Games The Final Fantasy Thread!

[riki]

^Same. I enjoyed the storyline and gameplay from Persona more though FF has great graphics.

I think SE asks that question so they can determine whether they should launch it in the summer to compete against P5 or release it at a later date. That question is causing a huge debate with the JRPG fans though. I've never seen FF fans and Persona fans arguing the merits of their favorite games so much before. LOL

 

[Jammin]

The fact that is even a question is incredible. Final Fantasy XV would have to win overall right? The Final Fantasy name is so much bigger.

Persona is definitely on the rise though and Persona 4 is a game I'll definitely be picking up; where FF XV is a game that I'll be waiting to see what reviews say. Could Persona really steal the JRPG throne from Final Fantasy though? I can't really imagine it happening.

---------- Post added at 12:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:52 AM ----------

Kotaku put their own poll up on it.

16k Persona 4
15k Final Fantasy XV

Those are pretty big numbers. Great news for Persona 4.

 

[riki]

New Final Fantasy VII remake info is up

 

[Niffer]

The fact that is even a question is incredible. Final Fantasy XV would have to win overall right? The Final Fantasy name is so much bigger.

Persona is definitely on the rise though and Persona 4 is a game I'll definitely be picking up; where FF XV is a game that I'll be waiting to see what reviews say. Could Persona really steal the JRPG throne from Final Fantasy though? I can't really imagine it happening.

---------- Post added at 12:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:52 AM ----------

Kotaku put their own poll up on it.

16k Persona 4
15k Final Fantasy XV

Those are pretty big numbers. Great news for Persona 4.

I agree Final Fantasy is the bigger name, but I'm not surprised that Persona is more popular (go Persona) because I think Final Fantasy have really dropped the ball since Final Fantasy IX.

My argument for this is that the older Final Fantasy games have had a good balance of interesting characters, plot, development and world exploration, and the graphics were impressive for their time. But X - XIII (not including the online games, I haven't played those so I can't comment) have failed majorly on one of these points, whether it's plot, character interaction, or the ability to explore an in-depth world. I think because of this there are more and more people who are waiting until well after the release of the next FF game to see if it's good or not.

I'm not saying that the new FF games are terrible, I just think that, although they're very beautiful in design, they've just lacked something. And I don't think it's nostalgia goggles because there have been other JRPGs like Ni no Kuni which have felt more FF-like than the new FFs have.

Still, I really, really, hope FFXV succeeds and is amazing! But I'm probably going to wait until a few months after its release to decide if I want to play it or not.

 

[Jammin]

Final Fantasy New Years message translated by Gematsu, Tabata wrote.......

Happy New Year!

We will finally release FFXV this year, in 2016! In development, previous phases required wisdom and strength. However, moving forward the final phase will focus on effort and willpower.

I vow to you all that every member in the team will do their best to the very last possible moment taking responsibility and pride in their craft.

We will do everything we can do to finish FFXV to create an experience we are incredibly proud of and one that you will enjoy and treasure.

The whole FFXV team appreciates all of the support from each and everyone one of you this past year.
I cannot tell you how much it means to all of us.

We’d like to celebrate a wonderful New Year and as we approach the release of FFXV, I’d like to enjoy that moment with you all.

Director of FFXV Hajime Tabata

So I guess this means it's really coming out this year.

--- Double Post Merged, Jan 5, 2016, Original Post Date: Jan 2, 2016 ---

Also apparently the Final Fantasy VII remake is still quite a long way off after all. Kitase was quoted as saying.

“I believe that this year will still be a year of preparations for Final Fantasy VII Remake,” shared Kitase. “I’d like to create a new kind of value for the hardware that is the PlayStation 4 for our next announcement.”

I have no idea what a "year of preparations" means. Do you guys think that means it's in development or preparing for development or what?

 

[Machi-tan]

Jesus Square is working something fierce. FF15 is finished in it's entirety...

And the first 'chapter' of final fantasy 7 is finished.

