Death Penalty
Member
But they've kept repeating the "we've kept as much of Versus as possible" line to this day. You're interpreting their silence years ago over stuff they changed as them trying to hide the chances when it's likelier they were just silent because, well, FFXV & its finer details or even larger ones weren't something they were all that talkative about in 2014 and most of 2015 (and some of them weren't probably even fully locked down at that point...)
The way I see it is that a lot of Versus is still in FFXV's genes, from key concepts & storybeats to its visual style & gameplay ideas, but most of it has seen some changes as development has progressed (some already in latter Versus days, some post-XV/Tabata change). Some small, some bigger. They've had to make some changes to the story because they've condensed what was originally planned (or well, what had turned into a saga as development progressed) to be a story spanning 2-3 games into a single game, so that's probably where the biggest changes come from, but stuff like the initial attack on Insomnia, the theft of the crystal, Noctis going on a road trip with his pals to find a way to stop Niflheim's plans (whatever they are), a society of mechanisms vs. a society prosperous due to magic and stuff like those were things that were seemingly the major part of Versus' story as well.
A lot of the stuff they've removed/changed most drastically seems like stuff that would've made FFXV more convoluted had they tried to keep them in after the change to a single game. Stella's role seemed more ambiguous initially. She didn't seem like a foe, but neither was she a friend (at least at first). I dunno, from the whole (involuntary) confrontation on the streets of Insomnia, I got the impression Stella had her own shit she was going to do during the game (maybe she was intended to be a l'cie) and that would make her path cross Noctis' from time to time, eventually probably somehow connecting with the larger storyline & what Noctis is doing in a major way. FFXV probably just wouldn't have had time for something like that, as it seems laser-focused on Noctis' journey to becoming a king worthy of all that has happened to get him where he is.
My main point of contention is that the company line was "Versus is intact, Nomura's vision is intact" and then months and months later Tabata goes "Okay guys I was fibbing forget Versus" and it's pretty clear by comparing the two games that a great deal was altered under Tabata. However, on the whole your post seems extremely reasonable and I can agree with most of it.
And on that same token the vice versa needs to stop as well than
Amen. I think extremists on both sides should take a breath and just try to have a more measured conversation. XV is going to beg comparisons to Versus and even itself in 2013 and it's okay to discuss them, but there's no reason the other point of view can't be respected.