Support NeoGAF

[Geg]

Given how bad Luna turned out I'm surprised people still think Stella would have been much better. Like people have pointed out, the swordfighting/action girl Stella hasn't existed since 2007. She definitely had better hair at least.

And lmao the cell phone picture. I can't believe it never occurred to me that Luna doesn't have a phone. Having her and Noctis talk on the phone throughout the game would have been a much better way of showing their relationship, like holy shit.

 

[Lunafreya Nox Fleuret]

Sorry, that picture of a couple talking through a phone is too hard for SE to grasp.

Spoiler

lol

 

[Rob2K19]

Stella was the master race.

Save Stella. Stella for KH3...or 4.

 

[CheckMate]

If there is one thing this generation has taught me: is that bitching loud and clear will eventually create the impossible.

I wish people would bitch at Square to make Nomura's Trilogy a reality.

 

[MadChapelier]

If there is one thing this generation has taught me: is that bitching loud and clear will eventually create the impossible.

I wish people would bitch at Square to make Nomura's Trilogy a reality.

At least make the first part of Versus on PS5 with FFXV's assets and see how it goes, dammit SE.

 

[Laplasakos]

If there is one thing this generation has taught me: is that bitching loud and clear will eventually create the impossible.

I wish people would bitch at Square to make Nomura's Trilogy a reality.

At least make the first part of Versus on PS5 with FFXV's assets and see how it goes, dammit SE.

I think the Versus ship sailed forever from the moment that Tabata kept all the characters from Versus into FFXV. No way Nomura will use the same characters and go back to Versus after how they butchered the story.

 

[AlexFlame116]

Not everyone cares about Ignis. Or Gladio. Or even Prompto.

So all they care about is Stella?

 

[DangerMouse]

Seeing this stuff makes me so sad. I liked the game but seeing glimpses of what it could have been is depressing. I also don't understand after all those years why they couldn't make a more engaging story because clearly they had the content.

Yep. I think storytelling is Tabata's biggest weakness, he also seems to block out and work out the story scenes in his games very haphazardly looking at FFXV and Type-0 (some good concept but weird story scenes). Even the camera work by Tabata and his cinematic director seem unusually sparse at times for the 3D installments of the franchise so far, keeping story preferences to the side.

And just like that, Stella shits on Luna from the highest rooftops.

Not that we didn't know Luna was shit already

Yeah.

Even has them talking on the phone.
Despite the still modern-ish setting and things like cars, a lot of the extra modern touches permeating the story got rather toned down in FFXV compared to the original concept that was seemingly overflowing with them.

 

[Adaren]

Gentians and Stella have more frames of interaction in this concept art than Gentiana and Luna do in the entirety of FFXV.

 

[Ganon Dragmire]

Closer look at Ninja Dog

And Nocto stressing or getting ready?

 

[Kyzer]

So is it accurate to say they basically wanted to get the game out and completely gutted the story to make it work with the gameplay theyd be able to finish in time? Thats what it feels like

 

[Jo Shishido's Cheeks]

Nope! You can't make me care about Versus XIII again. You can't!

:'(

 

[Lunafreya Nox Fleuret]

So is it accurate to say they basically wanted to get the game out and completely gutted the story to make it work with the gameplay theyd be able to finish in time? Thats what it feels like

When something experiences multiple rewrites it is literally doomed to be a mess. Versus according to the leaks (dunno if real or not) but i'm going to assume yes because of the Umbra human form here, was a mess. Ferrari's comments also point to a huge mess.

 

[DangerMouse]

Gentians and Stella have more frames of interaction in this concept art than Gentiana and Luna do in the entirety of FFXV.

Yeah, they did the interaction between the bros quite well, but many of the others didn't get much especially with each other.

 

[Kagari]

This upsets me. I am upset.

 

[R3birthFl4me]

I still don't know how people thought that a story with many rewrites, a writer and director change, was going to have one of the best FF stories ever written and being one of the greatest FF's ever. I tought when the game released, it was going to be a terrible game but it actually ended up surprising me.

 

[wmlk]

With each redesign and more we know about Versus/2013 FFXV, this looks more and more like 2016 FFXV. Maybe the game we imagined way back never really existed.

