Final Fantasy XV - General News Thread

[Storm]

I guess the difference is ambition.

FFXV's mixed presentation was a matter of its ambition outstripping what the engine was able to produce at the time of the original release... but while the setpieces were a bit janky, they were still clearly the sort of thing that wouldn't have been possible on PS2. FFXIV, in contrast, can't even attempt that sort of ambition due to its nature as an MMO.

I would say not only a case of ambition, there are a few elements or scenes that were simply underwhelming because they lacked build-up and proper development, even if they had pretty graphics and animations... the fact the story was almost non-existant in the first chapters, with scarce world-building (ex; where are the insomnian refugees? why Iris didnt mourn her father, Jared death, other things like the dissonance of the war context versus the road trip vibe which could have been handled better in the beginning).

of course FFXIV will never reach an AAA FF tech power outside of CGs, but there is more to presentation than that.

 

[Ikkin]

I would say not only a case of ambition, there are a few elements or scenes that were simply underwhelming because they lacked build-up and proper development, even if they had pretty graphics and animations... the fact the story was almost non-existant in the first chapters, with scarce world-building (ex; where are the insomnian refugees? why Iris didnt mourn her father, Jared death, other things like the dissonance of the war context versus the road trip vibe which could have been handled better in the beginning).

of course FFXIV will never reach an AAA FF tech power outside of CGs, but there is more to presentation than that.

Well, I'd distinguish narrative presentation (which is more a matter of execution than of technical capabilities) and technical presentation (which requires both). An 8-bit game could have perfect narrative presentation but still not scratch the itch for a current-gen game with that setting... and the same situation applies (albeit to a lesser extent) with FFXIV.

 

[FFChocobo18]

I have finished my replay of Final Fantasy XV. It felt a lot more fulfilling and fantastic with all of the DLC Episodes and the FFXIV collab being played during the main story when they happen, and the latter on Chapter 8, along with getting the last of the Royal Arms by that chapter. I decided to not include any scenes from Comrades, because I decided that they weren't necessary to me in the end, but even without them, the story still felt complete in a sense for me. I finished the main game at around 34 hours and 32 minutes in-game, and if I were to include the DLC Episodes, it was around 40 hours, with part of it being for the FFXIV collab. This replay had marked the end of the journey of this game for me, though I'll continue exploring Insomnia in Episode Ardyn, which I'm about to right now, but yeah, this game was quite the journey, and I'm looking forward to what Final Fantasy brings out next, and hope to discuss it with all of you.:

Episode: Ardyn Prologue Anime Status: Finished

Episode: Ardyn (DLC): The anime for this, if it comes digitally, and this DLC Episode would serve as a 'prologue' of sorts for the game for me. I would skip the ending cutscene. Status: Finished 2hrs 16mins

Chapters 1-8; I may try to get Ultima Blade by Chapter 3, and get the Shield of The Just and Mace of the Fierce in Chapter 3 before I go to Lestalum, Star of The Rouge in Chapter 7 before entering Steyliff Grove and the Scepter of The Pious by Chapter 6 while driving Iris to Cape Caem. Status: Finished 23hrs 10mins

Episode: Gladiolus: I would play this DLC in Chapter 8 at a campfire in Leide or Duscae. Status: Finished 1hr 14mins

Royal Arm Hunting: I will collect the Bow of The Clever and Sword of The Tall before heading off to Altissia. Status: Finished

FFXIV Collab/Adventurer From Another World: Will be doing this right after collecting all of the remaining Royal Arms in Lucis and before Altissia. Status: Finished

Chapter 9 and Episode Ignis: I would play Episode: Ignis right after Chapter 9 on Chapter 10, except the credits and final cutscene after the credits. Status: (Chapter 9): Finished 24hrs 32mins (Episode: Ignis): Finished 1hr 12mins

Chapters 10-13: Status: Finished 29hrs 9mins (Chapter 13 Verse 2): Finished 27mins

Episode: Prompto: I would play this at when I arrive in Tenebrae in Chapter 12, except credits, but will play the final scene at a bunk bed in Chapter 13.) Status: Finished 2hrs 34mins

Chapter 14 with Royal Pack; I will watch the final scene from Episode Ignis as soon as I arrive in Insomnia City Ruins, then I will return to the past to get the Founder King’s Sigil, and return to the present, and continue from there. Status: Finished 34hrs 32mins

 

[Noctis_Caelum]

can i use the arminger unleashed even if i don't have the 13 royal weapons?

