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I got one of these classic monsters that you might have missed... he's a bit hard to spot in the trailer. 
Also looks a bit like the FF4 incarnation a bit don't you think? Here's a recolor that kinda matches this one, introduced in TAY.
I've seen 4 names in the battle menu. Maybe at a point you can have a party of four. And down the line they stop using the car and go for an airship to add more party members like Cor and Stella.
Likes:
Crystal Power
Lali-ho, everyone! A couple of hours after first watching the trailer and one shower later, I've organized my thoughts.
Well, isn't this just fine.
Tabata seriously hit the nail on the head when referring to this game as a "road trip that focuses on brotherhood". Being that it's only natural for this game to be compared to FF VII, a genre-defining and standard-setting game, the exposition of FF XV is now well defined and apparent. FF VII's exposition features a ragtag alliance of freedom fighters launching a terrorist attack against a corrupt organization. In the beginning of FF IX, a band of thieves steal a princess and make off with her to travel the world. I could easily continue, but my point is made. Typically, the conflict in Final Fantasy games becomes evident extremely early on.
At the beginning of FF XV, Noctis and company are obliged to depart Lucis due to Niflheim's invasion. (If Noctis is highly leveled in the E3 2013 trailer and little damage is being dealt to him, then he must be too high of a level for an early area.) Early areas of the game are inspired by "Western bang-bang movies", which probably means the arid desert region we've seen before. The natural landscapes abundant in the game's expository sections will later turn to more fantasy environments, much akin to VII. As I've said continuously, the stage is set perfectly for FF XV to be the next genre-defining game.
The whole trip down from a royal city, to the bowling greens beyond, and even as far as the ocean's shore is exuding serious FF X vibes for me. I don't know about anyone else, but the apparent "traveling the world to discover oneself" theme is heavily paralleling X in my eyes.
Finally, I don't understand any of the immediate Nomura bashing. The man's work is done. The characters are creations of his passion, and he has raised them across a game development time spanning over 8 years. In the real world, Noctis is now 8 and 1/2 years old, while Sora is about 14. Nomura's brainchildren are fleshed out and complete. The man simply cannot afford to spend an entire year plus on something with which he has completed his work. This is the same reason why Kitase departed this past February: moving on to greener pastures. Nomura must now go down to the beautiful oceanside metropolis of Osaka, in order to devote himself to something that will surely take over 3 years to complete. While it is disappointing on some level to see him depart from FF XV, it can't be helped. This is what is best for Square Enix's games. All Tabata needs to do is lock it and park it, so to speak.
On a personal note, I've never read Hamlet (darned dodgy school curriculum :/). I plan on doing so on my own initiative, prior to the release of the game, because of how it draws on the Shakespearean classic. I never want to deprive myself when it comes to knowledge.
"It's been a long time coming...
Almost there."
TL;DR - I came.
Please be excited.
Well, isn't this just fine.
- First matter of notice - the final Luminous Engine. No doubt is FF XV now running on a complete or practically complete incarnation of its own lighting engine. Boy howdy, is it a sight for sore eyes. I daresay graphics this beautiful have never been rendered in any other video game, seemingly testing color theory itself. This also brings thoughts to mind of what scenes previously witnessed look like now, how they've turned out in transition and evolution. This also begs the question: has anything, if anything, been cut from Versus XIII?
- Character designs are ever-changing. Noctis' features darkened notably, Prompto changed the most, while Gladiolus has become a bit more dour himself. Ignis has remained considerably static, but appears slightly more slick. Stella sure is a shimmering beauty.
- Still no updated user/command interface to be shown. Alright, we'll probably have to wait until the demo launches for this - perhaps at Jump Festa if we're incredibly lucky. This is the most disappointing absence in FF XV's latest releases, but by no means holistically detracting.
- FOUR PARTY MEMBERS AT ONCE! Yes, that's right, FF XV will be the first mainline, non-MMO FF to allow four party members to be used simultaneously in combat since FF IX. I am ecstatic beyond reason about FF XV finally reviving this hallmark of Final Fantasy.
- The following games allow only a maximum of 3 party members to be used in battle:
- FF X
- FF X-2
- FF XII
- FF XIII
- FF XIII-2
- ...aaand of course, LR: FF XIII stars only that one, female Cloud, joined by the occasional guest character.
- Speaking of gameplay, combat appears to be more refined and finite, far closer to Nomura's attested aspirations for the game. Combination attacks have now been shown to be carried out in real-time, rather than scripted events such as Prompto helping Noctis by executing a soldier.
- Regis' full issue is now "HRH King Regis", and Eldercapt has become Aldercapt - "Emperor Aldercapt" of Niflheim, to be exact! Not much has changed there.
- Ignis' identification of a land-embedded "astral shard" - crystals...in space? (No, really! My speculation is that "astral shards" are made of clusters of souls of the dead in Etro's Valhalla, and for whatever reason, have found their way to the world of the living in the form of massive crystal shards.)
- All the while, Shimomura's new BGM is ever enthralling. Still, I couldn't help but hesitate in my excitement at the slight bit of Kingdom Hearts influence: particularly when the horns and "clapping" come in. Her rendering of the piano is always stunning and deeply moving, however.
