• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Final Fantasy XV interview: Tabata talks delays, Versus, fan expectation and more

Status
Not open for further replies.

Koozek

Member
That depends on who your asking and what they specifically want from an anime in general. If we're talking in terms of mainstream critical acclaim(not popularity) Some would say Cowboy Bebop or Trigun. Others would pick movies like Ghost in the Shell 1995 or Akira or Grave of the firelies. There are those who would put the original Gundam 0079 up there.

For me, i can't really pick. There are too many i've seen. My favorite manga of all time though is Chrno Crusade. It has a sense of adventure and starts out fairly innocuously, but keeps on building to the point where there is nothing else to call it but a masterpiece of writing and fleshed out human like characters.

Wish there was an anime of it.
Little anecdote: never have I heard from so many of my male friends that they cried during a movie than with Grave of the Firelies. Beautiful gem.

I need to watch Akira fully someday. Only saw parts of it as a kid.
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
Little anecdote: never have I heard from so many of my male friends that they cried during a movie than with Grave of the Firelies. Beautiful gem.

I need to watch Akira fully someday. Only saw parts of it as a kid.

Yeah...there are tons of anime out there that should be rewatched. I didn't think much of Blue Submarine No.6 when it first premiered because i was just a kid waiting for Tenchi, Sailor moon, Ronin Warriors and DBZ to come on.

But going back and watching it, it changed my whole outlook on showing mature writing and themes to kids at a prepubescent age.. A lot of things just passed me by originally that i picked up on second viewing and came to appreciate it significantly more.

I also recommend a read of Chrno Crusade at some point. Don't know if your into manga at all, but its worth it IMO.
 

wmlk

Member
I just want to know if the logo was always supposed to show seemingly Ardryn or if they changed that. Did he always have that one wing costume? I'm not sure, he was in one of the old trailer but it's not really clear to see I think.

He always had it from his initial design.

We knew of his existence at E3 2013. That art from Roberto Ferrari is from 2010.
 

wmlk

Member
Also, I don't think the fight itself will be against Leviathan. It'll be more of something to protect Leviathan, but do it in a cool set piece.

Niflheim is attacking Leviathan, not Noctis and co.
 
I think what Jason is getting at is simple:

jfUDAhj.gif


If you're OK with this, great! The body language in FFXV probably won't bother you.

If you're not OK with this then you will be sad :( like Crossing Eden.

The more over-exaggerated style of Iris' acting doesn't really bother me as much when it comes to 2D animation - or even a lot of 3D games. It just sticks out so much in XV because Iris and Prompto are the only ones that are over-exaggerated, whereas the rest of the cast acts pretty naturalistic in comparison. Ardyn is a weird in between, where he acts fairly natural, but it's the kind of natural where it's the first day of drama class, and there's this one guy reciting Shakespeare at 150% percent, where 35% is all that's required.There's probably some spit flying, too. Ardyn in Kingsglaive gave me legitimate flashbacks. It's great, though, it's like Ardyn's purposefully putting on a character, and it's genuinely unnerving.

See this is an interesting discussion for once instead of tired Versus crap.

What is considered to be the best-written Anime, btw?

Little anecdote: never have I heard from so many of my male friends that they cried during a movie than with Grave of the Firelies. Beautiful gem.

Grave of the Fireflies is so distressing, god. Incredible.

YMMV, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (so fucking good), Cowboy Bebop, and Neon Genesis Evangelion are still my holy trinity. There's tons of great gems over the years, too many list. Anything Watanabe works on generally delivers, Samurai Champloo and Space Dandy are my two other favourites from him. A lot of anime by the studio Bones tends to be of a good quality - the original FMA, Darker than Black, etc. I've loved a lot of Gonzo's works, too, Gankutsuou is a dirty vice. Baccano and Michiko and Hatchin are two well-written anime that don't get enough love. The most recent anime in the last couple of years I was continually impressed with was Fate/Zero, even though I'm not a fan of the franchise otherwise. Gen Urobuchi has been doing some interesting series over the last few years - Fate/Zero, Madoka, the first season of Psycho Pass... well-written, clever stuff. I heard how bad the second season of Psycho Pass went, what a waste.