 

[Ikkin]

can i use the arminger unleashed even if i don't have the 13 royal weapons?

No. You need all Royal Arms plus one other item to use Armiger Unleashed. Even if you collected all Royal Arms on a previous playthrough, you still can't use it in New Game Plus until you re-collect the final story-related Royal Arm.

 

[SonOfEtro]

Another interview, from Dengeki this time. Quite a bit of it is overlap with the Famitsu interview, but there's some clarification about things.

*The team wanted to do a whole lot more and be much more brutal with Episode Ardyn's events, but since there's a set tradition of an FF in Japan being CERO B or C, they couldn't do what they wanted without pushing the rating up.
*Director Terada was in charge of designing Insomnia in the main game, and he pulled it in the direction of modern-day Shinjuku rather than a more "gothic" style.
*Insomnia in Episode Ardyn is the result of a layered development; first there was the data from Kingsglaive, then the ruined Insomnia created for the base game and Royal Edition, and then that was cleaned up for Episode Ardyn. Creating everything from scratch would've taken an age.
*The visions in Episode Ardyn are confirmed to be the result of Ardyn's growing insanity influencing his memory of events rather than the literal truth.
*Scenario director Osanai was deeply involved with scripting for the final boss battle and...that ending.
*When the DLC was cancelled, Episode Ardyn was close to completion, the story of Episode Aranea was finalised, the narrative for Episode Luna was almost complete, and Episode Noctis was still in the story draft phase.
*There were differing feelings among the developers about turning the DLC into a novel. Eishima was surprised by the decision. Osanai was afraid turning the DLC into a novel would destroy the narrative, but Eishima managed to create something that fulfilled his vision.
*It doesn't matter which ending of Episode Ardyn you choose, he will always be bound to his fate. The concept behind Dawn of the Future was that there would be a gradual build-up of choices for each character leading to a different ending.

 

[FFChocobo18]

Another interview, from Dengeki this time. Quite a bit of it is overlap with the Famitsu interview, but there's some clarification about things.

*The team wanted to do a whole lot more and be much more brutal with Episode Ardyn's events, but since there's a set tradition of an FF in Japan being CERO B or C, they couldn't do what they wanted without pushing the rating up.
*Director Terada was in charge of designing Insomnia in the main game, and he pulled it in the direction of modern-day Shinjuku rather than a more "gothic" style.
*Insomnia in Episode Ardyn is the result of a layered development; first there was the data from Kingsglaive, then the ruined Insomnia created for the base game and Royal Edition, and then that was cleaned up for Episode Ardyn. Creating everything from scratch would've taken an age.
*The visions in Episode Ardyn are confirmed to be the result of Ardyn's growing insanity influencing his memory of events rather than the literal truth.
*Scenario director Osanai was deeply involved with scripting for the final boss battle and...that ending.
*When the DLC was cancelled, Episode Ardyn was close to completion, the story of Episode Aranea was finalised, the narrative for Episode Luna was almost complete, and Episode Noctis was still in the story draft phase.
*There were differing feelings among the developers about turning the DLC into a novel. Eishima was surprised by the decision. Osanai was afraid turning the DLC into a novel would destroy the narrative, but Eishima managed to create something that fulfilled his vision.
*It doesn't matter which ending of Episode Ardyn you choose, he will always be bound to his fate. The concept behind Dawn of the Future was that there would be a gradual build-up of choices for each character leading to a different ending.

Interesting, I thought Episode Ardyn's events were already quite brutal, and to be honest, I'm happy with how it turned out. Also, reading about the DLC cancellation in this interview, it made me a little mad inside when I heard that Episode Aranea's story was finalized, but considering my replay, I felt it was no longer needed for my replay, as it turned out to me, the main game, with the Royal Pack DLC, FFXIV collab, and the four already released DLC Episodes was enough for me to consider the story complete, and I'm the more glad that Episode Ardyn was spared.

