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All-New Press Previews of Final Fantasy XV's First 5 Chapters

T

Tyaren

Member
Koozek said:
He probably still has her letter somewhere in his pockets, sniffing it when nobody's watching.
Click to expand...

OMG, lol.
What's with the blatant Prompto (aka best bro) bashing on the last page?

giphy.gif
 
S

SaganIsGOAT

Junior Member
Probably been asked and answered a million times but can someone who has never touched the series jump in with this installment?
 
S

Son Of Sparda

Member
AkirraKrylon said:
Lol phoenix down animation got you to pre-order?!

I have done my part today, Lord Tabata *bow*
Click to expand...
LOL.

Ever since I found out about bonuses for pre-ordering digitally a while back, I've been on the fence about pre-ordering this (rather than waiting for impressions first). New trailer and previews made me almost pull the trigger but your gif was the last nudge needed :)

So be proud of this soul, Lord Tabata.
Ruruja said:
Prompto is my least favourite character. Just looks and acts like an idiot.

More Gladio please.
Click to expand...

Ruruja
5iYds5s.png

(Yesterday, 11:33 PM)
 
A

AlexFlame116

Member
That's it. I'm going to go on a blackout at 8 and I won't post on anything FFXV related til the 26th. I'm way too excited now! Have fun guys!

Koozek don't you dare say it...
 
K

Koozek

Member
SaganIsGOAT said:
Probably been asked and answered a million times but can someone who has never touched the series jump in with this installment?
Click to expand...
Yes. FFs are independent and self-contained. This is probably the best time for a newcomer to jump in too with FFXV's unique blend of classic FF elements and modern game design. Welcome, and hop on the train!
 
SolVanderlyn

SolVanderlyn

Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
Tyaren said:
OMG, lol.
What's with the blatant Prompto (aka best bro) bashing on the last page?

giphy.gif
Click to expand...
I see this gif getting a lot of use going forward.
 
G

Gbraga

Member
Koozek said:
:
Tabata himself encouraged this kind of world design with natural, empty stretches because it's just not possible to fill every inch of such a huge world that has to convey the road-trip more believably so you wouldn't reach the other side of the continent in a few minutes already. Obviously it's still not realistic, as I doubt it takes several real-life days or weeks to cross the whole continent :D
Highly recommending this interview where Tabata talks about having a hard time convincing his team that it's okay if parts of the world are empty:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1249074
Click to expand...

Tabata:
I wondered if there was a good example and after searching I found Shadow of the Colossus. After showing it, everyone seemed to understand. Of course, I'm not making fun of Shadow of the Colossus by any means. It's because I respect it that I'm using it as an example.

4Gamer:
It's a good example, which goes to show you can make many great games depending on how you make it, even if you don't stuff it full of content. Actually, Shadow of the Colossus had great reviews overseas as well.

Tabata:
You can get a sense of the world just by moving to a destination right? The staff validated the appeal of Shadow of the Colossus. Another example of a game you can experience the world is, The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. If you compare it to games these days, it isn't exactly brimming with content. Even so, you become entranced just running around on a horse in a seamless world.
Click to expand...

I think I have a crush on Tabata.
 
T

Tyaren

Member
yunbuns said:
tumblr_o9jzhha7kN1v6aj9do4_400.gif
Click to expand...

If there wasn't that darn dithering FFXV's hair tech would be the best in the industry. :/ It's almost of CGI quality.


Gbraga said:
Tabata:
I wondered if there was a good example and after searching I found Shadow of the Colossus. After showing it, everyone seemed to understand. Of course, I'm not making fun of Shadow of the Colossus by any means. It's because I respect it that I'm using it as an example.

4Gamer:
It's a good example, which goes to show you can make many great games depending on how you make it, even if you don't stuff it full of content. Actually, Shadow of the Colossus had great reviews overseas as well.

Tabata:
You can get a sense of the world just by moving to a destination right? The staff validated the appeal of Shadow of the Colossus. Another example of a game you can experience the world is, The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. If you compare it to games these days, it isn't exactly brimming with content. Even so, you become entranced just running around on a horse in a seamless world.
Click to expand...

