Final Fantasy XV - General News Thread

[Jubileus]

What kind of feedback have you received from players overseas, given that they’re so accustomed to open worlds?

Tabata: “As a current generation game, there has been a lot of satisfied feedback. We’ve seen an impressive amount of feedback such as, ‘it’s a very important title as it’s a major step in Final Fantasy moving forward to the next stage.’ However, players that put maximum priority on story have the same opinion as those in Japan (their level of satisfaction is low).”

It's great that they're aware of this and are planning on fixing it.

It's as Tornak stated above, there were not enough important events and it didn't have a grandiose feel to it with the exception of a few scenes. Final chapter was great but needs to be expanded upon.

They've been good at applying feedback so let's see how they go with this.

Fast-travel loading is long…

Tabata: “It’s honestly difficult because there is a lot of information to load. We’re thinking about various ideas though.”

I played on the PS4 Pro version so it was quite fast. I had no idea that it was like this for the standard PS4 version. Does anyone know how long it actually takes?

In the movie there were areas that you couldn’t go to in the game. Will the amount of areas increase?

Tabata: “Those videos made use of glitches. There is a large map being used on the train route in the second half of the game. Since that area isn’t completely made, opening it up as an area you can freely traverse is difficult as is.

“We might remake playable areas in future expansions, but since that would take a year, it is not currently in our plans. For argument’s sake, if we were to prepare new fields, Insomnia would also be a candidate, but that also would take a year’s worth of work.”

Well I guess that rules out expanding upon chapter 10 and making Cartanica just a little bit traversable, and dashes any hopes of making Niflheim explorable too in the near future.

Interesting that they would consider Insomnia too.

Let's see how it pans out but I truly hope they do expand the map.

Regarding a release on other platforms…

Tabata: “I’d like to release the game on PC as a technical attempt. I want to show PC users Final Fantasy XV running on high-end machines, and we personally would like to see it, too. Also, I would like to try developing on PC to pursue a unique way of playing with PC-exclusive features like making your own quests and enjoying the world using things like mods.”

Tbh I'd rather they work on the story and expanding the map over being able to make my own quests and using mods.

I don't think mods and creating quests is that important.



*scratches head* I'm not sure how to feel about this news tbh. All I can do now is wait and see what happens whilst keeping my expectations in check.

 

[Slaintimez]

I just wonder now how they want to expand second half of the game, if they didn't plan to add Cartanica or Niflheim or Tenebrae. =\

Considering I expect Ignis' for early 2018 and the online one for around mid 2018, I don't think we'll get another big DLC. Or maybe, I don't know.

I thought they want to support the game with DLC's for 2017, but not further. I even tought that they will release Gladio DLC sooner, like mid february, but seems like it will take for a while =\

 

[Jubileus]

With the DLC episodes I kinda expected 2 to come out this year, and one to come out early next year.

So long as the quality for the DLC episodes is top notch, then I'm ok with waiting.

I just wonder now how they want to expand second half of the game, if they didn't plan to add Cartanica or Niflheim or Tenebrae. =\

They said they'll be adding in more story related cutscenes, so I think that this is how they're gonna do it.

At first I though they were gonna add in at least minor map expansions into the second half to compliment the additional story cutscenes, but I don't think that this is the case anymore.

I'm just gonna wait and see how it all pans out so my expectations are very tempered.

 

[Tornak]

I just wonder now how they want to expand second half of the game, if they didn't plan to add Cartanica or Niflheim or Tenebrae. =\


I thought they want to support the game with DLC's for 2017, but not further. I even tought that they will release Gladio DLC sooner, like mid february, but seems like it will take for a while =\

I initially thought that the 3 companions' DLCs would be released by 2017 (so, say, Spring, Summer and Holidays) while the online DLC would see its release date in early 2018, but it seems that that's optimistic, considering Prompto's tentative launch date and a lack of it for Ignis'...

I think that 1 year and a half to release the whole DLC content wouldn't be that bad at all. Let's see if they can do it. I'm not the biggest fan of DLCs (they're often scummy), but I think this could be pretty good and I really, really fucking hate sequels in FF mainline titles, so this is good.