 

[Lord_Ham_Mork]

I like how E.Ardyn wraps up the story.
All the important questions are answered and showed. The rest of the things are left to interpretation and makes a better product for it.
I prefer to have the alternate ending in a novel form than in dlc. I could not forgive SE if they had put the X-2 happy ending in the original game instead than the sequel.
I can ignore it better if i don't like it.

 

[Storm]

Sekiro´s gear mod

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1706732354&searchtext=

this is almost too good

 

[Ikkin]

Another interview, from Dengeki this time. Quite a bit of it is overlap with the Famitsu interview, but there's some clarification about things.

*The team wanted to do a whole lot more and be much more brutal with Episode Ardyn's events, but since there's a set tradition of an FF in Japan being CERO B or C, they couldn't do what they wanted without pushing the rating up.
*Director Terada was in charge of designing Insomnia in the main game, and he pulled it in the direction of modern-day Shinjuku rather than a more "gothic" style.
*Insomnia in Episode Ardyn is the result of a layered development; first there was the data from Kingsglaive, then the ruined Insomnia created for the base game and Royal Edition, and then that was cleaned up for Episode Ardyn. Creating everything from scratch would've taken an age.
*The visions in Episode Ardyn are confirmed to be the result of Ardyn's growing insanity influencing his memory of events rather than the literal truth.
*Scenario director Osanai was deeply involved with scripting for the final boss battle and...that ending.
*When the DLC was cancelled, Episode Ardyn was close to completion, the story of Episode Aranea was finalised, the narrative for Episode Luna was almost complete, and Episode Noctis was still in the story draft phase.
*There were differing feelings among the developers about turning the DLC into a novel. Eishima was surprised by the decision. Osanai was afraid turning the DLC into a novel would destroy the narrative, but Eishima managed to create something that fulfilled his vision.
*It doesn't matter which ending of Episode Ardyn you choose, he will always be bound to his fate. The concept behind Dawn of the Future was that there would be a gradual build-up of choices for each character leading to a different ending.

- I'm kind of curious about what Insomnia might have looked like if it had tended more to the gothic style, though I also like the contrast between the very gothic Citadel and the very modern civilian architecture.

- Ardyn's memory of events being completely untrustworthy opens the door for lots of interesting reinterpretations of Episode Ardyn (and even its Prologue). One idea I saw on Tumblr that I kind of liked: what if Bahamut had already convinced Prologue Ardyn to agree to his fate, and Ardyn simply forgot thanks to his faulty memory? The room in Angelgard where Ardyn was chained is the place to which both Ardyn and Noct return after speaking with Bahamut...

- Was Osanai involved with Episode Ignis (particularly Verse 2) as well?

- The idea of a gradual build-up of choices for each character leading to a different ending kind of suggests to me that the entirety of Dawn of the Future was meant to be AU rather than each section simply having AU "Verse 2"s, which seems rather odd. It also seems to leave Episode Ardyn's canonicity in a weird liminal state where the degree to which it's canon and the degree to which it's AU is indeterminate. =/

Interesting, I thought Episode Ardyn's events were already quite brutal, and to be honest, I'm happy with how it turned out.

Episode Ardyn was pretty brutal, but it also seemed to avoid violence against living humans in ways that were weird enough that I can see where they might have been forced to pull back. For one thing, it's easy to imagine the developers wishing they could have allowed Ardyn to cause mass civilian casualties in his rampage but not being able to do so given that attacking civilians is an automatic Z rating in Japan. For another, it would have been quite natural to include vicious parries against human enemies that highlight Ardyn's cruelty, but that didn't happen either. In fact, the human enemies didn't even bleed.

I like how E.Ardyn wraps up the story.
All the important questions are answered and showed. The rest of the things are left to interpretation and makes a better product for it.
I prefer to have the alternate ending in a novel form than in dlc. I could not forgive SE if they had put the X-2 happy ending in the original game instead than the sequel.
I can ignore it better if i don't like it.

