A Counterargument: A criticism of FFXV (before release)

[LeonBlade]

The other sees him maybe a little condescending, egotistical and made some really moronic and contradictory statements. And I think he hasn't helped out any with the latter interpretation. As has been pointed out, he has barely mentioned Nomura at all and at times has taken full credit for a world that... let's face it, he didn't create to begin with.

Nomura technically didn't create the world either though.
Edit: What I mean by this is that he was not the sole creator of every aspect, however I do respect and acknowledge that Versus XIII was only possible because of his work. Please understand going forward in this post I am speaking more globally throughout changes in the design of Final Fantasy XV moving forward after Tabata took the role of director, not diminishing the important work of Nomura for laying much of the groundwork for what XV has become at the very least conceptually.

Being a director simply means you have a creative hand over a lot of the development decisions, however, the people that really should be credited with the work of Final Fantasy XV goes to the long list of artists, designers and programmers that work on things from the battle system to the visual direction and creating assets like monsters and the world itself.

Nomura didn't create the sculpt model of the world that we have seen various times, that was someone else. The gas stations and environments we saw back in Versus that still persist to this day wasn't created by Nomura either.

One thing that Greg Miller mentioned back when he accepted his award for "Trending Gamer" @2:08 stood out to me.

He was thanking all the people who go rather uncredited (outside of the credits that no one reads) for video games that put all their hard work and effort into these games. While the director's position is vital to keeping a project moving forward, without all the talented people that know how to create things like volumetric lighting, material rendering, complex AI systems, IK systems, post effects, everything that goes into not only visuals but with audio and the designers that create gameplay elements like battle systems and quests and all the countless positions these people fill to create an enormous game like this.

One of the first things Tabata did when in his director position was to create a flat structure within the division as apposed to a strict hierarchy common in many Japanese businesses and in a lot of older practices. This flat structure is being adopted more and more, especially in gaming to allow for a more open creative process when developing these titles. What this ultimately means is that more people have creative input when it comes to designing this game, which is critical when creating something as ambitious as Final Fantasy XV especially. What this also means, is that more people within BD2 are giving input on the direction of various components of the game, not just the upper level of various sectors like gameplay directors or something similar.

What I'm getting at here, is that Tabata isn't the only one that calls the shots for Final Fantasy XV, as he's mentioned many times, everyone is giving input on many sides of the game, and do blame Tabata for a lot of changes is completely misguided, as it could have been someone else within BD2 that suggested various changes. When changing Stella to Luna, for example, many of the decisions such as the name change were made with everyone in BD2, not just Tabata.

So, as I've said, it's not Nomura that created the world of Versus XIII, he was simply in place of guiding its overall direction. The thing that Tabata has mentioned is continuing and respecting Nomura's vision, something that he still has done. The important staff that worked on Versus XIII and molded its image are still working on it today, we've even met a few of them in the past through various means who have said they worked on Versus all this time. It's these people that are making this game a reality, the director's role is one of many, and while Tabata may have large control over the project's ultimate direction, not all choices made are of his alone, and so if you have a problem, you should point that at the entire division itself, not just Tabata.

Also, I'm not sure what you mean by calling him contradictory or moronic, if you could elaborate, please?

 

[NemesisSP]

Yeah look, by that logic then George Lucas, Hironobu Sakaguchi, and others like them do not deserve to be called the creators of their own stuff, because other people came up with stuff like props, costumes, bringing the thing to life. Nomura created the characters, base story concept and world along with Kazushige Nojima. If you're going to claim that person is not the creator of something even though they are listed as such, that's just being ignorant about the creative process that goes into creating a world. Nomura created the original concept, but he didn't design everything, that wasn't the point. It is Nomura's world because if he had not created the concept, Tabata and his staff would not have had anything to work with. Just because he did not create a gas station does not change the fact that, if he had not made the base concept to begin, that gas station would not exist. And as a budding creator myself, desperately trying to get my own creations out there for mainstream consumption, I find it offensive when someone claims that just because I didn't create a specific building in a town that isn't part of the main story, that I have no right to claim responsibility for creating the concept that eventually allowed that building to exist.