When it comes to films, alongside a lot of good ol' Studio Ghibli's works, Satoshi Kon always delivered in regards to animated films (rest in peace), and I've also been really enjoying Mamoru Hosoda's films over the last couple of years. I wasn't expecting Wolf Children to be as sad and poignant as it was, I'd thought it was such a silly concept when I heard of it. I haven't seen The Boy and The Beast yet, have heard good things.
 

Voror

Member
For me, i can't really pick. There are too many i've seen. My favorite manga of all time though is Chrno Crusade. It has a sense of adventure and starts out fairly innocuously, but keeps on building to the point where there is nothing else to call it but a masterpiece of writing and fleshed out human like characters.

Wish there was an anime of it.

I always get surprised when I find someone other than me has read this since I always thought it was pretty underrated! I loved the hell out of this series and reread my copies every so often.

There was actually but it diverges hard.

Grave of the Fireflies is so distressing, god. Incredible.

YMMV, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (so fucking good), Cowboy Bebop, and Neon Genesis Evangelion are still my holy trinity. There's tons of great gems over the years, too many list. Anything Watanabe works on generally delivers, Samurai Champloo and Space Dandy are my two other favourites from him. A lot of anime by the studio Bones tends to be of a good quality - the original FMA, Darker than Black, etc. I've loved a lot of Gonzo's works, too, Gankutsuou is a dirty vice. Baccano and Michiko and Hatchin are two well-written anime that don't get enough love. The most recent anime in the last couple of years I was continually impressed with was Fate/Zero, even though I'm not a fan of the franchise otherwise. Gen Urobuchi has been doing some interesting series over the last few years - Fate/Zero, Madoka, the first season of Psycho Pass... well-written, clever stuff. I heard how bad the second season of Psycho Pass went, what a waste.

When it comes to films, alongside a lot of good ol' Studio Ghibli's works, Satoshi Kon always delivered in regards to animated films (rest in peace), and I've also been really enjoying Mamoru Hosoda's films over the last couple of years. I wasn't expecting Wolf Children to be as sad and poignant as it was, I'd thought it was such a silly concept when I heard of it. I haven't seen The Boy and The Beast yet, have heard good things.

I will never watch that. I don't need to be that depressed.

Pretty much agree with all of this. I honestly think the GitS series is way better than the movie but I suppose it benefits from having that longform nature to it. Haven't seen everything listed here but pretty much all of it and I'd say they are all good examples.

I've yet to see Wolf Children and The Boy and The Beast, though heard good things as well.

Actually, what would a FF game be like if they got someone like Gen Urobuchi to write it? I'd imagine it'd probably be dark as hell and deconstruct everything, but it's a curious thought. The latest show from him, Thunderbolt Fantasy, is also quite excellent and features a lot of interesting characters on a quest.
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
I always get surprised when I find someone other than me has read this since I always thought it was pretty underrated! I loved the hell out of this series and reread my copies every so often.

There was actually but it diverges hard.

As i said, i wish there was an anime :p
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
Ah good point.

Author actually did another series, though I don't think it got localized or is at least out of print.

World Embryo, yeah. It was nowhere near as good, infact i'd consider it subpar, even though it had enjoyable portions.
 

wmlk

Member
Dude's done crazy good work on FFXV, whew.
He might just be the best environment concept artist Square has. He's underutilized.

BD2 has the best artists in SE and it isn't even close. Can't wait for a new game by them without any baggage.

And the Luna pic in Insomnia is by Isamu Kamikokuryo.
 

Kagari

Crystal Bearer
He might just be the best environment concept artist Square has. He's underutilized.

BD2 has the best artists in SE and it isn't even close. Can't wait for a new game by them without any baggage.

And the Luna pic is by Isamu Kamikokuryo.

All of the art talent at SE is pretty good. I wouldn't say anyone is better than another as they all have different styles.
 

.JayZii

Banned
He might just be the best environment concept artist Square has. He's underutilized.

BD2 has the best artists in SE and it isn't even close. Can't wait for a new game by them without any baggage.

And the Luna pic is by Isamu Kamikokuryo.
I'm sure all of their talented artists are utilized quite a bit behind the scenes. You just don't get to see it.
 

wmlk

Member
All of the art talent at SE is pretty good. I wouldn't say anyone is better than another as they all have different styles.
I'm talking in a per-team basis. Kamikokuryo, Naora, Matsuzawa are their main trio of environmental concept artists. That's really good.

