Final Fantasy XV

[Reality_Breaker]

Originally Posted by Sakuranbo

^
What I really want to know is now that Versus is XV and as such is an official numbered entry in the FF franchise, how will it affect and change the gameplay of future Final Fantasy releases (will they all be stealth/FPS + KH-styled or go back to ATB or FFXIII format?)

I'm fine with KH style Final Fantasy games, as much as I love the old style it doesn't fit too well with the console entries anymore, old style should be used for handhelds and KH's style fits better for console entries, at least in my opinion.

[SilverSyko]

If they do decide keep the KH gameplay style for all main installments form now on, I'll definitely become a devoted fan of the franchise.~

Just keep the other tactical gameplay styles around for use in the spin-offs. There are a lot of folk who would prefer those.

[Shadow5YA]

I don't think FFXV is necessarily KH-style. It may not be turn-based anymore, but they're going to keep the stats, gear, and playable party members as a big part of the gameplay.

For Kingdom Hearts, the damage numbers are never visible, the number of playable characters at one time is 1, and in many cases the importance of gear is downplayed, since starting at Kingdom Hearts 2, all essential abilities are acquired through story battles.

[Vajra]

If the battle-style of KH gets carried over into later Final Fantasies I won't complain, everything else such as equipment, party roster, stats, etc would by default be very different from Kingdom Hearts anyway since the style of gameplay & battle are totally different (KH has 1 main char with only 2 acting as 'assists' the rest of the time, whereas you could generally switch between members throughout most all of the Final Fantasies).

[Nightengale]

I'm not fond of bringing up that male/female dead horse, but here's an interview from Gavin Moore, of Sony Japan Studio that imo, really hits home.

http://otixero.com/post/55251896489/...play-girls-and

A fun quotes.

I made the story. You don’t get to change Master Chief into a girl, do you? Doesn’t happen, right?

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Nightengale

I'm not fond of bringing up that male/female dead horse, but here's an interview from Gavin Moore, of Sony Japan Studio that imo, really hits home.

http://otixero.com/post/55251896489/...play-girls-and

A fun quotes.

Not quite sure the interview with the Creative Director behind Puppeteer quite hits the debate's focus? It's not like the debate was "we should be able to turn Noctis into a woman."

Certainly is a given that the makers of the game generally get to decide what they are going to do in it (unless people higher up in the chain impose their will at least...)But then we're just going into a consumer based discussion that people can just buy what they want to buy and the creators can make what they want to make.

Personally I do think it's nice to have some gender balance in the parties, but just a gut feeling thing. Certainly not going to boycott a game because that doesn't happen. I might just be hesitant because I think Final Fantasy has missed the mark a lot in the past few years. I'm more worried they are going to outright screw it up.

[Vajra]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

Not quite sure the interview with the Creative Director behind Puppeteer quite hits the debate's focus? It's not like the debate was "we should be able to turn Noctis into a woman."

Certainly is a given that the makers of the game generally get to decide what they are going to do in it (unless people higher up in the chain impose their will at least...)But then we're just going into a consumer based discussion that people can just buy what they want to buy and the creators can make what they want to make.

Personally I do think it's nice to have some gender balance in the parties, but just a gut feeling thing. Certainly not going to boycott a game because that doesn't happen. I might just be hesitant because I think Final Fantasy has missed the mark a lot in the past few years. I'm more worried they are going to outright screw it up.

Exactly. And supposedly Versus was/is going to be the one that saves the franchise, well according to all of the hype from way back in 2006 -- of course now the hype seems to have dwindled more into skepticism or outright pessimism (FFXII all over again folks).

[Tyabann]

No matter how good XV is, people will hate it. That's how FF games work these days.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon

No matter how good XV is, people will hate it. That's how FF games work these days.

I still think we'd need to see them make a really good FF game before being able to say that . The reason FF games have gotten so many complaints lately might just be because they weren't actually good.

[finalfury]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

I still think we'd need to see them make a really good FF game before being able to say that . The reason FF games have gotten so many complaints lately might just be because they weren't actually good.

With Hashimoto as the CEO, the game is more likely to be profitable than good. I don't think Square is capable of delivering on 7+ years of hype unless the fanbase has lowered their expectations considerable or will jump on any game that doesn't have Lightning in it. I believe the latter to be the main reason most likely.
Now the million dollar question is "If FFXV goes above their intended profit expectations and the supposed sequels follow that route, will Square keep the same concepts found in FFXV for their future games."
I know that they said that they would try alternate battle systems in the future, but iff they find out that ARPG games allow for high profits to be made, what's to say that they won't stick with it? After all, money speaks louder than words.
Speaking mostly from a business perspective I think and the notion that action oriented and open world games are the big thing for this generation.

