Final Fantasy XV [Formerly Versus XIII] (Xbox One, PS4)

[SuperLink]

They should've just said "because we can" and be done with it.

 

To be fair though, did anyone complain about the all-female cast in X-2? Now that it's 4 dudes it's a problem?

Yeah tons of people complained about those things especially with X-2.

 

The main problem isn't even that it's 4 dudes it's the crappy false excuses/reasoning they're giving for doing it that's like digging themselves into a hole and asking to be called stupid.

[Sami]

To be totally honest I'm not much a fan of what this game has become. All the dark, "Fantasy Based on Reality" stuff from the announcement period has devolved into buddy buddy bro lighthearted bro movie bullshit. Ugh.

 

Now the enemies are fucking robots with green faces. Robots with green faces.

 

What is this shit, rated T for Babies? I thought the whole point of Versus XIII was to be a more mature, somber FF. But oh, now that it's a mainline title we gotta dumb it down for the mainstream and take away Joe Sixpack's shirt for that Twilight appeal.

 

 

Avatar betting right now this game is Rated T and doesn't even have blood anymore

 

 

Edit - I don't even think Versus looked perfect either, we knew so little that a lot of it was left to my imagination, but what we're getting out of XV ever since the title change is not what I was hoping for at all. The tone has shifted entirely.

[Junko]

Avatar betting right now this game is Rated T and doesn't even have blood anymore

...

...

...

...I'll do it.

[Sami]

...

...

...

...I'll do it.

 

 

it's official

 

to clarify little whiffs of red don't count I'm talkin actual blood like that gif

 

 

 

edit - 

 

I found the perfect avatar for you buddy

 

[Junko]

 

it's official

 

to clarify little whiffs of red don't count I'm talkin actual blood like that gif

 

[Autosaver]

To be fair he did say that Versus 13 used to be a side title and not a mainline and now that it's a mainline, they had to dumb it down.

 

Type 0 is a side title.

[MegasonicZX]

I think the only thing i'm really disappointed with in this game (gameplay-wise) is the fact that we don't have some manual dodge manuever, I mean I guess the warp ability could count but a roll or something would be better.

[Solkia]

I don't buy that. FFVII is pretty damn dark and it's regarded as the best FF.

 

Seriously though even though I'm not for the mature settings in games I agree with Sami, what the fuck am I looking at? Is this really what the series is coming to? Are we going to replace Hi-Potions and Hi-Ethers with Mountain Dew and Doritos?

[Autosaver]

I don't buy that. FFVII is pretty damn dark and it's regarded as the best FF.

[Solkia]

I'm not saying I think it's the best, I think 9 is the best one.

[Junko]

VI master race tho guys, come on.

[SuperLink]

Darkness isn't just blood and grit, ya'll should know that.

 

FF9 is easily one of the darkest FF games including spinoffs in terms of themes and what the characters go through and the characters look like this.

[Sami]

Darkness isn't just blood and grit, ya'll should know that.

 

Helps establish a consistent tone tho', and used effectively can be used to very good effect emotionally.

 

 

The music and visuals here established a really scary mood - strong enough to kinda make you forget you were playing as LEGO people.

 

Besides, I wouldn't even be bothered by it if we weren't promised that only to see it taken away and turned into some joyful ass "WE'RE BEST BUDDIIIEEES" shit.

[Xenos]

I don't know what you're really expecting from a demo of a part that isn't even actually in the game.

 

To be honest, I like the more "bro" approach to it, it feels more natural and gives the game a warm feel. No angst, no edge, just a group of close friends on a journey. I'm pretty sure the actual game will definitely have it's darker moments, and judging the tone of the entire story when Duscae is obviously early game but not in the actual game just feels like jumping the gun.

[pppp]

I wouldn't even be bothered by it if we weren't promised that only to see it taken away and turned into some joyful ass "WE'RE BEST BUDDIIIEEES" shit.

 

The new director Tabata said that the script remains unchanged just like Nomura and Nojima made it. The brotherhood theme is only one of its elements. The ending of the demo clearly shows there's somber and darker stuff:

 

[Wraith]

I'm honestly fine with the approach they're taking now. My only hang up is the main characters and their designs looking out of place. They were clearly designed for a darker game than this ended up being. Their designs should have changed along with the game itself.

[SuperLink]

The music and visuals here established a really scary mood - strong enough to kinda make you forget you were playing as LEGO people.

 

Besides, I wouldn't even be bothered by it if we weren't promised that only to see it taken away and turned into some joyful ass "WE'RE BEST BUDDIIIEEES" shit.

Similarly you don't need specifically those things (darkness or blood) to establish a scary mood, you can also use other combinations.

 

Besides we've also still barely seen any of FFXV since it was rebranded and we've pretty much only seen one marketing angle of it, I don't think they've changed much about the plot since it's still got FFXIII connections as far as I know.

 

It's just way too early to assume everything from before is gone and there's also very little reason to assume those things too. Prompto and Ignis were in early VersusXIII footage too and so was the assistance-style battle gameplay.

 

It kinda feels like surprisingly little has changed if you asked me. I haven't seen anything "taken away" and as usual you're pretty quick to whittle an entire thing down to just one exaggerated aspect :V it's also pretty common knowledge among writers that true darkness doesn't come from making the whole aesthetic dark it comes from the juxtaposition between hope and hopelessness within the same context. Happiness being ripped away. THAT is what makes a truly dark or tragic plot. Watch this also.

 

I dunno Sami you're jumping to a million conclusions here, from one aspect of a game, a game that would genuinely benefit from having multiple juxtaposing themes. Maybe I'll be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the "buddy road trip" doesn't actually represent the entire game.