I agree for the most part, but I do think that they would have been far better off reworking the way they portrayed Bahamut to avoid leaving players feeling cheated that they can't defy him. It's still possible to interpret Bahamut in a way that doesn't undercut the main game, but it requires a certain way of seeing things that's very unnatural for a lot of people. >_>;

(Compatibilist free will is the only kind of free will that makes any kind of philosophical sense, but the natural reaction of a lot of people is to take the denial of libertarian free will as equivalent to saying people are nothing but puppets. XD; )

Sekiro´s gear mod

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1706732354&searchtext=

this is almost too good

Older Noct really rocks that outfit. It's really effective at conveying the idea of surviving in a post-apocalyptic world in combination with Noct's scruffy beard. (Younger Noct looks more like a cosplayer to me, though. XD; )

 

[FFChocobo18]

- I'm kind of curious about what Insomnia might have looked like if it had tended more to the gothic style, though I also like the contrast between the very gothic Citadel and the very modern civilian architecture.

- Ardyn's memory of events being completely untrustworthy opens the door for lots of interesting reinterpretations of Episode Ardyn (and even its Prologue). One idea I saw on Tumblr that I kind of liked: what if Bahamut had already convinced Prologue Ardyn to agree to his fate, and Ardyn simply forgot thanks to his faulty memory? The room in Angelgard where Ardyn was chained is the place to which both Ardyn and Noct return after speaking with Bahamut...

- Was Osanai involved with Episode Ignis (particularly Verse 2) as well?

- The idea of a gradual build-up of choices for each character leading to a different ending kind of suggests to me that the entirety of Dawn of the Future was meant to be AU rather than each section simply having AU "Verse 2"s, which seems rather odd. It also seems to leave Episode Ardyn's canonicity in a weird liminal state where the degree to which it's canon and the degree to which it's AU is indeterminate. =/



Episode Ardyn was pretty brutal, but it also seemed to avoid violence against living humans in ways that were weird enough that I can see where they might have been forced to pull back. For one thing, it's easy to imagine the developers wishing they could have allowed Ardyn to cause mass civilian casualties in his rampage but not being able to do so given that attacking civilians is an automatic Z rating in Japan. For another, it would have been quite natural to include vicious parries against human enemies that highlight Ardyn's cruelty, but that didn't happen either. In fact, the human enemies didn't even bleed.



I agree for the most part, but I do think that they would have been far better off reworking the way they portrayed Bahamut to avoid leaving players feeling cheated that they can't defy him. It's still possible to interpret Bahamut in a way that doesn't undercut the main game, but it requires a certain way of seeing things that's very unnatural for a lot of people. >_>;

(Compatibilist free will is the only kind of free will that makes any kind of philosophical sense, but the natural reaction of a lot of people is to take the denial of libertarian free will as equivalent to saying people are nothing but puppets. XD; )



Older Noct really rocks that outfit. It's really effective at conveying the idea of surviving in a post-apocalyptic world in combination with Noct's scruffy beard. (Younger Noct looks more like a cosplayer to me, though. XD; )

If I recall, in an earlier interview, they said that the "Submit to Your Fate" ending was the canon ending for the Episode Ardyn DLC and is tied to the main game's continuity, while the "Resist Your Fate" ending lead to Dawn of The Future, if I remember correctly. Perhaps the alternate endings where they diverge is at the ending where you pick the ending like at the end of Episode Ardyn.

 

[Nova]

So there is a particular point i wanted to get back to that was mentioned a few days ago

It no longer makes any sense for Bahamut to call Ardyn "Usurper," for instance,

I've been thinking about this, and upon looking at the FFXV subreddit i stumbled upon a thread created by a user who carefully made a full detail of the full game's script differences between ENG/JPN

Regarding the "Usurper" part, apparently the difference with the ENG & JPN script of the "Who is the Accursed?" choice goes out like this under Bahamut's words:

"A man cursed with life eternal, whose immortality stems from the selfsame scourge that wrought the daemons."

"One so impure of body and soul was deemed unworthy of the Crystal’s Light, and forbidden to ascend."

"His mind twisted by spite and bent on revenge, the Usurper came to bring darkness down upon our world."

