Final Fantasy XV Gamescom Active Time Report - CNN reporting live from disaster scene

I would disagree. Tabata was a handheld director and is now directing a mainline Final Fantasy game, this is the best thing that he could have hoped for.
I'm sure Tabata wanted to direct a mainline FF game, but probably one that he and his team had conceptualized from the beginning instead of being tasked to Frankenstein Nomura's project into a full game. Not to mention that Tabata's team was conceptualizing Type-Next and were all really excited about the project before being pulled to work on FFXV.
Before the FF7 announcement Nomura was talking about his "burning anger" from being taken off of XV. From his recent interviews he seems back to his old self, remember he was one of the key members of the original FF7 team. Kitase hand picked him for the project and he did that because he wants to see his vision for this game. It's going to be incredible.
I noticed that this E3 Nomura was acting a lot more playful with teasing stuff for FFVIIr. He's definitely happy to be directing the remake.
 
I'm having a hard time believing/trying to understand Square PR.

It's always a mistake in translation, or they say something and come back a week later and take it back or say they meant something else.

Or they say "They will keep the vision in tact" only to say a half year later "This is no longer than thing in which we said we would keep the original vision in tact, this is indeed something else"

What the hell is going on?
 
So I have been trying to catch up on all the news and disappointments lately..

As much as I want to believe Tabata's words, I just can't, and my interest has gone considerably down.

Immediately as soon as Nomura was taken off the project, Tabata has been saying that he is committed to following Nomura's vision on the game, which was what always drew me to Versus XIII.

Then they revealed Luna in the TGS2014 trailer and they were annoyingly coy about who she was. If they said there and then that Luna was a new version of Stella, maybe they damage wouldn't have been that bad. Then later on, they change Regis' design, and the basic premise seems to have changed considerably so as well.

So apparently, all this time XV is just a resurrected corpse of Versus XIII, which they might as well have killed, and the minute everyone figured that out, Tabata and the marketing team have been in damage control. They've said so much without showing anything at all.

And really now, if they were committed to sticking close to Versus XIII to the point that they're message about XV is basically a revamped version of Versus XIII, then why did they have to change the game so much and waste precious development time? I doubt that Nomura, despite all the criticisms and hurdles and so on, didn't do much since 2006. The trailer they premiered on 2011 pretty much showed a fully-realized world and story. I can understand upgrading assets, but rewriting half of the story and wasting time on new assets and concepts is just mystifying.

So yeah, I'll see what happens when this is actually close to releasing. For all we know, XV ends up being better than what Versus XIII would have been; but a part of me will always wander what would that game look and play like.
 
I'm sure there was one somewhere already but I didn't find it, so made my own high resolution stitching from this painting, with some minor retouching.

I think it's a very beautiful painting overall.

And now I'm 100% certain that's Titan on the right, compare his chin to this one: http://i.imgur.com/NRNwth7.png
This is really interesting. Seeing all the details like the four guys in black robes representing noct, ignis, gladio and prompto.
 
I'm having a hard time believing/trying to understand Square PR.

It's always a mistake in translation, or they say something and come back a week later and take it back or say they meant something else.

Or they say "They will keep the vision in tact" only to say a half year later "This is no longer than thing in which we said we would keep the original vision in tact, this is indeed something else"

What the hell is going on?

Things change?

I mean changes to characters may be that Nomura originally planned for a Versus epic, multiple games, and while no doubt SE may want sequels (I think Kagari said Tabat hinted as much), Tabata said they wanted to draw all Nomura had planned to make it into one game. So...even if people were attached to the idea of Stella, the arc that Luna now follows may be elements of Stella with someone else etc...and things that may have been dealt with in a sequel are now being told in the main game...its not a case of abandoning the idea so much but...as people said...it's Frankensteining a version of the Versus epic into one game.
 
I'm sure Tabata wanted to direct a mainline FF game, but probably one that he and his team conceptualized from the beginning, instead of being tasked to Frankenstein Nomura's project into a full game. Not to mention that Tabata's team was conceptualizing Type-Next and were all really excited about the project before being pulled to work on FFXV.


I noticed that this E3 Nomura was acting a lot more playful with teasing stuff for FFVIIr. He's definitely happy to be directing the remake.

How I look at this situation is like this.

Tabata got to work on a mainline FF game. I think this will only serve as experience when putting out Type Next despite the trouble it brought.

