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Eurogamer: Tabata on Final Fantasy XV - "core-centric", "casual", "best FF ever"

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
I get this, but at the same time I would find it so much more satisfying to do this in realtime. The example he gives of the behemoth can be said for any action game. Imagine having to flank and time attacks in realtime in order to break its guard..... could have made it an action game with a brain..

Sadly this isn't Final Fantasy Versus XIII (which was an action spinoff FF) anymore... And mainline FF games aren't known to be actions games ala KH.

When this was rebranded as FFXV, I already had a feeling the action elements will be gone or dumbed down to cater to an ATB-like system... So these news isn't surprising to me.
 

Elitro

Member
Bad choice of words.

I guess we will have to wait for the demo to see, but that statement along with no female party members are putting me off.
 

Nocturn

Neo Member
Sigh.. Trying really hard not to think anything about all this until I get to play the demo. Tabata is making it really hard though.
 
Has it been confirmed that there's no weapon switching in the full game? I was initially turned off by the hold down the button for awesome approach (still am), but if you have to manually keep track of what weapon you're using in between every press that could lead to more challenge and variety with the gameplay. Imagine you're surrounded by enemies, one of which is a heavy armored enemy that can only be hurt by the slow, big swords you can see Noctis using during the tech demo. You would switch to the heavy weapon for that enemy, hold attack to get a combo in, and then switch to a smaller and faster sword to be able to attack enemies like those goblins. All of this would be happening while keeping track of dodging at precisely the right moment. That sounds fun and interesting to me and would give depth, but I've seen people here say weapon switching is gone. In which case, fuck this shit.

Damn you, Tabata.

They've mentioned that the weapons are like a deck of cards. You pick from a set of like four or so and the system will automatically switch out the weapon to match that put particular monster weakness.

He said that in some interview but I'm on mobile and can't really find it.
 

Feindflug

Member
Has it been confirmed that there's no weapon switching in the full game? I was initially turned off by the hold down the button for awesome approach (still am), but if you have to manually keep track of what weapon you're using in between every press that could lead to more challenge and variety with the gameplay. Imagine you're surrounded by enemies, one of which is a heavy armored enemy that can only be hurt by the slow, big swords you can see Noctis using during the tech demo. You would switch to the heavy weapon for that enemy, hold attack to get a combo in, and then switch to a smaller and faster sword to be able to attack enemies like those goblins. All of this would be happening while keeping track of dodging at precisely the right moment. That sounds fun and interesting to me and would give depth, but I've seen people here say weapon switching is gone. In which case, fuck this shit.

Damn you, Tabata.

This is some teenager shit man, we're too old for this now.
 

LAA

Member
Has there been been an interview of how the difficulty is with the game?

Keeping mind open for now and I guess we'll see when when the demo is out. Only the gameplay concerns me at the moment...but even that is a bad sign I guess, ha ha. Before I thought XV looked perfect and I wanted it immediately, now there's a bit of a "Hmmmm" for me.
Only thing I'm impressed with (and makes me fine with them ignoring XV for a year), is I show the game has been seemingly overhauled. I thought XV looked amazing at E3, this trailer...*Mind boom*
Xenoblade vibes from the environment is awesome too.
 
They've mentioned that the weapons are like a deck of cards. You pick from a set of like four or so and the system will automatically switch out the weapon to match that put particular monster weakness.

He said that in some interview but I'm on mobile and can't really find it.
They must think players are too stupid to be able choose a weapon based off context themselves.
 

Mr. RPG

Member
Sadly this isn't Final Fantasy Versus XIII (which was an action spinoff FF) anymore... And mainline FF games aren't known to be actions games ala KH.

When this was rebranded as FFXV, I already had a feeling the action elements will be gone or dumbed down to cater to an ATB-like system... So these news isn't surprising to me.

How is the game an ATB-system now? It doesn't look anything like that to me. It just looks like a really dumbed down action RPG.
 

duckroll

Member
I get this, but at the same time I would find it so much more satisfying to do this in realtime. The example he gives of the behemoth can be said for any action game. Imagine having to flank and time attacks in realtime in order to break its guard..... could have made it an action game with a brain..

