There has been a recent debate as regards to the role-playing game “Final Fantasy XV” which was released by Square Enix on the gaming consoles in September last year.
Apparently, there are notions saying that “Final Fantasy XV” is the same game as the “Final Fantasy Versus XIII” that was started by game director Tetsuya Nomura, during the early development of the game.
However, the game has since seen a change in ideas, story, characters, and even directors, having moved from Tetsuya Nomura’s helm to that of Hajime Tabata, who directed “Final Fantasy Type-0,” reports Siliconera.
Built on the same ideas but different games
Tabata, who directed “Final Fantasy XV” through the rest of its development, clarified that it is no longer the game Square Enix once introduced as “Final Fantasy Versus XIII,” even though it is built upon the same ideas.
He explained that after they had switched from “Final Fantasy Versus XIII” to “Final Fantasy XV,” they made sure that “FFXV” would have a completely coherent story in one game.
The game director added that he went through everything in detail, seeing which areas he would have to change. By that time, a fair amount of information about the “Final Fantasy Versus XIII” story had already been released, so he tried to keep as many elements from it as he could.
Tabata said that the development team tried hard in a number of areas. But it would have been very difficult to carry over absolutely everything as it was.
They considered what was possible with the new-gen hardware, as well as what elements absolutely must be included in “FFXV” but might fall through if not given top priority.
In the end, they have decided to be as faithful as possible to Kazushige Nojima’s story for “Final Fantasy Versus XIII” and focus on realizing the original story as much as they could.
It goes without saying that he consulted with Nojima on the matter who told him that if Tabata valued his original story, then it would still fulfill his vision, even if not every single element he came up with were included in the end.
A tale of two directors
The development of “Final Fantasy XV” and “Final Fantasy Versus XIII” is a tale of two directors, involving basically two visions for the world of Eos and the story of Prince Noctis.
A big part of Tabata’s “FFXV” design was the open road. From early trailers after his take over as director, it was seen as a much heavier role placed on the party’s car, called the Regalia, and the open world that it allowed the gamer to travel in.
There was also a big shift taken away from the focus on the game’s opening event, the invasion of Insomnia and instead were shown the game’s open world gameplay with the key emphasis being on driving the Regalia.
Tabata has expressed this point himself, considering the car to be the fifth member of the party and a key character of the games overall identity, notes The Zombie Chimp.
In the original design, the car did not have an overly pronounced role. While it was featured, it was more just a piece of the games modern design meets fantasy.
Another element of the design of “Final Fantasy XV” that changed considerably after the backlash of “Final Fantasy Versus XIII” was its connection to the overarching universe of Fabula Nova Crystalis.
Early trailers and gameplay back from 2011 drew heavy attention to the goddess Etro, who is a goddess who protects the balance between the mortal world and the afterlife.
In the original story of “Final Fantasy Versus XIII,” Etro was the patron goddess of Lucis and the legend of her divine light was to play a big role in the game’s events. The story states that whenever Etro opens the unseen gate, the souls of the dead ascend as a streak of light to the heavens and through the gate.
The element of Nomura’s original design that was quite difficult to have seen being done away with is the dark tone and story. Though little was shown and even less confirmed due to some eagle-eyed fans and interesting rumors, gamers are now able to see many interesting pieces to a likely forever unfinished puzzle.
The current story of “Final Fantasy XV” is far lighter in tone and character depth compared to what Nomura was looking at. The likely reason is a shift in the target audience.