I think there could be a clash in art styles though since they all do things very differently.
 

duckroll

Member
I'm talking in a per-team basis. Kamikokuryo, Naora, Matsuzawa are their trio of environmental concept artists. That's really good.

I think there could be a clash in art styles though since they all do things very differently.

There isn't really a "per team" basis. S-E uses all their artists very liberally. These artists all do tons of concept art, designs, and promotional stuff for a range of products across the company, including mobile titles. They don't work exclusively on "BD2" games or whatever.
 

wmlk

Member
There isn't really a "per team" basis. S-E uses all their artists very liberally. These artists all do tons of concept art, designs, and promotional stuff for a range of products across the company, including mobile titles. They don't work exclusively on "BD2" games or whatever.
I get the vibe that they'll work together more in the future just based on interviews and things that I'm reading. Most of the larger output that Naora has had for instance in recent years has been on Tabata's games.

That's just a guess, though. I just want to see a game defined by Matsuzawa's art more than anything. It's unfortunate that a lot of it seemingly went into Kingsglaive.
 

Voror

Member
World Embryo, yeah. It was nowhere near as good, infact i'd consider it subpar, even though it had enjoyable portions.

Yeah, it didn't have that kick to it and felt a tad more generic. Though I noticed he did the
aliens as creatures of myth/demons thing again.

All of the art talent at SE is pretty good. I wouldn't say anyone is better than another as they all have different styles.

Yeah, I like most of what I tend to see from any of them and the range of styles is pretty good too. The artbook that came with BD2 CE is fantastic and I'm getting the books for XIV and Heavensward and what I've seen of those look great too.

I really hope we get an artbook for XV. Ideally, I'd love it to include everything from Versus as well. It'd be great too if they reprinted some of the art books from the older FF titles.
 

.JayZii

Banned
There isn't really a "per team" basis. S-E uses all their artists very liberally. These artists all do tons of concept art, designs, and promotional stuff for a range of products across the company, including mobile titles. They don't work exclusively on "BD2" games or whatever.
Exactly.

I think there is a common misunderstanding about how artists at these big companies work. Not to mention all the unsexy preproduction rough sketches that never see the light of day.
 

duckroll

Member
I get the vibe that they'll work together more in the future just based on interviews and things that I'm reading. Most of the larger output that Naora has had for instance in recent years has been on Tabata's games.

That's just a guess, though. I just want to see a game defined by Matsuzawa's art more than anything. It's unfortunate that a lot of it seemingly went into Kingsglaive.

Yeah, they'll definitely work together on all big games, because they're the main concept artists in the company and big games take a lot of work! Naora worked on a ton of Last Remnant too, don't forget! :)
 
Versus probably wasn't gonna have Noctis and Stella kill each other. They were just gonna "fight". How do you even fight somebody you have feelings for?

Noctis and Luna has been friends since kids. The best you can hope for is scene where she slaps him playfully or in a way to snap him back into action.

See: Type 0.
 

Mcdohl

Member
I got to play FFXV at PAX, and after getting off the hype train due to Kingsglaive, now I'm back.

I really enjoyed the demo (it starts form the very beginning of the game until you finish some side quests for Cidney, approx 20-30mins). I felt it really nailed the gameplay (good action, specially when you think about the fact that it's an open world rpg) and structure. I liked how the game feels, and how open the world seems. It didn't feel overwhelming, nor empty.

You can really tell they took notes from western RPGs, while still keeping the FF flavor.

Art direction is better than I thought, the whole Americana vibe around Hammerhead comes together pretty nicely.

I don't know if the story will be good, but the demo certainly left the impression that it will be a solid game with plenty of content (judging by map size, quest-based style of game progression).

I might not be the best at describing stuff, but it gave me more confidence than most of what SE has done trying to promote it. Maybe I'm a receipts kind of guy.