I am sure he's at least happy to be given this opportunity and to take some lessons from this to his other projects.

Nomura seems a lot happier as you said and you can tell he's really enjoying what he's doing. I think being pulled from XV was actually a good thing for him and he gets to direct one of his favorite games in the series.

Both win in the end and i think it's unfair to dictate who is more passionate when I am sure both are very passionate about what they do. They wouldn't be at square in the first place dealing with their shit to make their visions come true otherwise.

I have faith in XV and it might not have certain things we were expecting I still think a decent game is coming out of it. We still have little to go on with what has exactly changed as a whole and what scenes are still in.
 
Problem with XV's combat is that they're trying a little too hard to make it "fresh" and interesting. The "build your own combo" weapon deck sounds innovative, but it felt limiting and requires player going in and out of menu to change the loadout. Rather than typical Action game where we must button press to attack, SE designed it with holding in mind than accurate button pressing. Instead of just a smaller groups of enemy per encounter, they opt for Musou level of enemy in quantity.
 
It's poop compared to KH2 or even KH1 in some instances.

Exactly this. In kh 1 the jump was ugly as fuck and sora only had one downward aerial swing. Then it slowly developed into one of the greatest action RPGs of all time... At least it was the foundation for one of the best arpg combat systems ever(BBS).

Well, idk..

There's still time until it releases in 2019 But that is, if they are looking to fix/change it..
 
Well, idk..

There's still time until it releases in 2019 But that is, if they are looking to fix it..

I don't know if Tabata knows what he is doing with this game anymore. Nomura is the one with the ideas for this game and now Tabata is here to pick up the pieces and see if he can do anything to make use of them. It's like Is this even material Tabata can work with?

XV is just looking more and more like a mess that isn't ready for 2016.
 
How I look at this situation is like this.

Tabata got to work on a mainline FF game. I think this will only serve as experience when putting out Type Next despite the trouble it brought.

I am sure he's at least happy to be given this opportunity and to take some lessons from this to his other projects.

Nomura seems a lot happier as you said and you can tell he's really enjoying what he's doing. I think being pulled from XV was actually a good thing for him and he gets to direct one of his favorite games in the series.

Both win in the end and i think it's unfair to dictate who is more passionate when I am sure both are very passionate about what they do. They wouldn't be at square in the first place dealing with their shit to make their visions come true otherwise.

I have faith in XV and it might not have certain things we were expecting I still think a decent game is coming out of it. We still have little to go on with what has exactly changed as a whole and what scenes are still in.

I didn't mean to make it sound like one is more passionate about their current project than the other in general. I just meant that Tabata is trying to make the best out of what were unfortunate circumstances when he started directing FFXV while Nomura doesn't seem to have that initial obstacle with FFVIIr.
 
Problem with XV's combat is that they're trying a little too hard to make it "fresh" and interesting. The "build your own combo" weapon deck sounds innovative, but it felt limiting and requires player going in and out of menu to change the loadout. Rather than typical Action game where we must button press to attack, SE designed it with holding in mind than accurate button pressing. Instead of just a smaller groups of enemy per encounter, they opt for Musou level of enemy in quantity.

Yup so much needs work.

-Addition of aerial combos and jump
-Enemy AI needs to be calmed the fuuuck down
-Encounter system is quite grating with the music and screen alert.
-Attack feedback and enemy staggering needs to be implemented. Hitting the enemy feels lifeless.
-Enemy quantity is too much on the open field. I get set events, but not all the time like this
-Messy camera and lock on. Needs to be more point of view and not field view
-Auto combo stringing needs toning down a notch and more player input is needed
-Auto weapon switching needs to be ditched asap in place of manual

Playing this for 60+ will be tiring very very fast unless they add a lot of substance and dynamic play. Like I said, reviews won't be great if this is the best they can do. There's
a reason KH is so renowned you dumbasses.
 
I agree, but you still sound fanatical.

ahah i'm sorry, it's wasn't my intention to be one.
But yeah i really liked it, i'm not neglecting it's issues, they just wheren't so disturbing to me.

But yeah there are issues and they have to fix them, but they have time and i'm pretty hopeful they will.

I agree, but you still sound fanatical.

I'm sure there was one somewhere already but I didn't find it, so made my own high resolution stitching from this painting, with some minor retouching.

I think it's a very beautiful painting overall.

