Square Enix's highly-anticipated "Final Fantasy XV"-centric event "Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV" finally arrived, and true to its name, it uncovered quite a bit about the upcoming title, revealing a release date and a slew of other information that fans have been waiting for months to hear.
There was quite a bit of hype surrounding the event; not only was it promoted heavily, promising to give tons of information for expecting fans, but this event mirrors other efforts Square Enix has done in the past to connect to fans, though on a far grander scale. For example, S.E. has two web series, one for "Final Fantasy XV," called "Active Time Reports" and another for "Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness," called "Star Log." Both have been well-received by fans and "Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV" more than exceeded everyone's expectations.
Arguably the highlight of the night and the information everyone was hoping to get was the release date. Square Enix's Hajime Tabata confirmed that "Final Fantasy XV" will see a worldwide release on Sept. 30, affirming prior rumors and reports.
It's been a long time coming for "Final Fantasy XV," but now the wait is finally over. Initially revealed at E3 2006 as an exclusive title for the PlayStation 3, the title was then known as "Final Fantasy Versus XIII" as part of the "Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy" saga alongside "Final Fantasy XIII" and "Final Fantasy Type-0."
A lot has changed since then - aside from waiting so long that we're now nearing the end of the 2nd term of a new president - all three games have seen a plethora of changes. "Final Fantasy Type-0" once thought doomed to only be a Japanese-exclusive on the PSP has seen international release in the form of an HD version for both the PS4 and PC. Meanwhile, "Final Fantasy XIII" had so much content that it was split into a series of its own, including "Final Fantasy XIII-2" and "Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII."
Beginning with a trailer featuring a cover of "Stand By Me" by Florence + The Machine, the event revealed its two guest hosts: Greg Miller and Tim Gettys from the web series, "Kinda Funny." Beyond introducing several of the big names behind the series, they promised fans a plethora of information.
So what did we finally learn after waiting with bated breath for so long? The event started off strong with the reveal of three brand-new gameplay trailers. The first titled "Adventure," shows the main cast doing just that: going on an adventure. They rode around in the wilderness on chocobos which did all-new tricks like drifting. The second, titled "Drive," shows the main cast driving around in a car, while the last, "Battle," shows the main cast engaging in a series of battles. The last trailer displayed new facets of combat never before seen in any previous trailer such as enemy A.I. and magic affecting the environment. We also got to see Noctis summon Titan to smack a Behemoth.
Picking up where the "Drive" trailer left off, viewers were given a chance to peep time-lapsed footage of various locales around the "FFXV" world.
Next, there was some discussion about the four main characters, Noctis, Ignis, Gladio and Prompto. This lead into the reveal of a five episode anime mini-series titled "Brotherhood," which focuses on the casts relationships with one another. The first one is available for viewing now and all five will available for "FFXV" with its September release.
Afterward, there was some discussion about two more key characters in the story: King Regis (Noctis' father) and Lunafreya (Noctis' betrothed). Just like before, this led to another reveal, this time a full-feature CG movie titled "Kingsglaive," which takes place in the Kingdom of Lucis while Noctis and the gang are off on their adventure. We were also introduced to three of the people who lend their voices to the movie: Sean Bean (King Regis), Lena Headey (Luna) and Aaron Paul (Nyx). Just like the anime, it will be available for viewing online before the game comes out.
A mini-game titled "Justice Monsters Five," a pinball machine game, was mentioned but not much else was said about it. However the reveal did come with a surprise: "Justice Monsters Five" will get its own game later this year for iOS, Windows 10 and Android. Those interested have been encouraged to pre-register.
Next up came the reveal of two special editions: Deluxe Edition, which has an Weapon DLC, an exclusive steel bookcase and a "Kingsglaive" Bluray, and Collector's Edition which features all of that and more. Both are limited prints.
Afterwards, Square Enix America's Mat Kishimoto revealed a demo, "Platinum Demo," which arrives March 31 at no cost. In the demo, players can "enter the dream" of a younger version of protagonist Noctis who is joined by classic "Final Fantasy" summon Carbuncle. This was actually leaked earlier in the day, but it was officially announced during the event. Beating the demo allows you to get Carbuncle as a DLC item once the game drops.
As for "Final Fantasy XV," it was formally revealed as such seven years later at E3 2013 and shifted from the PS3 to next-gen consoles. Along with the change in name came changes in certain aspects such as story sequences and the timeline for events. Despite that, the main concept, world and story remained largely intact. Prior to this event, the most recent information about the game came in a live stream with director Haijime Tabata.
With all this information and more importantly a release date, fans can finally set their calendars and prepare to break their piggy banks when the promised time arrives. Of course now comes the hardest part: the waiting.
