heaven's sake.

That was Toriyama, a single director out of an entire company, who said that in the attempt to justify his design choices in the face of criticism. You can't hold what one man says in defense of one project against an almost completely unrelated project in which both teams had little to no contact with each other..

 

[Famassu]

And you called me blind? You've bought this hook, line and sinker. This is the company that called HD towns 'hard to do' for heaven's sake.

And now you're ignorant too. Do you know in WHAT CONTEXT did they say that comment? It was after YEARS of struggling with the development of Crystal Tools and after they only basically had a YEAR to develop XIII (most of its content was developed in the period from late 2008 to late 2009).. Of course it'll be hard to achieve the level of towns that SQEX is known for when working with that kind of schedule.

And please, they've since done HD towns, so still stupidly holding on to that single comment from, like, 2009 is beyond silly.

Final Fantasy XV is not XIII nor does the way they did XIII have any relation how they are approaching XV's development.

 

[Boss Man]

Controllable airships, or no controllable airships?

I feel like my entire inhibition over recent Final Fantasy titles comes down to that question. I want to explore a world, not ride a cart.

 

[Foolworm]

PR... how does it work?

Not by letting your staff shoot off brazen comments like the one I just quoted, hopefully. It comes back to haunt you at times.

That was Toriyama, a single director out of an entire company, who said that in the attempt to justify his design choices in the face of criticism. You can't hold what one man says in defense of one project against an almost completely unrelated project in which both teams had little to no contact with each other..

Yes, I can - he speaks as a company employee and in an official capacity. People have been excoriated for far less.

 

[injurai]

Sequels in general are getting a bad rap due to the way the video game industry is using them (aka anything the least bit successful gets an unplanned sequel no matter how much the story and quality of the game suffers). Some stories need multiple sequels to tell their story (Mass Effect, The Witcher, etc). Some stories are are the kind that are left open to multiple entries down the line (Bayonetta, Devil May Cry, Resonance of Fate). Some stories, like Final Fantasy XIII, honestly work better as a stand alone due to the nature of the ending and overall plot. That's not to say that an XIII sequel couldn't have worked, only that a hell of a lot more thought and effort than what was given needed to be put into making it. And then some stories, like The Last of Us, are meant to be single entry titles. Any sequel to a title like The Last of Us will, 99% of the time, diminish the impact of the original title.

The fact that Final Fantasy XV is being made with the intention of expanding the story in mind is encouraging to me. It means that the people involved accept the reality and inevitability of sequels due to the current state of the industry and the massive scale of the project and are learning from past mistakes. It means that the games will hopefully be more cohesive as a whole and that there will be a lot more continuity. Most of all, though, it gives me hope that we will get a fleshed out universe unlike what we got with XIII.

Whether or not XV will deliver on all this remains to be seen, but what I'm hearing has made me hopeful.

Glad you share these sentiments. We need another voice of reason in this thread. It really does give me hope for the plans of this installment in the FF-verse.

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

Not by letting your staff shoot off brazen comments like the one I just quoted, hopefully. It comes back to haunt you at times.



Yes, I can - he speaks as a company employee and in an official capacity. People have been excoriated for far less.

Sure. You can be stubborn and hold on to a 4 year old statement that was said in the context of "Oh god, I'm being eaten alive by fans and critics for this design choice and have been put on the spot about it" or you can accept that it was a weak defense put up by a man heavily involved in the creation of a game that was, at the time, being heavily criticized. Creators have been known to say stupid things in the attempt to defend their work.

 

[injurai]

I wish I was as upbeat as you are, but I am disappointed by this smoke-and-mirrors game they have been playing. Famassu is right, I am butt-hurt by it.

First off, realizing this is a good start.

Not by letting your staff shoot off brazen comments like the one I just quoted, hopefully. It comes back to haunt you at times.

Second, PR happens to control public perception regarding to drastically complicated internal workings at the time of these comments. It only comes back to haunt them when people like you try to hold an entire massive corporation like Square accountable for some little blip that came out of there PR. Other than poking fun, I don't see people legitimately concerned over the developers domain when PR makes a statement.

 

[Gbraga]

Actually, no. Let's get some new talent in here.

You can't stop Troy Baker, Erren. If you move your mouth without making any sounds, Troy Baker will come out of nowhere and start dubbing you.

He's out to conquer this world, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop it.

So Troy Baker for Ignis.

 

[Aureon]

If we want a decent number of high-quality games in this gen, asset reutilization is the best way to go without compromising either quality or throughput.
I fully support having XV-2 and XVI-2, if that means we get four full-flag games, and THE SEQUELS ARE FULLY PLANNED BEFOREHAND.

