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Square Enix: FFXV “A Very High Priority Within The Company”

Ben-Dutka 27 Comments

Well, after all this time it had better be "quite far" into development.

VideoGamer asked Square Enix producer Yoshinori Kitase about the status of Final Fantasy XV and although Kitase was a little vague, we did get an update.

First, he clarified that FFXV and Kingdom Hearts III aren't "in competition" with each other. Then, he added that the new FF installment is "quite far into development now" and it's being given "a very high priority within the company." Oh, now it has a high priority? What was it before, when it was announced as Final Fantasy Versus XIII way back in 2006? By the way, if you're wondering, they're keeping at least part of the original narrative for the project:

"Right from the start when we first it announced it as Versus XIII, the game itself was backed up by the same Crystal legend: the Fabula Nova Crystallis mythology that underpins the whole of the XIII series.

So even though it's not necessarily the same universe or the same game, they're all linked and underpinned by the backdrop of that legend. Now it's moved on–obviously the title's been changed to Final Fantasy XV–but that hasn't actually changed. The story and the world is still going to be linked and backed up by that. So yes, there is the link between XIII and XV, and they both share that mythology as a backdrop and a starting point."

Obviously, we don't yet have a release date for FFXV but at this rate, we're not sure we want it. It would have to be a lot better than the recently released Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII for us to care.

Related Game(s): Final Fantasy XV

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Nomura: Here’s Why Versus XIII Became Final Fantasy XV

Ben-Dutka 37 Comments

During Sony's E3 press conference, Square Enix producer Tetsuya Nomura showed off the anticipated Final Fantasy Versus XIII .

When the slick new trailer was over, the "Versus XIII" part of the title disappeared and was replaced with the new title: Final Fantasy XV . We had heard this rumor for some time and now it's true. But why?

Well, Nomura explained in a recent Famitsu interview (via Polygon ) that "the lifespan of current-gen consoles was starting to pose a problem." They had actually considered making this announcement in 2012 "but due to assorted reasons," that got delayed, as we well know. Said Nomura:

"If we were a year later, other companies will have more time to research the next generation, and releasing the game against their products on the older generation could have caused us to look inferior when people inevitably compared us.

With current-gen systems, we couldn't fully express what we wanted to do in this project. There were more and more things that we would've had to change the form of. However, the assumption was that we'd go ahead with a current-gen release, so went through a trial-and-error process to do as much as we could. So we built an alpha version about a year ago, and the company response was 'If you remained bound to the current generation, will it will be the product you envisioned?' They suggested shifting fully to next-gen, and that was the spark that led to the move."

If they hadn't taken so damn long, maybe they could've released it this generation without looking "inferior." Remember, Versus XIII was actually announced back in 2006, the year the PS3 launched. I'm more interested to hear what went wrong over the last seven years or so… why couldn't they deliver it this generation? Maybe their vision really was too big for current hardware, but I'm not sure that's true…

Related Game(s): Final Fantasy XV

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So, Who Wants Kingdom Hearts III More Than Final Fantasy XV?

Ben-Dutka 56 Comments

Well, me, for one.

There was a time when I couldn't possibly imagine wanting Kingdom Hearts III more than a new Final Fantasy . But with that mess that is Lightning Returns looming on the horizon, and after seeing some sort of flashy action game posing as Final Fantasy XV , I think I'll take KHIII. At least it might still hold some semblance of role-playing. One can hope, anyway.

Of course, FFXV might as well. We don't have any actual gameplay details just yet but if Lightning Returns is any indication, the franchise will continue its decline into watered-down action/RPG rather than, you know, actual role-playing . The story was a definite weak point in Final Fantasy XIII-2 but at least it had a party . At least it felt a little like role-playing. Kingdom Hearts III will have a party, levels, and might just play like past entries.

And if that's the case, I'm down. I'm good with that. Kingdom Hearts II is still one of my favorite games on the PS2 (even though it wasn't a patch on Final Fantasy X , IMO). The unparalleled imagination of Disney combined with the production values of Square Enix typically results in a great product, although I never played the portable installments in the series. Like so many others, I've been waiting on a true sequel for consoles and now we're finally getting it. I've only one hope- That I can choose between a number of characters to be included in my permanent party.

What about you? Are you more psyched for KHIII than for FFXV?

Related Game(s): Kingdom Hearts III, Final Fantasy XV

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Editorial: When Does Final Fantasy Cease To Be “Final Fantasy”?

David-Nelson 86 Comments

That's a fair question isn't it?

Whenever you think Final Fantasy began to take a downturn it's hard to get away from that conclusion, at least from the perspective of a lifelong fan. Maybe it was the MMO style battle system of FFXII , maybe it was the automatic battles of FFXIII , or maybe it was the loss of series staples like a world map, towns, full party control, lack of a coherent story, etc.

I could probably go on all day but for the purposes of this article I'm wondering just when these games that are coming out with the Final Fantasy name on them cease to be even remotely worthy of the name bestowed on their predecessors. Maybe it has already happened for you, or maybe it's about to.

This editorial comes hot on the heels of E3 and some new disturbing revelations about the future of the series that at one time could do no wrong. Before proceeding to that though I think we have to deal with the elephant in the room, the not so epic, not so RPG-like conclusion to the beleaguered Final Fantasy XIII series. While the first might have slipped by as a not so stellar entry in a beloved franchise (hey this happens in every series right?) Square-Enix decided to push the envelope right off the desk. They followed it up with a sort-of sequel that was plenty of fun but narratively challenged, disorganized, and repetitive. As if that wasn't enough the game was plagued with DLC that you had to buy in order to see the whole story.

