̶N̶̶e̶̶w̶ (actually a few months old, but never fully translated yet) in-depth interview with Tabata and Nozue (Kingsglaive director) about the development and thought process of the game and movie on 4Gamer translated from Japanese (thanks to Mognet's @ChingleeTribal/ for posting/@NoctisPendragon on the official forum):
Unofficial English translation (spelling wonky at some parts, but you get the meaning):
http://www.one-and-zero.com/single-post/2016/07/16/20-page-4Gamer-FFXV-interview
Original Japanese interview:
http://www.4gamer.net/games/075/G007535/20160324131/
4Gamer:
For example, what kind of criticism did you get?
Tabata:
The biggest criticism was, “You arbitrarily changed Versus.”From a developers stand point we were shocked we couldn't change that.
4Gamer:
You set aside quite a bit of time in the ATR particularly to explain about the changes of the heroin.
Tabata:
As we made adjustments and tried to complete the story of FFXV in a single title, it soon became clear that we needed to change the heroin's role into something bigger. Despite not having completely making public the settings for Stella, an image had already formed itself in the minds of players. After that happens, it is difficult to simply change her role. If she appeared in the game with a completely different image of that first shown, of course there will be people who are upset.
4Gamer:
Ah, if she showed up in the game it might seem like her personality changed.
Tabata:
It's something that involves peoples feelings so no matter how much we explain, it's not enough. Even for developers, its difficult to work with characters that have their original role changed. If that's the case, I thought we should change the character to match the role.
4Gamer:
Ah, you've peaked my interested about the developers side.
Tabata:
We are also humans so we also can't bear the thought of putting our best effort into something we believe to be right and having that become the target of criticism. Or, when staff that didn't work on Versus XIII gets involved with a part of the project, I'm sure they feel like they are doing something wrong. That's not a healthy state to be in so I decided not to carry over the so called “soul”of things, which we could have left. This includes Stella.
4Gamer:
Did you prepare a chance ahead of time to properly tell the whole team about the heroine's changes?
Tabata:
I explained with specific reasoning to make a different character the heroine, not Stella. With the FFXV team, as long as it isn't top secret, I worked as open as possible and shared information. The trade off is, we have a policy to properly manage information.
------
4Gamer:
What were the reasons you were fixated on having an open world?
Tabata:
“I wonder why it isn't open world?” This is how modern RPG's are thought of by oversea fans. Particularly, FFXV is a game where you travel the world so its normal for people to think it should be an open world.
Formerly, there was an era when FF was at the front line of RPGs. Making FFXV an open world is an easy way to understand modernization. We also aimed to once again return to that front line with FFXV. If we didn't make such a change, it wouldn't be very convincing if we said, “we are competing with Skyrim.”
This is why the game will progress alongside the story but we used open world technology to interpret the world. That is one principle I wouldn't bend on.
Nozue:
To exchange opinions with everyone, we went on a small camp and discussed until we were all satisfied.
4Gamer:
When was this?
Tabata:
Right as we merged together with Luminous Studio a few months after announcing FFXV at the 2013 E3. At that point in time, the engineers wouldn't listen and insisted, “With Square Enix's current know-how, an open world is impossible.” That trend was especially strong with our foreign engineers.
4Gamer:
As a person who is rooting for Square Enix and the FF series, there is something sad about the words, “an open world is impossible.”
Tabata:
That is how low the world thinks our technological skills are. Especially because the first HD game in the Final Fantasy series just so happened to be a linear creation, people started to think, “These guys don't have the technology to make a AAA open world title.”
With all that in mind, we distributed the demo and finally got a warm breeze blowing, “What? You guys could make an open world?”
4Gamer:
Even so, “Even if we fail, its okay.” That's quite the resignation.
Tabata:
If I hadn't said that the team couldn't have confidence and come together. By saying that, we were able to dynamically manage a seamless world, prepare an environment and the team could relax with the thought, “Even if it sucks Tabata is responsible.” However, in the end everyone said they didn't like how empty the field was.
Nozue:
They are really doing their best aren't they. (laughs)
Tabata:
I told them, “I told you it's okay if it's empty.” But they reply, “But we don't like that!” (Laughs)
4Gamer:
So your saying, even though they could do it if they tried, they were apposed.
