Final Fantasy XV: Cup Noodle XV Special Edition

[Elcura]

I guess that's true.

Oh man, that dub is pretty infamous if you're looking for something hilariously bad. This is what happens when you use your family as VA.

[Destinye]

Cowboy Bebop is one of those series where I've never once thought of it being in anything but english voices. I suppose that means they did a good job, or that the show meant more than who voiced it.

I dunno.

Also helps that Cowboy Bebop was western inspired to begin with.

This latest news didn't sound toooooo terrible, but I'm biased as I speak and understand Japanese so I get the "full effect" of what's actually being spoken, since sometimes they change it up to fit the localized area better, for example more pop culture references to certain things.

[Kirin]

Do not know if this is legit. No mention of the XBone, but if true at least we have a release date. (12/15/15)

I am wondering how they cover 8 years of time in the 3 hours of the "making of" disc.

Cid is apparently a woman.

[Gokulo]

300 pages? O.o

Doesn't seem too legit anyway.

[Tyrath]

Biggest game of the year. 10/10 - Edge

Yeah, not real.

[arus2001]

300 pages of art would really be pretty easy peasy to throw together in a game of this suggested scale. What would make me doubt it more is the actual cost to print 300 pages. But yeah, probably safer to be skeptical until official word.

[Omniyoji]

The packaging showing box art in the upper right corner makes it look fake.

Biggest game of the year. 10/10 - Edge

Yeah, not real.

lol yeah

Now let's continue the localization talk...

[Tidane]

I knew that people couldn't just let it be. Why did I response. Why am I responding again. Oh well. This is all very simple. Spoiler for more localization talk that shouldn't need to be said.

Spoiler: show

While it may be true in certain cases, saying that all localization is bad is not conductive to discussion. Using bad localizations to support your position that localization is often done poorly is.

Berating someone (no matter who it is) for not wanting to play a foreign language game is silly. The entire reason localization exists is to get people who would not play the original (be it because they can't understand the language or prefer to hear things in their own language) to play it. Go ahead and give reasons why playing a foreign language game with subtitles might not be a bad thing, but what purpose does insulting them have?

Likewise, it is silly to go after people who prefer the source language (even if they can't understand it). They may only like it because of some reason you disagree with, but they're allowed to, same as the above.

Saying that nothing should be dubbed is as bullheaded as refusing to play a game that only has subtitles as an option. While both are positions one can have, using either as a basis for what should be done for a future game (or movie, or anime, or whatever) serves almost no purpose. The quality of the voice acting and script in all localizations should be of the highest quality. Poor localization in some instance doesn't mean that nothing should ever be localized. One person not liking localization doesn't mean nothing should ever be localized. Use examples of good and bad localization. Show that localization is important and that voice actors that can't do a good job shouldn't be hired. Show that your directors are important for all regions, not just the source.

Most importantly, don't use a goddamn two and a half minute trailer to condemn the voice acting for an entire game (or, as it seems to be here, the entire mediums of anime and video games).

With all that said: a few friends were talking about FF15 and the PSX FF7 re-release announcement and made the point that if you don't like the direction that FF15 has taken, you probably don't want a FF7 remake by the current SquareEnix (hilariously related, the localization of FF7 was one of the huge negatives people cite). Why?

Final Fantasy XV Staff:
Producer - Yoshinori Kitase
Director - Hajime Tabata / Tetsuya Nomura
Writer - Kazushige Nojima
Composer - Yoko Shimomura
Character Design - Tetsuya Nomura

Final Fantasy VII Staff:
Producer - Hironobu Sakaguchi
Director - Yoshinori Kitase
Writer - Kazushige Nojima
Composer - Nobuo Uematsu
Character Design - Tetsuya Nomura