And now Lightning Returns is in the pipe. I'm not seeing any news outlets raving about how great it is during their E3 floor demo, in fact the general consensus seems to be that it is a somewhat recognizable party-less experience with a couple of new tricks. So I must ask, what is Final Fantasy without a party?

Now we have the news that Final Fantasy Versus XIII has been unceremoniously renamed to Final Fantasy XV and I hope you can excuse me if I say that that is the ultimate cop out move. Let's face it, they knew that with all the resources put into the XIII saga and the XIV MMO that if they kept it up at this pace we wouldn't see a real Final Fantasy XV for a further five years or more after the release of Versus , which could place it into the PS5 generation.

I'm still looking forward to FFXV but with the full on action battle system inside a main entry I again must ask, is this really “Final Fantasy?” Even XIII could have been somewhat considered a command based game. Will FFXV even be an RPG in any sense of the term? Is it “Final Fantasy” if it isn't an RPG? Sure we've had Final Fantasy spinoffs like Dirge of Cerberus , but they were spinoffs for crying out loud and Versus was meant to be another of them.

Lastly, that disturbing news I mentioned above. Square-Enix has, in a moment of continued tone-deafness, come forward to say that they plan to continue the story of Final Fantasy XV with some type of sequel or sequels. The first FF sequel was of course FFX-2 , though many considered it a kind of spinoff. The fact of the matter was that FFX was a self-contained story that did not require you to play the next game to get everything out of it. That has always been the case with this series. Even as Square-Enix has gone back to add in bits and pieces to portable titles and such you never lost anything from those original experiences. Since the story of FFXIII-2 has almost nothing to do with the story of the original you can even say that XIII was self-contained to some extent. Now we are told long before the release of FFXV that that game won't even attempt to continue the old tradition of having a single epic tale encosed in one game.

No, we are faced with a game that does not have an ending and then some inevitable DLC or sequels that just keep on stretching things out. Is this right? How much can a series change before it ceases to even be the same series?

Perhaps the most terrifying thing about all this is that Final Fantasy was always able to reinvent itself with every new entry and long time fans will forever be left hoping that somewhere just around the corner there will be a reinvention that finally makes our fantasies come true.

Related Game(s): Final Fantasy XIII , Final Fantasy XIII-2 , Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII , Final Fantasy XV, Final Fantasy Versus XIII

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Final Fantasy Not XV Exclusive To PS4, Is Kingdom Hearts III?

Ben-Dutka 91 Comments

Update: As expected, FFXV isn't exclusive. KHIII won't be, either, probably.

Original Story:

In one of the biggest surprises of the night, Square Enix boss Tetsuya Nomura showed up at Sony's E3 conference and dropped a couple bombshells.

We got two new trailers , one each for the long-awaited Final Fantasy Versus XIII and the freshly announced Kingdom Hearts III . We've been waiting for a long time!

We learned that Versus XIII is no more and it has become Final Fantasy XV , which isn't all that shocking. A few rumors earlier this year indicated that this would be a possibility. The interesting part is that FFXV appears to be exclusive to the PlayStation 4, which would make it the first exclusive PlayStation Final Fantasy since FFXII on the PS2. So the obvious question is, what about KHIII? Is that exclusive, too? Because if they're both exclusive, that'd be pretty freakin' awesome, wouldn't you say?

We haven't even heard about everything that's coming (wonder what Quantic Dream and Media Molecule are preparing, for instance), and yet the PS4 exclusive list already has Killzone: Shadow Fall , DriveClub , inFamous: Second Son , Knack , The Order: 1886 , Final Fantasy XV , and maybe Kingdom Hearts III. Not to mention the probably inevitable entries in the Uncharted , Gran Turismo and God of War franchises. Oh, and then there are all those indie titles that will debut exclusively on PS4 as well.

Plus, it's a more powerful system than Xbox One, it costs $100 less, it won't have first-party DRM restrictions, it doesn't require an Internet connection "check-in," it will have an upgradeable hard drive, PlayStation Plus subscriptions will carry over from this generation to the next, the controller and console feature multiple sharing and multiplayer upgrades, and we hear GameStop.com sold out of the initial round of PS4 pre-orders in a matter of hours (they better get more soon).

…and this is supposed to be a "war?"

Related Game(s): Final Fantasy XV, Kingdom Hearts III

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E3 2013: Final Fantasy XV, Kingdom Hearts III Make An Appearance

Ben-Dutka 71 Comments

It was a little funny to hear Tetsuya Nomura say they "didn't have time" to talk about Final Fantasy Versus XIII at Sony's E3 press conference.

Even so, they were nice enough to deliver another very pretty trailer, which makes the game appear even more like an action game than an RPG. But in truth, that's precisely what many gamers were expecting. They figured it would probably be more of an action/RPG, like the iconic, entertaining Kingdom Hearts .

Except now it has become Final Fantasy XV .

…and speaking of Kingdom Hearts , they've confirmed that Kingdom Hearts III is currently in development for the PlayStation 4! It's finally coming after a full generation of fans hoping and praying that a true-blue sequel would be made for a PlayStation console. We have to wait for the PS4 and it's probably a ways off, but at least it's coming. It's also interesting to note that Final Fantasy XV will be on the PS4 as well, but is anyone really surprised that Versus XIII has morphed? Because I'm not.