 

[Foolworm]

First off, realizing this is a good start.

Second, PR happens to control public perception regarding to drastically complicated internal workings at the time of these comments. It only comes back to haunt them when people like you try to hold an entire massive corporation like Square accountable for some little blip that came out of there PR. Other than poking fun, I don't see people legitimately concerned over the developers domain when PR makes a statement.

Sure. You can be stubborn and hold on to a 4 year old statement that was said in the context of "Oh god, I'm being eaten alive by fans and critics for this design choice and have been put on the spot about it" or you can accept that it was a weak defense put up by a man heavily involved in the creation of a game that was, at the time, being heavily criticized. Creators have been known to say stupid things in the attempt to defend their work.

This kind of incident costs people their jobs, among other things - it is hardly some little blip. There was this whole discussion on OT a while back about how people in the software business seem to be living in their own little bubble world. People have to realise when they don the company suit in public, their words and opinions aren't just their own.That being said, I will let the point go since it is getting off-topic.

And now you're ignorant too. Do you know in WHAT CONTEXT did they say that comment? It was after YEARS of struggling with the development of Crystal Tools and after they only basically had a YEAR to develop XIII (most of its content was developed in the period from late 2008 to late 2009).. Of course it'll be hard to achieve the level of towns that SQEX is known for when working with that kind of schedule. And please, they've since done HD towns, so still stupidly holding on to that single comment from, like, 2009 is beyond silly. Final Fantasy XV is not XIII nor does the way they did XIII have any relation how they are approaching XV's development.

That just worries me even more. Of course it'll be hard? Developers have been producing stellar setpieces on the PS3 since day one. In what context did they make that argument? I still remember that video about people working on FFXIII and all that hype about Crystal Tools. They developed XIII in one year? Damn, you just said they only started serious development on XV in 2011, and they're considering switching to Luminous. In the context of those statements, I feel justified in my concern. Lastly, of course I am ignorant - how much detail have they released about XV up until now? Unless you have some insider information that you can't tell me about, we are all in the dark together.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

You can't stop Troy Baker, Erren. If you move your mouth without making any sounds, Troy Baker will come out of nowhere and start dubbing you.

He's out to conquer this world, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop it.

So Troy Baker for Ignis.

I don't see his voice fitting Ignis at all. I could easily see him voicing Hood Guy or Gladio though.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Don't worry guys! XV will be like Final Fantasy VIII ending during the Assassination scene and then we get to wait two years for Disc 2!

Yay modern gaming!

 

[injurai]

Don't worry guys! XV be like Final Fantasy VIII ending during the Assassination scene and then we get to wait two years for Disc 2!

Yay modern gaming!

weren't we just saying in the last thread that we enjoyed getting to disc two because it meant there was still a lot of the game left.

Two disc XV would be welcomed. Even if it does take an extra two years.

 

[Green Mamba]

weren't we just saying in the last thread that we enjoyed getting to disc two because it meant there was still a lot of the game left.

Two disc XV would be welcomed. Even if it does take an extra two years.

Yeah if they actually do that they can fuck right off.

 

[PshycoNinja]

To all those who say Final Fantasy XV isn't an RPG or a Final Fantasy game...

(In reducing the amount of data and memory needed to make this game, was producing an FPS not considered?) Although we were promoting Final Fantasy as an action game, we didn’t think about working on an FPS. We thought about getting rid of UI, throwing away the damage point display system of previous games, and making Noctis the only playable character. But if we were to do this we would risk making Final Fantasy ‘just another action game.’ There was a big concern that we not forget that this is a Final Fantasy game.

(What is a ‘Final Fantasy game?’) In terms of the battle system, Final Fantasy means using a party of characters to fight based on numeric point values. You manage things like hit points, damage points, and recovery points while battling… You ‘consider the numbers.’ In Final Fantasy XV you will be able to control three different characters while fighting. In addition to your main party characters, we’re also implementing control over other characters you encounter.

In the Final Fantasy XV trailer at E3 2013 you saw Noctis warping and fighting in a large areal arena. We are developing battle arenas like these where you can move around freely but still fight in a Final Fantasy-esque style. If we had continued work with current gen technology, what we have now wouldn’t have been nearly as sophisticated. We also really wanted to implement damage and changes made to the world map.

