Ben-DutkaWe'll get a playable demo in March but for now, we can live with a brief gameplay presentation.
Square Enix has released some Combat Battle System Gameplay, which you can check out in the video below.
The commentary is in Japanese but we get the gist: Noctis dashes about the battlefield, laying into anything and everything with his powerful sword. Occasionally, we see some sort of crystal force-field erected around him; presumably, this is a shield. It seems we'll also be able to disappear and reappear in the blink of an eye, which ought to come in handy.
There's not much in the way of an on-screen HUD; all we've got are the HP for the characters in the bottom right, but there's a menu in the bottom left as well. This looks to be a command menu, although the player only utilizes the first option – obviously attack – throughout the demo.
Yes, well, I've already made my thoughts on the subject plain. No need to get into it again; this just verifies what I've been thinking, unfortunately.
Related Game(s): Final Fantasy XV
So we're going to be able to do all of this in that video with friends as well? If so this looks to be pretty damn sweet
I love Final Fantasy and I love hack and slash RPGs, this looks so fun!
Looks like a good Japanese action game that shouldn't be named Final Fantasy.
I think the sales are gonna hurt hard because of what XIII did and SE will be shocked by the outbreak of hate for the action battle system.
Yes we on the net hardcore know this was a Kingdom Hearts style spinoff 8 years ago, but nobody will care. It will get the hate of not being a true FF game just like XIII (which drove a sales slump unique in gaming history).
I really hate when people say this isn't a Final Fantasy game. What is a Final Fantasy game then? All the complaining I'm hearing is because it isn't turn based. I'm sorry if I sound like a d*ck but I think its time to get over it and move on. Final Fantasy can be whatever Square wants it to be whether their fans agree with it or not. There is SO MUCH MORE to Final Fantasy then its combat and the name and it's mainline titles shouldn't be restricted to the game play.
Final Fantasy always hooked me because of it's world, settings, characters and plot. That to me is what makes an FF game an FF game. I love and own every Final Fantasy game that I could get my hands on and I welcome this change in combat with open arms. To me FFXV feels more like an FF game and I haven't been this excited since FF9.
I'm sorry for the rant but I feel like these old school fans are just so immature. I know I'm going to offend people by saying that but we are not developing these games we are only here to enjoy the developers vision. I'm just sick of reading every single article complaining about no turn based battles from this site and dismissing it because of this. We should be welcoming change with open arms and be more open minded toward different styles. anddddddddddd im done =)
Last edited by SayWord on 10/2/2014 2:55:56 PM
I agree with sayword,but it doesn't change the fact that I miss the old mechanics. As long as it's not a fiasco of a battle system, like xiii. I'd like to get through battles with some thought put into it.
Last edited by CHAOS THEORY X on 10/2/2014 3:17:09 PM
Out with the old, in with the new.
I find it amusing when someone puts forth a personal thought in a clear, concise, and mature way only to be called immature by someone else based soley on the grounds that they disagree.
People are entitled to their own opinion, even if it's not yours.
SayWord: I wish people would stop saying that those who hate the look of FFXV are only hating it because it doesn't have turn-based gameplay.
That's crap. FF hasn't been purely turn-based for some time. FFXII was one of the better games in the series, gameplay-wise, and it was a definite hybrid. Above all else, it was a ROLE-PLAYING GAME.
The reason people are saying this isn't Final Fantasy is because it doesn't look anything like an RPG. What, because we see hit points? This looks like nothing more than an open-world adventure game with mechanics that are much closer to any hack 'n slash action game than a real action/RPG. That's why. This is not gameplay from an RPG; this is gameplay from an action game. Square Enix has been calling it an action game from the get-go, too.
If it's a role-playing game with action elements, fine. But that's not what this looks like. It looks like an action game first and foremost, with a few deeper elements worked in. Big deal. I can get that from Assassin's Creed.
And by the way, a BIG part of what always made Final Fantasy Final Fantasy were indeed those combat mechanics. They were always unique, always deep, always offering fresh advancement systems, from Espers to Materia to Junction to the Sphere Grid to Licenses and Gambits. The FFXIII trilogy offered a somewhat watered-down system so the series could switch its focus to more action and mainstream appeal. FFXV will complete that shift.
They're trying to make a mainstream action game with a few lingering RPG elements. They're not trying to make a hardcore RPG game. THAT is why long-time fans hate it. ALL games have characters and worlds. The gameplay is what defines the genre; i.e., what they are. It's what defined Final Fantasy as an RPG. No longer, as far as I can see.