Extra comments:
  • I think the map is going to be very large. I zoomed out on the map screen and it looked big, not GIGA big, but I think it was only a section of the world map because I couldn't see Altissia. It's hard to tell though, hopefully someone posts a pic online.
  • I honestly prefered the alternate casual clothes compared to the default Roen stuff. I hope there's a lot of different outfits.
  • There was also a Chocobo Racing demo. It was ok, nothing to write home about. Glad they are in the game though, I love side stuff. It was unnecesary to demo it tho imo

Concerns:
  • I get it now. IQ is indeed bad. Like very bad. It probably didn't help that the demo was running on Xbox. It's sad, because assets and all look very well done, but stuff like grass looks like crap. Framerate was pretty stable (I'm no expert, but it certainly doesn't feel like Duscae at all).
  • The game kinda rushes to let you play and explore the world. I have mixed feelings about that. Yes, that helps the pace a lot, but it could use more build up imo. I get it, the game is about the journey/road trip, but still :)

Things I don't understand:
  • Imo, Platinum Demo is a disservice to this game. Yes controls are similar, but the game is far from being hold X to win.
  • The game feels like a really solid and good product, but somehow the marketing and other stuff doesn't inspire the confidence it should, or doesn't get the message accross (lol warp strike). Get your shit together SE.
  • The intro
    with the fire and old Noctis and the dude in the throne
    looks cool but it all happens so fast. It felt disconnected.

Maybe it was just a good first impression, but if the game will be as good as it promises to be, I can definitely see it being above XIII. I really don't think the game will be bad. And I really hope I don't eat crow.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
I got to play FFXV at PAX, and after getting off the hype train due to Kingsglaive, now I'm back.

fHyE5so.gif


edit: FWIW, I would be very, VERY surprised if the build at PAX was further along than the build at Gamescom. I doublt Square Enix has time to continuously drop public-ready builds.
 

Philippo

Member
fHyE5so.gif


edit: FWIW, I would be very, VERY surprised if the build at PAX was further along than the build at Gamescom. I doublt Square Enix has time to continuously drop public-ready builds.

lol

edit: this was clearly a demo build they prepeared to use all through the summer. I guess it will also be the one at TgS.
 

SolVanderlyn

Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
Is that old Regis I see in the portrait? As in previous, not elderly.

tumblr_inline_ntbjp7kWag1t4b5li_500.png
 

wanders

Member
fHyE5so.gif


edit: FWIW, I would be very, VERY surprised if the build at PAX was further along than the build at Gamescom. I doublt Square Enix has time to continuously drop public-ready builds.

I bet you were itching to use this gif lol
 

sappyday

Member
Is that old Regis I see in the portrait? As in previous, not elderly.

tumblr_inline_ntbjp7kWag1t4b5li_500.png

He still looks like the older Regis when he was younger. The costume he's wearing is some sort of king outfit, but people in his courtroom still wear suits and he did too. Noctis can wear that same suit in a DLC bonus in the deluxe edition of the games.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
He still looks like the older Regis when he was younger. The costume he's wearing is some sort of king outfit, but people in his courtroom still wear suits and he did too. Noctis can wear that same suit in a DLC bonus in the deluxe edition of the games.

Think he's talking about the one in the picture hanging on the wall, not the one sitting on the sofa.

edit: nm wru falk reading comprehension
 

Turin

Banned
I think the past two pages are on to something though. A lot of people who consume Japanese media are looking for stuff that's distinctly... Japanese.

There is some merit to wanting to reach out to a larger userbase rather than remaining inward-looking, but at the same time cranking that dial to 11 is just going to result in a culture shock.

It's sorta like Bollywood. People who dig Bollywood dig Bollywood because it's Bollywood. Take out the absurdly over-the-top action scenes and dance routines to appeal to a larger market, and it's no longer Bollywood even if the script was originally Hindi or Tamil or whatevs.

FF taps into a fairly wide ranging fan base though, mainly because of the older titles. Most of the series' popular titles don't have voice acting so there's room to project what you want onto how the characters would express themselves.

With that said, I don't think this would be as much of a talked about issue if XV didn't seem as oddly syncopated in it's tone and visual style.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
FF taps into a fairly wide ranging fan base though, mainly because of the older titles. Most of the series' popular titles don't have voice acting so there's room to project what you want onto how the characters would express themselves.

With that said, I don't think this would be as much of a talked about issue if XV didn't seem so oddly syncopated in it's tone and visual style.

I was thinking about that actually... I think fans from the 90s could have had a very different "non Anime" impression about what the games were about back then. Even though anime was a part of the game's DNA from the very beginning (particularly of the 80s Ghibli variety), it could have easily been interpreted very differently.

