Final Fantasy XV - General News Thread

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SonOfEtro

Warrior of Light
May 2, 2016
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https://www.resetera.com/posts/4421965/


what? i remember shimomura saying nothing from the ost was discarded or something, not cool... anyway the fact tabata's team refused to deal with the project and merge with nomura's staff at first implies they didn't have a good reputation at the time (maybe because of all the stressful delays or poor direction); also it confirms Versus XIII in whatever shape it was had problems that took them considerable time to fix.

edit: i need an Unreleased tracks album ;/
Definitely need to see the full scans. This looks...interesting to say the least.
 
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FFChocobo18

Warrior of Light
Jan 9, 2017
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so i guess that confirms the problems with Versus werent all about SQ mismanagement, the game had deepers issues.

its officially a troubled project.
Yeah, we were lucky to even get this game, it came this close to being cancelled. I'm happy that it wasn't cancelled, flaws and all.
 
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Ikkin

Warrior of Light
Oct 30, 2016
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both the levi section and chapter 12 are better paced in the pocked edition i feel, the mini-dungeon is really nice; those segments felt too rushed in the base game.
I kind of feel like the Chapter 12 additions would affect the pacing more, but if I had to choose between the two, I'd choose the Chapter 9 addition in a heartbeat, because it could look so cool in HD.

With that said, there are plausible methods of updating the final game to include all of the Pocket Edition alterations. The Chapter 9 addition seems like it could be imitated reasonably well with Episode Ignis assets. The Chapter 12 addition could be mimicked reasonably well using a combination of cut Chapter 12 assets and assets from the icy Chapter 3 dungeon. And the additions to the Ardyn fight could be as simple as adding in some extra voiced lines here and there.

Given that the Pocket Edition doesn't include any of the DLCs, I feel like it's intended to reflect the stock game more than anything. So maybe what we're looking at is the free update that goes along with the Royal Edition. =O


@Ikkin, I can think of two other parallels from the sources of XV's lore. The obvious one is the remnants of FNC lore which XV uses.

The second is the Shinto traditions around the principal deities spawned by Izanagi after washing himself. In this, Ardyn and his brother play the roles of Susano and Amaterasu. In particular, it parallels Susano being left out in the cold while Amaterasu was showered with honours, which turned into a bitter feud lasting centuries and caused great destruction and suffering to others around them both human and divine. In both, the irony is that Susano/Ardyn have direct connection to the ruling family of their respective tales (Japanese Imperial line/Lucis Caelum line). The difference is in the context and detail.
What's the FNC parallel?

As for the Shinto parallel... I guess? But I feel like it's important for Ardyn's story that he was seen as a hero originally until he chose to act selfishly rather than being a victim of circumstance who was mistreated for reasons outside of his control.

And I agree, @Storm. You can feel Ardyn's bitterness. And the whole thing casts the Crystal - and I think by extension the Astrals - in a more suspicious light that simply being saviours by proxy. What terrors does light hold for humans that they should find comfort in darkness? Weren't they made in the gods' image? There must be something there, and Ardyn likely saw it.

Oh yes, and there's a video of the full fight with Ardyn up now. It's not just the final exchange that got expanded. I don't remember there being any dialogue from Ardyn confirming that the first Daemons were spawned from him, then later infected other humans.
Question -- why believe that Ardyn's view of the Crystal is anything close to accurate? He's so twisted by hate that the light seems terrifying to him... but that doesn't necessarily mean that anyone else would see the light the same way. And something similar applies to his take on the Crystal. He interprets the sacrifice required to use the Crystal as evidence that the Crystal uses the Chosen King as a meat puppet, but Noct sees himself as freely choosing the best option under the circumstances and, therefore, working with the Crystal rather than being manipulated by it.

That's why the "They won't protect you"/"I am the protector" exchange is so important, IMO. Ardyn understands only selfishness and therefore attempts to tempt Noct by saying that he will not benefit in any way by continuing on his path. Noct, meanwhile, values sacrificial love and focuses on what he can do for everyone else by continuing on his path.

In any case, the daemons being borne solely from Ardyn is an interesting addition to the lore. It implies that the Starscourge, in and of itself, was merely a virus that could kill the body but did not pose an existential threat to the world. It was Ardyn's disobedience in attempting to deal with the Scourge in his own way (and Niflheim's selfish propagation of Ardyn's spawn) that wrought such devastation upon the Star that the combined power of 2,000 years of kings, five of the six gods, and the Crystal from which all existence on Eos was drawn were required to offer the world a second chance.
 

SonOfEtro

Warrior of Light
May 2, 2016
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@Ikkin
The FNC parallel is Ardyn's stated view of the Crystal and cause of "Light" not being purely benevolent and using Noctis as a puppet or thrall, as pretty much all the crystals did with humans in XIII and Type-0. And yes, that does depend on Ardyn's words being related to some aspect of Eos's history/lore unknown to Noctis rather than (with your interpretation) a rant fuelled purely by spite for everything Noctis stands for.
 
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Jenova

Keyblade Master
Oct 28, 2013
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Are some pages missing? Otherwise, it's an amazing read. So glad Square-Enix did this interview. I'm quite pleased by this candidness they're taking. Plus, hearing that story about building bridges back with Sakaguchi was very heart-warming.
 