Only thing they are doing is apparently fixing up glitches and etc. I gotta say. I've never seen such quick work. But for sales purposes i have to wonder if it's a good idea to drop 3 of the most anticipated games (Kingdom hearts 3, FF15, and 7 remake) all within the same year...

I sort of feel like they would lose sales on one or the other. And hype would die down for the others if one is clearly 'better'.

 

[Sky]

Huh? FF7 and KH3 being done as well...? Where did you get that information?
If that were true we would have way more information about both games.

 

[Jammin]

There have been a lot of mixed messages out there about the various projects they're working on recently.

The only game that is supposedly dropping this year is Final Fantasy XV.

I think the bit that had Machi confused was that the announced the scenario writing for the first part of the VII remake was done. Which is kind of a strange thing to announce. Since it's sounds like they're saying that work on the game is done, which isn't the case. That means that work should be just starting. Don't think they've said anything about Kingdom Hearts but it's probably like 1 and half to 2 years out according to everything I've heard.

 

[Sky]

Well we get KH 2.8 before that... It is sad that such an awesome idea got turned into a really slow cash cow...

 

[Jammin]

Square really needs a win.

Rise of the Tomb Raider didn't even chart on NPD and it wouldn't surprise me if Just Cause 3 doesn't either. Then just this week they announced shutting down and liquidating their "Shinra Technologies" game streaming development division. Meaning they essentially built a bonfire out of 16 million dollars.

 

[Machi-tan]

I say the first part of Final fantasy 7 is done(or near it) because they English voice actors have already been hired,

When doing multi cultural amalgamation of work like KH + FF7 English dubbing is usually applied around the 80% finished mark.

It's easier to go back and get things changed if it's in your native tongue. But when dealing with dubs, there is a bit more licensing to go through and international communication so it's slightly more of a pain they wait to do when the game is looking 'playable' in it's finest. That is usually the thread for Japanese -> English games.

KH Might be me reading too much into the preordering that exists for it already... i just figured you wouldn't bother having preorders up on websites so long (i think they've been up for like 6 months that' ive noticed) if it wasn't dropping in a year and a half.

FF7 would be dropping episodically, with at least 2-3 months between... but they are full sized games so it might be stretched over the course of like a year and a half also...

And KH has 2.8 -> 3. Which would probably take place in the next 3 years.

That's what i ment by too many hot titles at once. At least 2 or 3 of them will drop around the same holiday season. And it might be a Tomb raider situation where they time it horribly and get swept under the rug of some other game's hype(Fallout 4). Cept it might be their own game.

 

[Sky]

I am pretty sure we won't see FF7 till mid 2017. I'd go as far to push KH3 to the holiday season 2017. SE is not known for being fast. Just look at FF15. It's been almost 10 years since the first trailer.

 

[Jammin]

I say the first part of Final fantasy 7 is done(or near it) because they English voice actors have already been hired,

When doing multi cultural amalgamation of work like KH + FF7 English dubbing is usually applied around the 80% finished mark.

It's easier to go back and get things changed if it's in your native tongue. But when dealing with dubs, there is a bit more licensing to go through and international communication so it's slightly more of a pain they wait to do when the game is looking 'playable' in it's finest. That is usually the thread for Japanese -> English games.

KH Might be me reading too much into the preordering that exists for it already... i just figured you wouldn't bother having preorders up on websites so long (i think they've been up for like 6 months that' ive noticed) if it wasn't dropping in a year and a half.

FF7 would be dropping episodically, with at least 2-3 months between... but they are full sized games so it might be stretched over the course of like a year and a half also...

And KH has 2.8 -> 3. Which would probably take place in the next 3 years.

That's what i ment by too many hot titles at once. At least 2 or 3 of them will drop around the same holiday season. And it might be a Tomb raider situation where they time it horribly and get swept under the rug of some other game's hype(Fallout 4). Cept it might be their own game.

