Can Final Fantasy XV be appealing towards Western RPG players and beyond?

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heartimecia

Balamb Garden Freshman
Feb 2, 2016
33
32
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Florida
#21
They're definitely doing their best to bring in a large western market by featuring such well known actors in Kingsglaive. XV is very unique in comparison to all the other Final Fantasy games in the sense that most people know about this game and its 10 year development history. Most of my coworkers play games, but only one of them is into the Final Fantasy series. But they're all considering purchasing it, just because of the fact that it's been in development for so long. Also, word of mouth - they get interested when they hear that I'm spending $300 on the Collector's edition, because it shows that this game has a lot of excitement and fans willing to pay that amount of money for a special edition of the game. Passionate western JRPG fans are already looking forward to it, but those western fans who used to really love JRPGs but have had their love for them diminish are also looking forward to what will perhaps, in their eyes, revitalize the genre. The internet is going to be filled with XV articles and posts, and a lot of people buy things and check them out because they're seeing it everywhere so they think, "Why not?"
 

DrBretto

Warrior of Light
Mar 18, 2016
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#22
I don't think the market knows what it wants, and I don't think this game is all that much like any of the games it's being compared to.

I think this game is going to have a slightly rocky launch because it'll take people a minute to understand it's not "like" anything. It's a new angle entirely. And just like every FF game that dared to be different, it'll get initially rejected by most of its fans, on account of gamers not necessarily being known for their penchant for accepting change.

Then...

This game will start creeping up on people, word will start getting out and this game is going to cause a world wide sensation. I can see this game aging very well as well, what with PS4K on the horizon and future PC ports, and just look at the various clips going out on the boss fight in the demo. It's like the new thing to post your no hit victories. And each one is different. That means most of us are going to go through it multiple times, and with multiple strategies, and different levels of skill each time. And it'll be a thing where people start posting their own no-hit boss battles all over the net.

The reception seems mild right now because this is how it always goes. Most of the regular people that haven't beeen following this closely don't know what to think yet. This game aims to pick up, I'd say, at least 85% of the existing fanbase, and double that up with new fans, western or otherwise.
 
#24
They're definitely doing their best to bring in a large western market by featuring such well known actors in Kingsglaive.
This is such a bizarre move though, and one I cannot see capturing Western audiences. Yes, there are some big names in Kingsglaive, but I can't see anyone who is a fan of Aaron Paul or Lena Heady even hearing about Kingsglaive, let alone saying to themselves "Oh Jesse Pinkman is in a CGI movie about a JRPG that I barely know about / a series I haven't played. I definitely need to watch that." It's such a strange detail.

Square actually tried something very similar with the Kingdom Hearts series: casting big name VAs for the English dub (Christopher Lee, Billy Zane, many of the original Disney cast like James Woods (though that's a very Disney thing), Sean Astin (remember that LotR was big at the time), Mandy Moore, David Boreanz, and so on). The series's success in the West of course is due in huge part to the inclusion of Disney characters and franchises, but I think Square quickly learned that nobody in the West said "I'm going to play this weird game because the guy from Titanic is in it." They're still casting big names in the games, of course, like Leonard Nimoy and Mark Hamill in Birth by Sleep (though Mark Hamill is such a prolific VA that I don't find that too surprising), but whenever a friend asks me about the series they're surprised to learn about some of the VO names involved. So while the trend is continuing in recent years, the number of celebrities doing voice work in the series has seriously dropped off since the first game, for whatever reason.

My point being, names recognizable to Western audiences aren't enough to draw the casual audience into a very niche thing (Japanese and anime-styled CGI movie for adults about a video game). And further, given the objective quality of Square's previous movie ventures, even the few drawn into Kingsglaive by the voice talent probably won't be too impressed by it.


The success of FFXV hinges on its capturing Western audiences and while the game has made some serious concessions from the series's routes, I too have doubts that it will appeal to the same people who embrace things like Skyrim, Assassin's Creed, The Witcher, Call of Duty, etc. Good on the dev team for being ambitious and believing in their product, but the 10 million units goal is frankly laughable. To my knowledge the only game in the series to perform that well was FFVII, but that was in a very different climate for the video game industry.
 

DrBretto

Warrior of Light
Mar 18, 2016
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#25
It's not so much about people wanting to see Jesse Pinkman call Iedolas a bitch. Announcing the quality of actors also makes a statement about the level of quality to expect in the movie.
 

heartimecia

Balamb Garden Freshman
Feb 2, 2016
33
32
27
Florida
#26
This is such a bizarre move though, and one I cannot see capturing Western audiences. Yes, there are some big names in Kingsglaive, but I can't see anyone who is a fan of Aaron Paul or Lena Heady even hearing about Kingsglaive, let alone saying to themselves "Oh Jesse Pinkman is in a CGI movie about a JRPG that I barely know about / a series I haven't played. I definitely need to watch that." It's such a strange detail.