I don't think SotC or OoT are that fitting examples. Both game worlds lived from that sense of vastness, loneliness and isolation, especially SotC. (OoT was just very limited in what it could do.) FFXV's game world is build completely different and serves a different purpose. It is supposed to be a living, breathing, exciting world, right? Also, you always have your 4 bros around that chat all the time. There is no time for sweet loneliness and selfreflection while traveling.
I have by the way nothing against bigger stretches of nothingness. The densely packed Skyrim or Witcher 3 worlds felt a little strange and unnatural to me but I think SotC or OoT are not the right examples here.
 
D

Deckard Chapel

Banned
So I'm re-playing Final Fantasy VII and I'm at the end of the game, but I'm back at the Gold Saucer for the Chocobo races. Please tell me that in Final Fantasy XV there's going to be a location like the Gold Saucer - the only mini-game can't just be Justice Monsters V LOL!

By the way, I wonder if Dave & Buster's got any inspiration from the Gold Saucer?
 
L

Let'sGoTenjiku

Neo Member
enigmatic_alex44 said:
Remember all the positive buzz about Bioshock Infinite? Now everyone hates that game.
Click to expand...

Infinite was honestly the only FPS I have enjoyed since the original Doom. I only disliked how the latter portion of the game essentially turned into a game of enter room:eek:verly long fire fight:enter next room:eek:verly long fire fight. Lather, rinse, repeat. That and the terrible ending
 
G

Gbraga

Member
Tyaren said:
If there wasn't that darn dithering FFXV's hair tech would be the best in the industry. :/ It's almost of CGI quality.
Click to expand...

Downsampling will do wonders to help with the dithering in the Pro version. I don't plan on buying one, though, so pleb hair for me :p

Tyaren said:
I don't think SotC or OoT are that fitting examples. Both game worlds lived from that sense of vastness, loneliness and isolation, especially SotC. (OoT was just very limited in what it could do.) FFXV's game world is build completely different and serves a different purpose. It is supposed to be a living, breathing, exciting world, right? Also, you always have your 4 bros around that chat all the time. There is no time for loneliness an selfreflection while traveling.
I have by the way nothing against bigger stretches of nothingness. The densely packed Skyrim or Witcher 3 worlds felt a little strange and unnatural to me but I think SotC or OoT are not the right examples here.
Click to expand...

I think it's more in a sense of creating a world, rather than a huge amusement park. It's about having long enough stretches of nothing so they can develop these characters, which is the core of the game, rather than having you either drive your car through the forest or stop it every 5 seconds to check out the new icon that popped on your minimap. The team wasn't convinced that a game that isn't full of content on every turn would be well accepted by the players, or even themselves, for that matter, and then he brought up those examples. They're not only well received, but better received than pretty much any of the open world games that are chock full of content, because people weren't just bored of them and asking for more stuff to do, they were able to immerse themselves in that world, and they bought the idea.

As long as it's well executed, it's ok not to be full of shit to do.

Eos is supposed to be exciting and full of wonders, but it will (going by what Tabata says) stand as its own reward. You'll explore it because you want to, because you're interested in seeing what's in that landmark over there, to see if you find a hard dungeon just because you want to go through a hard dungeon, and maybe get some unique loot. You won't just go across the map multiple times because people tell you to go everywhere all the time, or you need to chase points of interest on your map. If you don't care about exploring it, it's fine too, you won't feel like you're missing on most of the game's content, and it'll still feel alive. Takes me back to the TGS 2014 trailer, with them commenting on the Adamantoise. I have no idea if this scene is still in the game, probably not, but it's a good example of something that gives weight to the world, and makes it more believable. The player might choose to never engange in combat against it, but just the fact that it's there and they talk about it, already makes it convincing.
 
S

Skulldead

Member
Fom usgamer preview

9. It's easy to over-level, but also easy to find new challenges

The downside to engaging in plenty of hunts as your work your way through the game is that you can very easily over-level yourself for the story portions. When it came time to fight the boss at the end of Chapter Two, for example, what presumably was meant to be an impressive and intimidating battle against a giant Magitek machine and an army of soldiers ended in short order because I had completed every available hunt to that point, and my team had combat stats about 50% above what the developers had likely intended for that point.