- Initially, I wasn't at all fond of the cave environment. That is, until it hit me: South Figaro Cave. The cave in this new trailer looks just like a traditional FF cave, and reminded me completely of FF VI's South Figaro Cave. The hoard of Goblins only reinforces this, doesn't it?
- For those that are saying it, Stella is NOT Luna. I briefly believed this and despaired about it for some fleeting moments, but swiftly composed my excitement levels and realized that this is almost certainly untrue. To start, changing a major character's name this late into a game's development would be beyond stupid. The scenes in which Luna is mentioned and Stella is referenced then shown, may be consecutive, but are completely different. Noctis mentions Luna while the party is driving at nighttime, while Prompto references Noctis' "date" as the world is apparently going to hell - that date likely being with Stella. I'm betting on Luna being the mysterious black-haired woman. Perhaps a new character entirely, though!
- In a somewhat sadistic way (well, not really ) I'm glad to see Noctis severely damaged. I was concerned about the nearly non-existent damage dealt to Noctis by the soldiers in the E3 '13 trailer, even if he was at a high level. This made me skeptical about the prospective difficulty of the game. I suppose he was placed at such a high level in order to showcase integral features of the game, which supports a point I'm going to make later in this post.
- Oh, and I caught some "inaccuracies" in the subtitles of the new trailer, with my rudimentary knowledge of Japanese. Little nuances like Noctis' "damnit" translating to "it got me"; Prompto saying "pass over this hill to reach the ocean" coming out as "just through here to the coast!" Kind of funny to those that are relatively knowledgeable.
Tabata seriously hit the nail on the head when referring to this game as a "road trip that focuses on brotherhood". Being that it's only natural for this game to be compared to FF VII, a genre-defining and standard-setting game, the exposition of FF XV is now well defined and apparent. FF VII's exposition features a ragtag alliance of freedom fighters launching a terrorist attack against a corrupt organization. In the beginning of FF IX, a band of thieves steal a princess and make off with her to travel the world. I could easily continue, but my point is made. Typically, the conflict in Final Fantasy games becomes evident extremely early on.
At the beginning of FF XV, Noctis and company are obliged to depart Lucis due to Niflheim's invasion. (If Noctis is highly leveled in the E3 2013 trailer and little damage is being dealt to him, then he must be too high of a level for an early area.) Early areas of the game are inspired by "Western bang-bang movies", which probably means the arid desert region we've seen before. The natural landscapes abundant in the game's expository sections will later turn to more fantasy environments, much akin to VII. As I've said continuously, the stage is set perfectly for FF XV to be the next genre-defining game.
The whole trip down from a royal city, to the bowling greens beyond, and even as far as the ocean's shore is exuding serious FF X vibes for me. I don't know about anyone else, but the apparent "traveling the world to discover oneself" theme is heavily paralleling X in my eyes.
Finally, I don't understand any of the immediate Nomura bashing. The man's work is done. The characters are creations of his passion, and he has raised them across a game development time spanning over 8 years. In the real world, Noctis is now 8 and 1/2 years old, while Sora is about 14. Nomura's brainchildren are fleshed out and complete. The man simply cannot afford to spend an entire year plus on something with which he has completed his work. This is the same reason why Kitase departed this past February: moving on to greener pastures. Nomura must now go down to the beautiful oceanside metropolis of Osaka, in order to devote himself to something that will surely take over 3 years to complete. While it is disappointing on some level to see him depart from FF XV, it can't be helped. This is what is best for Square Enix's games. All Tabata needs to do is lock it and park it, so to speak.
On a personal note, I've never read Hamlet (darned dodgy school curriculum :/). I plan on doing so on my own initiative, prior to the release of the game, because of how it draws on the Shakespearean classic. I never want to deprive myself when it comes to knowledge.
"It's been a long time coming...
Almost there."
TL;DR - I came.
Please be excited.
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Thank you for the read, I really enjoy reading this type of stuff, usually I discuss this sort of stuff in voice with my cousin when we get excited about this game.
I agree with you on the Nomura part, I'm honestly not looking into it as being as big of a deal as it seems. Kitase left as well, and he is known to leave projects when he's done with his part to leave the next in line to his position to take over for him, the same can be said here with Nomura with Tabata taking the reigns. I honestly feel that because the development of this game has been a sensitive one, that it appears worse than it really is.
I agree with you on the Nomura part, I'm honestly not looking into it as being as big of a deal as it seems. Kitase left as well, and he is known to leave projects when he's done with his part to leave the next in line to his position to take over for him, the same can be said here with Nomura with Tabata taking the reigns. I honestly feel that because the development of this game has been a sensitive one, that it appears worse than it really is.
Oh my, is Stella getting younger and younger with each iteration, or is "Luna" just someone else who looks like her?
And I love how the trailer ends. A very meta statement by Noctis (whether or not it's true remains to be seen), followed by a very terse and unhelpful "IN DEVELOPMENT" following the logo screen.