And now I'm 100% certain that's Titan on the right, compare his chin to this one: http://i.imgur.com/NRNwth7.png

This and the one with Regis holding Noctis are so freaking good, i might actually consider framing them.

So I have been trying to catch up on all the news and disappointments lately..

As much as I want to believe Tabata's words, I just can't, and my interest has gone considerably down.

Immediately as soon as Nomura was taken off the project, Tabata has been saying that he is committed to following Nomura's vision on the game, which was what always drew me to Versus XIII.

Then they revealed Luna in the TGS2014 trailer and they were annoyingly coy about who she was. If they said there and then that Luna was a new version of Stella, maybe they damage wouldn't have been that bad. Then later on, they change Regis' design, and the basic premise seems to have changed considerably so as well.

So apparently, all this time XV is just a resurrected corpse of Versus XIII, which they might as well have killed, and the minute everyone figured that out, Tabata and the marketing team have been in damage control. They've said so much without showing anything at all.

And really now, if they were committed to sticking close to Versus XIII to the point that they're message about XV is basically a revamped version of Versus XIII, then why did they have to change the game so much and waste precious development time? I doubt that Nomura, despite all the criticisms and hurdles and so on, didn't do much since 2006. The trailer they premiered on 2011 pretty much showed a fully-realized world and story. I can understand upgrading assets, but rewriting half of the story and wasting time on new assets and concepts is just mystifying.

So yeah, I'll see what happens when this is actually close to releasing. For all we know, XV ends up being better than what Versus XIII would have been; but a part of me will always wander what would that game look and play like.

You're talking like story or other elements in games don't change during developement.
For what we know some of the earlier elements where hard to realize, or weren't working with the rest, or maybe they were simply plain bad.
The problem is that the rebranding and the following year of silence forced them to bring these changes out in the open, when most of time they stay back in the courtains, and they simply didn't think of a good way to explain these changes to us (ie: bad PR).

Yup so much needs work.

-Addition of aerial combos and jump
-Enemy AI needs to be calmed the fuuuck down
-Encounter system is quite grating with the music and screen alert.
-Attack feedback and enemy staggering needs to be implemented. Hitting the enemy feels lifeless.
-Enemy quantity is too much on the open field. I get set events, but not all the time like this
-Messy camera and lock on. Needs to be more point of view and not field view
-Auto combo stringing needs toning down a notch and more player input is needed
-Auto weapon switching needs to be ditched asap in place of manual

Playing this for 60+ will be tiring very very fast unless they add a lot of substance and dynamic play. Like I said, reviews won't be great if this is the best they can do. There's
a reason KH is so renowned you dumbasses.

These i agree.
Others it depends: i like the alert in the beginning; i think for the lock they should just make hard lock by pressing L1, there's one passage too much as of now but camera needs to be improved; i really like the idea of auto combo and the deck system, and it's early to judge it since we really din't have much to play around it in the demo, and i'm not a fan of manual switching,
But maybe they should find a way to have both automatic and manual switch in the game? Like, you choose manually weapons for smaller, faster combos and then automatic switching for longer, more elaborate combos? Just pitching some ideas.
 
Yup so much needs work.

-Addition of aerial combos and jump
-Enemy AI needs to be calmed the fuuuck down
-Encounter system is quite grating with the music and screen alert.
-Attack feedback and enemy staggering needs to be implemented. Hitting the enemy feels lifeless.
-Enemy quantity is too much on the open field. I get set events, but not all the time like this
-Messy camera and lock on. Needs to be more point of view and not field view
-Auto combo stringing needs toning down a notch and more player input is needed
-Auto weapon switching needs to be ditched asap in place of manual

Playing this for 60+ will be tiring very very fast unless they add a lot of substance and dynamic play. Like I said, reviews won't be great if this is the best they can do. There's
a reason KH is so renowned you dumbasses.

The demo launched Mar 2015, game wont come out until late 2016 at the earliest, calm down.
 
XV is just looking more and more like a mess that isn't ready for 2016.
There is nothing that indicates that development is a mess. They have a clear direction and they are going for it. What doesnt have good direction is the marketing and the PR... And it makes sense considering hey are extrapolating a format that worked for an MMO onto a single player FF.
 
I didn't mean to make it sound like one is more passionate about their current project than the other in general. I just meant that Tabata is trying to make the best out of what were unfortunate circumstances when he started directing FFXV while Nomura doesn't seem to have that initial obstacle with FFVIIr.