The success of FFXV hinges on its capturing Western audiences and while the game has made some serious concessions from the series's routes, I too have doubts that it will appeal to the same people who embrace things like Skyrim, Assassin's Creed, The Witcher, Call of Duty, etc. Good on the dev team for being ambitious and believing in their product, but the 10 million units goal is frankly laughable. To my knowledge the only game in the series to perform that well was FFVII, but that was in a very different climate for the video game industry.
I would agree that it is a strange move, but like DrBretto said, it kind of speaks to the possible caliber of the movie and of the series/franchise as a whole, and also helps to show that they're really going all out with everything. It seems like a minor and small and possibly insignificant thing, but the reactions to Lena and the other actors have been pretty wild. It adds to the excitement of everything, which leads to a feeling of reassurance about the direction that things are being taken in for this game.

As for the sales, I don't think it's all that impossible. XIII, as divisive as it is, has garnered 7.5 million sales. It had being the first HD Final Fantasy behind it; XV has its unique and long development history, and whether you're a fan or not, it looks like such an expansive and beautiful game. That attracts people. A lot of people are waiting on this and even if they didn't really support XIII or the trilogy, they're excited to see how this could impact the genre of JRPGs. I don't know, we can't really tell or assume anything but I think it'll be fine. They said that they wanted 10 million sales in XV's lifetime...that'll certainly be a long time - plenty of time to reach 10 million sales.
 
#27
It's not so much about people wanting to see Jesse Pinkman call Iedolas a bitch. Announcing the quality of actors also makes a statement about the level of quality to expect in the movie.
would agree that it is a strange move, but like DrBretto said, it kind of speaks to the possible caliber of the movie and of the series/franchise as a whole, and also helps to show that they're really going all out with everything. It seems like a minor and small and possibly insignificant thing, but the reactions to Lena and the other actors have been pretty wild. It adds to the excitement of everything, which leads to a feeling of reassurance about the direction that things are being taken in for this game.
A good cast doesn't translate to a quality movie. The voice talent behind the FFXIII series included some pretty well-known voice actors and the game is still not very good. The voice acting is rather disappointing, as well. Ali Hillis, for example, was wooden and unconvincing as Lightning but she blew me away as Liara in Mass Effect. Troy Baker's Snow isn't bad, but it's not a notable role for one of the most renown and popular VAs in the business. All of them were hurt by poor voice direction and, most egregiously, bland characters and plotlines. They didn't have much to work with and the end product shows it.

I'm not expecting Kingsglaive to be bad. Probably about Advent Children's quality, which I like as a movie, but I'm also a fan of Final Fantasy games. I don't harbor any delusions that someone who hasn't played Final Fantasy would enjoy or understand Advent Children. And even if you injected big-name voice talent into Advent Children, neither its quality as a movie or casual interest in it would skyrocket. Spirits Within had some great voices behind it and we all know how that went (Ming-Na, Donald Sutherland, Alec Baldwin, James Woods, and Steve Buscemi was in there too -- dunno if you'd consider him a good actor but he's a popular name).
it looks like such an expansive and beautiful game
Honestly given what the Platinum Demo showed off, the graphics of FFXV have a long way to go. The frame rate has some very serious issues, it runs at sub-1080p especially on the Xbox One, and there's some blatant aliasing issues going on. All of this can be polished in coming months and with patches, of course. The Final Fantasy series has always been really good looking and pushed the envelope, but there are a lot of AAA Western titles that are simply breathtaking now (The Order 1886, Uncharted 4, The Witcher 3, etc.). A polished FFXV can certainly keep pace with them, but I don't see the average gamer seeing a trailer and saying "wow those graphics are awesome I gotta play this," especially given the very anime and JRPG styling of the characters.
 

DrBretto

Warrior of Light
Mar 18, 2016
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#28
A good cast doesn't translate to a quality movie. The voice talent behind the FFXIII series included some pretty well-known voice actors and the game is still not very good. The voice acting is rather disappointing, as well.
Of course not, but no one is making that claim either. Someone said people aren't rushing the doors just because Aaron Paul or any other big name is in it, and I was just saying that that wasn't necessarily the point. The point was to indirectly sell to the world that it's supposed to be taken seriously.

I mean, we don't have to look any further that The Spirits Within to see an example with a decent cast turning into a terrible movie.