So about the episodic playable bros DLC...

[ChingleeTribal]

Information is a bit scarce at the moment but what we do know is that you will be in control of each of the bros.

Now I'm in two minds about this:
1)If the episodes are tailored to the fighting style of each character and you can't switch between characters and are restricted to the character tied to the episode and it doesn't become an unlock for the full game that allows you to switch to said character then I don't mind at all.

2)If you can switch between bros(for example, let's say Ep1 is Prompto so the dlc could only allow you to switch between him and Noctis. And then the following Ep is Gladious so then you can switch between Prompto, Gladio and Noct etc)and then all characters become unlocked for the full game so that you can then switch between all characters in the full game I will be quite upset with the developers.

Why would I be upset? Well I remember Tabata saying at one point that it would be too complicated or way too much work to get character switching to work what with the very intricate buddy AI system(I roughly remember him saying something like that during an ATR I think. If I'm incorrect someone please correct me). And with VersusXIII originally showcasing character switching it feels like content that could have been included however if they were to add it via DLC then it feels like they already figured a way to implement character switching vmbut held of putting it in knowing that it's a high demand feature just so they can say "Hey, buy the episodes, complete them and unlock the bros as playable characters you can switch to on the fly giving you a whole knew incentive to experience the game on new game plus for a wildly different experience!"

Now I fully understand, VersusXIII never came to be. If it would have been release it would have gone through various changes and one of those changes could have been a decision t scrap character switching. To that I can't really say "it's cut content". And then of course FFXV is not VersusXIII.

But with that said If I'm correct(I'm pretty sure I am)that Tabata said it would be too much to do a competent character switching mechanic with the AI they have setup then I stand by saying it is content that could have been included in the full game and therefore cut content in the attempt to create an added incentive for those who are less unaware to purchase the dlc.

To be very clear: this is not a rant. A lot of it is speculation and I'm not hear to blame anyone. We've not enough to go on concerning the episodic dlc yet.

Hopefully we get more info soon thar will give full clarity of what to expect. For now I remain cautious but intrigued.

What about you guys? How would you like the Eps to play out and would it bother you if the Eps allow for full character switching in the full game knowing it could have been included as a base feature?

 

[DrBretto]

I could see how it might bother people who want something like that to bother them, but I don't see it as a bad thing at all.

I very much see it like they had made the decision a long time ago to go with a single playable character (and for many reasons) and designed the game accordingly, but when planning their DLC, they heard people's cries and are doing what they can to make it a reality. People didn't (or at least shouldn't have) felt cheated when they added flight to Heavensward, for example.

So, again, I do kinda get it, but I think that's a very cynical way to look at it.

I'd say by far the safest bet is that each of the individual scenarios are that particular Bro-exclusive, though. There's a rumor (and that's a huge key word here) that after all three of those scenarios, it might unlock something with the online FFXV mode they teased, and in that mode, you'd be able to switch characters. For all we know, like the description says, that's basically a completely different game.

This isn't even especially clear that you'd be able to switch characters anywhere all willy nilly or anything, either, so it's nearly impossible to have a firm opinion on something that is theoretically theoretical at this point. It will be too easy for people to start imagining, and arguing against, their own conclusions they leaped to.

 

[ChingleeTribal]

This isn't even especially clear that you'd be able to switch characters anywhere all willy nilly or anything, either, so it's nearly impossible to have a firm opinion on something that is theoretically theoretical at this point.

Of course, of course. I'm just kinda speculating with what we have at the moment because for me it did set of some alarm bells lol.

I'm sure further clarity on how the eps will work and what to expect from them will come in due time
....But I say again, I will stay cautious xD

 

[Infest]

The thing that I'm more worried about is the combat itself. FF XV's combat is centered all around Noctis' abilties like warping, dogding and switching many kinds of different weapons. Playing with one of the other 3 guys should be automatically way less interesting because they've much less variety and possibilities. So I'm really curious what they've planned for the DLC. My guess is it's gonna be a linear story for each character where the other 3 guys don't play a (siginifcant) role.

 

[LeonBlade]

The thing that I'm more worried about is the combat itself. FF XV's combat is centered all around Noctis' abilties like warping, dogding and switching many kinds of different weapons. Playing with one of the other 3 guys should be automatically way less interesting because they've much less variety and possibilities. So I'm really curious what they've planned for the DLC. My guess is it's gonna be a linear story for each character where the other 3 guys don't play a (siginifcant) role.

Exactly what I've been saying about it.