Yes but consider this possibility - Not every developer is great at making every type of game. There is the vision and then there is the execution. If what they wanted was too ambitious and they couldn't make it work out, altering it instead into something they're actually good at and able to make might be a good choice. Obviously there were huge issues plaguing Versus if they had to completely reboot the project even after long delays.

In a perfect world, Dirge of Cerberus could have been an amazing third person shooter which had satisfying gun action mixed with FFVII's world and lore. That didn't turn out to be the case there. Just saying.
 

KHlover

Banned
You mean the most divisive Smash Bros game that exists? Yeah, there definitely weren't real issues with Brawl.

Why does Final Fantasy need to appeal to newcomers to the genre? Fallout 3 and New Vegas weren't stripped down versions of Oblivion. Dragon Age Inquisition is looking like it isn't going to follow what Dragon Age 2 set out to do. The Witcher 3 isn't getting more casualized.

How about this, make an RPG for genre veterans and have adjustable battle speed and difficulty options?

You should look into Bravely Default and Bravely Second, customization up the wazoo. You can set Encounter Rate, Difficulty, Exp. gain and Job Point gain all seperately at any time in the game.

EDIT: In-combat you can adjust animation speed and even set a chain of actions for Auto combat

You know, at this point the Bravely series actually feels like the REAL Final Fantasy ;-;
 

sappyday

Member
Has a developer ever said they wanted to make their game casual. Not pr shit like namco and dark souls but an actual developer
 

Rymuth

Member
1371681979_f4f99b4e892d635afc8e8801205f8e54.jpg


And I so wanted to get back into Final Fantasy...
 

Mr. RPG

Member
They've mentioned that the weapons are like a deck of cards. You pick from a set of like four or so and the system will automatically switch out the weapon to match that put particular monster weakness.

He said that in some interview but I'm on mobile and can't really find it.

Oh fuck, this again?

Yoshi P removed elemental weaknesses in XIV because he thought it was too hard for casual players to understand that Fire beats Ice. Ugh...
 
As long as there is equipment, weapon, stat building/customization, and dungeon crawling, it's still ff. Execution has never been that important beyond limit breaks.
 

SOLDIER

Member
You say that as if Final Fantasy hasn't been dragged through the mud in the past 4 years. What do you expect? People were hyped when the trailer was released a week ago because the game existed and it had a story theme that could resonate with people.

I personally questioned the combat immediately while other people were busy shitting themselves over FFXV existing.

If Tabata has another interview where he clarifies that the combat isn't as simplistic as it first sounded like and you would have all the options hardcore players wanted, would that quell any angry comments? Probably not.

Nobody bought into Yoshi-P's hype for A Realm Reborn until he started showing the game extensively. Ultimately that's what FFXV needs: more exposure.

The demo would be the best bet to do just that, although most likely the characters are going to be beefed up to the point that people will complain that it was too easy.
 

raven777

Member
The only game by Tabata I have played was Crisis Core (around 60%) and a demo of Type-0

I really disliked CC's battle system but Type-0 seemed to have some potential (other than camera).

Also I heard 3rd Birthday's battle wasn't bad either...

So I am hoping there is more to the battle than what we are getting from these recent interviews.
 

duckroll

Member
My point is that I really, really, really doubt this is going to be a one-button game that requires zero strategy or skill.

People can be hyperbolic all they want, but simple logic suggests otherwise.

It's not a one button game. It's a two button game at least. There's both Defend and Attack. Get that right. :p

Also, no one said that there will be zero strategy or skill. You are saying that there will "obviously" be a manual control scheme which is more technical. I don't think that it is obvious, or even probable. He is describing the game as it is. That doesn't mean it takes no skill at all to play, but the skill will be related to other things rather than input - like deciding how to approach a fight, where to attack, who to attack first, how to set your party AI up, and what weapons and abilities to equip in a fight.
 

Mik317

Member
I knew that the dirth of information out of nowhere came with a catch.

each new info seems to be more disappointing than the last. It seems they haven't learned from FXIII's mistakes at all.

I'd like to be positive but Tabata hasn't made it easy.

ugh...way to fuck up any momentum you had Square..instead of hype there is now confusion and worry.
 