And yes, Nomura's original credits for this game were "Character Designer, Concept Game Design, Base Story", not just the director and the game has definitive signs of his style in it. If he had not come up with these three essential, there would be no Eos to begin with, because he created them along with his team and then developed them before Tabata and his team came in charge and changed things. It was Nomura's game, pure and simple and that is why many are not happy with the decision to let him go even now.

Also, that is an example of people giving an idea of what people think of him. Not an exact quote or a personal opinion either way on whether or not I think he is a moron. But if you really want my opinion, removing a character based on what fans think and then telling those same fans that they shouldn't care too much about a character and game that he describes as just a concept not exactly a smart thing to do if you want to assure them of this new character. And don't tell me that people shouldn't care because it was just a concept or because Tabata is just one man. My point was that, because he is the director, and has gone out of his way to try and talk about the development and how many of the things he personally felt needed to be changed, odds are that people are going to view him as the end all be all of the game. And therefore, any reception regarding him personally is entirely his own doing because he's talked about his vision for the game.

 

[LeonBlade]

Yeah look, by that logic then George Lucas, Hironobu Sakaguchi, and others like them do not deserve to be called the creators of their own stuff, because other people came up with stuff like props, costumes, bringing the thing to life. Nomura created the characters, base story concept and world along with Kazushige Nojima. If you're going to claim that person is not the creator of something even though they are listed as such, that's just being ignorant about the creative process that goes into creating a world.

You missed my point, but it's partially my fault of phrasing. Yes, you are right, Nomura did have a lot of creative control over Versus XIII, which is the one thing Nomura excels at. However, Versus ultimately never got off the ground, and you have to stop and wonder why that is. I feel that his ambitions for the game was far too grand for his own good, and ultimately wouldn't be achievable, which is likely why the project really didn't move anywhere.

His position to kickstart Versus XIII was most definitely an important one, but his position is no longer needed as the groundwork has already been laid, the bulk of the story written by Nojima and not Nomura. Take for example Kingdom Hearts III where all of the work is mainly headed by Tai Yasue and not Nomura. Yes, he still has heavy creative control over the project, but the day to day runnings for the game are done by Yasue as mentioned when after Nomura left the director position for XV the KH staff mentioned his relations with them hadn't changed, this was likely due to him actually secretly being moved to direct Final Fantasy XV as well, given that it happened around the same time Tabata took control as full director, both happening towards the end of 2014.

The main reason they don't mention him is likely because there's really no reason to. All the concepts and topics they mention as of late are new ideas and designs created by the team now and not under Nomura. The story and characters are really the core of XV, and those have already been touched upon many times in the past, and at this point there's not really any reason to mention Nomura for any real reason.

To get to my main point, it's to mention that the changes you and others refer to are not the result of one man, but the culmination of an entire division of people working on this game.

I love Nomura, Kingdom Hearts is incredible, his character art is amazing and inspirational, and I love all of his character designs, I'm not some anti-Nomura person, nor am I trying to strip of him of what he's done to kickstart the creation of what is likely going to be my favorite Final Fantasy game to replace Final Fantasy VII being my first ever Final Fantasy game.

But if you really want my opinion, removing a character based on what fans think and then telling those same fans that they shouldn't care too much about a character and game that he describes as just a concept not exactly a smart thing to do if you want to assure them of this new character. And don't tell me that people shouldn't care because it was just a concept or because Tabata is just one man. My point was that, because he is the director, and has gone out of his way to try and talk about the development and how many of the things he personally felt needed to be changed, odds are that people are going to view him as the end all be all of the game. And therefore, any reception regarding him personally is entirely his own doing because he's talked about his vision

Like I clearly stated in my post, it was not the sole decision of Tabata, but of many in the company to make this decision. Another point to make is that Stella's transition into an entirely new character was likely already in place back in the E3 2013 trailer when Nomura was still acting as director. While her design and name hadn't changed at this point, changes were still being made as going forward XV would need to make a lot of internal restructuring. This is something they did somewhat reluctantly, not out of the desire to upset fans of the game, and once again was made by many developers who tried to work Stella into the narrative as she was, but ultimately couldn't find a way to make her fit. Remember that Versus XIII was going to be its own series of games surrounding its universe. We will never truly know what Stella's role was for XV unless we can somehow get ahold of the original script for Versus XIII.