But anyone who got into the series FFX and onward probably understands very well that its an anime video game from Japan.
 

nOoblet16

Member
I think the past two pages are on to something though. A lot of people who consume Japanese media are looking for stuff that's distinctly... Japanese.

There is some merit to wanting to reach out to a larger userbase rather than remaining inward-looking, but at the same time cranking that dial to 11 is just going to result in a culture shock.

It's sorta like Bollywood. People who dig Bollywood dig Bollywood because it's Bollywood. Take out the absurdly over-the-top action scenes and dance routines to appeal to a larger market, and it's no longer Bollywood even if the script was originally Hindi or Tamil or whatevs.

Except someone who actually follows Bollywood would tell you that the reason the absurdly over the top action scenes and dance routines exist is because it wants to appeal to a larger audience, and that the actual good stuff in Bollywood are the ones that do not rely on them.

I guess what I am trying to say is that while a westerner would see something like this to be "westernaized", "appealing to larger market" because it does not fit the description of what's "distinctively Japanese" to them. To a Japanese however, it does not seem to be the same thing and they consider it as distinctively Japanese as anything else.

Much in the same way how you might not consider Bollywood movies without dance routines and ridiculous action to be "distinctively bollywood" but to me those are the ones that define Bollywood in modern times and for much of its history. And honestly it does not need to concern itself with whether it fits an outsider's description of what a Bollywood movie is so that it can be less of a culture shock. The onus to realise that even things that don't fit their description can be just as distinctively Bollywood....lies on the outsider.
 

Turin

Banned
I was thinking about that actually... I think fans from the 90s could have had a very different "non Anime" impression about what the games were about back then. Even though anime was a part of the game's DNA from the very beginning (particularly of the 80s Ghibli variety), it could have easily been interpreted very differently.

But anyone who got into the series FFX and onward probably understands very well that its an anime video game from Japan.

But there's a lot of people who like anime with varying standards for different mediums.

With FFX, most were/are more accepting since it was a video game released in 2001. FFXII was actually up to par for 2006. And besides that, the tone and dialogue didn't seem out of place for either game, overall. With KH3 and World of Final Fantasy, everyone knows what to expect and we're all on board for it(or you just won't play it). XV gives off an awkward impression.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
But there's a lot of people who like anime with varying standards for different mediums.

With FFX, most were/are more accepting since it was a video game released in 2001. FFXII was actually up to par for 2006. And besides that, the tone and dialogue didn't seem out of place for either game, overall. With KH3 and World of Final Fantasy, everyone knows what to expect and we're all on board for it(or you just won't play it). XV gives off an awkward impression.

I see your point.

I don't think it's a death knell for perception if it reads as awkward/foreign/anime, though. It won't for a second pass as some typical international AAA title despite what Square probably wishes... but if it has its merits, a certain large chunk of even the mainstream audience will excuse it and maybe even embrace it for being incredibly odd and "other".
 

Falk

that puzzling face
Except someone who actually follows Bollywood would tell you that the reason the absurdly over the top action scenes and dance routines exist is because it wants to appeal to a larger audience, and that the actual good stuff in Bollywood are the ones that do not rely on them.

Actually, you're right. Some of the most enjoyable classics have virtually no 'action' action (Lagaan, etc)

But regardless, I think it's become an integral part of Bollywood culture, or at least of the action part of it. People go in expecting over-the-top.

edit: did I use "classic" for a post-2000 film rofl

i feel old
 

_Ryo_

Member
Yeah, I'm also glad that they moved on from making it pure turn based. It's 2016, no one wants to play a turn based rpgs on their tv now.

Persona 5 (many peoples most highly anticipated game of 2017, 2016) Dragon Quest XI, Pokemon Sun and Moon, World of Final Fantasy, Digimon, South Park, the kiseki series, ie, trails of cold steel ,and again Persona 5.


Seems a lot of people wanna play turned based games on their TVs.
 
Actually, you're right. Some of the most enjoyable classics have virtually no 'action' action (Lagaan, etc)

But regardless, I think it's become an integral part of Bollywood culture, or at least of the action part of it. People go in expecting over-the-top.

edit: did I use "classic" for a post-2000 film rofl

i feel old

Booo 90's Bollywood Romance >>> All other Bollywood

---------

Anyway good to hear positive impressions from you Mcdohl!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom