Final Fantasy XV
After so many years of waiting and speculating, Final Fantasy XV or formerly Final Fantasy Versus XIII had been announced. A trailer and some gameplay footages were presented at the E3 2013 press conference. This was a huge surprise because the game has been silent since 2011. The game was first revealed in 2006, then it remained silent until 2011. It was originally developed exclusively for the Playstation 3. However, Tetsuya Nomura (the game’s director) decided to shift it to the next generation of consoles. His reasoning is that, the vision of Final Fantasy XV can be achieved more with next generation hardware. Since the next generation of consoles are just around the corner, he decided to develop these new systems. That’s the reason why after the 2011 gameplay and trailers, Final Fantasy Versus 13 remained silent. They cannot announce a game yet because the Playstation 4 and Xbox One at that time hadn’t been announced, logically speaking. This made fans wonder if the game is still in development after all these years. Some fans even waited for the game for almost 7 years. Tetsuya Nomura’s vision for the game is ambitious and is certainly worthy of the power of the next gen consoles. Fans all around the world know that Tetsuya Nomura directed the Kingdom Hearts franchise, one of the best success of his work. However, that’s for another story. Final Fantasy Versus 13 was also rumored that it was vapor ware but Square Enix responded that it was a false rumor. Many fans were pissed off because of that announcement but also were very relieved once they knew that it was just false news. After so many years of waiting, they announced it in E3 having Tetsuya Nomura on screen and at the end of the trailer, they revealed that Final Fantasy Versus 13 is now Final Fantasy XV.
A lot of fans rejoiced and most of them were fascinated with the improvements to gameplay and visuals. I also read from various polls and internet discussions that they literally “cried” when they saw the trailer. That is totally understandable knowing that the game never shed light in so many years. Information and speculations have now been answered and the fans were extremely overjoyed with the official reveal of this game. You can see how dedicated the fans are for this game. The graphics for this game have improved as well, knowing that this is going to be for next gen, it’s definitely going to be awesome, the visuals are spot on, as expected from any Final Fantasy game. The game’s lighting uses Square Enix’s new Luminous engine. As with the power of the next generation systems, texture and level of detail have been upgraded and improved. The gameplay trailer for Final Fantasy XV was well received as well. Square Enix also made short bios for the characters of the game. Certain parts of the story have also been unveiled.
Here’s some information about the story:
“The only crystal left to the world lies in the Kingdom of Lucis. Upon striking a peace with the garrison state of Niflheim, Lucis rejoices in having at last brought the cold war to a close. Their celebrations, however, are premature. Under the guise of amity, Niflheim dispels the anti-armament runewall and launches a full-scale invasion of the kingdom. The peaceful lives Crown Prince Noctis and his entourage once knew are consumed by the flames of war as they struggle to mount a resistance.” -Final Fantasy XV wiki
Basically, the main lead character Noctis Lucis Caleum is a prince of Lucis and he is the last heir of his kingdom. There are 4 kingdoms around the world that possess a crystal of power. These are the kingdoms of Lucis, Tenebrae, Solheim and Accordo. However, these nations lost their crystals through warfare and cold wars. The kingdom of Lucis having closed their doors to other nations possess the final and last crystal. The kingdom of Lucis is described as a nation both highly advanced and developed, culturally intact, with traditions that are vibrant and still alive. Upon striking a peace with the garrison state of Niflheim, Lucis rejoices in having at last brought the cold war to a close. Their celebrations, however, are premature. Under the guise of amity, Niflheim dispels the anti-armament runewall and launches a full-scale invasion of the kingdom. This shows the treachery and greed of the kingdom of Niflheim. Prince Noctis and his team have no other choice but to fight and create resistance.
These are just some of the information, hopefully, we will know a lot more of the story in the coming months. They also revealed some information about the characters of the game.
Here are some of them:
1. Noctis Lucis Caelum, or “Noct” as he’s often referred to, suffered a childhood affliction that has left him able to see a heavenly light that enables him to sense others’ deaths. Despite being the heir apparent to the throne of Lucis, Noctis rejects royal convention even to the point of being something of a renegade, though his loyalty to those around him is unquestionable.
2. Ignis Scientia was raised to offer his unwavering voice of reason in counsel to Noctis. Weaned on shrewd logic and a classical education from youth, he and Noctis share a deep mutual understanding and trust built on years of familiarity.
3. Gladiolus Amicitia is the eldest son and lord of the noble House Amicitia, which is sworn to protect the crown. Despite this, the bond between “Gladio” and Noctis goes deeper than simply being one of duty, but is instead one of friendship.
4. Prompto Argentum is a mischievous playboy who knows Noctis from school. Being from outside the royal circle has left him with a chip on his shoulder, but he’s still eager to help in any way he can. While he can get carried away easily, there’s another side of him which is driven to help friends in need.
5. Lord Commander Cor Leonis is a living legend, completely devoted to the king. Though he and Noctis’ ragtag band of followers rarely see eye to eye, he is honor bound to protect them.
6. Stella Nox Fleuret is a young girl and ambassador from the Tenebrae’s Kingdom, which her family Fleuret is from. She’s one of the primary characters that first appeared on the Final Fantasy XV. Stella had a brief conversation with Nocits about the “Light”.
According to Nomura, the world of Final Fantasy XV can be traveled by car or by an airship. Basically, you can control your car or airship while traveling the world. Now, that’s a nice touch because we weren’t able to do that literally since Final Fantasy IX. Digging out some of the Final Fantasy classic gameplay like these are very much appreciated and welcomed. Chocobos are also present but we will know more of that in the coming months. The tone of the game is much darker compared to other Final Fantasies. The game’s level design and world map is yet to be revealed fully as we progress through other game press conferences and events in the near future. Hopefully, we could have a release date soon. Square Enix stated that Final Fantasy XV will not be released before its fiscal period, of which ends in March 2014. So this means, we will probably have an announcement for the release date after March 2014.
Overall, many are excited for this game, including myself. This is a different Final Fantasy but we all know that this game boasts of quality. Hopefully we can have more information soon. The game is available for the Playstation 4 and Xbox One. Although I thought at first that this would be a Playstation 4 exclusive but oh well, the more the merrier. This game is definitely one of the most highly anticipated games of the year. We will just have to wait and see.
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