Hindle

Banned
They don't need to change the battle system from FF XIII, just expand on it. But... alas they are and it will likely piss of thier fanbase even more.
 

Valor

Member
I definitely don't think this is a bad thing, so to speak. If the gameplay is fun and engaging, who cares how many buttons need to be pressed?
 

Seanspeed

Banned
So they're trying to appeal to the non-existent senior citizen Final Fantasy fan segment?

I will say - I do generally condone developers making games they want to make. But this does heavily rely on the people making the game to have good ideas in the first place.
 

sn00zer

Member
Yes but consider this possibility - Not every developer is great at making every type of game. There is the vision and then there is the execution. If what they wanted was too ambitious and they couldn't make it work out, altering it instead into something they're actually good at and able to make might be a good choice. Obviously there were huge issues plaguing Versus if they had to completely reboot the project even after long delays.

In a perfect world, Dirge of Cerberus could have been an amazing third person shooter which had satisfying gun action mixed with FFVII's world and lore. That didn't turn out to be the case there. Just saying.

Not disagreeing with Versus, but looking at it now there were only two 3d KH games released...there have since been 4 more and a whole resurgence of western and japanese ARPGs to draw from. This isnt a crazy experiment anymore, there are well established games in the genre now that can be looked at

EDIT: Hell Dirge as an action shooter was pretty cray for its time until Gears came along and set the bar for tps expectations
 
They must think players are too stupid to be able choose a weapon based off context themselves.

Square's dabbling into iOS has probably rotted their judgement.

I wouldn't be surprised if this was some shit decision from corporate, since so much is riding on this particular game and they can't afford to alienate even a single potential customer, that we might get some homogenized shit in an attempt to bring in even mobile phone gamers.
 

Xenus

Member
I got some bad news for you...

This is cruel and unusual punishment at this point. I was so hyped after TGS now Tabata keeps talking and mixed in with your comments it feels like they stabbed us and are now just twisting the knife over and over again.
 

MormaPope

Banned
If Tabata has another interview where he clarifies that the combat isn't as simplistic as it first sounded like and you would have all the options hardcore players wanted, would that quell any angry comments? Probably not.

Nobody bought into Yoshi-P's hype for A Realm Reborn until he started showing the game extensively. Ultimately that's what FFXV needs: more exposure.

The demo would be the best bet to do just that, although most likely the characters are going to be beefed up to the point that people will complain that it was too easy.

You're phrasing your post like people are going to be negatively critical no matter what FFXV actually is. If Tabata says things that agitate fans, well, the game either something people are hesitant about or he's saying really weird things that don't reflect what the game is.

I'm going with the former because he's the director for the game, if anyone knows how the game will actually play and function, its him.
 

Mortemis

Banned
So X for autoattack 24/7, and R1+Buttons for skills right...RIGHT?!??!

All we know is that there's a button to hold down to attack, another to hold down to evade, a warp button, and magic I guess? Don't think they explained how magic works, or at least not that I can remember.
 

TunaUppercut

Neo Member
Ninja Gaiden 3 and Devil May Cry 2 are not looking so bad right now.
8 years development time for this combat system. 8 years and the combat sounds worse than the Bouncer. The bouncer. How is that possible?
 

Aostia

El Capitan Todd
basically, a game played by the console "AI" and not by me? I don't like the sound of it.
That said, one can summarize also Xenoblade's battle system saying that it is a "one buttone" attack (it is an automatic attack), so I'd be ok with that (considering all the other aspects of that BS, such as real time selection of many different attacks/defense/spells, real time strategic positioning around the enemy and so on...)
 

KHlover

Banned
They don't need to change the battle system from FF XIII, just expand on it. But... alas they are and it will likely piss of thier fanbase even more.

Final Fantasy XIII managed to piss enough people off that sales went down exponentially with each new entry while the install base was rising. It had a lot of flaws and the battle system definitely was one of them.

It needed changing.
 

Data West

coaches in the WNBA
What kind of elderly, casual fanbase that is going to be exhausted by pressing many buttons multiple times is also going to somehow be interested in a 40+ hour RPG?
 
I hope there's enough backlash when the demo is released that they change the system a bit.
I'd be willing to wait another extra year if it meant a less dumbed down battle system.
 
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