You make a good point about the voice actors, as usually adding in the voice work is one of the last stages of game development. But Kitase even came out and said that FF7 remake isn't coming out this year. He said this would be the year of "preparations" for it, whatever that means, like two weeks ago.

I wonder if the voice work thing might be a sign that they are doing a demo. Like maybe trying to piece something together to ship with either FFXV or KH3 whenever those come out.

 

[Machi-tan]

A demo could definitely be what's going on. You have a great point. There are a few video game conventions coming up so having a working demo in english could very well be what's happening.

But still i guess i don't want to see them drop too many good gems at once and watch a few of them suffer. Because if FF7 drops the same time as KH2.8, its obvious which one's decade old hype will sweep the other one.

And releasing games outside of holiday seasons won't yield as much profit so they will try to have them around the same times.

In the end I don't care if i;m wrong. I'd rather be wrong actually. As you said, Square needs a win. They just seem like there are too many flagships deploying out the bay at once for all of them to make it out without bumping into one another.

 

[riki]

More FF XV info has been released.

 

[Niffer]

More FF XV info has been released.

I'm really, really happy that FFXV is going to be more explorative, but I hope it won't be like XII where it lacked character development/interaction and plot.

The two battle concept sounds really interesting too! I wonder how it's going to play out.

 

[riki]

Square Enix revealed more FFXV info about Niflheim's government and magic system


Oh, they will announce the release date on March 30th

--- Double Post Merged, Feb 1, 2016, Original Post Date: Jan 31, 2016 ---

Here are some screenshots

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 13, 2016 ---

It is rumored that FFXV will be released on September 30th.

 

[shahdan]

Known this for a while, but FFXV is shaping up to be everything I have been asking for in an FF since 7. It's shaping up nicely. The blow out event is just around the corner. FF VII looks fantastic as well. I doubt we will see anything of VII in that event; but I'm keeping 'em crossed anyway.

I agree Final Fantasy is the bigger name, but I'm not surprised that Persona is more popular (go Persona) because I think Final Fantasy have really dropped the ball since Final Fantasy IX.

My argument for this is that the older Final Fantasy games have had a good balance of interesting characters, plot, development and world exploration, and the graphics were impressive for their time. But X - XIII (not including the online games, I haven't played those so I can't comment) have failed majorly on one of these points, whether it's plot, character interaction, or the ability to explore an in-depth world.

Persona isn't more popular than FF. It has just sold over 6 million copies as a series. FF beats it by a large margin, as FF XIII alone was either at this number or close to it, and I am not counting XIII-2 and 3.

Older FF titles (8 and 9) were absolutely silly in regards to plot. Interesting characters is a subjective argument, to be honest. But were they well written? Nah.

I'm really, really happy that FFXV is going to be more explorative, but I hope it won't be like XII where it lacked character development/interaction and plot. The two battle concept sounds really interesting too! I wonder how it's going to play out.

It lacked plot? Now how do I put this without sounding offensive ... but it looks as if you are mistaking something else for a plot. Again, not trying to sound offensive but it absolutely did have a plot and the rest you mentioned.

This should be interesting. While the previous FF titles over the last decade had mixed reception, the Persona series got popular and loved over the years. I hope SE are aware that the Final Fantasy name is no longer enough to make these games sell and there are other options out there. Competition between video game companies is good, because it could mean we'll get more quality games. Personally, I'd priorize Persona 5 and my decision to buy FFXV will depend on the reception.

Persona is not that relevant outside Japan. It is still considered a niche title by comparison.

 

[Jammin]

I think your greatly underestimating what Persona has become. There was poll that Kotaku did on simply "Persona 5 or Final Fantasy XV" . The final results were..

19k Votes Persona 5
14k Votes Final Fantasy XV

So a pretty resounding show of the level of interest in Persona, in what is not a small sample size. Now obviously Kotaku readers who would be likely to vote in a poll like that are among the more hardcore gamers. I think Final Fantasy would do much better in a poll of more causal gamers at the very least due to greater name recognition.

