“My son, my heir… only you can restore the light. Only you can reclaim the throne.”
A new trailer for Final Fantasy XV debuted at the Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV event in downtown Los Angeles mere hours before the big fan event last night that was held at The Shrine Auditorium. Before the press headed out to the fan event, publisher Square-Enix unveiled a demo, had a lively Q&A with the developers, and revealed more trailers. The big emphasis was about how the release of the next installment in the franchise will see concurrent launches of other XV-themed IPs.
Below is all we learned from the press day conference and the evening's big surprises from the Shrine.
New Final Fantasy XV Trailer! And More Trailers!
The first trailer was for XV proper, and highlighted the bond between lead character Noctis, his Chocobros, as well as his father, and the rest of the royal family. All the while, “Stand By Me” was played as the soundtrack, although it was not the classic Ben E. King version but Florence and the Machine… who nailed it. (Most Final Fantasy songs have female singers, by the by.)
Next up was the Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV teaser. A five-part anime tale about Noctis and his pals from childhood to adulthood. The art style sports a muted color palate that no doubt will coincide with Noctis’ angst-ridden adventures. Episode 1 is available tonight, with each episode approximately ten minutes in length.
You can watch the first episode here:
After that was a trailer for Kingsglaive, a full-length CGI animated feature. The focus here is on Noctis’ father, Regis, who will be played by Sean Bean who sent a video message to fans at the Uncovered event. Lena Heady took the stage to reveal she would be playing Luna. Not to be overlooked, Aaron Paul came out to announce that he'll be voicing Nyx, a soldier of the king. He also joked at how there are plenty of "blue crystals" in the world of Final Fantasy. The feature will be made by the same team that created Advent Children so, naturally, the visuals looked awesome.
Finally, there was the trailer for Platinum Demo, which was, you guessed it, a demo. Great news: it's free to download right now at Xbox Live/PSN. It’s very much meant to entice players new to the Final Fantasy world.
Platinum Demo Impressions
You play a young version of Noctis, or “Noct” as called by his father, who looks and plays a lot like Sora from Kingdom Hearts. (He even has a similar tussled, spikey hairdo.) In fact, with all the childlike whimsy on display, plus the heavy but simple action gameplay, this could be seen as “Final Fantasy: The Disney Intro”. There are five levels to the demo: the opening by a river, a dining room with toys with Noctis miniature size (very Alice in Wonderland), an outside patio, and finally, a citadel where you battle a boss. As you make your way forward, you can step on these sewer-like mounds that change the weather or change you into a creature. Eventually, you wake up and the dream/demo ends. It takes about twenty minutes to finish.
You can collect gold droplets, take out blue dragons by equipping a hammer or toy blade, all while following your cute adorable creature guide named Carbuncle. That’s right, it’s the adorable white fox from Final Fantasy IV. Anyone that finishes the demo will be able to summon the adorable astral if they purchase XV. The graphics are not quite on par with last year’s Duscae demo, though. Thankfully, the same wacky J-RPG aesthetic is still on display. It’s hard to top seeing convertibles in a Final Fantasy game, but having Carbuncle communicate to Noctis by texting him on a smartphone is pretty darn close.
Justice Monsters Five!
A pinball mini-game looks like fun with Final Fantasy art style and characters.
Essentially, there's a pinball machine Noctis plays in the game. Soon you can play it too on mobile devices.
Release Date Announced!
The biggest news of the night was the release date which, taking a play form Bethesda's playbook is only 6 months away. September 30th, 2016. Awesome.
Fans can pre-order The Deluxe Edition, which includes Day One Edition content plus an exclusive two-disc steelbook with FINAL FANTASY XV and the KINGSGLAIVE Blu-ray. Also, an exclusive car recolor DLC and the Royal Raiment costume DLC from KINGSGLAIVE.
Uber fans can pre-order the Final Fantasy XV. The Ultimate Collector's Edition, which will be extremely limited with only 30,000 units will be made worldwide. You can only purchase it from the Square Enix Online Store. UE includes all Deluxe Edition content plus two-disc steelbook containing the official Blu-ray Disc Music (music from FINAL FANTASY XV, KINGSGLAIVE and BROTHERHOOD) and the BROTHERHOOD Blu-ray (containing an exclusive sixth episode). It also includes a cool Noctis action figure with an Ultimate Edition-exclusive weapon.
Extra Q&A with XV‘s director, Hajime Tabata, and Kingsglaive’s Takeshi Nozue.
GR: Why use ”Stand by me”?
Hajime: It’s a perfect theme song for FFXV.
GR: Will the new battle system be easier for newer gamers?
Hajime: We made a lot of changes in the combat system based on the feedback from the demo last year. So regardless of your playstyle you should be good.
GR: No plans for a sequel?
Hajime: I’m aware folks think FF has reached its peak, its ‘over-the-hill’. Once we reached the HD era, many western games became the standard-bearers. We can’t mimic from western games but we can learn from them. We’ve incorporated a lot to get new users.
GR: Any DLC? Endgame content?
Hajime: In order to keep players invested after the end of the main story? Yes, there will be additional content.
GR: How important is this installment to the future of FF?
Hajime: If XV is successful, it will be a positive thing for the brand overall. And then we’ll continue aiming higher. The use of cutting-edge tech will be vital to upcoming games for us. The aim is to grow the franchise.
GR: Do the Roman numerals in the title seem a turn-off for new players? Would you consider ditching them?
Hajime: Yes, we have though of that. I had the same impression seeing “XV” myself. It’s such a high number. I can’t think of another brand with another number that high. [laughs]
GR: How do you keep older players happy?
Hajime: It’s not easy. With any franchise you have to find that balance with trial and error. Talking to big western game developers, they seem to have the same aims and concerns.
GR: We are modernizing.
Hajime: When rebranding the [Final Fantasy series] our main pillar was the bond between father and son, parent and child. That’s the key.
GR: In FFXV Noctis, the royal son is the lead. Do you play his father, King Regis?
Hajime: You play solely Noctis. The blend is between story and gameplay. The focus is to be only be in the mind of Noctis. The other friends will have strong, individual AIs. However, you can give orders to them.
It’s more episode-like. Not really an overworld, but with fast travel options.
In most FF games you meet and gain folks in your part over time, but this was not the case since Noctis’ friends have known each other for a long time prior to the game’s opening. The anime Brotherhood was a chance to explore the friend’s relationships on a deeper level, while Kingsglaive does that between father and son.
GR: If you purchase FFXV, Carboncle will be a part of the game's features of FF XV. What will be the difficulty level?
Hajime: Difficulty level?! Yes, FINALLY. Lower, the combat will be easier. Plus, Carboncle, can aid in when you are in a bind.
GR: PC? Gonna happen?
Hajime: We’re aware of the need for a PC version. But at this time we can’t do a simultaneous release. Once that is done we’ll consider it. Right now it’s all about the console release.