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 10/2/2014 5:18:06 PM
On the other hand, Sayword, could you remove the sandbox nature of GTA and have a sort of "mission select" menu to carry out events and still call it GTA?
@Soulja
I think the issue is that none of it is very new. The issue is that it's more generic, in fact.
Last edited by Underdog15 on 10/2/2014 7:53:24 PM
It's an action game, that's why it isn't FF.
Some of you guys are jumping too much into conclusion. The aim of this game has always been said to be FF with gameplay closer to that of Kingdom Hearts. That's all we know. I mean are you telling me that Kingdom Hearts is an action game with minimal rpg properties? If anything it'll probably be more rpg just because it'll have FF elements and it's no longer a spin off. I don't understand how seeing a small portion of the games sword combat automatically translates into action game with no to minor rpg elements. We all absolutely have no idea how the progression system works. Why can't this be a game like FFXII, only with a more real time combat. There are even emphasis on dodging which some of you probably rather depend on evasion skill or something.
We've yet to see if there will be special overdrive moves, how summoning will work, how magic will work, how upgrading weapons will work, how leveling up works, and simply how the battle mechanics work outside of hit points like defense, weakness, speed, or resilience.
To me, all I see here is small sneak peak of one of the game's gameplay element in sword fighting and teleportation. Yet to see other weapon types and other characters specialty wep. Curious to see how meteor, waterga, thunderga, blizzaga, and such all work in real time with this game. Yes I don't even know if they'll even have it but nor do I know that it won't.
Let's just wait and see till it's all revealed before we start trying to dictate what this game is or will be and what makes an FF game. IMO, there is too much other elements in the FF universe outside of gameplay so if it's not in a form of turn based I'm not going to automTically dismiss the FF title. If the game is about crystals, has chocobos, moogles, airships, dungeons, saving the world, summonings, exploring, magic, progression system, memorable monsters like behemoth, cactus and giant turtles, and also yoko music all packed into one, it'll be hard for me to think its a game other than FF. I see the gameplay as a natural evolution to be honest, but that doesn't mean it takes away everything else that makes a game FF. Yes all games have characters and story but FF has a consistent theme to them no matter how different their worlds are.
"I mean are you telling me that Kingdom Hearts is an action game with minimal rpg properties?"
Yes, that's exactly what I'm telling you. I thought everyone knew that.
Not to mention this looks nothing like 12's gameplay. 12 was still somewhat turn based while allowing you to move around at the same time.
Gambit system allowed you to set up characters so you could focus on one character, but you could just as easily play it old school and control each of them.
12 just didn't have the option to force your enemy to wait his turn, he attacked when his attack was ready.
This is hack n slash.
Don't know, don't care anymore.
I can't believe i'm typing this but… I'm intrigued. Still burned from XIII and its hideous offspring, but this just looks really cool to me…
I am so looking forward to this. It's a shame it isn't a traditional FF, but I do love Kingdom Hearts, so I don't mind.
It'd better not be another XIII fiasco.
Well it's looks great and all, but as World said it shouldn't have Final Fantasy in the title at this rate.
Let's hope the old RPG fans have the hand-eye coordination to handle the next gen of "RPGs".
for a game that's supposed to be really impressive visually the environment looks sterile and bland. It's as if it's just a wide open backdrop doing nothing. this looks like a city they're in. where's the people? If it wants to play like an action game it needs to at least be as integrated with it's surroundings as action games are these days. right now it looks like FFXV: Closed Arena Combat (a secondary mode of play in something like NG or GoW)
Last edited by Temjin001 on 10/2/2014 3:36:07 PM
I think it's (shocking) post apocalyptic
heh, yea.
it has an artistic vibe that feels like scenes out of Advent Children.
The problem is Advent Children actually had life and people in the city. This is just some big empty place with likely no shops or no anything other than looking big in scale.
Maybe the people in the city have all been scared s***less by the behemoth (here's hoping!)
Agree temjin, does look a bit like advent children. Must remember that we are only seeing one area of the city in this video, it could be huge.
Temjin this arena has been used mostly for demos, I think it is "lifeless" looking because they just use this big area to demonstrate the combat and enemies.
I'm hoping that the full game feels more alive than this but I don't think this one arena is enough to draw any conclusions from 😛
I feel so bad for those soldiers and their pet, no one told them that the guy from Ninja Gaiden had escaped into the Final Fantasy universe. Or was that the guy from Devil May Cry?