And I love how the trailer ends. A very meta statement by Noctis (whether or not it's true remains to be seen), followed by a very terse and unhelpful "IN DEVELOPMENT" following the logo screen.
Likes:
Tani
Do you guys know if this game will be completely open or if it will be segmented into areas?
Anyway, we can see the 'Dinosaur area' at least two times in the trailer. Check the weird structure next to the pond in the right in both gifs. Also the Astral Shard is at the back in both.
And could it be the same Astral Shard mentioned in the trailer?
Btw, the Astral Shard is also seen from the Garulas' area. So it might be another one...or the game is indeed completely open? (Or possibly huge areas).
Anyway, we can see the 'Dinosaur area' at least two times in the trailer. Check the weird structure next to the pond in the right in both gifs. Also the Astral Shard is at the back in both.
And could it be the same Astral Shard mentioned in the trailer?
Btw, the Astral Shard is also seen from the Garulas' area. So it might be another one...or the game is indeed completely open? (Or possibly huge areas).
FFXV has a cross between an Audi and a Bugatti, and the power of verticality. Xenoblade Chronicles X has got Gundam mechs. Both supposedly have vast terrains. One has paid considerably more attention to character models and faces. Neither of them are holding back with colossal monsters. Both studios have had Yoko Shimomura compose soundtracks for them in the past. Both games are the biggest trump cards the JRPG front possesses now, and the trump cards they sorely need.
I think this is going to be a beautiful battle, honestly.
I liked:
Iffy on:
I think this is going to be a beautiful battle, honestly.
I liked:
- the throwbacks to the Final Fantasy games of yore. The old monsters coming back for the current generation machines, from the goblins to the Iron Giants from the last trailer. FFXV having its own version of Prelude, something I have dearly missed in Final Fantasy for a while (sans FFXIV, where it's overplayed).
- the diversity of environments, from the vast rolling plains at dusk that have me excitedly hoping for another "ohhh sheeeeeet" moment when I first found Gaur Plains in Xenoblade, to the crimson hellscape with what looks like ruins right up before we see Stella in the trailer.
- Noctis's damage animation when his HP drops to critical point. I just hope it doesn't completely impede his ability to fight and dodge, but I suppose if the AI is competent enough for the other party members, they can step in to help bail you out, as depicted in the trailer.
- It looks pretty. I'm not an expert eye on things like aliasing, and I'm not about to go into super visual analysis, but from what I'm looking at, no one should have anything to complain about how it looks. I don't know if the Luminous conundrum has been settled, or how genuinely representative of the final product this looks (probably no need for concern here. Square-Enix are many things, but they're not Ubisoft), but I'm more than happy enough. Just please don't tell me in a postmortem report that people were spending months on rocks again.
- "We're a long way from home", plus the fact that they're essentially having an insane road trip before presumably they return to truly confront the threats plighting their kingdom/world. Give me that sense of adventure. It's what the spirit of Final Fantasy is about, right?
- Seeing day and night suggests a day-night cycle? I wonder if the weather is dynamic as well.
- There will be at least one person protesting that they're driving on the "wrong" side of the road.
Iffy on:
- Combat? There's no visible HUD in the trailer besides the health metres, and we can still see Noctis exchanging and abandoning weapons at will, but the trailer doesn't depict much tactical depth beyond action hack-and-slash gameplay.
- Likewise, I wish they showed off more of the teleportation and verticality aspect. How tactical can we go with that feature? They could have showed more of that besides continuously slashing at wildlife on the ground.
- Has it also slowed down? At points, they look like they're ambling around with their enormous swords, and the speed and dynamism of the E3 trailer looks deflated.
- Still not too hot on Stella's new design. I'm too used to her old one it seems, namely the 2009(?) one? I'm not clear on why I'm rather hung up on this, but I just adored the rather plain-ish old Stella that used to be on Kagari's avatar all the time, because paradoxically, after all the outlandish designs Final Fantasy has had for its young women, a remarkably ordinarily looking blonde woman in her twenties was a breath of fresh air. I'm not suggesting she's suddenly outlandish in her design now, but she is visibly younger, as if she's in her late teenage years now, and I don't like that standard anime body language of when a young girl or woman holds her hand by her upper chest to signify her arriving a decision. I dunno, it just doesn't seem like Stella anymore.
- Do we not get any new glimpses at the other new characters like clearly-a-treacherous-uncle, guy with the fedora, raven-haired girl, and Ezio Auditore? D=
- That the trailer ends.
Likes:
Kaii and Slickyslacker
I can't believe I woke up to this... I can't stop watching the trailer over and over again. It just looks amazing, wonderful and beautiful. Those huge monsters! I love the fact that the Prelude might be present after so long. And I also love the bromance feel that the trailer has. This is going to be so much fun!!
I looks so amazing. Those fantasy landscapes, big-ass monsters, feeling of an adventure, all the nods to classic FF games! All people who were saying "it's not final fantasy" should watch this.
I wonder whether this game has a one huge open world or rather a few separate but still big areas. Either way there's gonna be a lot of exploration involved.
I wonder whether this game has a one huge open world or rather a few separate but still big areas. Either way there's gonna be a lot of exploration involved.