Final Fantasy 15's development seems to have taken a new set of turns. Longtime dev Yoshinori Kitase has dropped out of the project, even as Yusuke Naora joins the team.
Kitase news was synonymous with Final Fantasy 15 news for the longest time, as he was connected with the project from the start, as far back as 2008. The word is that Kitase wants to start a new project, so he has broken off.
Kitase is well known as one of the foundations of the Final Fantasy series. He is best known for his work in 1994’s Final Fantasy 6. 1995’s Chrono Trigger, 1997’s Final Fantasy 7, 1999’s Final Fantasy 8, and 2001’s Final Fantasy X. For this last game, he is also famous for having chosen a Southeast Asian backdrop, to expand the FF universe from its traditional medieval backdrops.
Yusuke Naora has also had a storied career in FF, although, perhaps unfortunately, they all work under the shadow of Yoshitaka Amano. Still, Naora’s art style is most associated with Final Fantasy Type-0. He also did work on Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus, Before Crisis, and both the Code Age and Chaos Rings series. It’s not quite clear what role Naora is taking in Final Fantasy XV, but we do know both Tomohiro Hasegawa and Takayuki Ohtachi are also doing art duties.
Square Enix has shared assurances before that Final Fantasy 15 is actually already at an advanced stage of development. The circumstances behind Kitase leaving may support this assertion, as he’s been at work on it for over a decade, and it’s clear that Square Enix is simply moving forward without him.
Final Fantasy 15 is slated for release on Playstation 4 and Xbox One.