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Jenova

Keyblade Master
Oct 28, 2013
729
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@Jenova The rest of the pages were from different devs discussing other games, so i only took the ones related to FFXV.
I see. No worries then. Thank you for sharing. Again, an excellent read. This article alone gives me hope for Square-Enix's future. I can't remember any other time in their history in which they've been so open with their base. Not to mention the Sakaguchi rekindling is almost a tear-jerker. Especially when he talks about how past CEOs pushed him out of the company wherever possible and wanted his mark on the series to be utterly erased. How viciously cruel. Sounds exactly like another Japanese game developer who also fired the father of their greatest franchise and is now trying to remove his mark on the company's successes.
 

Ikkin

Warrior of Light
Oct 30, 2016
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@Ikkin
The FNC parallel is Ardyn's stated view of the Crystal and cause of "Light" not being purely benevolent and using Noctis as a puppet or thrall, as pretty much all the crystals did with humans in XIII and Type-0. And yes, that does depend on Ardyn's words being related to some aspect of Eos's history/lore unknown to Noctis rather than (with your interpretation) a rant fuelled purely by spite for everything Noctis stands for.
Oh, okay, I see where you're coming from now. I thought you were talking about some sort of parallel to the Ardyn-Founder King relationship, hence my confusion.

The impression I get is that Ardyn simply thinks he's in a different game than he actually is. FFXV seems to have been intent on living up to its original identity as Final Fantasy Versus XIII, trading the assumption that sacrifices demanded by gods and Crystals are an affront to human dignity for one where human dignity finds its truest fulfillment through willing sacrifice in obedience to gods and Crystal. There's a reason Noctis and Luna and Nyx and Regis and Ignis and Ravus and the player's Kingsglaive comrade all find fulfillment in sacrifice, and it's not because Ardyn was actually right about fighting fate.
 

SonOfEtro

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May 2, 2016
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Oh, okay, I see where you're coming from now. I thought you were talking about some sort of parallel to the Ardyn-Founder King relationship, hence my confusion.

The impression I get is that Ardyn simply thinks he's in a different game than he actually is. FFXV seems to have been intent on living up to its original identity as Final Fantasy Versus XIII, trading the assumption that sacrifices demanded by gods and Crystals are an affront to human dignity for one where human dignity finds its truest fulfillment through willing sacrifice in obedience to gods and Crystal. There's a reason Noctis and Luna and Nyx and Regis and Ignis and Ravus and the player's Kingsglaive comrade all find fulfillment in sacrifice, and it's not because Ardyn was actually right about fighting fate.
Yep. The DNA of FNC remains intact. And when you think about it like that, it's actually quite a good interpretation.
 
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Jubileus

Warrior of Light
Oct 7, 2016
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im genuinely sad to know 2/3 of Versus XIII ost were unused, i hope they chose the absolutely best to include in FFXV.
Same.

I was dismayed to have learned this...

The music is sooo good. I hope that we will get the chance to hear those tracks someday - perhaps in the future updates?
 
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FFChocobo18

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Jan 9, 2017
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Well, what happened to 2/3 of Versus XIII's OST, at least we have some of it, and it sounds fantastic. It is sad to hear that some music was cut, but, I'll be looking forward to seeing how they'll do with future updates, like a potential update to the Leviathan fight and Shiva 'Dungeon' taken directly from the ones from the Pocket Edition, those looked much, much cooler than than the ones we got, and, not to mention, Ardyn's new dialogue, I do have some faith the dialogue could be in the Royal Edition/Pack, his new dialogue deepened the story for me when I found out about it, I don't expect updates to Chapters 9 and 12 in March, seeing as Chapter 10 is getting a new quest, so we'll see how this all plays out.
 

Ikkin

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Oct 30, 2016
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Same.

I was dismayed to have learned this...

The music is sooo good. I hope that we will get the chance to hear those tracks someday - perhaps in the future updates?
I think it's important to remember that, generally speaking, Shimomura's work is heavily weighted towards release. She does some music early, of course, but it's highly unlikely that Versus ever had anything close to a full soundtrack.

The only two songs we know for a fact had been completed in the Versus days were Somnus and Omnis Lacrima, since those are the two that showed up in the trailers. It seems safe to assume that Veiled in Black was original to Versus because of the obvious connection between its title and the title of FFXIII's battle theme Blinded by Light. Nox Aeterna and Nox Divina could have been original to Versus, but they also could have been made for Nomura after the title change and therefore not count in the Versus tally.

Apart from those five songs, there's good reason to think that the rest of Shimomura's contribution to FFXV's soundtrack came after the changing of the guard... meaning that retaining 1/3 of the soundtrack could mean a loss of ten songs at most (and possibly as few as four).

As for the nature of the missing songs, the most obvious need to cut a song from the soundtrack would be because it designed to reflect an event (say, the invasion of Lucis) or a character (say, Stella) that was removed from the game. There's also the possibility that some environmental music was created that didn't end up matching the feel of FFXV's environment. If that's the case, it might not make a lot of sense to insert it into the game somewhere regardless.

Of course, this is Final Fantasy XV we're talking about, so there's really no reason why a half-dozen Versus tracks couldn't be put into the car radio as the soundtrack of a game that Noct and co. play. XD
 

Bazztek

Keyblade Master
May 26, 2014
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I think the wording is odd but sounds to me like she's saying Nomura only approved 1/3 of the music she composed for Versus to XV. So it's not necesarily that she has 2/3 of those songs actually professionally produced, orchestrated, mixed and ready, but simply composed and ones that didn't get approval.

Shimomura confirmed in an interview a while back that Veiled in Black was composed during Versus, and in the liner notes for the Platinum demo OST she confirmed that Love Lost was also composed during Versus.