Thank you for elaborating more on your opinions, my post here is a bit scattered as I edited it in many different locations and out of order, so I hope it all makes sense. Just so we are on the same page, I will reply to a few more of your points in your post.

And yes, Nomura's original credits for this game were "Character Designer, Concept Game Design, Base Story", not just the director and the game has definitive signs of his style in it. If he had not come up with these three essential, there would be no Eos to begin with, because he created them along with his team and then developed them before Tabata and his team came in charge and changed things. It was Nomura's game, pure and simple and that is why many are not happy with the decision to let him go even now.

I completely agree with you here, my initial reactions to Nomura leaving the project were very apprehensive, however, over time I have built trust in Tabata with the direction of the game and ultimately the core values that I looked for in Versus XIII still shine through today for me, and so I am at the point I was all those years ago when it was first announced in that I am happy and excited for this game.

My point was that, because he is the director, and has gone out of his way to try and talk about the development and how many of the things he personally felt needed to be changed, odds are that people are going to view him as the end all be all of the game. And therefore, any reception regarding him personally is entirely his own doing because he's talked about his vision

I do understand this, which is why I felt the need to mention what I did, many of the design decisions reflect throughout the division. However, I don't feel that anyone would complain about things they enjoy of course, but the ones that are more sensitive for people like Stella and Regis are ones people will criticize him for. I'm fully aware of this and understand it, which is why I mention that these changes are split among many. Just as an aside, I don't really understand the point of Regis' change in design, but it doesn't bother me.

Anyways, I've rambled on too much, I hope this makes some coherent sense, I cannot argue with what you replied to me, as I didn't phrase myself properly, so I am simply explaining what I should have said the first time, so I hope you understand.

 

[NemesisSP]

Like I clearly stated in my post, it was not the sole decision of Tabata, but of many in the company to make this decision. Another point to make is that Stella's transition into an entirely new character was likely already in place back in the E3 2013 trailer when Nomura was still acting as director. While her design and name hadn't changed at this point, changes were still being made as going forward XV would need to make a lot of internal restructuring. This is something they did somewhat reluctantly, not out of the desire to upset fans of the game, and once again was made by many developers who tried to work Stella into the narrative as she was, but ultimately couldn't find a way to make her fit. Remember that Versus XIII was going to be its own series of games surrounding its universe. We will never truly know what Stella's role was for XV unless we can somehow get ahold of the original script for Versus XIII.

Thank you for elaborating more on your opinions, my post here is a bit scattered as I edited it in many different locations and out of order, so I hope it all makes sense. Just so we are on the same page, I will reply to a few more of your points in your post.

Yes, I get that, but that wasn't my point that it was fully his decision on everything. What I am saying is that saying he removed Stella because the staff didn't want to change her and upset fans and then telling those fans later that Stella was just a concept and just forget about her, was not a smart move on his part. Whether he meant to insult those fans isn't the point. The point is that many of the things he has said, very poorly in many cases, has rubbed fans the wrong way. Which is why I say that he is a polarizing figure.

And as for Versus XIII, you have to remember that we only have Tabata's word that it was never a full formed concept and he has admitted that he had a different vision for the game then Nomura did. So his view on that is suspect because he already had a different vision that didn't match up with Nomura's for the most part. Nomura was also the original director of XV and despite what many have tried to say that the announcement trailer for XV was a goodbye letter to Versus XIII, there is no definitive proof of that and in fact I highly doubt it. Yes, some things would be different, but as Nomura mentioned Stella, and his multimedia approach was already set up to be different, we cannot assume that is the case. Saying that Versus XIII never fully formed is only a speculation based on how Tabata said it and again, this is a man who admitted he was overworked and exhausted and many things he said were inconsistent last year. And because Square Enix obviously doesn't want the full details out about it, we can't assume that everything they tell us is 100% because as a business, it would not be in their best interest to be 100% open about a major shift in development.