Stella here looks just as meek as Luna. Reading that dumb brown cover childhood book, being into sylleblossoms with Noctis-sama, and apparently Nomura wanted to redesign the character again to the point where she looks nothing like what we were drawn back in the 2008 DK Sigma trailer.

I'm seeing this, and really it does look a lot like 2016 FFXV. It seems like the story was changed from Stella being dead (I gotta question this one now, but it sounded really interesting) to being a childhood friend like in the final game. That image with the sylleblossoms when Noctis and Stella were younger looks exactly like the one CG with Luna in the final game.

 

[DarkLordMalik]

I still don't know how people thought that a story with many rewrites, a writer and director change, was going to have one of the best FF stories ever written and being one of the greatest FF's ever. I tought when the game released, it was going to be a terrible game but it actually ended up surprising me.

Somehow they believe that Nomura (who has worked on critically acclaimed stories such as Kingdom Hearts series) could have created a masterpiece story with Versus XIII.

The only thing that I am sure Nomura would have achieved with Versus would be that it could have been full of cool looking cutscenes with random piece of dialogue thrown in good measure that wouldn't make any sense until he released the sequel...... in 2022.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Somehow they believe that Nomura (who has worked on critically acclaimed stories such as Kingdom Hearts series) could have created a masterpiece story with Versus XIII.

 

[AlexFlame116]

Makes me sad that Sakaguchi won't be in the credits for Remake. Unless it has a "Based on the story by:" thing.

 

[kayos90]

With each redesign and more we know about Versus/2013 FFXV, this looks more and more like 2016 FFXV. Maybe the game we imagined way back never really existed.

Stella here looks just as meek as Luna. Reading that dumb brown cover childhood book, being into sylleblossoms with Noctis-sama, and apparently Nomura wanted to redesign the character again to the point where she looks nothing like what we were drawn back in the 2008 DK Sigma trailer.

I'm seeing this, and really it does look a lot like 2016 FFXV. It seems like the story was changed from Stella being dead (I gotta question this one now, but it sounded really interesting) to being a childhood friend like in the final game. That image with the sylleblossoms when Noctis and Stella were younger looks exactly like the one CG with Luna in the final game.

Or maybe FFXV is really Versus XIII and a lot of shit got cut and condensed. Idk.

 

[Solid Sora]

With each redesign and more we know about Versus/2013 FFXV, this looks more and more like 2016 FFXV. Maybe the game we imagined way back never really existed.

Stella here looks just as meek as Luna. Reading that dumb brown cover childhood book, being into sylleblossoms with Noctis-sama, and apparently Nomura wanted to redesign the character again to the point where she looks nothing like what we were drawn back in the 2008 DK Sigma trailer.

I'm seeing this, and really it does look a lot like 2016 FFXV. It seems like the story was changed from Stella being dead (I gotta question this one now, but it sounded really interesting) to being a childhood friend like in the final game. That image with the sylleblossoms when Noctis and Stella were younger looks exactly like the one CG with Luna in the final game.

I think that's what upsets me the most. I made peace with the idea that Versus was a totaly different game that I could've or could've not liked. I like XV well enough so no need to mob about Versus anymore.

But now this storyboards comes out and it looks like XV. Our XV. Only denser, with more characters, drama, details, and looks just way more fleshed out.

XV (2016) isn't a different game from XV (2013). It's what they managed to get done of it in time. It's a compromised version. That's what really upsets me right now. What could've been.

 

[Slater]

Yeah man that one example he did with Gooch holding his hand sure does negate the 10 he did without him that all had garbage story, including the compilation.

 

[Inuhanyou]

Why did anime girls doing the arm thing ever become a thing? i get its supposed to represent mental stress, but where did it come from?

Anyways, decent concept art pics, some looks similar to FF15, while others

 

[Sami+]

Noctis & his bandmates are the best & only good part of FFXV's storytelling. Try harder, edgelord.

Meh. They're all just walking tropes imo. But maybe Yoko Taro has spoiled me when it comes to interesting party characters and dialogue.

 

[DarkLordMalik]

Nojima has the same "Based on the story" credits for Final Fantasy XV so.......

