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[SgtCobra]

Haha I even made a recap post to show people what a clusterfuck this game has been: http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=115081687&postcount=1359

This game has been a trainwreck development wise (and it still maybe is) from it's reveal on the 8th of May 2006 until even maybe Nomura's departure.
With the responsibilities that he had for this game while also having to work on other projects everyone could see that the man had too much on his plate. He said one time he likes to work on only one game at the time.

In 2006 he and his team were mainly working on the international version of Kingdom Hearts which delayed the development of Versus. They were only working with a small team on the art and pre production, that CG trailer we got was nothing but an "idea" of how the game would (should) be, they had almost nothing done for it game development wise. They just wanted to do a cool "Hey guys we are working on the Fabula Nova Crystallis mythology, cool name huh? Besides FFXIII we also have 2 other games in development which we will announce today even though they are years and years away. It would be too confusing announcing them in 2010 wouldn't it?"

At the end of 2006 people could say that they were already having problems with the PS3 hardware, the White Engine wasn't even finished at that time so they couldn't work on certain aspects of the game.
In 2007 the development was put on hold because of the PS3 hardware and the fact that he was also working on other projects. Official sources indicated the game was 1.7% complete back then....

I guess that the development must have been going even rougher in 2008 when a part of the original team went to help out with FFXIII while leaving Versus on a low key.
I don't know what the hell they were doing in 2009 but they at least finished the clothing designs so...yeah..

After that the problems became more apparent as they were searching for new devs, by giving vague answers and of course, not showing up.

It wouldn't surprise me if Tetsuya Nomura leaves SE after KH3 and creates/joins some boring mobile/browser only studio. I really hope that his initial vision has been kept intact as it looked/sounded really ambitious. I'd have prefered the development to take longer with Nomura at the helm if it means now that the original vision has been compromised. But I can see how that is a financial disater.

 

[duckroll]

The entire Type-0 team has joined in the development of FFXV.

Is there a source on this? Or is it a "well everyone in the company is probably working on this" assumption like when FFXIV 2.0 needed resources? I wouldn't be surprised if Nakazawa is working on it in some capacity, but I don't know if it would be substantial at this point. He's the battle director for FFX-2 and Crisis Core, and he was promoted to co-director for Type-0. So he was really influential on the combat for those games. In the case of XV, unless all the KH battle director who were working on this have left the project, it's hard to see him doing much.

 

[Kagari]

It is kinda sad to see Nomura step down, but it makes sense. XV is nearly done, and his creative energy is required more for KH3 (& some other secret projects?).

Either that or he is about to leave SE soon.

Does it though? Should every director just leave when their game is partially done?

 

[Wazzy]

Geez this sounds really bad. He's been working on this for so long and an announcement like this probably means he is gone after KHIII.

I don't care if this get's the game sooner, I don't like this announcement one bit.

 

[Tetranet]

So another director takes over to finish the project while Nomura moves along to the next one, namely KHIII. I don't see the problem here, nor the need for conspiracy theories. There shouldn't much left to do by now, the game's foundations are laid and built upon already.

 

[Arthea]

Judging from trailer, it's rather dark, I hope that's not how all dungeons look.
otoh, nice trailer, but no released date still?! that stopped be funny 5 years ago, still isn't...

edited: ups, wrong thread (><)
still relevant

 

[funkystudent]

So would the Nomura drama be why they didnt show anything at E3?

Could have been right in the middle of looking for a new director around then.

 

[Squire]

Does it though? Should every director just leave when their game is partially done?

No.

 

[duckroll]

So would the Nomura drama be why they didnt show anything at E3?

Could have been right in the middle of looking for a new director around then.

They didn't need to look for a new director, they just replaced him with the co-director. I think that in general the troubled development of the game would be the reason why the game has long periods of silence though.

 

[rrvv]

Does it though? Should every director just leave when their game is partially done?

not really but I can see that Nomura want to direct KH3 ASAP after he finished his business with FFXV

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

Just a theory but do you think this year's TGS was Square Enix's last straw for Nomura to show something?

Do you think Nomura still didn't want to show anything yet and SE just lost their patience and promoted Tabata as the director?

Odd coincidence that FFXV's demo with Type-0 was announced along with this megaton news.

Anyway, Kingdom Hearts III is a loooooong time coming. Hope that doesn't take another 6 years!

 

[Tetranet]

Does it though? Should every director just leave when their game is partially done?

Not every game has had the development history of FFXV.

 

[Kagari]

Just a theory but do you think this year's TGS was Square Enix's last straw for Nomura to show something?