Also, I'm almost certain that this will be a solo experience with each of the characters, perhaps they go on their own journey, or there's a part in the game where they get separated and this is based off of that. "Who can say, we mustn't rush to conclusions." -Ignis

I am pretty confident though that this will just be a one-off thing, having paid DLC for main game interactions with the party members would still not make them enjoyable in normal gameplay, but in a side mission where you play as that character only, it would be exciting.

 

[DrBretto]

The thing that I'm more worried about is the combat itself. FF XV's combat is centered all around Noctis' abilties like warping, dogding and switching many kinds of different weapons. Playing with one of the other 3 guys should be automatically way less interesting because they've much less variety and possibilities. So I'm really curious what they've planned for the DLC. My guess is it's gonna be a linear story for each character where the other 3 guys don't play a (siginifcant) role.

This is why I suspect that, much like adding flight to an expansion of an MMO, any swappable party member stuff will be exclusive to DLC content that is designed for it anyway. It's just so far off and multiple layers of speculation at this point, but that seems likely to me.

 

[ChingleeTribal]

Solo experience with each single bro would be ideal.

Prompto's ep will revolve around him trying to aquire Cindy's love but I think this will be an unhappy ending for the guy xD

Although I'm being sarcastic with that, maybe they WILL go with a light hearted approach for the eps?
Gladio gains too much weight from over eating so picks up basketball to lose the fat. Ignis is in search of the legendry ingredients to create the ultimate dish. He must seek out master chef known as Quina!
XD

 

[Lulcielid]

This also assumes that by playable they mean combat and nothing else...

 

[ChingleeTribal]

This also assumes that by playable they mean combat and nothing else...

That's not the assumption I have. What I think is a possibility is that they have a very story orientated episode revolving around a character each ep(obviously)but once you complete the ep as a reward you get the respective character of each ep as an ulocked fully playable and switchable to character in the full game. But I wouldn't see it as an actual 'reward' with what Tabata said concerning implementation of other playable characters via character switching in an early ATR.

 

[LeonBlade]

That's not the assumption I have. What I think is a possibility is that they have a very story orientated episode revolving around a character each ep(obviously)but once you complete the ep as a reward you get the respective character of each ep as an ulocked fully playable and switchable to character in the full game. But I wouldn't see it as an actual 'reward' with what Tabata said concerning implementation of other playable characters via character switching in an early ATR.

I don't think they'll be unlockable in the game for the reasons I already mentioned.

 

[Donguri]

Yeah, I think all of that is understandable. But just to speculate, I think there are ways for them to actually be correct about their original comment regarding playable characters being too difficult while providing playable characters in the form of DLC. Each DLC has a small description, and for the expansion it says

An expansion pack that makes it possible to enjoy a completely new way to play Final Fantasy XV.

Now, I'm not sure about you guys, but to me, it sounds like they're changing the way the battle system normally works. I think that there is the possibility that the DLC episodes are just temporary control, while the expansion provides you full control over the characters but replaces the old battle system in order to do so, and this is how Tabata's statement could still prove to be true. They could have made the DLC episodes as a tease, (maybe even provide them for free) and then offer the expansion as paid content, which will make playable characters a permanent option, but removes the features that supposedly stop them from getting playable characters to work, since they can't do it for the original battle system they envisioned. (Basically any features they had bumping heads with playable characters = gone)

In short, I'm speculating that playable characters in the episodes will be temporary and that the expansion makes the playable characters permanent, through a completely new battle system that plays similar but has some features removed to make the switching work.

 

[LeonBlade]

Yeah, I think all of that is understandable. But just to speculate, I think there are ways for them to actually be correct about their original comment regarding playable characters being too difficult while providing playable characters in the form of DLC. Each DLC has a small description, and for the expansion it says

An expansion pack that makes it possible to enjoy a completely new way to play Final Fantasy XV.

Now, I'm not sure about you guys, but to me, it sounds like they're changing the way the battle system normally works. I think that there is the possibility that the DLC episodes are just temporary control, while the expansion provides you full control over the characters but replaces the old battle system in order to do so, and this is how Tabata's statement could still prove to be true. They could have made the DLC episodes as a tease, (maybe even provide them for free) and then offer the expansion as paid content, which will make playable characters a permanent option, but removes the features that supposedly stop them from getting playable characters to work, since they can't do it for the original battle system they envisioned. (Basically any features they had bumping heads with playable characters = gone)

In short, I'm speculating that playable characters in the episodes will be temporary and that the expansion makes the playable characters permanent, through a completely new battle system that plays similar but has some features removed to make the switching work.