I was speaking in more general terms not you exactly it's cool.

I totally see what you mean though, Nomura has the easier job out of the two and since it's a remake feedback wont be needed. (imo feedback for XV was unnecessary too as it only complicates things)

I feel bad for Tabata this is no easy picnic and Luminous is a big part of the problem.
 
The demo launched Mar 2015, game wont come out until late 2016 at the earliest, calm down.

Just working with what I have at my disposable and that is the current demo.

I don't necessarily feel assured that they will make substantial changes. If they think Duscae is the bees knees then they may be filled with hubris. That is something which has been very common in modern Square-Enix. Out of touch and acting before its too late.
 
Tabata's ship. :V

Salt-tooth-People-with-high-blood-pressure-tend-to-prefer-salty-foods_medium_vga.jpg
 
Nomura must be happy he dodged that Luminous bullet after having to see the problems with Crystal tool and dealing with Ebony.

Why does Square feel a need to make an in-house engine?.
After the big failure that is Crystal Tools you'd think they would have reconsidered their stance on making them.

Gluttons for punishment I guess.
 
Yup so much needs work.

-Addition of aerial combos and jump
-Enemy AI needs to be calmed the fuuuck down
-Encounter system is quite grating with the music and screen alert.
-Attack feedback and enemy staggering needs to be implemented. Hitting the enemy feels lifeless.
-Enemy quantity is too much on the open field. I get set events, but not all the time like this
-Messy camera and lock on. Needs to be more point of view and not field view
-Auto combo stringing needs toning down a notch and more player input is needed
-Auto weapon switching needs to be ditched asap in place of manual
I agree with everything except the last one. To remedy the last one, just make it so you can switch decks on the fly during combat without going through menus. Removing context weapon switching is key to the gameplay and the games lore(it's notice's power, and if you look at that "messianic" painting Atsie(?) posted you will see that spawning swords is part of the lore)... It would make no sense, even if this game was still versus xiii, to remove it.
 
Why does Square feel a need to make an in-house engine?.
After the big failure that is Crystal Tools you'd think they would have reconsidered their stance on making them.

Gluttons for punishment I guess.

Probably about the last big (I can't think of the right word) third party engine, Unreal 3 was particularly bad for Japanese developers. Poor documentation, support, the engine and a lot of Japanese games that ran on it were not the best performance wise.

I think Square didn't think 4 would be that much of a difference then 3 situation. And around the time XV rebooted Luminous look rather nice and no problems cam up.

But then the director/head guy behind Luminous left, more problems came up most likely, Unreal Engine 4 was a lot more friendly with better documentation and support for Japanese developers and just a way better engine then 3.
 
Why does Square feel a need to make an in-house engine?.
After the big failure that is Crystal Tools you'd think they would have reconsidered their stance on making them.

Gluttons for punishment I guess.

They couldnt rely on Unreal last gen, betting on UE4 with no other alternative would have been a huge gamble.

Thankfully UE4 has been great for japanese console devs, so Square Enix is going to take a loss on luminous but will easily make it back with other titles like FF7r, DQ11, KH3, etc.
 
You're talking like story or other elements in games don't change during developement.
For what we know some of the earlier elements where hard to realize, or weren't working with the rest, or maybe they were simply plain bad.
The problem is that the rebranding and the following year of silence forced them to bring these changes out in the open, when most of time they stay back in the courtains, and they simply didn't think of a good way to explain these changes to us (ie: bad PR).

I am quite aware they change, but these changes seem... odd, I say? Sure you get a few seemingly cosmetic changes such as Regis' design, and some quite big changes such as scenes being lifted out, but the premise also seemingly changed as well, strangely so for a video game that already had its voice actors record dialogue as early as 2011.

I mean, there are plenty that seemed unchanged: Noctis and the gang, the crossroads journey, etc. It's just strange to start implementing some rather radical changes when it seems that a foundation has already been set up for the game to be developed on.

And in the PR side of the things, I wonder why they just didn't go upfront and say that XV will be building on Versus XIII concepts but differ from it. They wouldn't be in such deep shit if they were upfront about it. Hey, it sucks for those who liked Versus XIII, but hey, at least they didn't drag that dream on for much longer.
 
