Support NeoGAF

[Ishida]

So Versus would have featured...

... children murdering other children because of voices in their heads
... yakuza offering familiars as sacrifices in order to gain powers
... blood spilling enemies
... murdered girls coming back from the death as beautifully designed female characters
... people hurting themselves in order to view ghosts
... an entire nation worshipping the idea of death
... dog puppies that would transform into merciless ninjas

Just let that sink in.

I don't believe the leaks but

Yuck...

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Oh, you're right. Bahamut looks cool without his armor.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

So Versus would have featured...

... children murdering other children because of voices in their heads
... yakuza offering familiars as sacrifices in order to gain powers
... blood spilling enemies
... murdered girls coming back from the death as beautifully designed female characters
... people hurting themselves in order to view ghosts
... an entire nation worshipping the idea of death
... dog puppies that would transform into merciless ninjas

Just let that sink in.

a more metal version of FFX

 

[SkylineRKR]

Yu Yevon is not a final boss, come on. Jecht is the final boss and he's pretty tough if you didn't get Anima or haven't done any of the optional content.

I'd say him, Exdeath and Zeromus were the only final bosses in FF I found somewhat challenging. Chaos wasn't challenging himself but the dungeon leading up to him was, so there's that. Maybe II and III have good contenders, I wouldn't know. Still, Ardyn is easy even by FF's standards. I'm fine with that since I liked the more personal approach but I can see why people would be disappointed.

Jecht is hard. My first playthrough I pretty much ignored side content and had no celestial stuff. I did beat Omega Weapon at the ruins and had to retry Jecht a number of times. In later runs I one shot him with Attack Reels, but he's hard if you don't have all that stuff.

I think Ultimecia is the hardest. She can still wipe you if you don't react on those 1 hp spells. Esp. Griever was a nasty fuck during my first run.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

a more metal version of FFX

A heavy metal song would play while fighting Big Skull Ardyn.

 

[Adam Prime]

So Versus would have featured...

... children murdering other children because of voices in their heads
... yakuza offering familiars as sacrifices in order to gain powers
... blood spilling enemies
... murdered girls coming back from the death as beautifully designed female characters
... people hurting themselves in order to view ghosts
... an entire nation worshipping the idea of death
... dog puppies that would transform into merciless ninjas

Just let that sink in.

Someone stole Kojima's notebook!

 

[Plywood]

So Versus would have featured...

... children murdering other children because of voices in their heads
... yakuza offering familiars as sacrifices in order to gain powers
... blood spilling enemies
... murdered girls coming back from the death as beautifully designed female characters
... people hurting themselves in order to view ghosts
... an entire nation worshipping the idea of death
... dog puppies that would transform into merciless ninjas

Just let that sink in.

 

[Koozek]

So Versus would have featured...

... children murdering other children because of voices in their heads
... yakuza offering familiars as sacrifices in order to gain powers
... blood spilling enemies
... murdered girls coming back from the death as beautifully designed female characters
... people hurting themselves in order to view ghosts
... an entire nation worshipping the idea of death
... dog puppies that would transform into merciless ninjas

Just let that sink in.

 

[Zaverious]

So Versus would have featured...

... children murdering other children because of voices in their heads
... yakuza offering familiars as sacrifices in order to gain powers
... blood spilling enemies
... murdered girls coming back from the death as beautifully designed female characters
... people hurting themselves in order to view ghosts
... an entire nation worshipping the idea of death
... dog puppies that would transform into merciless ninjas

Just let that sink in.

Sounds awesome to me and would've been much different from the other games. I love the supernatural dark horror tones that Versus was showing.

 

[APZonerunner]

So Versus would have featured...

... children murdering other children because of voices in their heads
... yakuza offering familiars as sacrifices in order to gain powers
... blood spilling enemies
... murdered girls coming back from the death as beautifully designed female characters
... people hurting themselves in order to view ghosts
... an entire nation worshipping the idea of death
... dog puppies that would transform into merciless ninjas

Just let that sink in.

It was always pitched as a darker/more grim and 'mature' take on FF's ideas, though, and having actual blood splatter in that very first trailer of Versus was something Nomura was keen to point out in a lot of interviews.

Obviously these ideas are incompatible with two things key to FF's growth though:

1) the mainstream games being as mainstream market friendly as possible

2) the growth of China as an emerging market (which is why the skulls etc had to go)

 

[Astral Dog]

So Versus would have featured...

