‘Final Fantasy XV’: Open World Or Not? Director Hajime Tabata Expands On Subject
The setting of "Final Fantasy XV" has long been touted as one of the biggest maps when it comes to most titles in the role playing game genre, and quite possibly the biggest with regards to its predecessors in the series, with the game's wide open world being one of its selling points; now however, the reality seems to be dawning that the game's open world is not actually as open as most believed.
"Final Fantasy XV" director Hajime Tabata recently spoke with Japanese video gaming magazine Famitsu, where he delved deeper in to the long awaited title's gameplay elements. One of the topics brought up during the interview is the open world setting of "Final Fantasy XV," with a translation provided by Siliconera.
As the publication was given an opportunity to try out the game, Famitsu managed to reach up to about chapter 3 of "Final Fantasy XV." According to Tabata, that "covers about 15% or so" of the game as it has a total of 16 chapters going from 0 to 15.
After going through those three chapters, the publication wondered if the rest of the game will be as open as the ones it played. Tabata answered that "the entire game structure for Final Fantasy XV consists of both open-world and linear parts."
According to the director, the first half of "Final Fantasy XV" will allow players to explore its long boasted open world, while the latter half will be more of a "linear path." Presumably, this means that taking into account that chapter 0 will likely be a prologue of some sort, players can ride around in their snazzy "Regalia" convertible throughout chapters 1 to around 7, with the game taking the reins and funneling players on form chapter 8. Tabata explained that this is so players do not "get bored" of the open world as the storyline "tightens."
Interestingly, this is a little different from Tabata's previous words regarding the same subject. Speaking with Active Time Report, with a translated summary provided by DualShockers, the "Final Fantasy XV" director said that the game's open world will actually be open up procedurally after initial storyline limitations imposed on where the player can actually go.
To clarify, the two are not actually contradictory or exclusive. Putting everything together, the diagram for the progress of the supposed open world of "Final Fantasy XV" could end up like a much more procedural version of the world of "Final Fantasy XIII." That game essentially stuck players into a very long and winding corridor, before slapping them into a ridiculously open area right before thrusting them back into another corridor. The result ended up shocking most players about how jarring the experience was.
Depending on how Tabata and his team of developers handle the setting for "Final Fantasy XV;" longtime RPG fans can avoid being overwhelmed and still focus on the story, while those who want to get the game to try out its open world will have something to enjoy.