Final Fantasy XV (still rumor for now)

[Eleven19]

One other quick question I'm curious about... Is the timeframe correct? I mean, from one FF release to another.. I dunno if you could count 14, so we'd say from 13 to "15," has the length of time been consistent with other main title releases? Like, say, from 12 to 13?

I also have a tough time believing they'd be willing to scrap *all* the work they must have put into Vs13 in the past what.. six years? I feel like Spira may be more on the ball in that respect. There's no telling how much they could change the game at this point, either. By the time they finish working Vs13 into VX, it may be virtually unrecognizable at first. I'm sure with enough scrutiny we'd all be able to identify things we'd seen in Vs13 trailers if/when the game is released.

This is all assuming the rumors are true, of course. And if they are, I'm more excited about an FF title than I have been in a very long time.

[Uzor]

Square recently said they intend to move away from their old release schedule of one main game every few years to one every year, so you can't really compare time between earlier releases and the time between FFXIII/XIII-2 and XV is the same.

That being said, I hope Versus 13 isn't changed to be FF15. 'cause otherwise I don't have 3 games to look forward to. I do hope that the next-gen trailer they showed will be refitted in to FF16, though. I really liked the idea.

Besides, without Versus 13, the main lead will have been female in the past 4 titles. We need a good game with a male lead to break the trend

[Katlan]

We're looking at a VII beater here if this is all true.

Looks at your name....

Looks at your Avatar....

laughs at your comment...

[Kaslo]

Looks at your name....

Looks at your Avatar....

laughs at your comment...

^

I swear FF6/7 is the line of demarcation for fans...

[Alkar]

Square recently said they intend to move away from their old release schedule of one main game every few years to one every year, so you can't really compare time between earlier releases and the time between FFXIII/XIII-2 and XV is the same.

That being said, I hope Versus 13 isn't changed to be FF15. 'cause otherwise I don't have 3 games to look forward to. I do hope that the next-gen trailer they showed will be refitted in to FF16, though. I really liked the idea.

Besides, without Versus 13, the main lead will have been female in the past 4 titles. We need a good game with a male lead to break the trend

The only FF game with a lead female is FFXIII. I'm not sure what other titles you're referring to at this point. XIII-2's main character is Noel not Serah, then again sequels are not even considered by SE when they count leads in this series.
Dissidia kinda proves that we're full of male leads, Terra and Lightning being the only exceptions (and Terra isn't even a proper lead). I hope Agni is actually the lead of a future FF title, we surely need more females that aren't sidekicks or princesses that need to be rescued.
Either way FFXV must've been in development for years by now, 4 years seems about right. If that's true I don't see how Versus could be renamed into XV now, it's late and XV must have things done already.

[Spira]

yeah.. Lightning is the only true female lead in the series. if sequels count then you can add Yuna to the list, and Serah, tho for the latter its more of a dual main-protagonist thing.

I get the feeling the old SE dev cycle wasn't very efficient. I remember reading about FFXIII and how it was originally developed for PS2 before it was moved to PS3 and everything was scrapped in the process. I'd think by now because they've started using proprietary engines that are meant to support multiple systems they're actually able to port whatever they develop on a PS3 for example, to something thats next generation, provided the assets they currently use are high quality enough to be supported that way.

as it stands, my belief is that Versus XIII and XIII-3 are the only remaining FF titles slated for the PS3, and that anything after that would be for the next gen console, which is at least a year or two away. Of course, I'd also like to see FFXV on PS3, if only because I liked the whole 3 main series entry per console convention, so if that were true I'd be happy..
but if they announced it now, it's not likely to come out within a year of announcement (post ps2 era it never has apart from sequels) and may risk running to close to the end of the hardware cycle. Which also means they probably aren't intending to milk it like they did FFXIII. So I wonder if they'd do that

[Shade]

FFVI has multiple leads, so its debatable, but I always felt the "main" character was Terra.

[Rionel]

I am going to have to argue that Terra was indeed the "main" character of FFVI. Although it was a game intended to have the feel of multiple main characters since they tried their best to give every character equal spotlight, Terra is the biggest driving force for a lot of the story and the most important character. Without her, I don't think FFVI would be nearly as well set up, or would just be completely different altogether.

On the topic of female leads and male leads, I don't think the gender really matters as much as writing a good lead character. I mean, sure I'd love to have more female leads for the sake of changing it up, but I think it should be prioritized to have said lead be well written and interesting/compelling. That's a staple of the Final Fantasy series isn't it? Telling a good story with compelling characters.

