“Final Fantasy Versus XIII” would have been a hard sell at best. It’s not a sequel to “Final Fantasy XIII,” but it’s in the same world and it’s sort of modern/fantasy.
With the name change and open world focus, Square Enix got a chance to broaden the games market considerably. Thus the game became focused on being an entry point for new players to the series and a more traditional one in line with the series roots.
Tabata’s tale is a much more accessible one with clear goods and evils and a straight forward road trip style adventure driving the plot forward. The game forgoes political intrigue or looming mysteries for clear goals and character development.
The simplification was likely a returning to roots of sorts against the criticism of the series becoming too convoluted and hard to follow in recent years.
While a lot of Nomura advocates and disappointed fans like to blame Tabata for changing what “Final Fantasy Versus XIII” was into what “Final Fantasy XV” is today, the truth is “FFXV” is as much a reaction to the market and fan complaints at its predecessors as it is an internal one.
“FFXV” is exactly what was translated into existence and that’s not a bad thing. It is a great game, one the “Final Fantasy” series badly needed.