Support NeoGAF

[Ydelnae]

Final Fantasy XV released last year with the premise of building a multimedia Universe from the get-go. Before the game released on September 30th November 31st, Square-Enix made sure fans could already immerse themselves in the 'world of Eos' by releasing an online anime series 'Final Fantasy XV: Brotherhood', a prologue tech-demo 'Platinum Demo', a 2D brawler 'A King's Story' and most importantly, a feature length CG movie called 'Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV' that narrated the events that set on motion Noctis' quest for saving his home kingdom during the main game.

A fragment of the latest interview given by Hajime Tabata (Final Fantasy XV director) to the website Endgadget. Full interview here

- So what is the Final Fantasy XV universe all about? We already had a short-run anime series and full-length CGI movie ahead of launch.

HT: The "universe" can be split into two halves. Firstly, with the anime and movie, we were looking to increase awareness of the game to different audiences and fans, building up to the game's release.

After launch, we shifted focus to both improve and expand the existing game -- to build upon the feeling of comradery established during the game. We also wanted to bring the game to those that hadn't (or were unable) to play the console titles, which lead to the PC version and the Pocket Version.

- What do these extra parts of the universe add?

HT: If you watch Kingsglaive or Brotherhood, I think you'll get a better view of the world where the game is set. A grander scale, a more fully realized story. That said, some fans who only see one part might be left with a negative impression, or like they've missed crucial parts of the tale.

However, in April 2016 Tabata's thoughts on the importance of watching Kingsglaive before playing Final Fantasy XV were slightly different, if not contradictory. You can read the full interview here

- ”Will viewers be able to appreciate the film with no prior knowledge of the world of FFXV?"

Nozue: Yes, of course. At the beginning of FFXV, Noctis sets out on a journey to marry a princess from a far-off land. Kingsglaive: FFXV fleshes out the story of Noctis' father - Regis, King of Lucis. The timeframe is the same for both the game and the movie, with both stories starting from the same point.

Tabata: In principle, you can enjoy the film without having played the game, or vice versa. However experiencing both ensures a deeper appreciation of the two. They are made to complement each other.

Rewinding a bit more, when the movie was first introduced during the 'Final Fantasy XV Uncovered' event last year, Hajime Tabata explained that Kingsglaive is seen as a separate-but-expansive piece of the Final Fantasy XV pie, something you won't need to be familiar with in order to enjoy the game, but something that'll help fans both new and old make a deeper connection with it.

Later that year, during E3 Square-Enix released a promotional video that explained Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV's relation to the main game and its importance between the multimedia universe. While both Hajime Tabata and the movie director agreded that watching the movie would provide fans more details about the relationship between the game's protagonist and his father, it was stated that both were standalone products that didnt need to depend on the main game and that they didn't withold content from the main game to feature it in other FFXV products.
You can watch the video here
During a interview with IGN last year, Tabata states the while there are obvious story links between Kingsglaive, the movie, and the main game, there is no reason why the player would necessarily have to see the the movie before playing the game.
Watch the interview

Replace me with a stronger female character if old.

 

[DNAbro]

Well considering the game is out and we know what is in it, yes that is kind of obvious.

 

[Aeriscloud]

So, what you're saying Mr Tabata is that you did a poor job?

WHO KNEW

 

[NoctisVsStar]

PR talk gotta sell the universe even if you then contradict yourself ¯\_(&#12484_/¯

 

[Dwight Schrute]

No sh*t Sherlock

 

[cackhyena]

Not how it's supposed to work, guy.

 

[E_Darkness]

Apparently fans playing FF15 might miss story details because you didn't put things they needed to know in the game.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

When they started re-inserting bits of the movie into the game as in-between cutscenes it should have been a pretty big red flag at this point.

They were trying to do the thing that Halo does where you're forced to consume every bit of non-game ancillary media to understand what is going on. The mistake they made was thinking anyone cared that much about FFXV's story.

 

[yunbuns]

I feel like we already knew that Tabata says a lot of contradictory things when it comes to the story of XV. It's whatever to me at this point.

 

[Shamdeo]

You're really not missing anything.

 

[Rumblebones]

Film was trash and didn't make the game more enjoyable for me. I still dropped it 3 chapters in, though now all these updates are coming out I'll probably give it another go. Might even cop it on PC.

 

[Dangansona]

A non story imo. I totally disagree with the sentiment that the movie is required viewing for the game and if anything im sure this is just PR to sell the Anime and movie. I'm sure they lost money on the latter.

But whatever, bring on those FFXV punchlines!

Edit: for the record I didn't even bother to watch the movie.

 

[Moonlight]

The movie barely helps shit. It makes certain plot points even more confusing, even.

 

[Tyaren]

Now that the movie flopped and he wants people to buy it, he finally admits it.

I see what you are doing, Tabata. >__>

 

[VariantX]

That's kind of your fault Mr. Tabata. Kingsglaive should have been in the game like the way you got to play as Reks in FFXII during the intro to set up the games scenario and story. Movies should be supplemental material, not required reading to make the central product make sense.

 

[Deft Beck]

The movie really has nothing to do with the main plot aside from explaining what happens directly before the main conflict.

 

[Maxinas]

I watched the movie for free, and it still wasn't worth my time.

 

[ScaryShark]

If I need a movie to understand your video game's story maybe you should not have done that.

 

[erpg]

Please increase sales of our movie and anime series.

 

[BronsonLee]

That movie was TRASH

 

[Trigonometrize.]

I watched the movie, and it made it more confusing.

 

[Jeels]

The movie will give you context for the first half but the second half still makes no sense. The games story and movie are garbage regardless.

 

[Rodney McKay]

Reminds me a bit of launch Destiny. There's lots of story and lore, you just need to access them externally from the game (Grimoire cards or something).