... children murdering other children because of voices in their heads
... yakuza offering familiars as sacrifices in order to gain powers
... blood spilling enemies
... murdered girls coming back from the death as beautifully designed female characters
... people hurting themselves in order to view ghosts
... an entire nation worshipping the idea of death
... dog puppies that would transform into merciless ninjas

Just let that sink in.

Damn 😍

 

[BreezyLimbo]

Jecht is hard. My first playthrough I pretty much ignored side content and had no celestial stuff. I did beat Omega Weapon at the ruins and had to retry Jecht a number of times. In later runs I one shot him with Attack Reels, but he's hard if you don't have all that stuff.

I think Ultimecia is the hardest. She can still wipe you if you don't react on those 1 hp spells. Esp. Griever was a nasty fuck during my first run.

Yeah, Ultimecia was just this huge gauntlet that wasn't really matched in future FF matches(Even previous ones)

First there is a challenge that she randomly picks the party she faces. Meaning if some characters are underleveled, or not equipped with GFs, then it can end in a quick wipe if not careful.

Second, Ultimecia herself deals offensive spells that tend to inflict status ailments. Maelstrom is a pain to go against. She'll cast high level spells like Bio and cause status ailments up the wazoo.

After her is Griever. He deals AoE damage as well. He'll cast Lvl ? Death which can wipe your party if their levels are a multiple of 5, as well as use Doom which would kill your character after a number of turns.. He'll also cast Shockwave Pulsar which would do massive damage.

After that Ultimecia junctions herself into Griever. In this form she uses the highest level magic that does aoe. Tornado, Earthquake, her finisher is Great Attractor which again, does huge aoe damage. If you somehow can live through this phase, you go into her final form.

Her final Form is a completely mindfuck. It's design is absolutely amazing. Not only that, she uses Hells Judgement which reduces everyones life to 1. halfway through the fight, she gains access to her body in the lower abdomen, and she can use Apocalypse which will do amazing damage on you. All the while she is casting high level spells doing huge damage.

Unlike Sepiroth, there is no scripted 'hit them once and the game ends', FFVIII ends with you struggling over and over and over again. There is no break point between fights, it's do the gauntlet of all 4 forms one after another. The theme of fighting against time, not being chained to fight are made reality in this boss battle-because you really are struggling against time as you keep fighting over and over and over. As a kid, it was a matter of playing this boss and trying to beat it before you had to go to bed or had to go out. Ultimecia demanded your attention.

Man, Ultimecia is such a great boss fight.

 

[jackdoe]

It was always pitched as a darker/more grim and 'mature' take on FF's ideas, though, and having actual blood splatter in that very first trailer of Versus was something Nomura was keen to point out in a lot of interviews.

Obviously these ideas are incompatible with two things key to FF's growth though:

1) the mainstream games being as mainstream market friendly as possible

2) the growth of China as an emerging market (which is why the skulls etc had to go)

It would fit right in with Type-0 though.

 

[Ray Down]

It would fit right in with Type-0 though.

Which was a spin-off.

 

[Slater]

Which was a spin-off.

It was also an out and out FNC title. Which XV wasn't allowed to be anymore

 

[naw]

So Versus would have featured...

... children murdering other children because of voices in their heads
... yakuza offering familiars as sacrifices in order to gain powers
... blood spilling enemies
... murdered girls coming back from the death as beautifully designed female characters
... people hurting themselves in order to view ghosts
... an entire nation worshipping the idea of death
... dog puppies that would transform into merciless ninjas

Just let that sink in.

sounds like the greatest game ever made

 

[SkylineRKR]

Yeah Ultimecia is the best. To survive Apocalypse you had to draw it for yourself, which was fricking cool.

Her death speech is sort of interesting as well, she drops the 'Kurse all seed' weirdness. and seems to talk normally. She's afraid of fading into obscurity, and wanted to fight time itself. "It escapes you, and..." And what? And you will eventually fade?

I remember doing Lionheart after every sentence and asked myself how high her HP was. But even a simple jab works there at that point, you can still wipe though.

 

[Lunafreya Nox Fleuret]

So Versus would have featured...

... children murdering other children because of voices in their heads
... yakuza offering familiars as sacrifices in order to gain powers
... blood spilling enemies
... murdered girls coming back from the death as beautifully designed female characters
... people hurting themselves in order to view ghosts
... an entire nation worshipping the idea of death
... dog puppies that would transform into merciless ninjas

Just let that sink in.

Nomura confirmed Kojima 2.0... jesus what the fuck.

 

[NateDog]

So Versus would have featured...

