Final Fantasy XV

[Sacredus]

We knew what will be in DLC from some time, it's updates info that is most interesting here.

[Mad Pierrot]

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Sacredus

We knew what will be in DLC from some time, it's updates info that is most interesting here.

The bigger issue is that there is going to be DLC not covered by purchasing the Season Pass.

[Ultragunner]

ehhhh....how am I gonna play the future updated chapter 13? I don't have a save in place for chapter 13 and replaying the whole game is not one bit funny....not at all
perhaps they will add a feature to replay a chapter with your current save, like what was done with FFXIII-2

[InvaderBen]

Been playing this game for the past week and actually it's not half bad. I'm enjoying it so far. But is it just me or do the sidequests seem kinda repetitive? Other than that it's a fun game. Love the fact that you can listen to the old FF soundtracks while driving. Speaking of soundtracks, the soundtrack of XV is amazing so far. The combat could've been better tho, I still don't feel as if I have full control of everything.

[Jazzrat]

Just finished the game, took me awhile since I got sidetracked by other games. It's an ok game, a decent transition to open world format for the series but execution and polish is a bit lacking. I hope the future series will tighten the gameplay better and exploration needs better incentive and execution.

A bit all over the place but still a ok game.

[Ultragunner]

if anything I would say it's a step in the right direction for the franchise.

we may never know what on earth happened at Square Enix in the last decade that made the name "Final Fantsasy" become a joke until recently

Tabatha said they were obsessed with graphics, coupled with mismanagement and you have the recipe for a hiccup like the XIII series
I'm kinda glad that he decided to focus on making the open world and warping work, it is still a video game first and foremost

like many have said, FFXV feels rushed and unfinished, but it delivers with a great sense of scale and seamless environment

I hope the developer team can take notes from this and implement them in future instalmentss

[InvaderBen]

Finished it yesterday, wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it's not a complete mess either.
As many of you said, it feels rushed and unfinished and I can totally agree with that. The four main characters were fine and the voice acting was solid, but the story had so much more potential. They put way too much effort in the open world and sidequests aspect and less into the actual story, which is kind of a letdown because the story actually has potential.

[Ultragunner]

well, perhaps the project was WAYYYY too ambitious,
Nomura couldn't get Versus XIII done, Tabata took over when it was announced to be changed into FFXV, so basically he only got 3 years to make FFXV.

From what I've seen:
_ they only kept the character designs, with some concepts - such as warping and weapon conjuring;
_ things like story, plot, even setting were rewritten, from scratch I'd dare say.
Remember Versus XIII was supposed to be in the Fabula Nova Crystallis a.k.a it shares the same mythology as FFXIII? Now we barely see any in FFXV
_ the team seemed to struggle with the plot, a lot of things have changed across various trailers
e.g. Noctis was supposed to be in the Crown City in the beginning (E3 2013 trailer)
_ not to mention, they have to code for the new console generation - XB1 and PS4

TL;DR: like you said, FFXV (& Versus XIII) has enormous potential with a lot of cool ideas and concepts, but for whatever reasons SE never got its act together until recently (poor management?). FFXV was still taking too much time and efforts while they just wanted to get it done and moved on

Of course it's never a good thing to rush our the game, but at least I hope SE can learn from these 10 years full of debacles

[shadow1296]

yeah this game was essentially released in early access with planned updates free and otherwise coming within the next year. With rumors about those updates spreading around the internet like wild fire which is hard to determine which is true or not such as the guest characters becoming permanent party members(i hope this is true) or a mission where you play as ardyn. but the fact this game was released in the state it was was not do to tabata actually we should probably thank him for stepping in because if nomura was still head this game would probably never have been released at all. even now his 2 most important projects one of which has been in development for as long as 15 are still barely passed being vaporware

[sayde]

Originally Posted by shadow1296

the fact this game was released in the state it was was not do to tabata actually we should probably thank him for stepping in because if nomura was still head this game would probably never have been released at all.