 

[cireza]

Only played the game, and I understood what was going on.

 

[Spiritwalker]

Too bad it sucks even more than the game does. It's easily the worst movie they've made thus far. Advent Children was at least entertaining.

 

[BasilZero]

How about.....doing some CG Cutscenes and placing it in the beginning of the game, make it the longest ever intro for a FF game.

Since they have FFXIV as having the longest ever credits lol.

 

[Lord of Ostia]

Reminds me a bit of launch Destiny. There's lots of story and lore, you just need to access them externally from the game (Grimoire cards or something).

Not a good comparison, a lot of the necessary information that would potentially explain parts of the plot don't exist in any medium. Kingsglaive doesn't really answer many questions or fill any plot holes.

 

[LordBaztion]

I heard its terrible. I just watched YouTube videos that explain the story.

 

[synce]

Just sounds like he's making excuses for people not liking the story.

 

[Orayn]

As one of the people who paid actual American human Earth dollars to see Kingsglaive in a theater, it does add context. The whole thing is still pretty bad, but you get a more thorough understanding of the badness.

 

[Samanosuke Akechi]

Why not put the "whole " story in the freaking game? Why should we have to buy a freaking movie too? God this industry has gone down the shitter.

 

[LiquidSolid]

- What do these extra parts of the universe add?

HT: If you watch Kingsglaive or Brotherhood, I think you'll get a better view of the world where the game is set. A grander scale, a more fully realized story. That said, some fans who only see one part might be left with a negative impression, or like they've missed crucial parts of the tale.

No. I watched both Kingsglaive and Brotherhood and while they did kinda try to patch up your shitty storytelling, it didn't change the fact that FFXV's story was still garbage.

 

[BocoDragon]

In light of complaints about XV's story, of course he's going to change his tune and point out that the full story is contained in both game and movie.

The problem is that even game and movie combined add up to a sparse story.

And the content in the movie feels rather irrelevant and even misleading about the story content of the game. The Luna in that movie is barely the same character in the game.

 

[Seik]

Well maybe some budget should've gone into putting more actual story cutscenes in the main game instead of trying to twist an arm to everyone that whines about the barebone story to go buy a fucking movie to barely understand a part of it.

 

[Kyoufu]

I loved the film tbh. Better than the game in terms of storytelling, but I know that's a low bar.

They shouldn't have spent resources on a movie when the game sorely needed story scenes.

 

[Protome]

I've seen lots of people say this, but literally nothing of worth happens in Kingsglaive.

Literally all you need to know from it is "there's a magic ring."

 

[Wagram]

Fans playing Final Fantasy XV with or without the movie will miss crucial details because it's written like shit.

 

[Rymuth]

If anything, the movie made the game WORSE!

- The powers Nyx displayed shat on Noctis'
- The city of Insomnia is a realized location but we never get to see it
- The empire appeared to be led by multiple people as opposed to one person in the game

FFXV is just a class-A example of incredibly piss-poor storytelling.

 

[JetSetRadio]

The way he keeps talking about it.. I'd start to believe he's actually proud of the whole ffxv shitshow lol.

 

[slick7rick]

I spent over 60+ hours to get the Platinum in that fucking game, there were plenty of opportunities to fit in some cutscenes, exposition, or anything else resembling a plot. I honestly don't know what the game is even about. Noctis wanted to prove to his father, the King, that he's a man? Ok now his father is dead, okay let's so these monotonous sidequests and hunt monsters because that takes priority. Ok now there's a ten year time skip and nobody even mentions it? Just back to business as nothing happened? Ok the game ended, WTF?

Fun combat, excellent graphics, shit game in every other way. I actually tried watching the movie but was bored in the first few minutes.

 

[LordOfLore]

Why not put the "whole " story in the freaking game? Why should we have to buy a freaking movie too? God this industry has gone down the shitter.

Because giving it to a film studio with funding help by Sony Pictures(IIRC)cost less than building everything, creating combat encounters etc and it would also save them time which they clearly didn't have.

 

[cj_iwakura]

I loved the film tbh. Better than the game in terms of storytelling, but I know that's a low bar.

They shouldn't have spent resources on a movie when the game sorely needed story scenes.

The peace talks made Kingsglaive worth watching.

 

[farisr]

The anime is probably more important than the movie imo, helps flesh out the backstory and personalities of your companions so it makes that intro not feel all that abrupt.

The movie's good for two things, watching pretty CG action (and the city invasion that was initially meant to be in Versus), and Luna getting more screentime.

It also confused the crap out of me in regards to Luna's brother when he showed up in the game because

Spoiler

I thought he clearly died, on-screen, when he put on the ring in the movie

 

[MechaX]

The movie was impressive (in a bad way) because we literally have a plot "twist" where a character reveals that he was THE military leader of both sides of the armies all along.

Like

How in the fuck can you possibly even pull that off even unless you can teleport anywhere at any given moment and have magic that turns you into an entirely different person (which he fucking had neither). How does no one notice that our Supreme General Magic Overlord is deliberately sandbagging our military efforts?

Outside of that, the movie was dumb and Tabata should feel bad

 

[kayos90]

Nyx was sort of an interesting character. The movie is still shit though.

 

[Kagari]

Then: You don't need to watch the movie, it's okay.
Now: Well... about that...

 

[Vincent Alexander]

Then: You don't need to watch the movie, it's okay.
Now: Well... about that...

"I've made a huge mistake."

 

[kayos90]

Actually, the movie is about as quintessential to XV as Advent Children was to Dirge of Cerberus.

 

[Killer Queen]

Ive nearly grown to hate this game post launch purely from Tabata talking out of his ass.

 

[sappyday]

Patch the movie into the game.