As Final Fantasy XV grows closer to release, fans are clamoring for more information on the latest installment in the Japanese Final Fantasy universe. In a recent Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) session, the upcoming game's director, Hajime Tabata, answered several important questions pertaining to the game and its companion game to be released in March, Final Fantasy Type-0 HD.
Right now, Final Fantasy XV doesn't have a definite release date as the game has been rumored to release (off and on) for several years now. It was first announced in May of 2006, but wasn't officially confirmed until June 2013. During that announcement, the game's official name was revealed, as well as its switch from a focus on the PlayStation 3 to a focus on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
But a companion game is expected to release prior to the main game to help tide fans over until the full game's release. Final Fantasy Type-0 HD is a high-definition port of the original Final Fantasy Type-0 that was released in 2011, but it's to be used to re-introduce the Fabula Nova Crystallis subseries in preparation for Final Fantasy XV. The game is set to release on March 17, 2015, but there's no word on a release date for the Episode Duscae demo that will reveal the first true gameplay for Final Fantasy XV.
Since the demo is set to be provided as a reward for those who pre-order Final Fantasy Type-0 HD, it's said to come out in early March, but no official announcement has been made yet.
During Tabata's Reddit AMA, he revealed some interesting tidbits of information regarding the two news games, and although his focus was on FF Type-0 HD, he did hint at some info for FF XV, including the fact that it will feature full HD and 30 frames per second, but admitted that this might be "difficult to realize."
Another important reveal from Tabata during the interview was his desire to release all versions of the game worldwide simultaneously. While this isn't always possible, according to publisher and marketing wishes, he said that if it were up to him, he'd do it.
"I'd like to be able to do a worldwide release," he said. "We don't want to impose any big delays to players from around the world, so I'm hoping that everyone will be able to play the same Final Fantasy XV together within as close of a time frame as possible."
Tabata also revealed that the game will take place on one giant landmass, meaning players won't need to travel by air or sea to get to the next region.
"The towns and the cultural references that you see throughout the world, you'll get a sense of realistic towns and cultures. That's one aspect that has remained since the title was first named Versus XIII," he said in an interview with GameSpot.
"The first town that was showcased was based on Shinjuku in Japan, and one area we showed in December was based on Havana in Cuba, and the other watery town we showed is based on Venice," he continued. "So those are some cultural references that have been made within the game."
And in regards to that Episode Duscae playable demo, Tabata says that it will have Final Fantasy XV gameplay, but won't feature driving. "When we were considering a demo primarily about driving in the environment, the normal gameplay would be about an hour or so. We altered the structure of the demo so they could walk more freely in the field then battle monsters. You can really explore wherever you want in the environment and if you play through it normally there is approximately two hours of content. I think you may have seen the footage where you're walking across a world map. The actual environment in the demo will be several times the size seen in the walkthrough video."