Probably about the last big (I can't think of the right word) third party engine, Unreal 3 was particularly bad for Japanese developers. Poor documentation, support, how the used the engine and alot of Japanese games that ran on it were not the best performance wise.

I think Square didn't think 4 would be that much of a difference then 3 situation. And around the time XV rebooted Luminous look rather nice and no problems cam up.

But then the director/head guy left, more problems came up most likely, Unreal Engine 4 was a lot more friendly with better documentation and support for Japanese developers and just a way better engine then 3.

They couldnt rely on Unreal last gen, betting on UE4 with no other alternative would have been a huge gamble.

Thankfully UE4 has been great for japanese console devs, so Square Enix is going to take a loss on luminous but will easily make it back with other titles like FF7r, DQ11, KH3, etc.

Thanks guys, so after this do you see them making another engine?. I doubt it but it's possible as stranger choices have been made.
 
Thanks guys, so after this do you see them making another engine?. I doubt it but it's possible as stranger choices have been made.

Japan as a whole is moving away from proprietary engines because they take a lot of time and money to develop and the amount of games you can make for it become limited because you still have to wait for the engine to be completed.

I bet if FF 13 wasn't on Crystal Tools we probably wouldn't have even had the sequels, though CELL would still be a huge problem.

Its just better to get an outside engine and make improvements/modify that engine. Just look at MK 11 and AK both on modified UE 3 and look just like current gen games even better then some current gen games.
 
Japan as a whole is moving away from proprietary engines because they take alot of time and money to develop and the amount of games you can make for it become limited because you still have to wait for the engine to be completed.

I bet if FF13 wasn't on Crystal Tools we probably wouldn't have even had the sequels.
If Square never aimed to create their own engines, we would've probably been further alone in the FF series and, like an alternate reality, might've all gone down considerably different than it has now.
 
Yup so much needs work.

-Addition of aerial combos and jump
-Enemy AI needs to be calmed the fuuuck down
-Encounter system is quite grating with the music and screen alert.
-Attack feedback and enemy staggering needs to be implemented. Hitting the enemy feels lifeless.
-Enemy quantity is too much on the open field. I get set events, but not all the time like this
-Messy camera and lock on. Needs to be more point of view and not field view
-Auto combo stringing needs toning down a notch and more player input is needed
-Auto weapon switching needs to be ditched asap in place of manual

Playing this for 60+ will be tiring very very fast unless they add a lot of substance and dynamic play. Like I said, reviews won't be great if this is the best they can do. There's
a reason KH is so renowned you dumbasses.

After playing it quite a bit today, these are my two biggest problems.

None of your attacks feel like they are hitting the enemy and the combos are so monotonous. Couple that with a camera that can barely keep track of the action, and you feel completely disconnected from the combat. In an action game, the feel of the controls is the most important thing.

It's not enough of an action game and it's not enough of an RPG. Trying to go for something in the middle doesn't seem to be working...
 
One thing about that paint

There are seven swords in the middle, and its possible to group the 'summons' in seven:

Leviathan (?) and Bahamut (?) on the left

Shiva (?), Titan (?) and Ramuh on the right

The four elders in the center

and the knights on the top next to Etro

/overanalysis

I don't know if Tabata knows what he is doing with this game anymore. Nomura is the one with the ideas for this game and now Tabata is here to pick up the pieces and see if he can do anything to make use of them. It's like Is this even material Tabata can work with?

XV is just looking more and more like a mess that isn't ready for 2016.

Oh well..
 
If Square never aimed to create their own engines, we would've probably been further alone in the FF series and, like an alternate reality, might've all gone down considerably different than it has now.

Made some edits to my comment :p

And yeah I agree, do we now what engine World is running on?

Although Japanese developers and Square would still have to deal with the bitch that was CELL.
 
If Square never aimed to create their own engines, we would've probably been further alone in the FF series and, like an alternate reality, might've all gone down considerably different than it has now.

That Deus Ex joke may be reality :p

Also as for Japan moving away from proprietary engines....even Nintendo use Unity.
 
Yeah, SE will probably at least do some light R&D for a PS5 engine, but i think Epic should keep SE informed about their next engine and assure them that it will be ready when the PS5 launches and that there is no reason for them to build their own.

Epic is going to make alot of money off of Square Enix this gen.
 
Yeah, SE will probably at least do some light R&D for a PS5 engine, but i think Epic should keep SE informed about their next engine and assure them that it will be ready when the PS5 launches and that there is no reason for them to build their own.