Looking at the above staff listing, you can see that those control the direction of the game are what's left of the leading talent behind FF7 (and would likely work on a remake of FF7, were it to be done). This is, for many people, as close to a SquareEnix "dream team" that could exist without those that have left SE returning. Kitase, Nojima, and Nomura are or were involved, in some capacity. Tabata, who seems poised to be the next SquareEnix darling, has taken over as the director of FF15. Be this because of Nomura's failure as a director or simply because those above recognize the need for Nomura to continue working on Kingdom Hearts is yet to be seen. In either case, he contributed to the foundation of FF15. Nojima, as far as I'm aware, continues to be the lead writer. Kitase is producing instead of directing and without Sakaguchi, I'm not sure who within SquareEnix is better suited to the role. The other name missing is, of course, Uematsu. While I adore FF7's phenomenal soundtrack, I personally prefer Shimomura's current work over Uematsu's (heresy, I know). To put this paragraph more succinctly: SquareEnix is putting everything they believe to be their top talent behind this game.

Toriyama and Watanabe are, from everything I've seen, not involved. I imagine that this is because they are associated more strongly (or at least more recently) with FF13 than any of the others. Really, FF12 and FF13 were both negatively impacted by Matsuno's illness. Watanabe was working on FF13 prior to Matsuno's illness, at which point he transitioned to FF12 to finish a game he hadn't been involved with. Two years later, when he returned to the FF13 team. At this point, Nojima (what, that Nojima?!) had already started to develop the mythology for the game (ah, a sigh of relief as you realize he worked on the one good part). Toriyama had the story for the game and a rought outline of the plot up to episode eight (Nautilus). He also had ideas for cutscenes. I say all this because I don't think Watanabe is a bad writer (I do think Nojima is better), but was thrown into a bad situations twice. In both cases, he lacked control. I feel bad that he's come to be associated with the most recent negatives of the Final Fantasy series, especially given his work in previous games. Hopefully he gets a chance to redeem himself while Toriyama quietly disappears.

To get back on track, SquareEnix has some pretty compelling reasons to put all the talent they can behind FF15. The expectations for the game when it was announced were huge. The opinion of SquareEnix then was much different than it was now. As the opinion of SquareEnix has soured over the last few years, the expectations for FF15 have continued to grow. While some people have pointed to recent releases in an attempt to curb this, SquareEnix themselves have not done anything to help. Nomura himself had fairly consistently contributed to the ballooning expectations every time he talked about the game (didn't he mention flying airships at one point). A fairly ambitious "Final Fantasy Versus XIII" has turned into a "Final Fantasy XV" that players are looking at for the final judgement on what SquareEnix has become. After FF13 (and the sequels)'s less than stellar reception, many gamers have completely written off the series. While SquareEnix themselves may not feel that 13 tarnished anything (depending on how much money was recovered by the series after the Crystal Tools fiasco), they are certainly aware that they need a strong showing with 15.

As an open world action game, Versus already had an uphill battle with the Final Fantasy branding attached to it. Now that it has become a 'mainline' title, those ballooning expectations have increased even more. Any rationalization that this was just a sideshow experiment has gone out the window and players have to face the fact that this is where SquareEnix sees the future of Final Fantasy. Instead of doubling down on nostalgia and regressing to a place where they might feel safe, they are continuing to make each Final Fantasy game a unique experience. They're evolving the systems, as they always have. Whether or not they'll succeed is yet to be seen, but simply looking at the game shows that they are taking quite a few risks with what is an important release.

Interestingly enough, this isn't a completely unique risk for them. FF13-2 and Lightning Returns both have elements of what is to come. FF13-2 and Lightning Returns may both have been crippled by being the children of FF13, but looking at both games, you can see the experimentation being done. FF13-2 and Lightning Returns both utilize a less linear method of telling a story. You still need to progress through the entire story, but they're broken up in a way that is reminiscent of open world games. There are prerequisites that stop you from progressing certain paths without completing others, but you can pick what you want to do and when you want to do it. FF13-2 and Lightning Returns have quest systems, once again more similar to modern open world games than previous Final Fantasy games. The basis for the combat can be seen in Lightning Returns (and Kingdom Hearts). They introduce a more action-oriented style of combat that is an obvious product of the FF13 games that came before it, but almost forms a bridge between the previous systems and that which appears in FF15. While Kingdom Hearts is obviously the basis, it feels like they were attempting to smooth the transition between the two.

