In the days after launch, Final Fantasy XV Game Director Hajime Tabata outlined Square’s plan to “enrich certain aspects of the game.” We now have a better understanding of what those tweaks will entail.
Chatting to US Gamer, Tabata-san touched base on both the upcoming story updates and the studio’s unconventional approach, which he firmly believes is emblematic of how single-player games are perceived in this day and age.
“The fans who have grown accustomed to playing traditional Final Fantasy games may feel uneasy about this unfamiliar initiative. That said, I personally believe the approach to updating single-player games, as we are doing with this title, will continue on in the future as a new trend.” One area in particular that has been earmarked for a small overhaul is FFXV‘s chapter 13, which was initially designed to make the player “feel as isolated and hopeless as Noctis.”
“The direction of chapter 13’s content was a deliberate decision made by the development team,” Tabata said. “That said, the amount of stress inflicted on the player while running through this chapter was greater than we had anticipated. We believe resolving this issue will naturally lead to a better gameplay experience.”
Tabata is quick to note that the dev team does “not intend on making this a completely different game from what was already delivered to the players.” Instead, these forthcomin...