I completely agree with you here, my initial reactions to Nomura leaving the project were very apprehensive, however, over time I have built trust in Tabata with the direction of the game and ultimately the core values that I looked for in Versus XIII still shine through today for me, and so I am at the point I was all those years ago when it was first announced in that I am happy and excited for this game.

It's very good that you have gained faith in Tabata, but my point was always that he is still a polarizing figure who made things worse by being inconsistent with his statements. I'm not saying he's not a capable director, in fact, I do like many of his games. But he is also not the person I personally would have picked for the job.

And yes, I do get many of your points as well. I'm just giving my idea on why many people are so polarized by Tabata. You are correct, he is not the only person in charge of this game. BUT he is the person who has been the most vocal about the games development, so many see him as the sole arbiter of this game. And many things he has said have had a polarizing effect on the fanbase. Personally, while I think that Tabata comes off as a mix of arrogant but still friendly, I do think he's doing his best and believes he's doing so. I don't think he has a vendetta against Nomura. I think he's human and prone to mistakes and he has made plenty of them. And while I do not agree with them, I am willing to give the game a chance.

 

[RetroPS4]

And as for Versus XIII, you have to remember that we only have Tabata's word that it was never a full formed concept and he has admitted that he had a different vision for the game then Nomura did. So his view on that is suspect because he already had a different vision that didn't match up with Nomura's for the most part. Nomura was also the original director of XV and despite what many have tried to say that the announcement trailer for XV was a goodbye letter to Versus XIII, there is no definitive proof of that and in fact I highly doubt it.

This is the only part of your quote I don't quite agree with and I want to explain why using this excellent post. I was quite long so a bolded a couple of points.

I would love to hear other members opinions on this subject and how we can all truly enjoy Final Fantasy XV for what it is, art created by numerous talented individuals.

To anyone who thinks Tabata is fully changing Nomura’s vision. Let me highlight an interesting point.

Has anyone ever really looked at the Final Fantasy XV E3 2013 reveal trailer? If you look at it in a more reminiscent way, behind all its splendor and craziness, it is in essence a goodbye to Final Fantasy Versus XIII.

The whole trailer has dialogue pertaining to the changes and transformation of Versus to XV. Also even more interesting is the aspect that when this trailer was released Nomura was still director of the project and he is now still the current character designer.

The trailer opens up with a conversation between Noctis Lucis Caelum and what is perceived to be Stella Nox Fleuret (The now deleted heroin of Final Fantasy Versus XIII). This can be assumed because the dialogue is very similar to the trailer four years prior which depicts their meeting at a peace treaty party.

Stella’s voice rings out across a misty field, “Noctis, you see the light too.” As the prince replies “There are things I just “know” and I have no idea how.“ This dialogue’s purpose is to solidify to those who have followed Versus XIII that it is Noctis and Stella talking.

The visuals as well here are very interesting. The video depicts a young Noctis and surprisingly what seems to be a young Lunafreya, who as we know, now replaces Stella. As the two of them run through a misty field one has to wonder why the trailer has these inconsistencies? Why does the trailer depict Luna at the beginning as well as Stella’s dialogue if Luna replaces Stella’s character?

It gets even more interesting as the dialogue continues
As the scene goes on we still assume Stella is talking. “I can’t stay any longer.” She says.

Noctis replies, "My heart won’t let go.” With Stella following with a determined, “Don’t worry about me, live your own life.”

This conversation can be taken and analyzed numerous ways but it is interesting to wonder if it was made purposefully to foreshadow Luna replacing Stella while Noctis figuratively lives on in the transition to Final Fantasy XV.

Now we come to the next scene of the white robed man and the dialogue he says. “The world we purport to know is ever changing, ending as we speak. So it is and always will be.” It is interesting to see the language used throughout the trailer that highlights change and the end of the old and beginning of the new.

As it transitions into the following scenes we can draw numerous conclusions but not very concrete ones as the scenes that follow are more core story related (I’ll leave those interpretations, if there is any, up to other people.)