 

[Slaintimez]

They said they'll be adding in more story related cutscenes, so I think that this is how they're gonna do it.

He literally said not so long ago about increasing large scale and foundation of the second half of the game? Now he is just backpeddalling on that.
Anyway, fuck that. Very dissapointed. Expectations for tomorrow ATR is very low.

 

[Storm]

Well I guess that rules out expanding upon chapter 10 and making Cartanica just a little bit traversable, and dashes any hopes of making Niflheim explorable too in the near future.

i don't think that rules out anything ("we might remake playable areas..."), but it really shows that it have big chances of not happening.

if fans demand a lot, they'll do it but we need to be vocal (so if you got facebook/twitter make them know you want it); i wouldn't be surprised if they released the PC version with new content as well to boost potential sales.

 

[Jubileus]

i don't think that rules out anything ("we might remake playable areas..."), but it really shows that it have big chances of not happening.

if fans demand a lot, they'll do it but we need to be vocal (so if you got facebook/twitter make them know you want it); i wouldn't be surprised if they released the PC version with new content as well to boost potential sales.

I should have been more clear. I meant the possibility of making those areas playable in the near future isn't likely to happen anytime soon. As for the distant future, it's exactly as you said: fans needing to be vocal about demanding it.

It's a possibility since he didn't 100% outright say it's not happening, but I don't think Square plan on supporting this game past 2018 since they will probably move on by then.

 

[Lulcielid]

He literally said not so long ago about increasing large scale and foundation of the second half of the game? Now he is just backpeddalling on that.

Probable scenario in my mind:

Tabata: I´d like to expand in some areas of XV´s world.
SQE: Ok, with the recent sales and revenue we got, here you can take this budget to use for future content update.
Tabata: ...It´s a bit lower than I anticipated.

 

[Guitar (pseudo)God]

One thing I appreciate about Tabata is how honest and direct he is - probably to a fault. Of course, I think a lot of disappointment may come because a 4chan "leaker" went on about cut content, and that got our hopes up. I may be incorrect here, but we never got any promises from Tabata himself.

And that includes a possible video message from "that person." I still think it's 50-50 it's Nomura, and I put the chances of there being a video also at 50-50. But I also know that Tabata didn't promise anything other than a possibility, so any disappointment is on me.

Myself, I'd like to see:

• NG+ at level 1.
• Hard mode -- possibly as simple as item cooldown.
• More story beats, lore, and cutscenes interwoven while I'm occupying my time helping ol' Dave out.
• More Pitioss Ruin-like dungeons. That was an absolute masterpiece of post-game content.

Things like taking the car off-road would be completely redundant, since chocobos serve that purpose already.

We also have to consider that SE may just want to move on from FFXV. I have no doubt that the team would have loved to create a 200-hour Versus epic (yes, too much is never enough), but that just wasn't realistic. The game's been through hell and back, and after 11 years (including patches, DLC, etc.) it's time to say goodbye to Noctis and co.

 

[Airy Ariah]

I think the level of support they're giving is really cool... but now, I just want PC.

 

[Storm]

http://www.siliconera.com/2017/02/01/final-fantasy-xv-director-still-wants-port-game-high-end-pcs/

The highlights from the interview say that American and European companies predicted about four and a half years ago that the game would sell five million units, which Tabata felt was pretty low, so he’s happy to know that the game has already surpassed 6 million. He added that the game has performed well not only in Japan but also North America and Europe, so he’s happy with the results so far.

Tabata touched up on the topic of Chapter 13’s update, to which he said he’s still thinking about adding a way to have players that already cleared it try it again. On the VR content for the game, he says that development is moving forward, but not enough to the point where they could share a solid release date.

There’s been demand to allow players to freely drive anywhere they want on the Regalia, which the director has been thinking about, but he said that it would be quite the hurdle with many difficult bugs to work on to have that happen.

