Hajime Tabata, director on Final Fantasy XV, revealed further details on the next instalment in the highly anticipated JRPG franchise.
In an interview with Gematsu, the director was asked questions about the changes Final Fantasy XV has received since the E3 2013 trailer, including an in-depth discussion of gameplay mechanics the title will feature.
“You can fight like that. I think in the recent play demonstration we showed several techniques and functions, but at E3 last year the game was running on a prototype environment [Ebony],” Tabata told Gematsu, when he was asked whether the title still plays like the E3 2013 trailer.
“At TGS 2014 we showed the game running in the actual environment [Luminous]. Right now we are in the process of migrating functions from the prototype into it. It will take time to migrate it all.
“I wanted to show footage in the actual environment as soon as possible, so I ended up showing something that is in the midst of migrating. The video shows actual footage, not an idealized version. It will become more and more advanced from here on out.”
Hajime Tabata also announced that there will be jumping and free running mechanics implemented in Final Fantasy XV, but the director did confirm that the latest instalment will not allow players to change from main protagonist Noctis Lucis Caelum to his allies.
“Not in its current specifications. Everyone on the development team thoroughly looked into an Active Cross Battle system that made free use of attack, guard, and co-op functions, but as a result they arrived at the conclusion that changing characters would be too difficult,” Tabata explained. “In order to create a new and interesting battle system, we ended up not being able to put in the character switching.”
According to Tabata, Final Fantasy XV has been developed the way it has so it can “widen its appeal” to both the casual and hardcore audience, while claiming that “the game as a whole is not casual.” Additionally, only one weapon can be equipped to the character and this can’t be changed during battle.
Tabata addressed the issue of the blocking mechanic during the interview, after many people suspected that all it takes to parry an enemies’ attack is simply holding down a button.
“It’s not that simple! [Laughs] Yes, when you continue to hold down the guard button, you can basically auto-guard and evade, but it consumes MP,” Tabata said. “You can’t infinitely evade. You have to think about timing, when it’s a good idea to attack or evade. Also, you aren’t invincible. There are attacks you can’t avoid. In those cases, there are also essential technical evasion methods.”
The entire interview with Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata can be found at Gematsu.
Originally announced in 2006 under the name of Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Square Enix’s next instalment in its flagship franchise has been changed countless times, with Tabata confirming last month that Final Fantasy XV is 55% complete.
Final Fantasy XV is yet to receive an official release date, but Square Enix has confirmed a demo will be included with Final Fantasy Type-0 next year.