... children murdering other children because of voices in their heads
... yakuza offering familiars as sacrifices in order to gain powers
... blood spilling enemies
... murdered girls coming back from the death as beautifully designed female characters
... people hurting themselves in order to view ghosts
... an entire nation worshipping the idea of death
... dog puppies that would transform into merciless ninjas

Just let that sink in.

I know / get the rest but can someone explain this one? I must have missed this leak. I only finished XV a few days ago so I waited until then to try and catch up on the leaks. Regardless I think lots of this would have been exactly the type of thing that I would have wanted from Versus had it stayed as that game, it makes me feel a sense of closure but also quite saddened. On the other hand it sounds like Stella might have been similar to Luna, except in the circumstances set iut in the game I don't think she would have been anywhere near as irritating as Luna nor would she be a martyr like Luna was.

 

[ackl]

I know / get the rest but can someone explain this one? I must have missed this leak. I only finished XV a few days ago so I waited until then to try and catch up on the leaks. Regardless I think lots of this would have been exactly the type of thing that I would have wanted from Versus had it stayed as that game, it makes me feel a sense of closure but also quite saddened. On the other hand it sounds like Stella might have been similar to Luna, except in the circumstances set iut in the game I don't think she would have been anywhere near as irritating as Luna nor would she be a martyr like Luna was.

That was just about Gentiana. Here's what the leaker said:

Gentiana existed before I entered the team and she was present in the old game, she had medium powers like Noctis and could speak with the female protagonist too. In one of the concepts she had to hurt herself or deprive herself from senses in order to gain powers. I don't know if this was developed. No mention as to if she was still Shiva in the old game but I don't think so since her role does not match.

 

[NateDog]

That was just about Gentiana. Here's what the leaker said:

Oh sorry it looks like I completely overlooked that part, thanks! A lot of characters were wasted in XV but I did wonder a bit more about Gentiana at times, I had no idea what to make of her or of what significance she was supposed to have because just being this spirit that turned out to be Shiva didn't really seem to fit.

 

[Ydelnae]

If Gentiana had nothing to do with Shiva in the Nomura script, I wonder what drove them to just make her a spirit and Shiva out of all things. What was the thought process like? "We have already revealed this character in the E3 2013 trailer and we need to shoehorn her at all costs?"

 

[hohoXD123]

Oh sorry it looks like I completely overlooked that part, thanks! A lot of characters were wasted in XV but I did wonder a bit more about Gentiana at times, I had no idea what to make of her or of what significance she was supposed to have because just being this spirit that turned out to be Shiva didn't really seem to fit.

Yeah, as far as I know there was no foreshadowing or anything.

 

[NateDog]

If Gentiana had nothing to do with Shiva in the Nomura script, I wonder what drove them to just make her a spirit and Shiva out of all things. What was the thought process like? "We have already revealed this character in the E3 2013 trailer and we need to shoehorn her at all costs?"

It seems like they just wanted to make sure a number of characters that were made were used in some way, and I guess a lot of people made it clear they liked her design. Plus

Spoiler

Iedolas and Ravus

were utilised almost just as bad if not worse with awful endings to match.

 

[Lunafreya Nox Fleuret]

If Gentiana had nothing to do with Shiva in the Nomura script, I wonder what drove them to just make her a spirit and Shiva out of all things. What was the thought process like? "We have already revealed this character in the E3 2013 trailer and we need to shoehorn her at all costs?"

Probably to cover up, lmao. Her original vision is designed by a complete sicko. Getting pleasure to hurting herself.... WHAT THE FUCK EVEN.

 

[chefbags]

Probably to cover up, lmao. Her original vision is designed by a complete sicko. Getting pleasure to hurting herself.... WHAT THE FUCK EVEN.

Nomura on that darkness path. Lol.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

So Versus would have featured...

... children murdering other children because of voices in their heads
... yakuza offering familiars as sacrifices in order to gain powers
... blood spilling enemies
... murdered girls coming back from the death as beautifully designed female characters
... people hurting themselves in order to view ghosts
... an entire nation worshipping the idea of death
... dog puppies that would transform into merciless ninjas

Just let that sink in.

But that stuff sounds like it would've been awesome and fairly unique

 

[Ganon Dragmire]

I remember reading an old Nomura interview that he was so "blinded by the light" of KH's more kid-friendly style that he wanted to use Versus to express darker themes.

So familiar. Hmmm.

and now he's back on his biggest KH project and FFVIIR

 

[McMoneyman]

So Versus would have featured...

