Final Fantasy XV Spotlights Game Informer's May Cover
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Magazine Game Informer's May issue features a painted cover of Noctis and King Regis sitting together before a portrait of themselves in their youth and next to a dog and another painting that's oddly reminiscent of the original Final Fantasy. A snippet from the magazine describes the game's history and a glimpse of their preview.
"The Final Fantasy name holds incredible significance for role-playing fans. Even though recent installments are divisive, no one can deny the impact this series has had on the RPG genre and gaming as a whole. However significant those contributions may be, Square Enix is not content to let this franchise’s legacy remain in the past. The team behind Final Fantasy XV – led by director Hajime Tabata – recognizes the missteps in the series’ history, but is working toward a bright future. With action-focused combat, open-world technology, and a renewed focus on characters and storytelling, Square Enix is hoping to reclaim its position at the forefront of the RPG genre.
This title has been on gamers’ radar since it was first announced as Final Fantasy Versus XIII a decade ago. Fans just got a flood of new information last week at the Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV event…but the surprises don’t stop there.
In our massive 20-page cover story, we offer an even more in-depth look at the game with exclusive new details. We spent a week in Tokyo visiting Square Enix’s offices with unprecedented access, playing the game for hours and interviewing the creative minds making it happen. We talk to the team about everything fans want to know: exploration, narrative, combat, summons, and more. Whether your enthusiasm for Final Fantasy is new, old, or even lapsed, this story is a must-read. "
Thanks to Kagari and Obliterator from Neogaf we have a summary of the information covered in this issue.
For the gameplay we have the following:
- You can make branching decisions. Similar to older FFs dialogue choices;
- The game has magic synthesis to create new spells
- There will be a growth system where you can spend ability points on weapon skills, Noctis, the party, bonuses etc.
- Four quest types: for fun (minigames: fishing/chocobo race/Justice Monsters 5 etc.), main story, monster hunts and regional quests. Currently over 200 quests and they're working on more.
- Weapon types includes: swords, daggers, lances, firearms, shields, royal arms, spells, and something called "machines" which weren't revealed yet.
- The trunk of the Regalia acts as party storage.
- Each party member has their own "special talent" that improves with use. One example given is Prompto will ask the crew to take pit stops with the car where everyone gets out, goes to a spot and he takes photographs. You can then share these photo's on social media. The more you do it the better his pictures will be. These are in the game for both character development and will have real consequences for the game. Prompto is photography, Noctis is fishing, Ignis is cooking, and Gladiolus is survival instincts.
- Summons will also act differently in a dungeon than they will in the over world. It's a huge focus for the staff for Summons to feel exciting and a major event when they show up, not just some random monster that swoops in. They want a sense of awe with them.
- GI has this to say, "FFXV isn't Witcher 3 or Dragon Age Inquisition in terms of your to-do list. That isn't necessarily bad because your quest log isn't bloated by insignificant or uninteresting tasks.....inspires a feeling similar to pre-PS2 Final Fantasies where there were huge over world maps that made the setting seem authentic and enormous - even if you didn't find a quest every step”.
- You can improve and forge weapons from materials you collect.
Story Related Information-The game has a Chapter 0 (Prlogue) but GI wasn't allowed to see it;
-So the game starts with the car breaking down after the opening sequence. No Behemoth hunt.
-About Ardyn: shows up fairly early it looks like. The crew tries to take the ferry to Altissia and he stops them telling them service is suspended. At this point they don't know of the invasion.
-Noctis and co. find out about the invasion by reading a newspaper and then try and go back to the city but are blocked off by Niflheim forces.
-Kagari interpretation of the game's first chapter: So the first chapter after the opening sequence seems to go something like this:
Noctis and friends are on their way to Altissia -> car breaks down outside Lucis in a town called Leide -> you meet up with Cid and Cidney at Hammerhead who agree to repair the car and Cidney sends you on some fetch quests (kill monsters) -> car is repaired, gang goes to deliver a package for Cidney -> package delivered to the black dog seen in the trailers, named Umbra -> flashback to Noctis and Luna childhood -> Noctis and co. set out to a coast town to catch a ferry to Altissia,meet up with Ardyn who says they're closed off for now -> sidequests -> party goes to hotel, reads about Lucis attack in the newspaper -> they get back in the car and head back to Lucis right away -> they fight through some Niflheim troops and eventually see what's happened on the horizon -> Cor calls and delivers the bad news -> chapter 1 ends.
Tabata state that There will be a centralized foe. Not an assortment of villians as the "main enemy". Think of it like Sephiroth there will be a singular major villian.
Luna may have affection for Noctis, but their relationship is complicated and Noctis may not have the confidence to respond back to her feelings. Their marriage is actually a political one.
Other Information
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Gameinformer has also put up a coverage trailer telling fans how they met the team behind the game and assuring us that they will shortly be putting up new videos of gameplay footage with also some new information about the Final Fantasy VII remake. What do you think about this cover and does the prospect of more FFVII remake information have your interest? Let us know in the comments below.
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