[sayde]

Originally Posted by finalfury

iff they find out that ARPG games allow for high profits to be made, what's to say that they won't stick with it? After all, money speaks louder than words.
Speaking mostly from a business perspective I think and the notion that action oriented and open world games are the big thing for this generation.

There was once a time when main numbered FF titles were generally well received by the majority. And yet, despite the success of the FF at the time, it didn't stop the team in charge of the next main FF entry from doing their own thing and deviating from what made the previous FF entry such a success. So while I wouldn't dismiss the possibility of the ARPG formula being the new FF standard (assuming this turns out to be a HUGE success), I think its definitely possible that the next team will revert back to using the old atb/turn-based formula regardless of how well accepted FFXV's battle system turns out to be.

[Shadow5YA]

I think the only reason FFXV is real time action is because it was originally Versus XIII, a spinoff title.

There is no doubt Square already knows a real time action RPG works well because they already succeeded with the Kingdom Hearts franchise. It's just that they normally wanted to stick with tradition.

Had XV been created from the ground up, it may be completely different from what it is now.

[Vajra]

I don't see why a "modified" or 2013 updated version of the ATB system couldn't work, people seemed to like it more than the ones that followed.

[Shadow5YA]

Maybe if they didn't already have an already existing separate new world perfect for a mainline Final Fantasy title in Versus XIII, they would have went with a modified ATB system like in Lightning Returns. Who knows?

[Vajra]

Originally Posted by Shadow5YA

Maybe if they didn't already have an already existing separate new world perfect for a mainline Final Fantasy title in Versus XIII, they would have went with a modified ATB system like in Lightning Returns. Who knows?

I meant for future FF titles the ATB could return (I hope it isn't limited to only handhelds) or is that what you meant too? Aside that I am eager to see how this new battle system works, is it supposed to be just like KH with Noctis acting as Sora and you can pick between 2 allies to travel with you or can you switch between people like in XII?

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

I guess the main fear I have is if FF turn into a game of Quick Time Events.

I will flatout refuse to play if that's the case. The QTE in FF13 was already enough to scare me off, if they keep doing that they wouldn't get me back as a customer. I can tolerate some QTE, but if they want to use if for every fight then I quit. I like to plan my battles, if I cared for being twitchy I would play some FPS.

[SilverSyko]

The closest KH ever came to having QTE's was with the reaction commands in II. However I feel they were implemented well enough that you always felt that you were still in control of your character and at the same time added an awesome level of visual flair to the fights.

There was never a guarantee you'd be victorious if you pulled them off successfully either. Especially on higher difficulties. I wouldn't mind such a function in FFXV too.~

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by SilverSyko

The closest KH ever came to having QTE's was with the reaction commands in II. However I feel they were implemented well enough that you always felt that you were still in control of your character and at the same time added an awesome level of visual flair to the fights.

There was never a guarantee you'd be victorious if you pulled them off successfully either. Especially on higher difficulties. I wouldn't mind such a function in FFXV too.~

Kingdom Hearts 2 was easy even on Proud Mode when you used every Reaction Command properly. The only remotely challenging boss was Sephiroth, who incidentally did not give any Reaction Command opportunity save for one move.
Otherwise, most if not all Reaction Commands in the vanilla version completely countered any threatening feature an enemy had. The one used against Saix for example stunned him and removed his berserker mode. The one used against Axel removed the burning floor that not only wore down your HP, but gave Axel access to some more moves as well. Those Reaction Commands really did break the game, actually.

That's why bosses like Final Mix+ Critical Mode Demyx were made challenging by removing the Reaction Command that let you kill the water clones easily under the time limit. The Terra Armor battle was also challenging because there were essentially no Reaction Commands to counter his ridiculous moves. Most if not all Reaction Commands in the vanilla version completely countered any threatening feature an enemy had. The one used against Saix for example stunned him and removed his berserker mode. The one used against Axel removed the burning floor that not only wore down your HP, but gave Axel access to some more moves as well.


However, those QTE segments did make for some incredible "scripted" segments, like those during the final Xemnas battle. I would welcome QTEs as a more interactive alternative to scripted battles for the story - not as an actual gameplay element.

[SilverSyko]

If you say so. I still think they're better than cutscene QTE's and I would like them them to be brought back for KHIII or this game anyway.

The 1.5 Remix version of KH1 is implementing reaction commands into it, so it shows me they're not abandoning that idea.~

[Shadow5YA]

Birth By Sleep had Reaction Commands as well. Severely downplayed, but still there.

Either way, KH2 was not hard. The only way they made it hard in Final Mix+ Critical Mode was by decreasing the frequency of triggering Reaction Commands or removing them entirely.