Well, isn't the expansion pack for online play though? Perhaps we can play as a Glaive or something?

 

[Donguri]

Well, isn't the expansion pack for online play though? Perhaps we can play as a Glaive or something?

Yep, now that I go back to the article. Didn't see that bit of info before. Though, I'm still thinking that the additional playable characters won't be permanent either way.

 

[Death Penalty]

I'm pretty sure the main barrier to a playable party is Noctis' extreme level of mobility and the QTEs that they've placed in the game. When they want to do big set pieces that are accessible only by Noctis' warping (airship to airship during the train sequence) or that assume Noctis is being played (Titan's parried attacks during his trial) it becomes problematic to have a party that you can freely switch between. That said, party control is still an ideal I'd like for them to strive for. We even see that stuff like warping isn't exclusive to members of the royal family- the Glaives demonstrate this power in trailers for the movie. There's no reason it couldn't be made to work for the game, beyond not being able to commit to the time it would take to make it happen (new combo moves, new animations, etc.) and still get the game out on time. If it was a case of streamlining production to deliver the product, I can understand it. Would still love to see it fixed in DLC.

I wish people would stop trotting out the "Noctis is the only necessary character because he can do everything" argument, though. Playing Duscae and watching recent trailers shows readily just how distinct each party member is. They don't even wield their weapons the same way that Noctis does- Ignis' moveset with daggers is extremely different from Noctis'. Saying they'd be superfluous is like saying the multiple weapon types in XV are superfluous.

 

[Nye]

I am one of those people who believe that what they mean by "Character Episodes" is some character solo experience, much like DLCs like TLOU: Left Behind and Infamous: First Light.

I don't think not for one second that SE is dumb enough to lock character switching functionality behind a paid DLC, not when people have been annoying them about it. Not to mention, the entire combat system is literally built around Noctis's abilities, I don't think they're just gonna scrap that and toss it out of the window for every character DLC, that would a very bad choice for them to take. I can definitely say, unless they are terribly stupid, the episode DLCs will most likely be each character alone at some point in the story or as a prequel/sequel sort of thing. I honestly don't even think we'll be seeing much of Noctis at all.

I think the expansion though isn't going to be just "online", going with what Tabata said, the devs are working on a way to implement an expansion that is meaningful to the player. I doubt that just "online" stuff is going to make this meaningful, at least not to solo players like me. I keep wondering if the expansion will feature Noctis at all. Since well, they keep saying how differently it will play compared to the main game.

 

[LeonBlade]

I wish people would stop trotting out the "Noctis is the only necessary character because he can do everything" argument, though. Playing Duscae and watching recent trailers shows readily just how distinct each party member is. They don't even wield their weapons the same way that Noctis does- Ignis' moveset with daggers is extremely different from Noctis'. Saying they'd be superfluous is like saying the multiple weapon types in XV are superfluous.

It's different when the entire game is built around Noctis' mobility. It's not just the move sets, it's the fact that there will be bosses in the game that you LITERALLY can't kill unless you're playing as Noctis, and that's just a fact.

 

[ChingleeTribal]

Taking my own thread off topic for a seccond coz i almost had a heart attack: Bro's....I'm avoiding the general news thread as I want to avoid any media concerning the game from this month till release but....I just got a text from friend saying there is a rumour of a 2 month delay for the game! Anyone got any more info regarding this :/

They surely wouldn't dealt after such a big event like Uncovered, right?

 

[Death Penalty]

It's different when the entire game is built around Noctis' mobility. It's not just the move sets, it's the fact that there will be bosses in the game that you LITERALLY can't kill unless you're playing as Noctis, and that's just a fact.

I straight up mentioned that in my post. This isn't much of a problem, either; just gate the character into playing Noctis for parries or phases of a fight that require him. Or, better yet, take out the silly QTEs. They really aren't great features.

Taking my own thread off topic for a seccond coz i almost had a heart attack: Bro's....I'm avoiding the general news thread as I want to avoid any media concerning the game from this month till release but....I just got a text from friend saying there is a rumour of a 2 month delay for the game! Anyone got any more info regarding this :/

They surely wouldn't dealt after such a big event like Uncovered, right?

Yes, there have been rumors like this circulating around and they seem decently credible unfortunately. On the plus side, the game could only benefit from more time in the oven.

 

[ChingleeTribal]

IYes, there have been rumors like this circulating around and they seem decently credible unfortunately.

For fuck sake....:/

Thank you for confirming, Death.