So what's the point of this? Put simply: Final Fantasy 15 appears to be SquareEnix's chance to deliver on their desire to create the next "Final Fantasy" game. That is, a game that redefines what Final Fantasy is. In the same way that FF7 and FF10 did, this is a chance for them to put together an experience that embraces the history of the series without rehashing it while saying this is Final Fantasy for the next generation. Something that FF13 failed to achieve (or, put more appropriately, achieved with exceedingly poor results).

It will be interesting to see what comes out of this. The gaming landscape of today is much different than what existed when FF7 was developed. Looking back, you can see that FF7 is an evolution of the previous entries into a 3D space. In many respects, FF10 was the initial regression that led to the creation of FF13. A linear, closed world that tells you a story. FF10 did it well while FF13 did it poorly. Today's landscape is filled with open world games: Far Cry, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Dragon Age, The Witcher, Grand Theft Auto, and etc. The typical open world game doesn't, in my opinion, feel suited to the type of game that SquareEnix has made recently. If you look at the trailers and videos they've released, we have the open world gameplay segments and the seemingly on-rails blockbuster movie scenario. The integration of the open world and these scenarios are going to be vital to the success of the game. If you look back at the PS1 Final Fantasy games, the world map was essentially useless, other than connecting disjointed areas and grinding monsters. If the open world in FF15 is not comparable (in terms of content) to the more recently released open world games, I fear that the backlash will be large. If SquareEnix spends too much time generating "pointless" open world grind and fetch quests seemingly at the expense of the story, there will be backlash. Hopefully the developers will be able to integrate the scenario-based stories that they tell, the open world, and the lore in a balanced and enjoyable way, which is ultimately the most important thing.

[Waraji]

Wow.. This is going take me a while to wade through. Holy shit.

[Tidane]

Re: the FFXV collector's edition thing (since my last post is already mad long)

Fake or not, I heard that the latest Shonen Jump has a feature on FFXV that has some screenshots and details.

[Mina]

Re: the FFXV collector's edition thing (since my last post is already mad long)

Fake or not, I heard that the latest Shonen Jump has a feature on FFXV that has some screenshots and details.

Tidane, you did not give a tl;dr this time and I'm going to have to print this thing off and read it on the train.

[Charismatic]

lol, your spoilered tirade makes me wonder why you bothered to respond too since you apparently didn't read most of the conversation (since most of that isn't applicable to anything but the first few posts between Elcura and Draylo).

No one's berating anyone for anything and hasn't been for a while, people are discussing their opinions (and occasionally peppering in some jokes).

[Tidane]

Tidane, you did not give a tl;dr this time and I'm going to have to print this thing off and read it on the train.

TL;DR: it will be interesting to see if the remaining talent at SquareEnix is capable of putting together an intriguing narrative while creating an open world game and implementing a new style of gameplay.

lol, your spoilered tirade makes me wonder why you bothered to respond too since you apparently didn't read most of the conversation (since most of that isn't applicable to anything but the first few posts between Elcura and Draylo).

No one's berating anyone for anything and hasn't been for a while, people are discussing their opinions (and occasionally peppering in some jokes).

Wasn't directed at you, but the one-off comments saying rather ridiculous things. Yes, I do realize that the likelihood of them reading the post is near zero. Still, perhaps they will be the one person that reads it and realized that no, I am not contributing to a healthy discussion about the state of voice acting in this game (or anime or whatever) and perhaps I should do better in the future.

