‘Final Fantasy XV’ dev reveals Western influences, changes in game, ‘Kingsglaive’ release date, sneak peek shown

Square Enix and the developer went into the creation of “Final Fantasy XV” fully aware that the franchise has seen a decline among fans. However, since that is already out in the open, the developer has set out to learn from other IPs that have survived and thrive in the high-definition world of game creation.

Game Director Hajime Tabata shared with Venture Beat in a conference that it has looked at those IPs and taken them into consideration when dealing with the development of “Final Fantasy XV.”

“it’s more of the triple-A Western approach: where they release their games, the size of the markets they’re going after, their marketing campaigns, how they go about creating and planning those campaigns, localisation support—all of that. That’s really what I’ve been influenced by,” said Tabata.

The expansion of the world of “Final Fantasy XV” may also be attribute to the influence of Western open-world adventure titles. Additionally, “Final Fantasy XV” has now introduced difficulty options for combat.

Change from within the development team had also strived to adapt to the changes. Structure-wise and practice-wise, there were some changes once the team had started on “Final Fantasy XV.”

Perhaps the biggest change would be the way that the development team has put two aspects at the forefront of creation. They are now receiving and incorporating feedback from the community as well as focusing on the improvement of player experience.

“Final Fantasy XV” will be released on Sept. 30. The upcoming movie “Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV” has also been dated to launch in the U.S. on Aug. 19. It will also debut on Blu-Ray come fall this year. According to Gematsu, Square Enix has already revealed some key points for the movie.

Lucis, home of the sacred Crystal, is in danger, due to the desire of the Nilfheim to steal it from the kingdom. Noctis’ father King Regis has commanded the Kingsglaive, the elite soldiers who will protect the kingdom. The story happens alongside the events of “Final Fantasy XV,” where Noctis is supposed to marry Princess Lunafreya of Tenebrae.

The movie will feature some renowned actors. “Game of Thrones” actors Lena Headey and Sean Bean voice Princess Luna and King Regis respectively. As a sneak peek, IGN also features an IGN special, which goes behind the scenes with the voice actors for “Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV,” seen below.

“They managed to marry all these images of medieval warriors and then modern-day European Paris, and it’s kind of seamless,” said Bean in the behind-the-scenes video. “It’s fascinating to think that this was all created in a computer because you’ve hardly seen anything so realistic, like there’s actually emotion as well.”

"Kingsglaive Final Fantasy XV" sneak peek (Credit: YouTube/IGN)