Final Fantasy XV E3 2013 Trailer Discussion

[Casval]

In the main character's country, you'll see the reaper motif interwoven into the design of all the places, as well as many more elements connected to 'death'.
-Tetsuya Nomura

The motif of this land is reapers. This comes from the Fabula Nova Crystallis mythos. Since this land puts faith in reapers, it has that kind of image.
-Tetsuya Nomura

http://sqex.info/2013/06/back-track-final-fantasy-versus-xiii-2008-interviews/

Considering the emphasis on reapers in the Kingdom of Lucis (even the Amano illustration in the Stella scene was being held in place by two reapers), I think it's safe to think there will be a scythe available to at least one of the characters at some point in the game.

Nice! This is the first time I've heard any mention of reapers.

 

[AuroraXIII]

Also, was I seeing things or did the spear shown in the trailer look kind of like it had pistons or jets on it?
O .o

That sounds about right considering Noctis' primary sword has a motor on the hilt, lol.

 

[Casval]

So, Square Enix have just uploaded XV's TGS trailer:

(kind of late, if you ask me, lol)

I'm not sure if this is a glitch or just my poor eyesight, but at around 2:50, you can see Ignis's communication screen. That's not the new part - my point is, if you look carefully, Prompto's screen (on the left side) looks like a placeholder image from the DKS713 trailer and isn't moving at all! Gladiolus's, too.

Ignis's face on the hologram doesn't quite match his actual body position on the airship. In his case, I think it's the angle of his face because when he turns his body, his face moves along with it, as seen on the screen.

EDIT: now that I think about it, I'll have to revise that earlier statement: perhaps only the active screen shows movement, and the screens, when idle, display only still images of the characters' faces.

 

[AuroraXIII]

If you look carefully, Prompto's hologram screen (on the left side) looks like a placeholder image from the DKS713 trailer and isn't moving at all! Gladiolus's, too.

I think those are actually display pictures for contacts on his communicator since Noctis wasn't calling them at that point in time. But there's no doubt they're placeholders nonetheless.

 

[Casval]

I think those are actually display pictures for contacts on his communicator since Noctis wasn't calling them at that point in time. But there's no doubt they're placeholders nonetheless.

Yes, thank you for pointing that out. In my haste I'd realized I'd forgotten to think things through. That looks to be the case. I've only noticed now that we finally see Ignis in the game! Albeit without using any of his weapons.

 

[Casval]

Now this begs the question: can characters communicate while underwater?

 

[ShinGundam]

It is pretty close to how I imagined it, concepts such as Ranged Weapons and multiple weapon types with different attack speed are introduced and dynamic stages remind me of old arcade action games much like in Edward Randy and Cannon Dancer but inside a traditional town instead of a stage, XV captures expansive level design and imaginative and ever-changing situations.

That said, i just wonder if it will be more like XII/XIII/modern RPGs where they mark points for cutscenes, i feel like in these games instead of having a plot events and stuff happening around player, it's like plot events interspersed between hours and hours of just... traveling/walking around. I don't necessarily dislike modern JRPGs but i had my fill of this and side-quests as marks, auto complete quests and gathering materials. I even think XV shouldn't have side-quests at all.

 

[AuroraXIII]

No thanks. I'd rather it stayed player driven, rather than become story driven.

 

[Squirrel Emperor]

In the main character's country, you'll see the reaper motif interwoven into the design of all the places, as well as many more elements connected to 'death'.
-Tetsuya Nomura

Characters are also connected to death since we see a bunch of skulls and bones in their costume designs. Not to mention using the color black as well.

Now this begs the question: can characters communicate while underwater?

"Blub blub!"

So Lucis is the one that's in the city, designed like Tokyo?

Yes. This should look familiar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Metropolitan_Government_Building as one of the building in Lucis is based on it, which is located in Shinjuku, Japan.


Another thing about the trailer is that the areas we saw looked like small concealed areas. The 1st PD trailer (the areas with grass) and 2010 TGS preview footage (desert areas) are the only examples I've seen so far where things look large, open and explorable.

 

[ShinGundam]

Another thing about the trailer is that the areas we saw looked like small concealed areas. The 1st PD trailer (the areas with grass) and 2010 TGS preview footage (desert areas) are the only examples I've seen so far where things look large, open and explorable.

I wonder what is the creative solution to the boundary issue of cities. One thing I'm hoping for though is more natural transition. I can't seem to remember how older FF dealt with that especially for overly large cities.

In terms of exploration, I think moving away from zone system and tons of loading screen is more than enough for me.

 

[Squirrel Emperor]

I wonder what is the creative solution to the boundary issue of cities. One thing I'm hoping for though is more natural transition. I can't seem to remember how older FF dealt with that especially for overly large cities.

In terms of exploration, I think moving away from zone system and tons of loading screen is more than enough for me.

The only loading the game is suppose to have is between large areas. They're also implementing a type of loading that happens while watching an event scene. So things are suppose to be as seamless as possible.

 

[AuroraXIII]

It's probably even more seamless now with the new hardware.

 

[Squirrel Emperor]

Besides helping with FFXV costume designs and making expensive stuff, I don't know much about ROEN.

But you can usually figure out what a character is all about by looking for design elements like that. Skulls, the color black, tats, the material of their costumes, accessories... It all means something. Body type and the pose says a lot about the character too.