But I don't think I'm going out on a limb saying that if Final Fantasy XV drops the ball the way Final Fantasy XIII and it's sequels did Persona really might take the throne as the new king of JRPG series.

And, honestly, how sure can we be that if the two games came out on the same day that FFXV would outperform Persona 5 right now?

There is also some irony in the fact that the guy hosting the Final Fantasy XV date reveal event is Greg Miller. Who has always been very open and transparent about the fact that he's a huge Persona fan and has never been able to get into anything Final Fantasy at all. Which isn't an accident. Square Enix really wants to reach out to those kind of fans. I think that's smart because they know they need to.

 

[shahdan]

I think your greatly underestimating what Persona has become. There was poll that Kotaku did on simply "Persona 5 or Final Fantasy XV" . The final results were..

19k Votes Persona 5
14k Votes Final Fantasy XV

So a pretty resounding show of the level of interest in Persona, in what is not a small sample size. Now obviously Kotaku readers who would be likely to vote in a poll like that are among the more hardcore gamers. I think Final Fantasy would do much better in a poll of more causal gamers at the very least due to greater name recognition.

But I don't think I'm going out on a limb saying that if Final Fantasy XV drops the ball the way Final Fantasy XIII and it's sequels did Persona really might take the throne as the new king of JRPG series.

There is also some irony in the fact that the guy hosting the Final Fantasy XV date reveal event is Greg Miller. Who has always been very open and transparent about the fact that he's a huge Persona fan and has never been able to get into anything Final Fantasy at all. Which isn't an accident. Square Enix really wants to reach out to those kind of fans. I think that's smart because they know they need to.

That is a very small number of people, considering the regions persona was released into. Even then, Final Fantasy is almost even. Persona, outside Japan, is still a niche title. You are grossly over-estimating its popularity from such a small sample size for FF audience. For Persona? Yeah, it is decent. But then again, that series hasn't been breaking records worldwide. About 50 % of the title's sales are from Japan. When it was released in NA and Europe as well. I am not saying it's not getting popular. But it's a long way off from FF. As I said, about 7 million sales (6.9 million) were attained by FFXIII alone. If I count all three XIII games, then it has sold over 10 million copies, and that from just three titles:

http://gematsu.com/2015/05/persona-series-sales-top-six-million
http://personacentral.com/the-persona-series-has-sold-over-6-million-copies-worldwide/

That is all 6 games sales figures combined, where more than 50 percent are in Japan.

Let's compare that to Final Fantasy:

http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Best_selling_Square-Enix_games
http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy

All FF games have sold over 110 million copies; 6 million sales are literally worthless by contrast. Last mainstream FF title (XIII) beats out ALL sales figures of ALL Persona games combined. There is no way in hell Persona would come even close to XV in sales, when it's the most anticipated title in Japan for Famitsu, and if you have followed it on yearly basis like most FF XV fans have, you would know that it has almost always been the top most anticipated title by the Japanese public:

http://kotaku.com/the-most-anticipated-games-in-japan-1761450315

The hardcore gamer lobby is always very small. I hardly doubt it is that big as you are assuming. Nor are those numbers indicative of hardcore gamers as a whole. There is no proof of it at all. FF XV has been shaping up very nicely. So, I am not surprised that people are being swayed. Rumor has it that Persona is also being delayed, and rightly so. I highly doubt Atlus wants to complete with FF in Japan or elsewhere. It'll be a financial suicide.

6.9 Million sales and over 10 million as a whole is ... dropping the ball? Come on, man! Personally, I never liked XIII and the sequels. But, I am dead sure that I am the minority here. About 10 million people played and enjoyed FF. Lightning has been constantly voted as the favourite female character poll in Japan. As I said, this "dropping the ball" is a minority opinion, not shared by an overwhelming majority.

Anyhow, I am really excited for the March event. I need to see Magic already.