Nojima was the scenario writer for FFVII so he needs to be given his due credit for how the game ended up. Even though I don't believe he can write another game like that again.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Yeah man that one example he did with Gooch holding his hand sure does negate the 10 he did without him that all had garbage story, including the compilation.

^

"What the hell am I reading"

Nomura had nothing to do with the story of the Compilation. Seriously, we in 2017 and people still blame Nomura for shits he was never responsible for. This is getting ridiculous.

 

[Laplasakos]

I think that's what upsets me the most. I made peace with the idea that Versus was a totaly different game that I could've or could've not liked. I like XV well enough so no need to mob about Versus anymore.

But now this storyboards comes out and it looks like XV. Our XV. Only denser, with more characters, drama, details, and looks just way more fleshed out.

XV (2016) isn't a different game from XV (2013). It's what they managed to get done of it in time. It's a compromised version. That's what really upsets me right now. What could've been.

I think that Versus XIII was a different game from Versus 2013/Nomura XV Trilogy and Tabata's XV, while Tabata's XV is Versus 2013/Nomura XV Trilogy with the only difference that it's butchered and shrinked to one game, causing some mid-big changes to the story.

 

[Hastati]

They should turn this into a graphic novel, I like the art.

Also they should make an all female cast alternate timeline sequel like ffx-ii using aranea, stella, zombie luna and prompto.

 

[DangerMouse]

I appreciate that they're letting these out at least.

Yeah.

Also, seeing some of those daily life scenes makes me feel like the early Insomnia part in the original concept could have been a bit Persona like.

 

[Slater]

^

"What the hell am I reading"

Nomura had nothing to do with the story of the Compilation. Seriously, we in 2017 and people still blame Nomura for shits he was never responsible for. This is getting ridiculous.

He was literally the director for Advent children are you daft? And he was the one who shoved Gackt into Crisis Core and Dirge. This is well known brah, gtfo "nothing to do with the complilation" is the biggest fucking lie a fanboy could ever make, he was the driving force of it

 

[Adaren]

Just noticed that black-with-white-arm Gentiana and white-with-black-arm Ravus have inverse color schemes. Maybe they were originally supposed to be contrasting characters pulling Stella in different directions.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

He was literally the director for Advent children are you daft? And he was the one who shoved Gackt into Crisis Core and Dirge. This is well known brah, gtfo "nothing to do with the complilation" is the biggest fucking lie a fanboy could ever make, he was the driving force of it

He was one of the two directors for AC not the writer. Nojima is the one you should blame.

EDIT: And I said "nothing to do with the story of the Compilation" not "nothing to do with the complilation". LMAO you can't even read.

 

[Ganon Dragmire]

looks like it's Versatile and the Ninja form of that dog

Funny how there are no concepts of the boys on the road in these pics or Noctis being less serious

 

[Slater]

He was the director for AC not the writer. Nojima is the one you should blame.

Pfftttttttt don't ignore Gackt getting shoved into CC and Dirge because of him. And that weak ass defense doesn't negate the fact that your claim that he had nothing to do with the compilation is a big fat fucking lie.

Because Genesis alone invalidates the fuck outta that with how much he retcons

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Just noticed that black-with-white-arm Gentiana and white-with-black-arm Ravus have inverse color schemes. Maybe they were originally supposed to be contrasting characters pulling Stella in different directions.

Ravus in white with a black arm

Gentiana in black with a white arm

Dat symbolism

They're like the good angel and the bad angel on Stella's shoulders

.

 

[Solid Sora]

Funny how there are no concepts of the boys on the road in these pics or Noctis being less serious

This is the closest:

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Pfftttttttt don't ignore Gackt getting shoved into CC and Dirge because of him. And that weak ass defense doesn't negate the fact that your claim that he had nothing to do with the compilation is a big fat fucking lie.

Because Genesis alone invalidates the fuck outta that with how much he retcons

Re-read my post:

EDIT: And I said "nothing to do with the story of the Compilation" not "nothing to do with the complilation". LMAO you can't even read.

