The Final Fantasy franchise is one of the most influential and iconic franchises in gaming. Many players have fond memories of exploring its unique worlds, encountering strange creatures, and being immersed in their stories. But as more titles are expanding the Final Fantasy legacy, fewer gamers seem to be interested in hitting level 99 or finding Ultima Weapon. Final Fantasy XV Game Director, Hajime Tabata, is determined to change that.
In an interview with GamesRadar, Tabata-san expressed how important it is to attract new crowds and not just depend on the Final Fantasy faithful. ‘If we don’t get new fans into the Final Fantasy franchise, it will shrink and shrink as the years go on," he said.
Tabata-san was very open to admit that recent Final Fantasy games have not done a very good job with this. “Certainly, in recent years, getting new fans is something we haven’t done very well; we really haven’t achieved that.” In order to change this with Final Fantasy XV, he said that they are “trying to go back to the roots of Final Fantasy,” and that he wants FFXV to offer “themes that resonate with everyone.” Tabata-san feels that the recent games have “maybe been a bit stylized, very niche, hard to get into.”
According to Tabata-san, Final Fantasy XV doesn’t require you to have played previous Final Fantasy games in order to fully appreciate it, which is what he feels is “a big part of what I think the game should be.”
Long-time Final Fantasy fans will be happy to see many returning set pieces, such as the dreaded Malboro enemy shown in the recent FFXV Gamescom trailer, but the director is also determined to clean up or exclude some of the tropes in order to better suit Final Fantasy newcomers.
"You look at all the elements of Final Fantasy that make up its identity over the generations, and obviously many of those are very useful, meaningful things, but there are some that have been used many times which may be turning off new people. We’ve really got to go through and ask, ‘Are they necessary?’ and be proactive about cutting out the ones that stop people coming into the franchise."
Final Fantasy XV is projected to be released sometime in 2016 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
What do you think about Final Fantasy XV’s direction? Final Fantasy fans, what do you hope to see in FFXV? Franchise newcomers, what does FFXV need to make you interested in playing a Final Fantasy game? Let us know in the comments below!