Epic is going to make alot of money off of Square Enix this gen.

Or perhaps Square is going to save a lot of money!
 
I'm worried that they're spreading Nomura too thin yet again. Just as when they spread him during the vXIII days and got nothing on that game done now he's directing two big tentpole RPGs for Square with KH3 and VIIr. Somehow I get the feeling he's getting nothing done on VII and probably won't until KH launches sometime in 2017....
 
That Deus Ex joke may be reality :p

Also as for Japan moving away from proprietary engines....even Nintendo use Unity.
It's a glimpse into the reality without White/Crystal Tools and Luminous. The same reality the Berenstein Bears exist. LOL!

One thing about that paint

There are seven swords in the middle, and its possible to group the 'summons' in seven:

Leviathan (?) and Bahamut (?) on the left

Shiva (?), Titan (?) and Ramuh on the right

The four elders in the center

and the knights on the top next to Etro

/overanalysis




Oh well..

Not really overanalysis. You might be right on the money. I think the giant knights in the back are the ancestor kings of the Lucis kingdom. That's just my theory. In a way, that might be a very Japanese/Asian thing(the whole "ancestors are looking over you" thing).
 
After playing it quite a bit today, these are my two biggest problems.

None of your attacks feel like they are hitting the enemy and the combos are so monotonous. Couple that with a camera that can barely keep track of the action, and you feel completely disconnected from the combat. In an action game, the feel of the controls is the most important thing.

It's not enough of an action game and it's not enough of an RPG. Trying to go for something in the middle doesn't seem to be working...

Yup. I'm quite concerned.

I mean stuff like story, scenario and characters it's all up for debate about version is better, who implemented the changes etc...

But with the battle system we already have a decent idea on how the game would play under Nomura's direction. Therefore if the battle system remains a uninspired mess for the final release then the blame lies squarely with Tabata and the new camp.

Sort it ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut.
 
I'm worried that they're spreading Nomura too thin yet again. Just as when they spread him during the vXIII days and got nothing on that game done now he's directing two big tentpole RPGs for Square with KH3 and VIIr. Somehow I get the feeling he's getting nothing done on VII and probably won't until KH launches sometime in 2017....
You underestimate Tai Yasue.
 
I'm worried that they're spreading Nomura too thin yet again. Just as when they spread him during the vXIII days and got nothing on that game done now he's directing two big tentpole RPGs for Square with KH3 and VIIr. Somehow I get the feeling he's getting nothing done on VII and probably won't until KH launches sometime in 2017....

Nomura probably hasn't worked on KH 3 since like last year when FF7R started development, KH 3 is pretty much Tai Y game.
 
You underestimate Tai Yasue.

You underestimate Nomura. The man is a workaholic.

I bet it's 4 days VIIRemake, 3 days KH3. As time progresses it will be 5:2, 6:1, 7:0, 7 REMAKE!

i just pulled that out of my ass, but I'm sure he will be fine.
 
You underestimate Nomura. The man is a workaholic.

I bet it's 4 days VIIRemake, 3 days KH3. As time progresses it will be 5:2, 6:1, 7:0, 7 REMAKE!

i just pulled that out of my ass, but I'm sure he will be fine.
Nomura did a ton last gen, but Yasue said that nothing has changed since he's been freed from FFXV, and he's working away from the dev team.
 
There is nothing that indicates that development is a mess. They have a clear direction and they are going for it.

You must be joking if you think this game is well on track for 2016.
The fact that Tabata is getting help from another company because Square doesn't know how to handle their engine.
The story being basically rewritten, characters being redesigned for who knows what or why?
Combat is a mess, no magic, no air combat, no gambits being shown either.
They are only figuring out now things they can and can't do.
 
Yeah, SE will probably at least do some light R&D for a PS5 engine, but i think Epic should keep SE informed about their next engine and assure them that it will be ready when the PS5 launches and that there is no reason for them to build their own.

Epic is going to make alot of money off of Square Enix this gen.

They're constantly doing R&D(http://www.jp.square-enix.com/info/library/), but what they don't have to do is engine development. For Square engine development is reinventing the wheel. They can focus only on the R&D of new tech, and implement their findings as features on top of licensed engines.

At least in the case of UE4 they get the full source code so if they wanted to they could do purely graphics oriented R&D like they always do without having to worry about the game development side of things.
 
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