Amongst all the buzz though it's quite easy to forgot that there is another main numbered instalment of the franchise just around the corner. The conference opened up with a trailer of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn showing us new footage including airships!
Yoshida, the producer, confirmed that XIV will be coming to the Playstation 4 and any game progress and data from the Playstation 3 will carry over the Playstation 4 so there is no starting over for people who make the move to the next-gen console.
Once again we were reminded of the release date: August 27th 2012. With that short journey taken that was that for XIV and we moved on to the meat and potatoes... the thing everyone wanted to talk about... yes...
FINAL FANTASY XV!
Brand directory Shinji Hashimoto took to the stage. "I was so excited that I had difficult falling asleep last night. I'd like to remind you that even for us it's a huge amount of joy to finally be able to announce Final Fantasy XV." He then went on to tell us that Final Fantasy XV is being developed using a DirectX11 based tool which allows Square Enix to port Final Fantasy XV to other platforms. He then announced that Final Fantasy XV would also be coming to the XBOX ONE.
The crowd were then shown an in-engine in-game trailer (Square Enix expect this to be released around 3PM PST today - we'll post it as soon as it's publicly available) showing off a montage of adventure and combat scenes. Sources have noted that the game is very action-RPG and fast paced.
Final Fantasy XV isn't slated to be released in this fiscal year (up until March 31st 2014) so we still have some time to wait yet before we can finally get our gribby mitts on a copy.
With that Hashimoto hads over to Yoshinori Kitase, producer of the Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. His time on stage is very short but he reminds everyone that the remasters will be coming to both PS3 and Vita and the boasts that Lightning Returns is a new and challenging iteration of Final Fantasy that sprawls across a huge open-world map. Infact he's so confident in his teams work that he went on to call it "the ultimate Final Fantasy experience for the current-gen systems." Well not to be a cynic, Kitase, but it's not like it has a lot of competition in the first place - but hopefully you'll prove us wrong!
Hashimoto then comes back to the stage to talk about that other game that has us wetting our pants in excitement. Yup, Kingdom Hearts III! Kicking this segment off the debut trailer from last night was shown again.
If that wasn't enough to get everyone giddy with glee again then Hashimoto turned to his esteemed colleague for assistance; Yosuke Matsuda, president and CEO of Square Enix.
"As a fan I am also looking forward to Kingdom Hearts 3" Matsuda tells us before going on to say that he is just as excited for new details as the rest of us before welcoming John Pleasants, co-president of Disney Interactive to the stage. Pleasants is ecstatic at the turn out. He goes on to say that Kingdom Hearts isn't just a game, it's a success that has touched the hearts of millions. "We will see a mature Sora who will go off on new adventures with Mickey, Donald and Goofy" he says adding that "we will journey to Disney worlds seen and yet unseen in the series."
No release date was given but he also confirmed that the game will be coming to XBOX ONE as well as PlayStation 4.
The presentation part of the conference then concluded and we were handed back over to Hashimoto for a Q&A session during which a few more tasty details were revealed.
Q. Will FFXV and KH3 be released in Japan for XBOX ONE. In the past Square have had a policy preventing them from releasing games on the XBOX?
A. Hashimoto states that the trade agreement has since expired and the games will be coming to both platforms, worldwide.
Q. Is Final Fantasy XV the start of a series much like XIII?
A. Hashimoto says more information will come at a later time. However, he goes on to say that the world of FFXV is vast and large and states that many stories may come at a later time. (so we could potentially see sequels, DLC etc)
Q. Tell us more about the change from FFVersusXIII to FFXV.
A. As you know Versus XIII was created as part of the Fabula Novalis epic. While development was going on the world expanded. To deliver in an appropriate way to fans we figured this might be the perfect time to evolve the title to XV for the next-gen consoles.
Q. How far along is XV in development?
A. Hashimoto simply stated "development is moving forward" (hopefully not another 6 years!)
Q. Will Square Enix give XBOX owners a way to catch-up with the Kingdom Hearts ethos?
A. No plans yet. Hashimoto recommended checking out the movies and books and fansites to get a feel for the history.
Q. Have the development teams been affected by the restructuring?
A. The main development teams remain and more excellent staff have been added to the XV team.
Q. Is XV a sign of a shift toward more action-orientated gameplay in the series?
A. Hashimoto points out that FF game systems change all the time and whilst XV is certainly more action orientated that does not mean that XVI will be an Action RPG.
Q. Is it harder to make a turn-based RPG in today's market?
A. Hashimoto believes it isn't and that there is a future and market for both turn-based/command-based RPGs and Action RPGs.
Q. Which development team is working on Kingdom Hearts III? (you may remember Nomura once said that KH3 wouldn't be on the table until Versus XIII was finished)
A. The team in Osaka is currently the ones responsible for the project. (The Osaka team made Birth By Sleep and are also the crew behind the 1.5 HD ReMIX)
Q. Any playable female characters in XV? The cast of XV seems to be very male centric - are you worried this is alienating your female fan base?
A. Hashimoto said he wasn't able to discuss the contents of the game at this point in time. However he did say he liked the question and will take it back to Nomura's team for discussion. He even asked the questioner which female character was his favourite, the answer was Yuna.
Q. Any plans on releasing Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts for the Wii U?
A. This question wasn't fully answered but Hashimoto did repeat that the new games are being developed using DX11 so we may see more cross-platform titles in the future.
So there you have it. It's certainly a positive sign that Hashimoto will directly be taking some of the questions and concerns brought upt back to the development team.
What do you think of the conference? Are you excited about the move to DX11 meaning more potential cross-platform titles (we may even start seeing future FF games on the PC!)? Has this rekindled your interest in Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts?
[Q&A Source: Kotaku.com]
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