... children murdering other children because of voices in their heads
... yakuza offering familiars as sacrifices in order to gain powers
... blood spilling enemies
... murdered girls coming back from the death as beautifully designed female characters
... people hurting themselves in order to view ghosts
... an entire nation worshipping the idea of death
... dog puppies that would transform into merciless ninjas

Just let that sink in.

I'd play that.

 

[Akainu]

So dark samurai genti?

 

[Lunafreya Nox Fleuret]

I'd play it too but... would this have ever released? It seems super dark and no wonder they changed the whole reaper worshipping.

 

[jimmypython]

the ultimaina guides are out in Japan now. Hope there are some summaries from the dev interview soon.

 

[Kagari]

the ultimaina guides are out in Japan now. Hope there are some summaries from the dev interview soon.

Mine will be here on Thursday.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

the ultimaina guides are out in Japan now. Hope there are some summaries from the dev interview soon.

I cannot wait. I wonder if any of this will be confirmed or not.

Crosspost from the spoiler thread, but I did a short write-up on the alleged leaks here. It's all speculation, but I make an attempt to tie together Ferrari's comments, the leaks, and the cut footage we've seen in the various trailers.

You know, I kind of hope it is all real. The idea of a super dark Final Fantasy with reaper worship, Sixth Sense ghosts, and Yakuza bodyguards is really unique. It does sort of sound like Edgelord Fantasy XV, and I do prefer what we got (the Astrals being gods is an awesome idea), but the concept is so unique that I can't help but want it to have existed at some point.

 

[Vincent Grayson]

That Stella twist would've been so fucking terrible.

I don't often say this about a given trope, but I just don't think you can do the "they were dead the whole time" thing these days and not have it either A. be obvious immediately, or B. be executed with terrible, hackneyed writing that makes no sense in order for you not to see the twist coming.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

That Stella twist would've been so fucking terrible.

I don't often say this about a given trope, but I just don't think you can do the "they were dead the whole time" thing these days and not have it either A. be obvious immediately, or B. be executed with terrible, hackneyed writing that makes no sense in order for you not to see the twist coming.

Well... they still did it with Gentiana.

 

[jimmypython]

Mine will be here on Thursday.

lovely

I hope they will do a Omega version, which I would get for sure haha

I cannot wait. I wonder if any of this will be confirmed or not.

Crosspost from the spoiler thread, but I did a short write-up on the alleged leaks here. It's all speculation, but I make an attempt to tie together Ferrari's comments, the leaks, and the cut footage we've seen in the various trailers.

You know, I kind of hope it is all real. The idea of a super dark Final Fantasy with reaper worship, Sixth Sense ghosts, and Yakuza bodyguards is really unique. It does sort of sound like Edgelord Fantasy XV, and I do prefer what we got (the Astrals being gods is an awesome idea), but the concept is so unique that I can't help but want it to have existed at some point.

The FFXIII one showed the ps2 version screenshots....yeah I hope they would show something interesting.
And nice writeup!

 

[Vincent Grayson]

Well... they still did it with Gentiana.

Spoiler

It never seemed like that was supposed to be a secret to me. Like, all the characters comment on her bizarre ability to appear randomly in photos that she wasn't present for. I just assumed she was a spirit of some sort.

 

[SougoXIII]

Well... they still did it with Gentiana.

Gentinia wasn't dead at all and they make no surprises about her being non-human.

 

[Byvar]

That Stella twist would've been so fucking terrible.

I don't often say this about a given trope, but I just don't think you can do the "they were dead the whole time" thing these days and not have it either A. be obvious immediately, or B. be executed with terrible, hackneyed writing that makes no sense in order for you not to see the twist coming.

They could have copied FFX, since at least a few characters in that really were dead the whole time. If this leak is true (I doubt it since some of his XV info conflicts with older leaks) I think they'd probably have done that, since a lot of this concept really does feel like a more metal version of that game, what with death and ghosts being central themes in both games.

 

[Ralemont]

So Versus would have featured...

... children murdering other children because of voices in their heads
... yakuza offering familiars as sacrifices in order to gain powers
... blood spilling enemies
... murdered girls coming back from the death as beautifully designed female characters
... people hurting themselves in order to view ghosts
... an entire nation worshipping the idea of death
... dog puppies that would transform into merciless ninjas

Just let that sink in.

Haha, and some people say the Final Fantasy XV we got doesn't feel like Final Fantasy?

 

[Ishida]

Haha, and some people say the Final Fantasy XV we got doesn't feel like Final Fantasy?

Hilarious, isn't it?

Reminds me of this Simpsons scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irCpiVqtCP0

Fans truly don't know what they want.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Gentinia wasn't dead at all and they make no surprises about her being non-human.