The development issues that plagued this game had very little to do with either Nomura or Tabata.

http://www.gamesradar.com/how-final-...elf-help-ff13/

Between FFXIII's development issues, SE's poor upper management decisions, and the impossible task of being forced into developing an open world game on an engine custom built for a linear experience, vsXIII never stood a chance.

And the people in charge at SE know this. That's why at the end of the day, the fact that Nomura's still directing 2 of SE's most highly anticipated titles speaks for itself. Because if FFvsXIII/XV's 10 year wait was mainly his fault, he'd be fired; Not trusted with more major projects--and certainly not with the FFVII remake of all things.

[shadow1296]

Originally Posted by sayde

The development issues that plagued this game had very little to do with either Nomura or Tabata.

http://www.gamesradar.com/how-final-...elf-help-ff13/

Between FFXIII's development issues, SE's poor upper management decisions, and the impossible task of being forced into developing an open world game on an engine custom built for a linear experience, vsXIII never stood a chance.

And the people in charge at SE know this. That's why at the end of the day, the fact that Nomura's still directing 2 of SE's most highly anticipated titles speaks for itself. Because if FFvsXIII/XV's 10 year wait was mainly his fault, he'd be fired; Not trusted with more major projects--and certainly not with the FFVII remake of all things.

i would believe that but here's the thing what is KH3 and the seven remake waiting on, 13 to finish it has, 15 to finish he is no longer a part of the project so again what are they waiting on, the engines are already made and useable yet those 2 are still little more than vaporware it is showing a track record more towards it being nomura then other issues and the fact that tabata was able to get 15 out in a few years after he took over the project again shows more to be nomura's fault

[sayde]

Originally Posted by shadow1296

i would believe that but here's the thing what is KH3 and the seven remake waiting on, 13 to finish it has, 15 to finish he is no longer a part of the project so again what are they waiting on, the engines are already made and useable yet those 2 are still little more than vaporware it is showing a track record more towards it being nomura then other issues and the fact that tabata was able to get 15 out in a few years after he took over the project again shows more to be nomura's fault

-Tabata has had roughly 4 years to lead FFXV's development through full production mode. And technically 5 years if we're to count the DLC content that won't be finished until the end of this year.

-KH3 production didn't really start until they switched engines in 2014. It hasn't even been in full production mode for a full 3 years yet. It's perfectly possible and plausible for it to be completed in time for a 2018 release.

-FFVII remake has been in full production mode for even less time then that and as of now, we know that the scenario and voice acting is complete. Plus Kitase and Nomura have repeatedly claimed that development is progressing smoothly.

So we have at least 2 more years before we can start ridiculing Nomura for taking too long with KH3. And an even longer wait than that before VIIR starts taking too long. All in all, for someone directing 2 major AAA games at once, I see no reason to press panic buttons just yet.

And while it's true that there hasn't been a lot of news or updates regarding development and progress, I'd say it's a mistake to immediately jump to any conclusions about both these titles being little more than vaporeware at this point. It's worth keeping in mind that this is par the course for Nomura and SE's PR department. Because Nomura's never been one to be open about progress until PR tells him it's okay. And then SE's PR department doesn't typically give the green light for media blow outs and coverage until release times frames are about a year away at most.

[Kafriel]

5 hours in, I like the game. Much better than the pretty lame demo I'd played last year, the mood is amazing (road trip with a bunch of happy-go-lucky guys and Ignis) and the combat system is solid.

My only concern right now is the lack of magic flasks, but this game does one thing right: I have 0 gil left. One of the issues with every FF (and almost all JRPGs) is the fact that gold becomes useless soon enough, but now you have fun things to spend it on, like food and hotels! Power grinding in an expensive hotel room is also a welcome feature for those who just want to get a few marks done faster before advancing the plot.

