Romantic love wasn't going to, but the love between friends or a father & his son? That was something that old trailers & interviews strongly implied would be important for Versus XIII and seem to have continued into this version of FFXV, however much they might've changed the overall storyline & things these people go through. We had flashback scenes in Versus XIII trailers where Noctis is running into Regis' embrace & quotes that made it clear how Regis felt about his son, a fun scene with Regis & kid Noctis in the E3 2013 re-reveal trailer and now the dawwwwww cute kid Noctis in the arms of his loving father in the Dawn trailer, so that's seemingly remained as a pretty central loving relationship from the early days of Versus XIII. And of course we have the guy love between the bros.
It'll remain to be seen just how big a part romance will have in FFXV, but that Tabata quote makes it seem like it's still not all that central. Maybe there is romance which is seemingly something that Versus XIII wasn't going to have (at least in the early days), but Noctis might not go all Squall on us by the end of the game even if that is the case. Even if Luna & Noctis will have a relationship that leans more on the romantic side, that quote makes it seem like it's not going to get too much screentime.