Whoever he was, I think he was lost.
Maybe they will release a FFXII remake on ps4.
I was waiting for Dante's appearance
the correct non-new-DMC Dante right?
Yes. The one from DMC 1, 3 or 4. Preferably.
Beamboom was right. Looks like a hanck n' slash. I'm also annoyed by the person playing. I'd be turning the camera a lot more than that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJrXCfVKXEA
There's a gameplay demo of FFXV halfway through the video. It shows an avade feature, fire spell and a combination attack. Looks good.
I linked this video in another article, I think it shows the combat better than this video. It shows more variety and a slower weightyness to it.
A part of the fault for the blandness of this demo looks to be on that of the player. Whoever it was relied far too much on the single strike move, while other videos have displayed double-team attacks and some of the magic in the game. In comparison, this looked almost horrifically bland. I hope that the heavy focus on the hack 'n' slash combat in these early videos is just an attempt to sell the action-loving audience on the game, because the game really does need more than what they've shown so far. I'm still looking forward to seeing what the game will turn out like, and I'm tentatively hopeful.
I'm hoping that they have made the game impossible to complete if you just rely on 1 button attacks. FF has always had an element of thought required in your attacks, if you can get by on 1 button attacks will be disgraceful – almost as if the developers think we as gamers have no ability to think during a game (wait… that sounds like pvp cod)
If it wasnt for Destiny, I would be pretty hyped about this game. It does look good imo. I guess the days of turned based rpgs are a thing of the past. Sad faaaaaaace. 🙁
I think it's time they solidify the fact that this isn't THE WHOLE PACKAGE. The problem with these sneak peaks is that there's too many of them showing the same thing over and over again. It's coming to a point that, subconsciously, viewers are getting the idea that this is ALL that FF XV is…
…which I hope it isn't. Personally though? I miss turn-based mechanics, I miss setting up complex pre-battle AI and weapon/armor combinations. I miss Final Fantasy for what it used be 15 or so years ago..
This game still looks pretty cool for an action game though. No doubt I'll be getting it xD
Scary thing – final fantasy 15 years ago would have been X, 8 years ago would have been XII.
As long as it has the same depth as kingdom hearts I'm all on board. I just hope it's not a watered down version of KH. But so far looks good!
I don't have a problem with action games, or hack n slash, I really don't have a problem with someone liking any type of game.
My problem is what is exactly the point of making a series of games if they don't all have qualities that keep them related. If all FF's for 20 years have been rpgs and you suddenly want to make a hack n slash why does it have to be called FF, name it something else and happy day for you with no title controversy.
This is equivalent to making the next dance party game a 3rd person mystery action thriller.
Exactly this.
I see your point, but a counterpoint: when has final fantasy ever stood pat with the status quo? It went from turn-based to real-time to the quasi-MMO style combat of 12, so whatever the combat engine is for this game, it's not at all unheard of for the gamemakers to experiment and move things in different directions each and every time out. The settings vary wildly from title to title: the tone, the technology, futuristic, middle ages-inspired, the industrial age… they never stand pat.
What DOES make Final Fantasy Final Fantasy? I think a racing simulator isn't Final Fantasy. I don't think an FPS is Final Fantasy. But can I honestly say this game isn't? I can't come to that conclusion yet. The characters look like FF characters. The enemies look like FF enemies. I'll bet the music sounds like FF. I'd venture a guess that the world is going to blend real world influences with crazy fantasy tropes, as it always does, which is very Final Fantasy.
Again, I really do see your point, and you may be right that this one is just so different from previous installments if feels inappropriate to call it Final Fantasy. But I used to love this series so much precisely because each game looked, felt and played quite different from the last. I'm hopeful this carries on that tradition, even if it has action-heavy combat.
Very true, many of them play differently, but they are all very, very rpg oriented first and foremost.
Many people didn't like 12 because it was supposedly so different, but it was still an rpg above all else as were the previous titles.
This is straight up hack n slash, even if they throw in some rpg elements, it's still a hack n slash. That is the big defining difference.
I'm not saying it will be a bad game, but it seems that SE has decided that really all they have to do to make a FF title is create characters and monsters that look like updated version of characters and monsters people love from previous titles and call it a day.
Final Fantasy was haled for years as the best RPG series ever. FFXV not even the same genre of game.