Do you think Nomura still didn't want to show anything yet and SE just lost their patience and promoted Tabata as the director?

Odd coincidence that FFXV's demo with Type-0 was announced along with this megaton news.

Anyway, Kingdom Hearts III is a loooooong time coming. Hope that doesn't take another 6 years!

The reality is, the demo news is likely a cover-up for this particular bit of negative news.

 

[wmlk]

They didn't need to look for a new director, they just replaced him with the co-director. I think that in general the troubled development of the game would be the reason why the game has long periods of silence though.

And I don't think FFXV is damaged goods because of this, but I see the Nomura situation getting really ugly in the long-term. Following the likes of Takahashi, Matsuno, and Sakaguchi probably.

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

I just hope Nomura isn't too upset. SE should be ashamed unless there was a really good reason. He's been there for so many great SE games and when he finally gets to direct his first game he gets thrown off especially when he's been so involved with this game.

 

[timetokill]

Maybe Nomura will abandon ship and do his own studio thing, make mobile games, and start up that fashion design company he's been wanting for so long.

 

[Wazzy]

Not every game has had the development history of FFXV.

Sure but this has happened more than once with SE and that's not a good sign.

 

[Exentryk]

Does it though? Should every director just leave when their game is partially done?

Every director doesn't have the same situation as Nomura. Massive second project (KH3), and a capable co-director in Tabata that can easily see the game through now that the game is pretty much locked in.

Nomura is needed more for KH3 right now. And who knows, he may even be working on other secret projects.

 

[funkystudent]

They didn't need to look for a new director, they just replaced him with the co-director. I think that in general the troubled development of the game would be the reason why the game has long periods of silence though.

Oh. So the Tabata was already co directing anyway?

Thats interesting. Basically this news isnt that a new guy is in charge but simply Nomura has been taken off the project?

Was kind of hoping someone from outside to come in and make tough calls for the sake of releasing it before 2020. Sort of pull off what Rob Ferguson did with Bioshock Infinite.

 

[Atram]

I just hope Nomura isn't too upset. SE should be ashamed unless there was a really good reason. He's been there for so many great SE games and when he finally gets to direct his first game he gets thrown off especially when he's been so involved with this game.

I think he is a little bit a victim of the missmanagemnet from the past and a victim of his ambitions.

 

[duckroll]

Oh. So the Tabata was already co directing anyway?

Thats interesting. Basically this news isnt that a new guy is in charge but simply Nomura has been taken off the project?

Was kind of hoping someone from outside to come in and make tough calls for the sake of releasing it before 2020. Sort of pull off what Rob Ferguson did with Bioshock Infinite.

Tabata joined the project as co-director after they shipped Type-0 and moved Versus to PS4/XB1. Obviously some people were already getting tired of the slow progress on the game. That was over a year ago. Now he has taken over the project completely as director.

 

[Kresnik258]

Well, that's very disappointing, but not as bad as it could be (Toriyama).

I'm not a massive fan of Tabata's games so far, but if Nomura has laid the basis for the story & characters then I'm still hyped for this.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Crazy. Somebody needs to do some serious investigating into the development of this game.

Indeed. I'd say if they're just switching directors now it's probably a good 2+ years from release.

 

[Exentryk]

Lord Nomura's final words to his fans, after leaving the project of FFXV.

Don't make me cry now

 

[ultraspank]

They shoud have ditch him a long time ago.
Now we're stuck with horrible, has been boys band character design.

 

[kurahador]

They shoud have ditch him a long time ago.
Now we're stuck with horrible, has been boys band character design.

 

[wmlk]

They shoud have ditch him a long time ago.
Now we're stuck with horrible, has been boys band character design.

Well you're likely in the minority, so I think he's done just fine.

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

I see three responses here:

A) Square Enix lost patience and took Nomura off the project. They then are forcing him, as a company and as his bosses, to finish KHIII.

B) Nomura felt he did all he can to contribute to the project and decided it was in good hands and left on his own accord to finish KHIII.

C) Nomura got burnt out and didn't want to do it anymore because of so much pressure. Him going to KHIII is a relief for him.

So what really happened? Hmmm....

 

[anaron]

This makes sense, which is why it took them forever to finally do it.

And the story.

ugh, that fucking story & writing. PUKE

 

[hal9001]

What a surreal day, so much Final Fantasy news overload.

 

[DarkLordMalik]

I don;t care what they say this will always be Nomura's FF. Maybe he was being too stubborn or unrealistic.

It will always remain as Nomura's Final Fantasy. Just like it was Ueda's Last Guardian.