 

[The Last One]

I think that Versus XIII was a different game from Versus 2013/Nomura XV Trilogy and Tabata's XV, while Tabata's XV is Versus 2013/Nomura XV Trilogy with the only difference that it's butchered and shrinked to one game with causing some mid-big chances to the story.

I think this too. We probably had 2 different versions of Versus XIII, pre-2013 then another one in 2013 by Nomura himself which ended up being FF XV, not a completely different game but condensed one.

 

[The Last One]

He was one of the two directors for AC not the writer. Nojima is the one you should blame.

EDIT: And I said "nothing to do with the story of the Compilation" not "nothing to do with the complilation". LMAO you can't even read.

I don't agree with this. Nojima and Nomura share the same blame about everything done in VII Compilation.

 

[Slater]

Re-read my post:

And again that isn't accurate at all, Genesis is a huge retcon he created and shoved into the middle of the story, just stop dude saying he has nothing to do with it is a lie, plain and simple

 

[Laplasakos]

Funny how there are no concepts of the boys on the road in these pics or Noctis being less serious

Noctis in Nomura's trailers seemed like a completely different personality compared to Tabata's Noctis. With Nomura, he always had a serious, gloomy expression.

Dialogue from the gif

Noctis: Do you have a plan? Something 10 times worse than their own?
Ignis: I am going to think a way to return it hundredfold
Noctis: ''small bitter smile''

 

[addik]

He already said that he did a storyboard for FFXV back in 2013 and it had 130 images in it. So I guess what we see here is from it.

By the way, for those who still don't understand the appeal of Stella, there's this post that pretty much sums it up :

Oh, man, I remember writing this one and being completely ignored by people just saying to let it go. Came as a surprise while I was browsing this.

I mean at the end of the day she isn't real and I honestly find it weird that after 10 years people haven't been able to let go of their over attachment to her.

I am more concerned how long it would take SE to think up of another (offline) mainline FF heroine that doesn't fit the mold of the FF archetype, making her a unique character. I sure hope it doesn't take another 10 years. Not that Stella might have been an archetype herself, but at least conceptually, she was already represented as someone against those archetypes.

I think the concept art at least proves that the leak about Stella being dead all along is false lol. I'm not sure if I'm disappointed by that because that leak made V13 so crazy I just wanted to see how they would pull it off (or how they recovered from the mess they tried to pull off lol)

 

[WrenchNinja]

Stella had a cool design

 

[Ganon Dragmire]

the big storyboard page comes from that big book of concept art they always take to these events

some more event stuff:

from: https://twitter.com/haruki_game

 

[hairygreenpeas]

Ngl, I was kind of salty that Stella got cut even though we knew essentially nothing about her character. I just vastly preferred her design over Luna's lol.

 

[wmlk]

I think that's what upsets me the most. I made peace with the idea that Versus was a totaly different game that I could've or could've not liked. I like XV well enough so no need to mob about Versus anymore.

But now this storyboards comes out and it looks like XV. Our XV. Only denser, with more characters, drama, details, and looks just way more fleshed out.

XV (2016) isn't a different game from XV (2013). It's what they managed to get done of it in time. It's a compromised version. That's what really upsets me right now. What could've been.

Yeah, I kinda get the feeling too.

I think idea of four friends travelling the world amidst the drama is the main concept of FFXV. There were moments where it all fell into place and you could feel it like the entire stretch when Iris is in the party. I really wanted more of that in the game too. I think the TGS 2014 trailer captured that, and I was looking forward to that game more than the darker stuff we saw before.

 

[DarkLordMalik]

Noctis in Nomura's trailers seemed like a completely different personality compared to Tabata's Noctis. With Nomura, he always had a serious, gloomy expression.

The Noctis that Nomura envisioned was a huge douchebag. I like the one created by Tabata more. I don't like another emo teen story with Noctis after we already suffered through Sora.

 

[R3birthFl4me]

At least this concept art shows that we will probably get Ravus as Iggy party member in his DLC, he shows up a lot in these Altissia concepts.

 

[wmlk]

[IMGFunny how there are no concepts of the boys on the road in these pics or Noctis being less serious

????

They're legit camping out in the wild like in the final game in one of these pics.