When it gets interesting is at the very end during the flashing of characters on the screen. It is important to note that Stella, as Versus XIII fans have known her is shown during the line up. Although, wasn’t Luna just shown during the opening to the trailer?

After the line up ends and the music is about to crescendo we witness Lord Commander Cor Leonis talking to Noctis asking him, “You want the truth?“ Noctis replies with a nonchalant "Why not.” Then Cor finishes with, “It’s complicated.”

This line of dialogue to me stands out as a metaphorical answer from Nomura or Square itself in regards to the long wait fans were burden with for Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Also it could be a metaphorical answer to why it was decided to be turned into Final Fantasy XV.

Why am I writing this? The point of all this is, perhaps Nomura was a part of the changes we are seeing currently and maybe it wasn’t all Tabata.

Think about this. Nomura was still on the project when that trailer came out right? Not only that but the trailer was probably put together months before E3 took place in June.
We know that Final Fantasy Versus XIII was changed to FFXV in 2012. Tabata officially stated in 2015 Stella was scrapped…. Or so we think.

My question is, why the dialogue emphasizing change and farwells and why the inconsistencies with Luna being in the trailer as well as Stella? My conclusion and opinion, these changes were put into place at the beginning of the transition with Nomura on board. Hell he may have well done the character designs for Luna and Regis’ new look that we have seen in the new “Dawn” trailer. We are just now seeing the fruits of all these changes.

Besides, evidence points to Nomura not being kicked off of the project. Evidence points to him being asked to do an even more important project… the Final Fantasy VII remake. Which, by the way, coincides with his departure from FFXV.

There is more to his original post, but I wanted to end it there, because in the chain of events, what happened next? In E3 2015, exactly 2 years after Nomura's previous major announcement trailer, we saw the reveal of the fabled FFVII remake helmed by the two people mainly responsible for the genesis of the Versus/XV Project. Further, and most importantly, the trailer for VIIR, was put together in the same very intentionally self-referential way!!

The dialogue, and scenes made sense in the context of the game and as a love letter to the 17 long years VII fans had waited, hmm sounds familiar?(ok it was 7 years of Versus by that point..wait 7?). Further, and as we have found out slowly, all the changes (and it sounds like there are many) were again hinted at in the trailer

"After the long calm" "The reunion at hand may bring joy, it may bring fear, but whatever it may bring, let us embrace it, for THEY, are coming back" Boom, here comes the unmistakable opening music to the original game and finally the first shot of Cloud and co on the way to the Shin-Ra reactor.

That trailer, and the FFXV announcement trailer continually still give me goosebumps when I see them (the gameplay VII trailer didn't-I loved it though, and though I like most of the recent XV trailers-they look cool as hell and are exciting) they don't give the same feeling as these announcement trailers did, and I think it is because each is so self-referencial.

This I think, is the strongest evidence that Nomura fully and intentionally was at least involved with part of the changes of XV-further Tabata has continually confirmed that the E32013 trailer has been the guide for the project. As far as Nomura is concerned, what is ironic is that he has said he is going to change VII too!! So, we will likely witness what happened with all us Versus fans all over again.. except this time the backlash may return.....
100-fold Kinda' poetic somehow, don't ya think...like Shakespeare..ok I'll see myself out the door now.

 

[NemesisSP]

Yeah, I admit that is an interesting theory. But I have to point out that it is only a fan theory. And this is because it has not been confirmed as being true. Yes, the announcement trailer did talk about change, but there is nothing there to suggest that it was the amount that Tabata and his team would bring about. Regis and Prompto were still in their original designs, for one.

With Stella in particular, Nomura had specifically mentioned her as being in the game in an interview after the trailer was released.And that's the thing to remember about Luna and Stella. Nomura has never been credited as having created her and he has never mentioned any of the changes made to the extent that we see. He even said while he was director that the story had not been changed.

It was only after Tabata joined that major changes started to happen. So, I'm just gonna say that until Nomura himself confirms that theory, we should treat it only as a theory and not as fact.

