INTERVIEW | The trials of transforming Versus XIII, preparing a global launch, and making Prompto popular.
On the transition from Versus:
On Stella's removal:
On Cor's change of role:
More at the link.
Now that the dust has settled on Final Fantasy XV and its strong global sales appears to justify hopes for future chapters in the long-running RPG franchise rather than toll its death knell, producer Hajime Tabata can afford to look back and wax philosophical on the project.
On the transition from Versus:
But what about Versus XIII actually changed in the course of its transformation into FFXV, besides its name and platform? (A key selling point throughout Versus XIII's slow roll of pre-launch publicity was the tag line "Exclusively for PlayStation 3.") As Tabata tells it, practically everything-or at least, everything the team deemed practical, anyway.
"Because the game itself was incomplete, there really wasn't a whole lot brought over, if I'm speaking honestly," he admits. "It's pretty difficult to compare apples and oranges in this case. You have something that was incomplete and never really fully formed. [Versus] was more an idea that an actual game, whereas what we've created here is a complete, finished product.
"However, because the game had already been presented via trailers and other forms of media to the users, one of my goals in developing XV was to preserve the elements that users were aware of and excited about. [...] To the team's credit, they did as much as they could to include what could fit into this new idea, but there were some aspects, of course, that just didn't work."
[...]
"Because the game itself was incomplete, there really wasn't a whole lot brought over, if I'm speaking honestly," he admits. "It's pretty difficult to compare apples and oranges in this case. You have something that was incomplete and never really fully formed. [Versus] was more an idea that an actual game, whereas what we've created here is a complete, finished product.
"However, because the game had already been presented via trailers and other forms of media to the users, one of my goals in developing XV was to preserve the elements that users were aware of and excited about. [...] To the team's credit, they did as much as they could to include what could fit into this new idea, but there were some aspects, of course, that just didn't work."
[...]
On Stella's removal:
"Take Stella: In that case, the role of heroine for Versus XIII was different than the heroine that we conceived for Final Fantasy XV. But again, because so many players who had seen these trailers were looking forward to playing as this character, if her role in XV was different, then it would be sort of be betraying their expectations, right? So, rather than disappoint users by including a Stella that didn't match what they expected, we went with a different character altogether, Luna. It's easier for both parties that way. That way, the users aren't disappointed because Stella isn't the Stella of their dreams. And for the developers, it's easier because they can focus on creating a character that's their own.
On Cor's change of role:
"Cor would probably be the first example that comes to mind. In Versus XIII, he was originally conceived as a party member that would be with you the entire time. You'd control him and he'd be there throughout the game, whereas with XV, we decided to focus solely on the relationships between the four guys. You know, they're all the same age, and they have their relationships. So while we kept Cor in the game, he takes on a different role than he did before, more of a mentor, if you will. So as a character, he's relatively the same. It's only his position and presentation in the game that changed between Versus XIII and XV."
More at the link.
