My only interest is in XV and the X remake.
E3 2013: The Future of Final Fantasy
There's a lot of Final Fantasy on the way, but is it the Final Fantasy people want?
AND BEYOND
That’s a lot of Final Fantasy coming in the next year, but will it be enough? A lot is riding on these releases, with Square Enix saying in no uncertain terms that a Final Fantasy XII HD would only happen if the FFX and X-2 HD games do well, for example. The franchise is in a state of flux, experiencing an odd patch of identity crisis for a series that has always been known for doing different things in each iteration.
In some ways, it seems like the creative minds behind Final Fantasy are trying to pull the series up by its bootstraps, and by all accounts it looks like they’re succeeding. There are plenty of positive previews and hands on coverage for both Lightning Returns and A Realm Reborn, easily the two games that have the most to prove to fans.
However, both of these games take the classic ATB combat into faster-paced territory. Lightning Returns takes on an almost fighting game feel with its single character combat, and A Realm Reborn uses the MMORPG auto battle mainstay as a way to throw in faster combat that rewards players for proper battlefield footwork. Final Fantasy XV is a straight-up action game, although what (if any) elements of the game resemble an RPG remain hidden in secrecy, since the game has yet to be shown publicly playable.
So, what about Final Fantasy XV, and the series beyond that point? Square CEO Yosuke Matsuda spoke at the company’s E3 presentation, and admitted that the Final Fantasy series has caused “many worries” for its fans, and vowed to get the franchise back on track. He also made it a point to say that games following after XV wouldn’t necessarily continue down the action-oriented path that Nomura’s game is exploring. In an interview with prolific games writer Jeremy Parish, Final Fantasy mainstay Yoshinori Kitase asked if modern gamers would embrace a new Final Fantasy game with a command-based combat system like the older titles. Kitase specifically mentioned Final Fantasy VI, but he stressed that it was merely a question and not something that people should read much into. Still, it’s an indication that Kitase and the rest of the Final Fantasy creators are thinking about ways to revitalize the franchise, and in dark times it helps to look back at what made a game successful to begin with.
As far as Nomura and his seven year itch that is now known as Final Fantasy XV, it has been promised that a “wonderful support staff” is working with him to get the game completed in time. Considering that as recently as a few months ago Nomura was ready to scrap much of the game to turn it into a musical, I’ll believe that when I have the game in my hands.
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