It’s no secret that the Final Fantasy name hasn’t been well-received in recent years. With polarizing titles such as Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2, as well as the critical failure of Final Fantasy XIV‘s initial release, it would be easy to dismiss the franchise at this point. The lack of a stateside release of Final Fantasy Type-0 and rumors regarding the cancelation of the highly anticipated Final Fantasy Versus XIII haven’t really helped matters much either.
However, with the reveal that Versus XIII is now officially Final Fantasy XV, the Final Fantasy fan in me can’t help but get excited. In fact, after the stellar story trailer unveiled at Sony’s E3 Press Conference, the only thing that could possibly make things better would be a better look at the gameplay.
Square Enix has thankfully delivered.
Right off the bat, the most noticeable aspect of FFXV‘s gameplay is the complete lack of a turn-based combat system, opting for a real-time combat system similar to director Tetsuya Nomura’s action-RPG series Kingdom Hearts. The action moves at a brisk pace, and it’s beginnings as a Final Fantasy spin-off as opposed to a main numbered title are quite evident. It’s definitely a far cry from the formula that made the series so popular, and it’s not a stretch to say that change can be a scary thing. But this might just be the game the Final Fantasy franchise needs right now.
Even as a fan of FFXIII and XIII-2, seeing Final Fantasy XV in action makes me feel that this was the game we should have gotten instead. It will be interesting to see more the closer we get to the game’s release.
Final Fantasy XV is currently in development for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. No release date has been given.