 

[TuXx]

I don't see this as a big deal. There's no reason for him to stick around if he only came up with the concept and character designs. All that stuff should already be covered at this stage of the development

 

[kmax]

I don't even care at this point. I'm still anticipating the 2020 release.

 

[pLow7]

I don't think this is bad News at all.

The Game looks like it will be released in 2016, so main Parts like Story and Character Design are done, which in the end is what Nomura is Famous for.

I think this "last year" will be used to make the Game look better ( Saw a lot of aliasing in the Trailer) and a few Minor Gameplay Changes and adjustments.

 

[kurahador]

Maybe Tabata takes over when the game shifted to ps4/x1? Makes sense when Nomura has KH3 to finish.

 

[Philippo]

Haha I even made a recap post to show people what a clusterfuck this game has been: http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=115081687&postcount=1359

I really hope that his initial vision has been kept intact as it looked/sounded really ambitious. I'd have prefered the development to take longer with Nomura at the helm if it means now that the original vision has been compromised. But I can see how that is a financial disater.

If anything, to me it looks like its just about the same Nomura was talking about years ago (bro trip, car, giant monsters, transitional cutscenes, Advent children-like gameplay), so it definitely looks like the original vision from the beginning is still intact and well going.
Probably that's why i'm not worried.

Of course i can't talk about the story, because until we play it we won't know how it is and how it was originally conceived (maybe we'll never find that out).

 

[Asd202]

Yeah the game was clearly not in development hell.

LOOK AT ALL THIS FAITH FAMASSU HAD FOR LORD NOMURA-SAMA JUST YESTERDAY!

You were waiting for this weren't you?

 

[Taruranto]

I'm hyped!

For this game post-mortem, that's it.

 

[HeelPower]

Never forget.Its HIS project goddammit :'(

"The world we purport to know is ever changing, ending as we speak.
So it is and must be for all existence"

I maybe blinded but I see this as a bad thing.

It may help ship the game a few months earlier but...

 

[Hedge]

As long as Toriyama isn't anywhere near this to fill the hole Tabata left, I'm fine either way. After KH3D I think Nomura should stick to character and world concepts, and then just walk away.

 

[Grampasso]

Well deserved

Spoiler

for both

 

[Shadow Ranger]

The truth is, the Osaka team got confused on where the hell to move KHIII with how confusing it is, so they want Nomura to fix the mess of a story.

I jest, I jest!

I think this is a good thing, really. I reckon Nomura's work seemed basically done on XV, and really, KHIII should be where he's at anyway. I look forward to the end results, no matter the director.

 

[Taruranto]

And also yeah, Famassu's wall of text for this news should be good, bring it on!

 

[Reveirg]

Let's not forget that directing both FFXV and KH3 was an almost impossible feat. The two teams aren't even in the same city.

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

Let's not forget that directing both FFXV and KH3 was an almost impossible feat. The two teams aren't even in the same city.

From what I recall, Nomura wasn't directing KHIII.

I had a misconception that he was going to work on KHIII after XV and joked how we'll wait until 2020 and the PS5 for it!

Now he's directing it!

 

[sappyday]

Never forget.Its HIS project goddammit :'(




"The world we purport to know is ever changing, ending as we speak.
So it is and must be for all existence"

I maybe blinded but I see this as a bad thing.

It may help ship the game a few months earlier but...

I really hope Nomura wasn't kicked off the project.

 

[SoulUnison]

Sad. People seem to be really harsh on Nomura, but nobody knows how to flesh out a game quite like him. Say what you will about the stories he comes up with (though I personally really enjoy them) games like the Kingdom Hearts series and The World Ends With You are examples of games that were developed and polished to a mirror sheen.

Kingdom Hearts II stands to this day as one of the best examples of polish and presentation I can think of.

If he left the project of his own will then it cast ominous shadows on XV, but if he was forced off of it, it disappoints me in the entire company.

To me, Nomura is Square's Miyamoto.

We've already waited so long for this game, I don't mind if it stays in the oven until it's absolutely done and everything he wanted it to be, because I'm almost never disappointed with Nomura's ambition.

 

[HeelPower]

I really hope Nomura wasn't kicked off the project.

I really hope it was by mutual agreement at least.

I really do hope so.

 

[Kagari]

Never forget.Its HIS project goddammit :'(




"The world we purport to know is ever changing, ending as we speak.
So it is and must be for all existence"

I maybe blinded but I see this as a bad thing.

It may help ship the game a few months earlier but...

This just makes me really depressed.

 

[Åesop]

woah.. Neil Druckmann strikes again. Sounds more like Nomura finished his part of the job and can finally move on to the next project.