She was dead though. Her Shiva form was lying by the side of the train tracks, and the form we see is her spirit. They also mention Titan and Ramuh (or was it Leviathan?) being dead (IIRC) yet you can still summon them, so I assume Astrals can freely materialize their spirits in the physical world.

Someone correct me if this can be proven wrong, I've been sort of confused on how they can be dead and also not dead and this is the only theory that makes sense to me. I do know that the radio chatter mentions that the empire has been killing Astrals, plural.

The FFXIII one showed the ps2 version screenshots....yeah I hope they would show something interesting.
And nice writeup!

Oh, it did? That's awesome. Maybe we'll get to see more of these ninja dogs, or more info on the Astrals (I want to see a clear image of Shiva's giantess form, for one).

And thanks

 

[DNAbro]

Haha, and some people say the Final Fantasy XV we got doesn't feel like Final Fantasy?

Well Versus was supposed to be a spinoff so

 

[SougoXIII]

She was dead though. Her Shiva form was lying by the side of the train tracks, and the form we see is her spirit. They also mention Titan and Ramuh being dead (IIRC) yet you can still summon them, so I assume Astrals can freely materialize their spirits in the physical world.

Someone correct me if this can be proven wrong, I've been sort of confused on how they can be dead and also not dead and this is the only theory that makes sense to me.

Gentinia/Shiva is an Astral. They're the gods of FFXV and can't 'die' like normal. All the empire seem to be able to do is reduce their influences on the world but they could come back if they really wants to. On her first meeting, Noctis literally said that she's a Messenger of the Gods and right after that she communicated to him telepathically so it's not like there's a major plot twist to her being inhuman/Shiva.

 

[jimmypython]

Oh, it did? That's awesome. Maybe we'll get to see more of these ninja dogs, or more info on the Astrals (I want to see a clear image of Shiva's giantess form, for one).

And thanks

The Versus/Stella/Ghost/bad guy bits match perfectly with the FNC mytho. Nojima is crying his heart out somewhere lol.

 

[encephalon]

Type 0 Spoilers

Spoiler

I suspected Noctis killed Stella at some point in Versus, given that Type 0's ending mirrors some of FFXIII (Rem and Machina play a strikingly similar role to Fang and Vanille). A Type 0 style Noctis kills Stella scene seemed like a likely direction for the game to go in.

But I never would have suspected it happened before the game. Huh.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Gentinia/Shiva is an Astral. They're the gods of FFXV and can't 'die' like normal. All the empire seem to be able to do is reduce their influences on the world but they could come back if they really wants to. On her first meeting, Noctis literally said that she's a Messenger of the Gods and right after that she communicated to him telepathically so it's not like there's a major plot twist to her being inhuman/Shiva.

Gentiana being a spirit/non-human was clear as day from the beginning, but her being Shiva (who was "dead") was definitely a twist of sorts, IMO. She got elevated from messenger of the gods to one of the gods.

I don't consider it a 1:1 comparison to this Stella leak, which would have been much more shocking. It is sort of similar, though.

Astrals losing their physical forms is another thing this game didn't explain fully, I suppose. You say they can come back, which they obviously can, but is their power diminished? Do they have to recuperate for a while before they can come back at full power? I have so many questions.

 

[jimmypython]

well..didn't take too long for scans to surface did it lol

the pages are coming out including Tabata interview (only partial)...the "History of EOS" has a striking resemblance to the stuff in the Type-0 history book thingy..LOL

they should really name FFXV FINAL FANTASY Type-1.

 

[SougoXIII]

Gentiana being a spirit/non-human was clear as day from the beginning, but her being Shiva (who was "dead") was definitely a twist of sorts, IMO. She got elevated from messenger of the gods to one of the gods.

I don't consider it a 1:1 comparison to this Stella leak, which would have been much more shocking. It is sort of similar, though.

Astrals losing their physical forms is another thing this game didn't explain fully, I suppose. You say they can come back, which they obviously can, but is their power diminished? Do they have to recuperate for a while before they can come back at full power? I have so many questions.

They're likely not going to lose their power, just their connection to Eos. The whole point of killing the Astrals was to prevent them from giving Noctis their blessing which is essentials for his Ascension. The empire obviously didn't like the idea that some one was getting more power than them. So by killing the Astrals, Luna could no longer converse with them to ask for their power. Gentinia is a special case since she's one of the Astrals that actually like humans and is willing to go out of her way to give Noctis her blessing despite being 'dead'. The other Astrals wouldn't even bother.