Tabata:
That's because, technologically making an open world in itself is a tremendous task. The current methods for map layout, and loading system are completely different. At first, even I felt, “So this is how you create an open world map.” That's the situation we were in and when we look at Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption, it's normal to think, “Yeah, we can't do that.”
4Gamer:
Those are certainty two amazing games...
Tabata:
Well, I understood how they felt. At any rate, we overcame that and technologically learned how to design the map. It's not completely an open world but we were able allow players the experience of a seamless world. When we arrived at that juncture, I was really happy.
4Gamer:
Tabata, did you actually believe that you could make FFXV an open world.?
Tabata:
Of course I did. Technologically our competitors are already doing it and it's not some mysterious skill.
However, faced with new technology, I had doubts of whether the development staff could maintain their best performance until the game was properly completed. From there I firmly created our team, set a goal, and continued to consciously update our progress with a firm stance. In short, I emphasized issues with the mind rather than technology.
4Gamer:
They were getting down on themselves?
Tabata:
First, people look at the things they can't do right? They would say, “If it's an open world quality will go down.” Or, “We won't have content for it.” Thats why I continued to say, “It's okay if quality drops,” and, “An empty world is okay.”
4Gamer:
But, actually you had the hope, “They can do it if they try.” Didn't you?
Tabata:
Yes, 50% of me hoped. My standpoint for the remaining 50% was, it's okay if it's an empty world. If we can complete it that's enough.
4Gamer:
Being able do think like that for a numbered FF title is shocking.
Tabata:
However, I think I made it clear to the whole team that the "technology" we use, and our level of "content completion" were separate. I wondered if there was a good example and after searching I found Shadow of the Colossus. After showing it, everyone seemed to understand. Of course, I'm not making fun of Shadow of the Colossus by any means. It's because I respect it that I'm using it as an example.
4Gamer:
It's a good example, which goes to show you can make many great games depending on how you make it, even if you don't stuff it full of content. Actually, Shadow of the Colossus had great reviews overseas as well.
Tabata:
You can get a sense of the world just by moving to a destination right? The staff validated the appeal of Shadow of the Colossus. Another example of a game you can experience the world is, The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. If you compare it to games these days, it isn't exactly brimming with content. Even so, you become entranced just running around on a horse in a seamless world.
4Gamer:
At this point in time, is the completed from of FFXV the same as what you thought it would be when you started?
Tabata:
We were able to realize all the parts I thought were a “must have.”
------
Unofficial English translation (spelling wonky at some parts, but you get the meaning):
http://www.one-and-zero.com/single-post/2016/07/16/20-page-4Gamer-FFXV-interview
Original Japanese interview:
http://www.4gamer.net/games/075/G007535/20160324131/
4Gamer:
For example, what kind of criticism did you get?
Tabata:
The biggest criticism was, “You arbitrarily changed Versus.”From a developers stand point we were shocked we couldn't change that.
4Gamer:
You set aside quite a bit of time in the ATR particularly to explain about the changes of the heroin.
Tabata:
As we made adjustments and tried to complete the story of FFXV in a single title, it soon became clear that we needed to change the heroin's role into something bigger. Despite not having completely making public the settings for Stella, an image had already formed itself in the minds of players. After that happens, it is difficult to simply change her role. If she appeared in the game with a completely different image of that first shown, of course there will be people who are upset.
4Gamer:
Ah, if she showed up in the game it might seem like her personality changed.
Tabata:
It's something that involves peoples feelings so no matter how much we explain, it's not enough. Even for developers, its difficult to work with characters that have their original role changed. If that's the case, I thought we should change the character to match the role.
4Gamer:
Ah, you've peaked my interested about the developers side.
Tabata:
We are also humans so we also can't bear the thought of putting our best effort into something we believe to be right and having that become the target of criticism. Or, when staff that didn't work on Versus XIII gets involved with a part of the project, I'm sure they feel like they are doing something wrong. That's not a healthy state to be in so I decided not to carry over the so called “soul”of things, which we could have left. This includes Stella.
4Gamer:
Did you prepare a chance ahead of time to properly tell the whole team about the heroine's changes?
Tabata:
I explained with specific reasoning to make a different character the heroine, not Stella. With the FFXV team, as long as it isn't top secret, I worked as open as possible and shared information. The trade off is, we have a policy to properly manage information.
------
4Gamer:
What were the reasons you were fixated on having an open world?