Which I think SE needs a bit of work on, as they're been slipping. This is of course, maybe my animation bias talking a little here...

[darkepyon]

You expect a phoenix, yet you offer chicken feed!

I've always liked the whole "targeting different body parts" thing. As for VS13, I always thought they would've been better just renaming it 15.

[hey]

XIII-2's main character is Noel not Serah

The fuck? Did we play the same game?

[Alkar]

The fuck? Did we play the same game?

SE announced Noel as the main character so yeah, we did play the same game.
And by lead I mean actual leader, those that carry the group along. Terra is indeed the main character but she's just along for the ride. Lightning is the only true leader of the series if we do not count sequels so I honestly don't think we need more males yet.
Yes, it's true that we've had strong female characters in recent FF entries like Ashe, Lightning and Fang but not all of them are considered leads and there's always a male representing the cast. Like I said play Dissidia and see for yourself....
FFXI is the only exception because every single expansion has a female heroine leading the story and party as you progress (Prishe, Aphmau/Nashmeira, Lilisette, new girl in SoA).

[Tyrath]

The fuck? Did we play the same game?

Noel took main character away from her just in the same way Vaan took main character of 12. The story may not have been about them, but the player saw it from their perspectives, making them the main lead.

[hey]

Except it was still more from serah's perspective.

[Tyrath]

Except it wasn't. You saw what Noel saw of Serah's search for her sister.

[Niiro]

Noel took main character away from her just in the same way Vaan took main character of 12. The story may not have been about them, but the player saw it from their perspectives, making them the main lead.

I didn't play XIII-2 but you've certainly got something backwards.

Vaan stopped being the main character of XII around the time people other than Penelo started showing up and was completely irrelevant once Ashe and Basch are both in the party. The perspective argument doesn't really hold up as the game is no more experienced thru Vaan's eyes than anyone else in a way that is at all significant (a moment of internal reflection carrying no weight whatsoever every now and then doesn't cut it). He has no unique insight or important role to play other than being some kid caught up in a huge epic plot, no major events in the game are at all dependent on his actions or even his presence.

Vaan (and Penelo for that matter) could have been removed entirely from the game and events would have played out the same regardless.

[Alkar]

I didn't play XIII-2 but you've certainly got something backwards.

Vaan stopped being the main character of XII around the time people other than Penelo started showing up and was completely irrelevant once Ashe and Basch are both in the party. The perspective argument doesn't really hold up as the game is no more experienced thru Vaan's eyes than anyone else in a way that is at all significant (a moment of internal reflection carrying no weight whatsoever every now and then doesn't cut it). He has no unique insight or important role to play other than being some kid caught up in a huge epic plot, no major events in the game are at all dependent on his actions or even his presence.

Vaan (and Penelo for that matter) could have been removed entirely from the game and events would have played out the same regardless.

That's not the point though because Vaan is considered the main character by SE. It really doesn't matter if he's actually relevant or not.

[hey]

That's not the point though because Vaan is considered the main character by SE. It really doesn't matter if he's actually relevant or not.

SE isn't god. They are wrong. Vaan is not the main character.

[Apelila]

Vaan is as much the main character of FFXII as Mark Cohen was in Rent.
He serves only to watch the story unfold and participate when necessary. It doesn't make it wrong that he's the main character, but he is certainly not the star.

Also, this wont be FFXV. It's too good to be true. If, however, even HALF of that does turn into reality then HNNNNG. I just hope they use it as a launching point for how to quickly produce HD games, since that's what seems to be the sinker for the 13 FNC series. Also the reason we haven't seen KH3, a HD remake of 7/8/9 or even something close to the amount of console games from the PS1/2 era.

I've seen it suggested by a few industry blogs that JP developers as a whole are struggling to adapt to this generation due to the increases needed for development. After the misstep with 14, they're going to do their best to make damned sure that 15 restores the brand name. Or at least, they'd better.

[Sephiroth]

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laughs at your comment...

I'm not one of those fanboys who think VII can never be bettered. XII came very close and XIII-2 was up there too. But it's all a matter of opinion anyway. It's an apple/orange comparison anyway since recent FFs are nothing like the PS1 FFs.

[Kaslo]

I'm not one of those fanboys who think VII can never be bettered. XII came very close and XIII-2 was up there too. But it's all a matter of opinion anyway. It's an apple/orange comparison anyway since recent FFs are nothing like the PS1 FFs.

Still assuming VII was the best of the first 7 games...