We have always valued reports / articles / analysis with truthful and reliable information, and we have been producing them for years. This is why we have decided to address this correction on an individual post instead of silently updating the older article.
Last week, we reported there might be a character change system where you can seamlessly from a character to another during the gameplay. This report was based on older trailer footage from Final Fantasy Versus XIII, and “The Overture” demo where the player seemed to be controlling Ignis for a short while.
Now this information has become dated as Hajime Tabata revealed to 4gamer, the player can only control Noctis. Though, the player will be able to open the main menu and change the strategy / behavior and weapons of the entire party any time during the battle. Alongside this, Final Fantasy XV will be heavily focusing on the co-operation between all party members. More about that will be revealed later.
We also wanted to notify that the battle system of Final Fantasy XV is still in development. They may be changing some of the aspects, which is why we need to wait and see more, before jumping to any conclusions. The wait won’t be long since the development team is aiming to deliver the demo with Final Fantasy Type-0 HD in March 2015.
In the future, we will be avoiding this kind of assumptions, and we have decided to forget almost everything, which have been reported during the Final Fantasy Versus XIII era, because that information has become dated. All new details we are reporting from now, will representing Final Fantasy XV as the final product which it will eventually be. Though, some aspects may be changing as the game is still in development.
Categories: FINAL FANTASY XV
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Well, in Mass Effect you can control only one character, so I see no problem with that. Though it would be a first to a numbered FF.
Lightning was also only playable in LRFFXIII, and I didn’t see anything bad about it since the gameplay was very diverse and you could make Lightning almost anything: defender, ninja, warrior, magician… It was a very refreshing take thanks to the customization. Though, I am still disappointed she didn’t get to use any guns during the gameplay. :(
difference there is that lightning was the only playable character, so lets not spin this around, this is a huge issue for me, if only Noctis is playable then thats a huge problem, especially with the news about the battle system.
Are you sure 4gamer isn’t just implying that it’s only 1 character throughout the whole game? Something just feels, idn, off about that. The way that sentence was worded in some of the interviews I saw, were worded differently.
Famitsu- Every character/ally will fight with his/her own style
4Gamer- Can only fight with Noct
I kinda do wanna reach out to them to get a concrete answer because right now, I don’t know what to believe!
It is something Tabata stated himself, but they could be doing many changes to the gameplay since the game is still in development. Final Fantasy XIII gameplay changed after the demo, so the team will be adjusting FFXV based on the demo feedback. Perhaps the best thing would be just wait and see how the gameplay turns out in the demo, but we want to produce our own articles and how we see the developer’s comments since all news sites report them differently.
Personally, I am very excited about the upcoming demo release, and the way how Tabata explained the battle system sounds very promising and unique. :)
Oh trust me, I am still excited before and after the interview. However, everyone seems to be up in arms (pitchforks and what not) saying things like Only 1 button to win?! “Cancel Pre-order” or I can only be Noct?! Why can’t I use the other 4 Characters?!
When I hear almost the whole community about it, with very little positives it just worries me.
That’s pretty much your common day on the internet. The drama is never-ending, but the most important thing is to enjoy the games and things you love. Not sure does it sound surprising, but I stopped following forums etc. a long time ago, and it has made it easier to enjoy the things I love. There’s too much negativity on the Internet and with my site I am trying to provide a bit more positive aspect if possible. :)
And when it comes to only one playable character… Many loved titles have only one playable character and it’s not a big deal. But with Final Fantasy it is, since we are used to an idea of multiple playable characters. Though, We were only controlling Lightning in LRFFXIII and it worked well. This is why I am not that worried about FFXV as long as it provides a diverse and entertaining experience. Though, I wish I would be able to play as Prompto! ;)
Altogether, it’s too early to jump to any conclusions since the battle system seems rather complicated to be explained well. Luckily, we have to wait less than six months to actually play the game! (if the team manages to develop the demo in time)
Normally, I don’t mind forums, because it’s usually a good mix between people good and bad. However, after this news hit, there was only 5% good and the rest 95% not good. Feedback is always good, and I hope SE is listening to us ( not sure how they do that on just a simple forum site). I am glad that it’s getting the bad reception “now” while the game is in a ” tech demo” phase. gives the Developer time to rethink the battle system ( if he wants to that is) and make changes without it really affecting the release date ( their target release date.)
I do agree that we all should just wait to play the demo and understand the battle system then. However, nothing is wrong with getting the reception it is getting right now. It’s just now hitting me hard on how much negativity this game is getting. Without FF having it’s fans, we wouldn’t have as many FF’s as we do now. If most of the people dislike it, it could jeopardize the franchise. and that’s a scary thought!
I am trying my best to stay positive, and until the forums calm down from this, I should stay away from the forums. However, I do admire them voicing their concerns heavily! Feedback can make a game better! I don’t know if you have the power to send something to square ( or even if I could I just don’t know how). I would like to give feedback to them ( on the current issues we have been seeing) so I could tell SE how I feel about what I saw about the battle system. The rest of the game is flawless1
Yeah, I agree the fans’ feedback is very important and it’s good thing people share their thoughts with others. Though, there is a huge different between giving constructive feedback and simply stating your opinion without writing proper arguments and opening your thoughts.
This is an issue with the Internet and I have been discussing about it with many developers. The problem often is that all good thoughts, which would help with the development, are hidden somewhere in the middle of invaluable comments that don’t help improving the product at all. I and many of my developer friends have agreed that both negative and positive comments that aren’t explaining the issue / why something is good and suggesting ways to fix it, don’t have much value.
Though, the developers don’t spend much time on reading people’s comments. They are just normal people with families spending their free time away from the work. It is completely understandable. The community / marketing team are the ones listening to our feedback and delivering it to the team.
Here we come to the problem with art and making completely new experiences and following your vision. One of the composers from Final Symphony told his thoughts on feedback very nicely, and I couldn’t agree more. When composing new songs, he could listen to all fans’ feedback and fix the song accordingly. The results would please everyone, but the music would be “ok”. And this isn’t what an artist wants. He saw it in a way his work doesn’t have any value because it doesn’t give people any proper feelings. There he came to a conclusion he will always prefer complete love and hate over an “ok”. It is more rewarding and that’s where the loyal fans are made as well.
I think this is the thing among the FF developers as well. They aren’t scared to take risks and take the series forwards – even far away from our ideal Final Fantasy game. Can we even count the future mainline FF games as JRPGs or will they be different genre? What’s Final Fantasy? What’s the next direction it takes? This is what makes the series exciting to me – a new entry always feels fresh as it should do. Final Fantasy could mean anything, and that is beautiful.
I totally agree with you, You can’t please everyone, and when you managed to please everyone it’s just “okay” as you put it, not over the top amazing, because the artist isn’t doing what he’s envisioning, it’s basically everyone elses “vision”. Battle system is an art in itself, Some games have multiple buttons that when executed it will perform a devastating attack. Other games are timing battle systems, Turn based,fighter, shooter etc. It’s all an art. In FF terms, I haven’t not once disliked a battle system. but I did prefer FFXII open world battle system!
Overall, Whether good or bad, X person needs to be in great detail why it’s wrong, why it would not be fun to the overall player, and what you as a player do to make a battle system that is fun for everyone ( not just you). Anyways, it was really nice chatting with you I hope we can stay in contact!
Good Call guys :3
Thank you for letting us know this! This sure was a better choice than just updating the older article and notifying it on a Twitter/Facebook that it’s corrected. Now, everyone will see the correction, even the ones who don’t use social media – including me! :)