Tabata:
“I wonder why it isn't open world?” This is how modern RPG's are thought of by oversea fans. Particularly, FFXV is a game where you travel the world so its normal for people to think it should be an open world.
Formerly, there was an era when FF was at the front line of RPGs. Making FFXV an open world is an easy way to understand modernization. We also aimed to once again return to that front line with FFXV. If we didn't make such a change, it wouldn't be very convincing if we said, “we are competing with Skyrim.”
This is why the game will progress alongside the story but we used open world technology to interpret the world. That is one principle I wouldn't bend on.
Nozue:
To exchange opinions with everyone, we went on a small camp and discussed until we were all satisfied.
4Gamer:
When was this?
Tabata:
Right as we merged together with Luminous Studio a few months after announcing FFXV at the 2013 E3. At that point in time, the engineers wouldn't listen and insisted, “With Square Enix's current know-how, an open world is impossible.” That trend was especially strong with our foreign engineers.
4Gamer:
As a person who is rooting for Square Enix and the FF series, there is something sad about the words, “an open world is impossible.”
Tabata:
That is how low the world thinks our technological skills are. Especially because the first HD game in the Final Fantasy series just so happened to be a linear creation, people started to think, “These guys don't have the technology to make a AAA open world title.”
With all that in mind, we distributed the demo and finally got a warm breeze blowing, “What? You guys could make an open world?”
4Gamer:
Even so, “Even if we fail, its okay.” That's quite the resignation.
Tabata:
If I hadn't said that the team couldn't have confidence and come together. By saying that, we were able to dynamically manage a seamless world, prepare an environment and the team could relax with the thought, “Even if it sucks Tabata is responsible.” However, in the end everyone said they didn't like how empty the field was.
Nozue:
They are really doing their best aren't they. (laughs)
Tabata:
I told them, “I told you it's okay if it's empty.” But they reply, “But we don't like that!” (Laughs)
4Gamer:
So your saying, even though they could do it if they tried, they were apposed.
Tabata:
That's because, technologically making an open world in itself is a tremendous task. The current methods for map layout, and loading system are completely different. At first, even I felt, “So this is how you create an open world map.” That's the situation we were in and when we look at Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption, it's normal to think, “Yeah, we can't do that.”
4Gamer:
Those are certainty two amazing games...
Tabata:
Well, I understood how they felt. At any rate, we overcame that and technologically learned how to design the map. It's not completely an open world but we were able allow players the experience of a seamless world. When we arrived at that juncture, I was really happy.
4Gamer:
Tabata, did you actually believe that you could make FFXV an open world.?
Tabata:
Of course I did. Technologically our competitors are already doing it and it's not some mysterious skill.
However, faced with new technology, I had doubts of whether the development staff could maintain their best performance until the game was properly completed. From there I firmly created our team, set a goal, and continued to consciously update our progress with a firm stance. In short, I emphasized issues with the mind rather than technology.
4Gamer:
They were getting down on themselves?
Tabata:
First, people look at the things they can't do right? They would say, “If it's an open world quality will go down.” Or, “We won't have content for it.” Thats why I continued to say, “It's okay if quality drops,” and, “An empty world is okay.”
4Gamer:
But, actually you had the hope, “They can do it if they try.” Didn't you?
Tabata:
Yes, 50% of me hoped. My standpoint for the remaining 50% was, it's okay if it's an empty world. If we can complete it that's enough.
4Gamer:
Being able do think like that for a numbered FF title is shocking.
Tabata:
However, I think I made it clear to the whole team that the "technology" we use, and our level of "content completion" were separate. I wondered if there was a good example and after searching I found Shadow of the Colossus. After showing it, everyone seemed to understand. Of course, I'm not making fun of Shadow of the Colossus by any means. It's because I respect it that I'm using it as an example.
4Gamer:
It's a good example, which goes to show you can make many great games depending on how you make it, even if you don't stuff it full of content. Actually, Shadow of the Colossus had great reviews overseas as well.
Tabata:
You can get a sense of the world just by moving to a destination right? The staff validated the appeal of Shadow of the Colossus. Another example of a game you can experience the world is, The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. If you compare it to games these days, it isn't exactly brimming with content. Even so, you become entranced just running around on a horse in a seamless world.
4Gamer:
At this point in time, is the completed from of FFXV the same as what you thought it would be when you started?
Tabata:
We were able to realize all the parts I thought were a “must have.”
------