Random question: is it worth selling your treasure loot, or is it better off used as a magic catalyst for tough fights?

[Rising Dragon]

There's some items needed for weapon upgrades, and quite a few others for some potent spell effects. I suggest looking through to see what the good spells are, and sell the rest, excluding items needed for upgrades.

Spoiler for Necessary Upgrade Items:

Metal Scrap
Rusted Bits
Dynamo
Magitek Core
Glass Gemstone
Earth Gemstone
Sky Gemstone
Magnetron
Monster Claw
Cylinder
Coreurl Whiskers
Barbed Scythe
Cactuar Needle
Spiked Armor
Sturdy Helixhorn
Repair Kit

[Ultragunner]

Originally Posted by Kafriel

5 hours in, I like the game. Much better than the pretty lame demo I'd played last year, the mood is amazing (road trip with a bunch of happy-go-lucky guys and Ignis) and the combat system is solid.

My only concern right now is the lack of magic flasks, but this game does one thing right: I have 0 gil left. One of the issues with every FF (and almost all JRPGs) is the fact that gold becomes useless soon enough, but now you have fun things to spend it on, like food and hotels! Power grinding in an expensive hotel room is also a welcome feature for those who just want to get a few marks done faster before advancing the plot.

Random question: is it worth selling your treasure loot, or is it better off used as a magic catalyst for tough fights?

You can sell off the sabertooth (or something similar), while being very easy to get, they don't offer much of anything (not a food ingredient and a subpar magic catalyst).
It helped me a tons with gil in the early game

Have fun

As for magic flasks, don't worry, there are more in the game

[InvaderBen]

yeah, I would've preferred the Versus XIII as well tbh. Wonder why Nomura left in the first place. But I guess it has something to do with the Final Fantasy VII remake and Kingdom Hearts 3.

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by InvaderBen

yeah, I would've preferred the Versus XIII as well tbh. Wonder why Nomura left in the first place. But I guess it has something to do with the Final Fantasy VII remake and Kingdom Hearts 3.

Both that, and the company wanted a mainline Final Fantasy to be out in 2016 and just happened to trust Tabata to do the job.

Versus XIII assets happened to be lying around unused, so they restructured it for XV today.

Although personally I think considering how much of a mess XV's development schedule was and since they had to switch engines, they should have started from scratch to make an entirely new FFXV anyway. I have doubts on whether using Versus XIII's assets actually saved them any time.

[Tactics]

Originally Posted by Shadow5YA

Both that, and the company wanted a mainline Final Fantasy to be out in 2016 and just happened to trust Tabata to do the job.

Versus XIII assets happened to be lying around unused, so they restructured it for XV today.

Although personally I think considering how much of a mess XV's development schedule was and since they had to switch engines, they should have started from scratch to make an entirely new FFXV anyway. I have doubts on whether using Versus XIII's assets actually saved them any time.

Interviews during XV development do implied that SE need a mainline Final Fantasy ASAP.

Versus XIII assets lying around resulted on decision 'upgrading' Versus XIII to XV as it definitely faster and save some cost than making something entirely new.

Tabata trusted to handle XV is not 'just happened' but because Tabata shown his competence by XIII Type-0 that considered as one of the best non-mainline FF.
Its not that Nomura is incompetence, problem is Nomura handled too many projects (XIII Versus, KH III, FF VII, some mobages) and want everything to be as perfect as possible resulting on long development time (he's idealist) that is no good for SE, which why Tabata often said XV carried same stories with Versus but several cut must be done so it can finished early;

Hence Nomura is told to focused on KH and FF VII as he's the one responsible to main idea of KH and FF VII (expansion) that had that already established ground where one must proceed with caution when expanding it, unlike Versus / XV that brand-new so risk of delivering content is not that high.

The lying Versus assets only help them to decide what parts should be changed to fit XV limitation better. For the work itself, they are doing it from scratch again.

[Stark700]

Coming to PC in early 2018.