The thing is, so far I've found no shortage of challenges regardless. Sure, the story portions have been a bit of a gimme to this point… but if you roam around in search of hunts, you'll always find something scaled to be just a bit beyond the means of your current team. There are about a dozen different places to pick up hunt assignments throughout Liede and Duscae, and they've been staggered to ensure that you can always find a tough challenge. Hunts always seem to provide the most interesting combat challenges, at least in the early going, introducing monsters with offensive and defensive powers that you won't find in the mundane mobs and forcing you to come to terms with your party's capabilities. It's always satisfying to barely scrape through a nasty fight with your team intact... and even more satisfying when they sag visibly after the fight ends and banter about how they're happy to even be alive.
Click to expand...

This right here made me sold on this game. This was the thing i like the most in FFXII.
 
G

Gbraga

Member
Deckard Chapel said:
Why would that scene and that boss not be in the final game??
Click to expand...

The boss is, we know that for sure, it's just that those scenes seem to be heavily reworked. As well as some of the Jump Festa stuff.

The scene with Noctis pointing to the Niflheim fleet and asking "got a better explanation for that?" definitely isn't in, they don't have time to wonder about what's going on in Insomnia. From what we've seen, it goes from carefree roadtrip to "sheeeeeit, we're fucked" during a cutscene. They don't slowly pick up on it and then have the revelation.

Maybe the whole introduction chapters were reworked when they decided not to show any of the invasion stuff in-game and make Kingsglaive instead?
 
Y

YankeeDonB

Member
Everything in the fourth J. Parish preview got me even more hyped. What if they manage to wed the rewarding exploration of XII with the meaningful and grounded characters of VI, VII, or X, all wrapped up with an engaging and challenging combat system? Then add the music, well designed dungeons, epic set pieces. Damn it, must... control...expectations.
 
Y

YankeeDonB

Member
Koozek said:
Probably meant the scene of them commenting on it while driving past it. It's in the middle of the field now with not path next to it and it seems it stays underground until a certain quest when you suddenly realize this huge rock was the Adamantoise all along :>
Click to expand...

Bottom right just doesn't look like 'toise to me. How could he have such a high point on his shell?

Also, I'm hoping after we beat him his shell remains as a dungeon.
 
R

rayman1900

Member
Deckard Chapel said:
So I'm re-playing Final Fantasy VII and I'm at the end of the game, but I'm back at the Gold Saucer for the Chocobo races. Please tell me that in Final Fantasy XV there's going to be a location like the Gold Saucer - the only mini-game can't just be Justice Monsters V LOL!

By the way, I wonder if Dave & Buster's got any inspiration from the Gold Saucer?
Click to expand...

King's Knight will probably be also à mini game if I have to guess, since they did the port for justice monster V really accurate to the mobile experience.
 
P

PshycoNinja

Member
dragonzdogma said:
Koozek, dude- this is the last time I will ask, are you sure, and I mean it,
are you sure you don't suffer from insomnia and because of that you have developed an alternate ego (Maybe called Tyler ) that works for Squarenix?
Click to expand...

Did...did I just get called out?

Koozek said:
LOL, you're the second person asking me that this week. Nope, I don't work for SE. Though it would be my dream to work on a mainline FF someday. Maybe after I'm done with my Master's, probably when FFXVII will be in development.
Click to expand...

You're a good guy, Koozek. I wish you all the best in your endeavors. \
 
Cindi Mayweather

Cindi Mayweather

Member
YankeeDonB said:
Everything in the fourth J. Parish preview got me even more hyped. What if they manage to wed the rewarding exploration of XII with the meaningful and grounded characters of VI, VII, or X, all wrapped up with an engaging and challenging combat system? Then add the music, well designed dungeons, epic set pieces. Damn it, must... control...expectations.
Click to expand...

I'm already on the hype train. You can't take my seat. You can sit next to me tho!

It feels like an evolution on XII in many ways! XII imo is the best FF!
 
M

mujun

Member
Does anyone know, in general terms, how or why the game gets very linear for the 2nd half?

The open world sounds more appealing to me so I wonder if I would enjoy this game.
 
M

Mailbox

Member
mujun said:
Does anyone know, in general terms, how or why the game gets very linear for the 2nd half?

The open world sounds more appealing to me so I wonder if I would enjoy this game.
Click to expand...

Okay, we actually don't know HOW linear it is. From Tabata's statements it seems more akin to something like disk 4 of ff9 (ie: all the story stuff and whatnot is linear, but you can do extra stuff outside of that linearity). (Though the thing is, he has been oddly confusing when saying stuff like its the second half and then saying its "near the end" so idk.)