Speaking of bugs, Tabata touched up on the topic of how people were able to access open areas that you normally can’t get to, such as the train maps and other large spaces, but he said they were never made with the intention of allowing players to reach directly on their own. These fields weren’t meant to be visited by the players, but he says that there’s still a chance they might remake some of the areas for future expansions. However, making completely new areas like that would take about a year of work to complete.

And finally, while we didn’t share too much about the topic, Tabata mentioned that in the future he would like to make a Final Fantasy XV port for “high-end” PCs. He talked about how he’d personally like to see it on PC as a technical challenge, and thinks that it would be cool to have things on it that you could only do with PC, such as your own custom quests or checking out the world using mods.



there's still hope guys

 

[Ikkin]

So basically they not even planned on meaningful story DLC's outside of season pass or i did read it wrong? And its coming after sentence where Tabata acknowledged that story-wise level of satisfaction is low?
What about new cutscenes? Seems like it will die together with Pro patch in december. We probably will not gonna get anything meaningful at tomorrow ATR. Just another talk about Chocobo festival, worldwide sales and Power Rangers outfits. Yeah, better to not be overhyped for ATR.

I think you might be reading too much into it. Tabata was asked about downloadable content outside of what was announced, about which he said there were no solid plans but offered one currently-impractical ambition.

He's already said that supplemental story material for the main game would be provided as free patches rather than as separate DLC scenarios, so it wouldn't really be relevant to the question he was asked. And it actually makes a lot of sense to wait until the release of at least one of the DLC scenarios before solidifying anything beyond that, because it's not clear what the market for FFXV DLC event looks like.

Of course, it's probably still a good idea to keep the hype levels low, since ATRs are generally full of a whole lot of nothing. But I don't think anything in that interview implies that anything that had previously been announced has been forgotten about.

 

[Lulcielid]

We also should remember that any potential story and exploration update of the game is under their mid/long term plans, which will likely be affected on how the DLCs perform and if Square-Enix sees it worth investing.

 

[Slaintimez]

DLCs perform and if Square-Enix sees it worth investing.

What you mean by "worth investing"? They already announced it.

 

[Nova]

^ Reception and sales

Were there any parts of the story that were cut out of necessity?

Tabata: “Not particularly.”

So its safe to assume the 4chan leaker from late 2016 was full of shit?

 

[Slaintimez]

So its safe to assume the 4chan leaker from late 2016 was full of shit?

Im pretty sure Tabata is just can't outright say that they cut stuff from the game.

 

[Nova]

Im pretty sure Tabata is just can't outright say that they cut stuff from the game.

It didn't stop Aonuma and Miyamoto from admitting Wind Waker and Sunshine had cut content.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/news250705zelda (a 2003 interview was mentioned for the latter game in regards to time constraints but i haven't found it yet.)

 

[llazy77]

^ Reception and sales



So its safe to assume the 4chan leaker from late 2016 was full of shit?

There is obviously cut content, Tabata obviously dosent want to get into it or the higher ups wont let him.

 

[Hey Everyone]

Hopefully the PC Version is well optimized, also what does Tabata mean by high-end PCs, like high-end PCs now? By the time FFXV gets a PC Version I suspect 2018, the GTX 1060(a better version of the GTX 980) GTX 1070 would be seen as mid-range with the new GPUs coming out, I mean he doesn't exactly give any type of parts, because the term high-end PC is a pretty loose definition. Like what setup is he talking about?

 

[Nova]

@Jubileus

Standard PS4 owner here. Loading times when fast traveling throgh different regions take around 1 minute & 30 seconds, the fact that only the PS4 pro can support SSD to cut the times down makes my end a living hell lol.

Speaking of bugs, Tabata touched up on the topic of how people were able to access open areas that you normally can’t get to, such as the train maps and other large spaces, but he said they were never made with the intention of allowing players to reach directly on their own. These fields weren’t meant to be visited by the players, but he says that there’s still a chance they might remake some of the areas for future expansions. However, making completely new areas like that would take about a year of work to complete.

there's still hope guys

This actually does tie with what Tabata mentioned in the IGN event about wanting to expand the world of Eos more. I can totally see it down the line, the fact Insomnia was his first choice is even more interesting.