"Only the True King, chosen by the Crystal and guarded by his forebears, can end the Accursed’s madness."

"Utilizing these parasites, the main source of the Daemons, this man has eternal life and power to destroy the world."

"A foolish, sinful man who was rejected by the Holy Stone and buried without ever ascending to the throne."

"Only to repay the Royal Family, he used his intelligence and eventually brought darkness to the whole world."

"His revenge will not end until he executes You, the one chosen by the Holy Stone, and protected by successive Kings."

https://spelldaggers.wordpress.com/chapter13/

Just wanted to shed some light on this.

EDIT: Actually.....as you have pointed out on the follow-up dialogue, the way Bahamut referred to Ardyn as "False King" in the JPN script does seem to paint the term "Usurper" as the localized equivalent, which I'll admittedly concede that that term isn't totally big enough to be dissonant between the two.

To cast out the Usurper and usher in dawn’s light will cost the life of the Chosen.

Eliminate this false king along with his darkness and bring back dawn to the world.

Still, this makes me even more interested to see EP. Ardyn's JPN script in any case.

 

[Ikkin]

So there is a particular point i wanted to get back to that was mentioned a few days ago

I've been thinking about this, and upon looking at the FFXV subreddit i stumbled upon a thread created by a user who carefully made a full detail of the full game's script differences between ENG/JPN

Regarding the "Usurper" part, apparently the difference with the ENG & JPN script of the "Who is the Accursed?" choice goes out like this under Bahamut's words:

https://spelldaggers.wordpress.com/chapter13/

Just wanted to shed some light on this.

Oh, wow, I never realized that such a useful resource existed!

I'm not sure the Japanese version of Bahamut's description of Ardyn really helps sort out the discrepancy between the main game and Episode Ardyn. Judging by Bahamut's other dialogue, "Usurper" is the localized version of "false king," which... basically means the same thing, albeit with less of an implication of Ardyn having usurped the throne from Somnus specifically. It definitely seems like Ardyn was meant to be at fault for his corruption at the time of the game's release, given that Bahamut calls him a "foolish, sinful man" and Ardyn makes it seem like absorbing the Scourge was his idea, which makes Episode Ardyn's take on the matter even stranger. =/

On a different note, this bit from Shiva does seem to provide an out for another seeming timeline inconsistency:

Shiva: "After “Magi Great War”, when the gods were in deep slumber— Someone turned Ifrit into a “Daemon”. Waking up from my slumber, I tried to release him. But the Empire crushed me and I lost my power."

All that really needs to be done to fix Shiva's late awakening in Japanese, then, is to say that it took her a while to realize that Ifrit had been corrupted, since she wasn't responding to the corruption at the moment it happened.

Another interesting note: Prompto's desire for a globalized world (which always seemed rather odd to me) was originally a desire for a country where birthplace doesn't matter (which makes a lot more sense), lol.

 

[motoleo]

Is anyone going to play the XIV crossover? Does anyone even care?

 

[mozzafaralj]

is there any way to out of bounds with chocobo in final fantasy xv now ?
1.29
ps4
and is there any to out of bounds in final fantasy xv comrades now ?
?

 

[Loganight]

Is anyone going to play the XIV crossover? Does anyone even care?

I just started playing XIV again last week and I'm planning on it.

 

[motoleo]

I just started playing XIV again last week and I'm planning on it.

Now when they have the flying regalia, you can actually go to different parts of the world in XIV? Why does it looks like Tenebrae?

 

[Storm]

Now when they have the flying regalia, you can actually go to different parts of the world in XIV? Why does it looks like Tenebrae?

flying mounts were implemented a long time ago...

 

[Valeny7]

is there any way to out of bounds with chocobo in final fantasy xv now ?
1.29
ps4
and is there any to out of bounds in final fantasy xv comrades now ?
?

mmh only by using a save data 1.0 (the day one version without updates, you have to delete the game from the PS4 and then reinstall the game).
About Comrades nothing new, I think they've fixed everything.

 

[motoleo]

flying mounts were implemented a long time ago...

I don't know what that means. I also never played XIV so I don't really know how the collaboration will work