While there has been a lot of speculation surrounding the launch of “Final Fantasy XV”, Square Enix tried to resolve some of the confusion by releasing a demo for the game – and it was actually received quite well by most players in the end. We still don’t know how the actual final release of the title is going to look like, though – and there have been some rumors that what we saw in the demo might not be completely indicative of the final product.
Fans and critic certainly have a reason to suspect that there will be some significant differences, as the release of “Final Fantasy XIII” was surrounded by similar issues. The game showed some things in the demo which differed a bit from the final product, and this wasn’t taken very lightly by most fans.
In the end, there’s speculation that the game will change a lot until its release, further fueled by the fact that it’s going to take some time before the final version is ready. The demo did showcase some great features though, and many fans were fond of the overall presentation – but for some, this just added to the speculation about possible differences. The demo did seem quite meticulously polished, perhaps suspiciously so – and it’s hard to say if it’s really indicative of what the actual game will look like.
It’s worth noting that some features from the demo weren’t received that warmly by all fans, such as the way combat worked. It’s a new system, and it still needs some work, but Square Enix seem to be aware of the situation and are going to make some adjustments until the final version, reports claim.
When is the game actually coming out? Current speculation puts the release date around the beginning of 2016, and this was somewhat confirmed by a post on the PlayStation Blog earlier this year, which listed all upcoming releases for 2015, with the new “Final Fantasy” being absent from that list. Of course, this doesn’t absolutely guarantee that the game isn’t coming in 2015, and on the other hand it says nothing about the possibility of seeing the title in 2016.
In the end, Square Enix are betting a lot with this release, and they should be very careful with the way they handle it. If people feel like they have been misled about the contents of the game, this would spell disaster for the studio in the long term, and it will significantly undermine their reputation. “Final Fantasy” is one of the most iconic franchises in gaming right now, and this release can further drive that point home, or ruin the series.
Interesting article. I think the issues with 13 were down to confusion on vision and change over of director too many times which meant the project was handled by someone who doesn’t understand the brand.
Despite XV having one change over, it’s likely nomura completed the story, characters and world they live in and they asked Tabata to help to work out issues and to polish the experience, since they needed nomura for kh3. Tabata has given fans more insight than ever through his monthly YouTube videos. You can tell he loves what he creates, which is why previous final fantasy have been a success.
Also that image isn’t the official XV logo, it’s a fan made one.