As time winds down towards Square-Enix's highly-anticipated "Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV" event next week, director Haijime Tabata has revealed several new tidbits of information about the development status of the game during a NicoNico livestream, which is sure to keep fans in all regions satiated in the meantime.
The livestream, which was held with reputed Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, covered a variety of topics ranging from enemy appearances and an airship, but the most notable information that the stream offered is story length.
The interview revealed that "Final Fantasy XV" will have a story length of about 50 hours - up from the 40 hours that Tabata had stated last year. The change was made because due to the game having more volume than what what was initially planned, which may be concerning considering the whole situation with "Final Fantasy XIII."
During its production, SE cut enough content from "Final Fantasy XIII" to make two new games: "X-2" and "Lightning Returns." But even with all of that content removed, "XIII" itself was still left with enough content that the story didn't pick up until the 30-hour mark, which was far too long for some to stay invested. This brought up questions such as the team's capacity to produce and pace their games efficiently. Now, this is when we remember that once upon a time, "Final Fantasy XV" was titled "Final Fantasy XIII Versus" when George W. Bush was still in office. It begs the question whether we'll see another "Final Fantasy XIII" situation play out, or a game that was worth a 10-year wait.
Beyond that, the NicoNico livestream offered information that is certainly more encouraging than the last:
• The iconic Cactuars will make a return and stay true to their legacy of being the evasive, often times insta-killing enemies. They will be powerful and able to dodge Shift Breaks.
• Next week's event will yield plenty of surprises, as well as an all-new Japanese trailer.
• A playable tech demo will be properly shown during the event.
• The introduction of the Airship will leave fans saying, "This is the kind of Airship that should be in 'Final Fantasy XV.'"
• Developers are targeting the game to run at 30fps. If it fails to reach that benchmark, then the team will do something else.
This and more information, such as resolution and an expected release date, will be revealed during the "Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV" event. Mark your calendars, folks.