PlayStation 3 was originally meant to be a home entertainment system. But thanks to the implementation of DirectX11, we no longer have to worry about the system model and can start making full-spec developments before choosing the hardware and platform that best fits the game we wish to create. The original Final Fantasy XV works on some pretty high specs, and whether the game will work on a system depends on the hardware it uses. In other words, if a system comes out that can support Final Fantasy XV, we will consider releasing a version for that system. Developing games in this way has been unheard of until now.

http://gematsu.com/2013/06/final-fantasy-xv-the-big-interview-summary

 

[Green Mamba]

So Final Fantasy is about controlling multiple characters... then what the hell are XI and XIV about?

Ultimately what they decide is "Final Fantasy" changes from game to game and is completely arbitrary. Before XV you could easily make the argument that it's also primarily command driven, but that is no longer the case because of reasons. Unfortunate to see they hold so little of series's gameplay sacred. Though I suppose I should count my blessings, because, as they said, it could have been worse.

 

[Perfect Cha0s]

Hm, I can't say I mind the idea of XV-2/3/etc much if they can create compelling gameplay with an intriguing enough story. However, I hope that XV's sequels simply expand on XV's core elements, and not outright alter them like XIII-2 and X-2 did to their respective originals.

I'm sure that will be a point of contention though, when the sequels become a bit more imminent. Some people will like in-universe gameplay experimentation, while others will simply want more of the same, so long as the same is good.

Before XV you could easily make the argument that it's also primarily command driven, but that is no longer the case because of reasons.

Well, it still is, in the same sense that Kingdom Hearts is command-driven. Unless "turn-based" is more what you meant (I'm not really sure how to describe XII and XIII's combat systems.) I suppose I know what you mean, though.

 

[Green Mamba]

Well, it still is, in the same sense that Kingdom Hearts is command-driven. Unless "turn-based" is more what you meant (I'm not really sure how to describe XII and XIII's combat systems.) I suppose I know what you mean, though.

Yeah, I wasn't really sure what to call it. There is a clear delineation, but I have a much easier time giving words to what it wasn't (action RPG) than what it was.

On that thought, you can go further back and say that Final Fantasy was about having a vast world map to explore until FFX said no, that's not integral. Or that it's offline, but FFXI goes against that. What Nomura is saying about what Final Fantasy "is" is truly completely arbitrary.

 

[injurai]

To all those who say Final Fantasy XV isn't an RPG or a Final Fantasy game...


http://gematsu.com/2013/06/final-fantasy-xv-the-big-interview-summary

the sound of that description falls kindly on my ears

Even though I mentioned this as being a potential new IP, I feel it's grounding in the FF tradition will push it to become an even greater game than it would ever have become otherwise.

 

[Foolworm]

So Final Fantasy is about controlling multiple characters... then what the hell are XI and XIV about?

Ultimately what they decide is "Final Fantasy" changes from game to game and is completely arbitrary. Before XV you could easily make the argument that it's also primarily command driven, but that is no longer the case because of reasons. Unfortunate to see they hold so little of series's gameplay sacred. Though I suppose I should count my blessings, because, as they said, it could have been worse.

In a weird sense, this could very well be the 'Final Fantasy' in the sense that if it bombs, SE is really and truly screwed. They've used up a lot of goodwill with XIII and XIV, so this is a 'bet the company' kind of deal. I don't think it has happened since FFVII, which was on an unproven console and a horrendously expensive title for its time. Then again, Spirits Within actually did kill the company and they still continued with the franchise, so who knows.

 

[Voror]

In a weird sense, this could very well be the 'Final Fantasy' in the sense that if it bombs, SE is really and truly screwed. They've used up a lot of goodwill with XIII and XIV, so this is a 'bet the company' kind of deal. I don't think it has happened since FFVII, which was on an unproven console and a horrendously expensive title for its time. Then again, Spirits Within actually did kill the company and they still continued with the franchise, so who knows.

Indeed, this has the feeling that if it fails it could serve as a killing blow. I'd be surprised if it did badly in terms of sales, but if the game isn't received kindly by those who buy it then the blow to their rep will be bad.

You could argue they were never the same after Spirits Within though. I've seen several people who think Square truly died after that whole debacle.

 

[Jubern]

Not sure this deserves a new thread yet, but Square-Enix France confirmed that Nomura will assist to a panel at Paris' Japan Expo, on Saturday. So we might maaaaaybe get some new info on this or KH III.

 

[Exentryk]

Be good to get some new info.

 

[Shadow Ranger]

So he's at Japan Expo? God dammit!

 

[Rpgmonkey]

It seems Hashimoto will also be there with Nomura on the 6th. Apparently to talk about KH 1.5 and a "surprise".