[Sami]

The lack of blood in combat, huge emphasis on the "bro trip road trip" theme in all the promotional material and interviews since the rebranding, and the outright change from human enemies to goofy, exaggerated robots doesn't inspire me with confidence. 

 

I don't believe that the script is the same either, you can't just switch directors in the middle of a game's development and not see an enormous change in the game's vision. 

 

Edit - I will be fair and say a lot of my dissatisfaction probably just stems from seeing more of the game. I hate the character designs and the dialogue is straight up trash, but maybe it's more because I grew up and my tastes changed as opposed to it being a totally different game from the one I was excited for way back when I was in high school.

[SuperLink]

The lack of blood in combat, huge emphasis on the "bro trip road trip" theme in all the promotional material and interviews since the rebranding, and the outright change from human enemies to goofy, exaggerated robots doesn't inspire me with confidence. 

 

I don't believe that the script is the same either, you can't just switch directors in the middle of a game's development and not see an enormous change in the game's vision. 

The original battle gameplay didn't have blood in combat either S: that was all only in cutscenes.

 

And I'm pretty sure there will still be human enemies in town areas or during more plot important parts of the game (FF games have never been short of human enemies?), those same robot enemies have also been present in game footage since WAY before the name change, you don't sound like you've been paying much attention to all the footage of VersusXIII.

 

Also according to interviews the script is the same but believe what you wanna believe I guess?

[Wraith]

I think the major difference is the darker aspects of the game were at the forefront of the marketing and now they're focusing more on the traditional FF kind of stuff. Initially they tried to show how this game was different from your standard FF but since the rebranding they're trying to show how it's similar to the rest of the series

[Sami]

The original battle gameplay didn't have blood in combat either S: that was all only in cutscenes.

 

And I'm pretty sure there will still be human enemies in town areas or during more plot important parts of the game (FF games have never been short of human enemies?), those same robot enemies have also been present in game footage since WAY before the name change, you don't sound like you've been paying much attention to all the footage of VersusXIII.

 

Also according to interviews the script is the same but believe what you wanna believe I guess?

 

Did it? I watched the Versus XIII gameplay trailer tons of times but I guess it slipped my mind. I still really love that reveal trailer though, it's easily the best one we've gotten from the whole project. The Romeo and Juliet motif was played up as a huge part of the story but the focus seemed to have changed entirely to the bro thing. Why would they focus so much on Stella and her relationship with Noctis in promotional materials and interviews only to change her name and design entirely and move on to focus entirely on "we want to make a bro road trip game"? 

 

It doesn't add up to me.

 

Common sense dictates that that's exactly what people want to hear after nearly a decade of anticipation. Frankly Square would be beyond stupid to openly say they sacked Nomura and changed the script, and considering how passionate he's been about the project in the past and described it as passion project I have an extremely hard time believing he left development entirely of his own accord and that there wasn't any fishy shit driving the rebranding and change in direction.

[SuperLink]

You were right that one of the early trailers (the first one to actually show gameplay since the first one was just CGI) had blood in combat (there was blood when Noctis hit a Behemoth in the face), but only for one second and it was the only trailer to have it, the next FFVersusXIII trailer had no blood on any enemies when hit and that one was released in like 2011.
 
Also here
https://youtu.be/kGyVZRHZ2ow
 
The focus may have changed in recent media only to focus on promoting Episode Duscae, but in that trailer from 2008/2009 we clearly see the road trip and buddy aspects have always been a part of the game. Sure they're not the focus, but they are there. Similarly in the 2013 trailer after the rebranding, we see a big variety of tones not at all focused on the "buddy road trip" aspect.
 
https://youtu.be/WEKNUCjcrMY
 
I dunno man you're seeing what you want to see cause you're worried about the final product which is fine, but we've literally only seen a focus on the road trip aspect since TGS last year and other media which has been almost entirely focusing on promoting Duscae. It's been only half a year I don't think it's safe to say that defines the whole game on any level. If the original FFXV trailer from 2013 was that way too I'd believe you but it's not.
 

Common sense dictates that that's exactly what people want to hear after nearly a decade of anticipation. Frankly Square would be beyond stupid to openly say they sacked Nomura and changed the script, and considering how passionate he's been about the project in the past and described it as passion project I have an extremely hard time believing he left development entirely of his own accord and that there wasn't any fishy shit driving the rebranding and change in direction.

Nomura left the project because Square were pressuring KH3 to be finished sooner rather than later, and Nomura probably has a bigger attachment to KH at this point. He also probably missed working on it.

 

I'm not saying it was an easy choice for Nomura to make but I don't think he was "fired" from XV, I do think there was internal pressure to say "hurry the fuck up" with KH3 though, probably pressure from Sony and MS too.

[Wraith]

I don't think they ever changed Stella's name.

 

Her design also hasn't been altered too drastically. It mostly seems like small changes.

[Gabz Girl]

I'm not saying it was an easy choice for Nomura to make but I don't think he was "fired" from XV, I do think there was internal pressure to say "hurry the fuck up" with KH3 though, probably pressure from Sony and MS too.

 

lol I can imagine Sony and MS now hovering over Nomura's shoulder and asking him constantly about KH3 and FFXV's development and when the hell they're going to be released.

 

I still predict 2016 for FFXV and 2017 for KH3 btw. XP

[KrazyBean]

They did say that we should expect a lot of news of KH3 this year so I'm hoping for a 2016 release alongside FFXV. It would be nice if both games finished around the same time.