Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata shed light on a few details about the game, including some surprising talk about brands.
The first brand brought up may be familiar to longtime fans. Roen was commissioned to make clothes for Noctis and friends, and the Final Fantasy XV team wanted to retain them in some way. They decided to incorporate it by adding a storyline reason for everyone wearing black at the start. However, other characters are dressed more colorfully, and Noctis and friends will have outfit changes after a key point in the game too.
The other brand brought up was Mercedes Benz, and this particularly because of Mario Kart 8’s DLC. Tabata admits to being jealous Nintendo got that contract, but in any case, the cars in Final Fantasy XV will have a German vehicle-inspired design. The car Noctis uses actually comes from his father, and serves to be an important motif.
Tabata is trying to pitch Final Fantasy XV as a completely different project from Final Fantasy XIII-2. For this reason, Stella was replaced, the Luminous Engine was replaced, and the game’s story, tone, and other elements were changed and improved. The game we have now is more story than character driven, but Tabata’s team definitely put a focus on it too.
Finally, some small bits:
The female Dragoon is not summoning Leviathan. She does have a key role in the story, but her presence does not hint at other traditional jobs.
The Eidolons, or Guardians, are not summoned like previous summons. They have been written and designed to be part of the game’s actual world, and Noctis’ relationship with them is closer to commensalism, although the details are still under wraps.
Finally, and sadly, European fans may be disappointed to learn multiple language localization is a lesser priority for the team. Predictably, this is due to the game’s scope, IE, the amount of dialogue that needs translating. Tabata is aware of fan demand but can commit to nothing right now.
Final Fantasy XV is in development for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. No set release date has been confirmed for sure, but the team seems to be targeting a 2016 release.
