Speaking during an interview with Game Informer magazine (via NeoGAF), Final Fantasy XV Game Director, Hajime Tabata, has expressed his desire to deliver an emotional climax to the long-delayed JRPG for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
“I want to create a very emotional ending to the game and want to make as many people cry as possible,” said Tabata-san. “You’re spending so many hours playing the game, so when I finish a game and it ends on a sour note and it doesn’t move me, it gets me disappointed. At least make me cry or give me some emotion! I want to give a moving ending for the consumers who invest so much time.”
His ambitions for the game didn’t stop there, however. Tabata-san also hopes that Final Fantasy XV will have as big of an impact as the likes of Final Fantasy VII, regarded by many as the quintessential Final Fantasy title and a firm favorite among gamers.
“There are some team members that were here for VII,” he said. “They’re taking on the challenge of trying to exceed that title once more, which is a great motivator for them. FFVII sets a very high goal for us, but it serves as a good goal. It brought in new audiences, sales, and more.”
Final Fantasy XV is scheduled for release in 2016 with a concrete date due to be announced at some point this month. The game has endured a lengthy and tumultuous development cycle, having originally been announced for the PS3 nearly a decade ago as Final Fantasy Versus XIII.
However, Square Enix confirmed last year that the project was later overhauled for current-generation consoles when Versus XIII development hit around 25 percent back in 2012. The publisher re-revealed the title under the FFXV moniker during Sony’s E3 2013 press conference.