Final Fantasy XV

Final Fantasy XV Far in Development! Yong covers what we know so far about the upcoming release of Square Enix’s latest installment in the Final Fantasy Series. Featuring an art style best described as a future present fantasy Final Fantasy XV immediately evokes memories of the acclaimed Final Fantasy VII hopefully this will help to propel this latest title to similar levels of success.

Final Fantasy XV was officially unveiled at this year’s E3, and while it’s no longer known as Final Fantasy Versus XIII, it retains the story and characters that originally appeared in the seven years prior. Today, Square Enix released the official English synopsis of said characters as well as the main gist of the plot.

The only crystal left to the world lies in the Kingdom of Lucis. Upon striking a peace with the garrison state of Niflheim, Lucis rejoices in having at last brought the cold war to a close. Their celebrations, however, are premature. Under the guise of amity, Niflheim dispels the anti-armament runewall and launches a full-scale invasion of the kingdom. The peaceful lives Crown Prince Noctis and his entourage once knew are consumed by the flames of war as they struggle to mount a resistance.

Noctis, Gladiolus, Ignis, Prompto, and Cor are the five characters seen in the keyart above. All of them serve the Lucis Kingdom in some respect and are associate themselves with the Crown Prince.

• Noctis Lucis Caelum: A childhood affliction endowed Noctis, heir apparent to the throne of Lucis, with the mystical power to see a heavenly light, through which he could sense others’ deaths. Noctis rejects rigid royal conventions and acts as somewhat of a renegade, much to the dismay of those who tend to him. Yet while “Noct” may act brash at times, he does so in defense of those loyal to him.

• Gladiolus Amicitia: As lord of the noble House Amicitia, Gladiolus continues a line sworn to protect the crown. “Gladio” shares a friendship with Noctis that transcends birth and title, and his loyalty to his liege is born not of duty, but of brotherhood.

• Ignis Stupeo* Scientia: Ever the unwavering voice of reason, Ignis was weaned on shrewd logic and a classical education from boyhood so that he might one day counsel the would-be king, Noctis. He applies the deep mutual understanding and trust they have built over time to help smooth over Noctis’s brusqueness with others.
* Middle name has been included in Japanese press, but excluded here.

• Prompto Argentum: The puckish playboy Prompto befriended Noctis in his school days. He wears a chip on his shoulder as an outsider to the royal circle, but remains eager to do all he can for the cause.

• Cor Leonis: A living legend of Lucian lore, Lord Commander Cor Leonis’s devotion to the art of war is surpassed only by that to his king. Little love is lost between the ill-starred stalwart and Noctis’s retinue, yet honor binds him to keep watch over the group all the same.

Unofficially, additional characters that appear are: King Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII, king of the Lucis kingdom and father of Noctis, the leader of Niflheim Idola Eldercapt, and Stella Nox Fleuret — a youth from Tenebrae who, like Noctis, can also see the “light of expiring souls”.

Square Enix also confirmed the following staff attached to the project: Shinji Hashimoto (producer), Tetsuya Nomura (director and character designer), Hajime Tabata (co-director), Takeshi Nozue (lead art director), andYoko Shimomura (composer). Also credited in the announcement trailer for character design is Roberto Ferrari, who previously worked on The Last Remnant and Moon Diver.

Final Fantasy XV will release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One — a release date has not yet been announced.

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Final Fantasy XV, which is being made for the PS4 and Xbox One and was previously known as Final Fantasy Versus XIII, hasn’t had much of an update since it was unveiled back at E3 2013, with a release window still unknown.

Here with a bit of an update for Final Fantasy XV is Series Producer Yoshinori Kitase, who told Videogamer in an interview earlier this week:We can’t give too much information, but certainly looking at Final Fantasy XV, it’s not as if it’s in competition with Kingdom Hearts 3 for resources or anything like that. It’s quite far into development now and it is being given a very high priority within the company itself, but that doesn’t mean Kingdom Hearts isn’t.Of course, it shouldn’t be surprising that Final Fantasy XV is far along in development seeing as how Final Fantasy Versus XIII was announced in 2006.

Speaking about the link between Final Fantasy XV and the Final Fantasy XIII series, even after the name change, Kitase explained:Right from the start when we first it announced it as Versus XIII, the game itself was backed up by the same Crystal legend: the Fabulla Nova Crystallis mythology that underpins the whole of the XIII series.So even though it’s not necessarily the same universe or the same game, they’re all linked and underpinned by the backdrop of that legend. Now it’s moved on – obviously the title’s been changed to Final Fantasy XV – but that hasn’t actually changed. The story and the world is still going to be linked and backed up by that. So yes, there is the link between XIII and XV, and they both share that mythology as a backdrop and a starting point.