Specifically how he says: "If you play through the first half and only the main route of the second half, I believe the estimated play-time sits at around 40 to 50 hours."

This implies there is more to the second half than just the linear story progression.
edit: never mind what i wrote above. Apparently the linearity starts with something to do with the train or something. hmmmmm
 
M

mujun

Member
Mailbox said:
Okay, we actually don't know HOW linear it is. From Tabata's statements it seems more akin to something like disk 4 of ff9 (ie: all the story stuff and whatnot is linear, but you can do extra stuff outside of that linearity). (Though the thing is, he has been oddly confusing when saying stuff like its the second half and then saying its "near the end" so idk.)

Specifically how he says: "If you play through the first half and only the main route of the second half, I believe the estimated play-time sits at around 40 to 50 hours."

This implies there is more to the second half than just the linear story progression. However, it seems we may be expecting ff6 levels of shift. Though I'm not expecting something nearly as mind-fuck-y
Click to expand...

Thanks!

I'll probably pick the game up. It's nice to splurge a little around Christmas and a shiny new game makes for a nice pick-me-up post knee surgery.
 
T

theSlacker

Member
Sagely said:
Agreed. A tragic and meaningful ending would be sad, but moving and a good conclusion. Just not something manipulative or cruel, please!

I'd enjoy a classic Hero's Journey with Noctis being clearly a changed person once the story is over, I think. And not just physical change, but emotional signs that the journey had taken its toll on him. That or a sacrifice for the greater good would be fine by me, as common as they are.
Click to expand...

Even though the "hero's journey" is something that I've gotten tired of, if they manage to sell actual character change with it I will still really enjoy it. Progression and character change are some things I really like from stories. I'm not usually into things that are purposely manipulative or cruel for the sake of it either, but main character deaths don't have to be that. Nor does it have to be "for the greater good" as that is more common that I would like. Getting to the end and being fully able to walk away from it all but choosing to see it through because of what you have gone through and the person you now are is another way. Something about that appeals to me more. Regardless I don't think that any of the "bros" are going to die and hope that they don't with Noctis and Luna going instead. And to that same end I would hope that if only one character dies it is Noctis by choice and not Luna. Basically I don't want the death of any of the main characters to be used as motivation for the rest of the story but instead to be the "end" of the story if someone is going to die in the game.

notaskwid said:
I think that my favorite will end up being Noctis. You know, he's the prince and all.
Click to expand...

I hope the same is true for me. I have found it harder and harder to really like the "main" character of a game for a while while preferring some side character that doesn't have to be the "face" of the game and stand in of the player, and wishing that character was who I was playing as instead. Normally because the "main character" of this kind of story has to be some kind of dumb/naive/young/following someone else's plans combination they just don't appeal to me, but hope springs eternal here.

Koozek said:
Tabata himself encouraged this kind of world design with natural, empty stretches because it's just not possible to fill every inch of such a huge world that has to convey the road-trip more believably so you wouldn't reach the other side of the continent in a few minutes already. Obviously it's still not realistic, as I doubt it takes several real-life days or weeks to cross the whole continent :D
Highly recommending this interview where Tabata talks about having a hard time convincing his team that it's okay if parts of the world are empty:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1249074
Click to expand...

This is something that gets me really excited about the gameworld here since it is something that always bugs me in most other games. Worlds being made with no value put into empty space, where every step has to have some sort of event tied to it. Making games feel less "gamey" and having more believable gameworlds are some of my favorite things a video game can have. I am more then okay with it taking "too long" to get to places and not being able to just fast travel skip all over the map. Can't let my hope run too wild on this though since it just sets me up for disappointment, even through Tabata is saying the exact thing that gets me excited.
 
Y

YankeeDonB

Member
UpDownLeftRight said:
It just looks like a slightly fantasy version of a very ridged shell so exaggerated a bit IMO.
Click to expand...

You may be right, I just can't see it for some reason.

Cindi Mayweather said:
I'm already on the hype train. You can't take my seat. You can sit next to me tho!

It feels like an evolution on XII in many ways! XII imo is the best FF!
Click to expand...

Ha ha, choo fucking choo!

I loved XII's gameplay loops (including exploration). If XV build's off of those, oh boy :)
 
jimmypython

jimmypython

Member
Maybe the linearity is like FF8's
future world map
.


I REALLY hoped FF8 could expand on that........I guess dev time constraint??
 
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