It innovated and changed with each title, sure, but never until now did a main title actually jump to a new genre.
You weren't doing this, but I do really hate how some people act like this sort of hack n' slash gameplay is "new".
"What DOES make Final Fantasy Final Fantasy? I think a racing simulator isn't Final Fantasy. I don't think an FPS is Final Fantasy. But can I honestly say this game isn't? I can't come to that conclusion yet. The characters look like FF characters. The enemies look like FF enemies. I'll bet the music sounds like FF. I'd venture a guess that the world is going to blend real world influences with crazy fantasy tropes, as it always does, which is very Final Fantasy."
Final Fantasy is an RPG. That's what it is. If this isn't an RPG, it shouldn't be called Final Fantasy.
As for the rest, I'm not so sure about that. The characters and enemies don't have a specific FF look to me; they just have a Japanese look. That's a given. I'm also seeing a slicker, more modern, even sci-fi presentation, which is more Western in style.
For years, Japanese developers have been trying to make their games look and feel Western. It has proven to be a colossal mistake but I just see more of that in FFXV. An action-based, Western-styled game with a few Japanese influences…and that's not what Final Fantasy is or should be.
RPG is a broad term Ben, if you are going on the technical term of an RPG, then even Final Fantasy doesn't 100% fall into what they started out as, which were games based off of the DnD rule set, generally speaking of course.
An RPG to me is a game where you can grow over the journey of the game in a substantial way, more than the growth you get in a God of War type action game.
This game could allow for that, and we don't know if the combat will have a weight to it or if there is a commitment to the button presses, etc. Most action games you can cancel animations, and block on the fly. This might not allow for that and we won't be able to know until we try it.
I saw one video for example where the combat looked much slower than this, homura linked it in this article. Now if your character starts the game attacking much slower, and by the end is teleporting around like this that to me is the type of progression in line with what I expect from an RPG.
I keep going back to the Witcher 2, it is most definitely an RPG and it has responsive combat. Now in easy mode the witcher might seem like a mindless hack and slash, but if you play it in the hard mode which the devs say is the right way to play it then there is a lot of tactical thought before and during battles. You can mix and drink potions to augment your abilities, and in battle slow down time to change your spells not to mention you have to attack and defend at the right times. But when I click my mouse I swing my sword, so is it now not an RPG? The game has real choice and consequence, a deep story where you follow a character on his quest, loot to collect, side quests to do, and skills to level up. These are all things that according to Wikipedia are part of RPGs.
So if FF15 has all of these things and fast responsive combat like the witcher 2, then why not call it an RPG?
The Witcher 2 is an action/RPG. If action takes center-stage in the gameplay, it has to be part of the genre. If the role-playing elements are the most prominent, it's a full-fledged RPG.
Final Fantasy has always been an RPG. It has never put action elements ahead of any of the standard role-playing aspects, which is why Final Fantasy XV doesn't deserve to be called Final Fantasy.
True it is an Action/RPG, I might have forgot to put that in there 😛
But what would you call a game like Skyrim or Oblivion? Action RPGs for sure in my eyes but they aren't light on the aspects of RPGs that we love, deep character building and progression, loot, side quests, interesting main quest(debatable :P) huge worlds to explore etc.
I'm just saying that if FF15 can provide all of those things but have action based combat then I think we can call it a Final Fantasy because those elements always made a Final Fantasy Final Fantasy, to me at least.
All that said I agree in a sense, that they didn't need to call this Final Fantasy, or if they did they could have kept it a spin off like they did with Crisis Core.
Whether it deserves to be called one or not I will have to play the game first to see if the RPG elements are even noticeable in the game.
Another distinction with something like Skyrim is that everything about the character is played by you. You make their decisions, you design the character, and basically, you are the character as opposed to going on a journey with a character, a la inFamous.
The combat system just made me skip this game
The combat doesn't look bad, but I kind of got an "oh no" feeling from the teleportation .
It reminds me a lot of the flow motion battle style from KH:DDD.
I enjoy the traditional KH battle style, but that flow motion stuff was ind of eh for me.
I can get this type of game play from God of war, Infamous, Uncharted, Assasin's Creed and Devil May Cry. I'm on the fence with this one. Imagining this game with some form of deep, ever evolving turn based battle system , keeping the presentation and slickness of what we've currently seen of the game.
Oh Look it's -H-y-r-u-l-e- Final Fantasy Warriors.
Last edited by richfiles on 10/5/2014 2:55:03 PM