The article that is sourcing some other website that cites someone else about the FFXV information that will be at Jump Festa 2015 / the next Shonen Jump: http://squareportal.net/2014/12/18/l...ale-character/

[Tidane]

I'm replying to myself like I just don't care.

Here is (supposedly, idk) one of the images:

Spoiler: show

Additionally, there is also a rumor that

Spoiler: show

the car is actually a transforming Magitek Armour

which is apparently in the magazine that currently has no other scans out. I find that pretty amusing.

[Charismatic]

Potential for the first fem-Cid

A scan from a preview of Final Fantasy XV in the newest issue of V Jump reveals a scant handful of new details about the game to pore over.

Chief among them is a new female character that’s shown off in the screenshot on the bottom-left side of the page. Other than her goggled getup and the fact that she’s described as a mechanic, her identity remains completely under wraps.

Read more at the source:
http://gematsu.com/2014/12/final-fan...-new-character

[Waraji]

I'm fine with a Female Cid. Doesn't matter, Cid is just an archetype.

[Shenrien]

Cid was once a grass hopping lady bug, so Cid being a lady is no big deal to me.

[Tidane]

Cid was once a grass hopping lady bug, so Cid being a lady is no big deal to me.

Oglop Cid is best Cid.

I'm fine with a Female Cid. Doesn't matter, Cid is just an archetype.

Prior to reading your post, I never would've thought that someone would have a problem with Cid being a female. Now I feel like this will certainly become a big deal for someone.

Given that they've stated that there aren't any female playable characters in the game but are prominent female characters, I was wondering how they'd incorporate those females into the game. My initial assumption was villains or plot devices. A mechanic in a game about a road trip makes sense, although I'm unsure how prominent any mechanic could be without traveling with the group (but Cid will fly the gang's airship around, so that's how she will be prominent). Too much hope? Better dial it back a bit.

[The Stig]

Prior to reading your post, I never would've thought that someone would have a problem with Cid being a female. Now I feel like this will certainly become a big deal for someone.

Yeh that's exactly what I thought. Some twat somewhere will make a sexist comment which will breach the radars of feminists then GamerGate or whatever again and then bla bla bla bullshit leading to these people pressuring SE to include a female member as part of the cast to the bromance going on leading t0 SE deploying TheSmurfettePrinciple

Regarding females though who is that pretty blonde woman in the trailers that seems to be confined in a city? I didn't look up anything with regards to the story but I'm under the impression the 4 dudes are going to rescue her?

[Tidane]

Yeh that's exactly what I thought. Some twat somewhere will make a sexist comment which will breach the radars of feminists then GamerGate or whatever again and then bla bla bla bullshit leading to these people pressuring SE to include a female member as part of the cast to the bromance going on leading t0 SE deploying TheSmurfettePrinciple

Regarding females though who is that pretty blonde woman in the trailers that seems to be confined in a city? I didn't look up anything with regards to the story but I'm under the impression the 4 dudes are going to rescue her?

Stella Nox Fleuret or Luna Probably Some Other Words In Her Name. I have no idea. Stella was in old trailers and Luna was shown in the TGS2014 one. I don't know if they're supposed to be the same person (redesign), two different people, or what. There was the comment about "she's waiting", which I imagine most people assumed was Stella.

That said, after I made my previous comment about no playable male characters, I recalled that they had gotten rid of playable party members at all, with Noctis being the only playable character. In theory, you could still have female party members if the statement was actually "playable" and not "party". I know they wanted to keep the brotrip vibe, but it wouldn't surprise me if there were additional party members in the game.

EDIT:

Stella looks a bit different than I recall from the initial trailers. The below image was taken from that eight person image that they released awhile back. Luna is from the TGS2014 trailer. I am terrible with faces in general, so someone else should be the one to say what is going on. Probably just the changes in design over the course of ten years (initial trailer vs CG render vs actual game model).

Stella (Original)

Spoiler: show

Stella (2014)

Spoiler: show

Luna

Spoiler: show