 

[RetroPS4]

Yeah, I admit that is an interesting theory. But I have to point out that it is only a fan theory. And this is because it has not been confirmed as being true. Yes, the announcement trailer did talk about change, but there is nothing there to suggest that it was the amount that Tabata and his team would bring about. Regis and Prompto were still in their original designs, for one.

With Stella in particular, Nomura had specifically mentioned her as being in the game in an interview after the trailer was released.And that's the thing to remember about Luna and Stella. Nomura has never been credited as having created her and he has never mentioned any of the changes made to the extent that we see. He even said while he was director that the story had not been changed.

It was only after Tabata joined that major changes started to happen. So, I'm just gonna say that until Nomura himself confirms that theory, we should treat it only as a theory and not as fact.

Personally, and this is now of course only my own conjecture, I think that the Regis redesign (because of the movie) was not part of what Nomura wanted and I think maybe the overall westernization of the project (especially of Kingsglaive) is a directive that likely came from the top at SE (Wada was still there at the time). I think possibly that Nomura didn't want to go along with the extent of these changes and SE said you can either direct FFVIIR (or leave the company) I could be completely off-base, but I feel that this could well have been at least a part of what happened. Especially since his response to the question of why he left XV was quite dispassionate.

Now to to totally clear, I wasn't and I don't believe LuminousLight either, was trying to present the initial trailer argument it as fact. However Tabata did join long before we saw any of the changes in the game (2012 I believe it was) and what I remember reading, Nomura even chose Tabata to be co-director because of the work he had done on Crisis Core and Type-0. So, Tabata certainly had a hand in the genesis of XV as it transitioned away from Versus. And, just like Nomura before him, Tabata said there would be no changes to the game at all, but of course that changed answer has continually changed over the course of the last year and a half. Anyway, I don't want to argue here, obviously we can't prove things one way or another. What I do find quite uncanny though is the strikingly similar way Nomura approached both FFXV announcement reveal and FFVIIR reveal, and that both trailers used deliberate meta-aware almost 4th wall breaking language in their dialogue, to indicate some amount of change from the originals.

 

[NemesisSP]

I don't want to beat a dead horse, but it did occur to me that a lot of the polarizing aspects of the game and Tabata is actually because I don't think SE reigned him in last year on saying so much. He obviously wasn't supposed to reveal things like Kingsglaive and other projects and it's possible many of more bizarre comments were caused by him dancing around the details. It seems to me that it wasn't till around Gamescom and the Dawn trailers that SE decided to put a bit a of gag order on him for interviews.

I don't know, just threw that out there as a reason for why his statements last year were so wildly inconsistent. I could be wrong, I just thought it was worth mentioning.

 

[Edge]

I don't want to beat a dead horse, but it did occur to me that a lot of the polarizing aspects of the game and Tabata is actually because I don't think SE reigned him in last year on saying so much. He obviously wasn't supposed to reveal things like Kingsglaive and other projects and it's possible many of more bizarre comments were caused by him dancing around the details. It seems to me that it wasn't till around Gamescom and the Dawn trailers that SE decided to put a bit a of gag order on him for interviews.

I don't know, just threw that out there as a reason for why his statements last year were so wildly inconsistent. I could be wrong, I just thought it was worth mentioning.

Say...I hope Nomura will use some things those did not remained in the final version of XV in a completely new Final Fantasy game, like Stella.

 

[LeonBlade]

Say...I hope Nomura will use some things those did not remained in the final version of XV in a completely new Final Fantasy game, like Stella.

Versus XIII was going to be his first and only FF game, so don't count on it.

 

[BladeRunner]

Stella will be in

Spoiler

Kingdom Hearts 3

 

[Edge]

Versus XIII was going to be his first and only FF game, so don't count on it.

...Please don't tell me that Nomura being the director of FFVII remake is irrelevant to your statement.

 

[NemesisSP]

Versus XIII was going to be his first and only FF game, so don't count on it.

Yes, but that was before he was made director of the remake and when Versus XIII was just starting full development. Things change, as the current version of FFXV has shown and polarized so many as much as excited many others.

Say...I hope Nomura will use some things those did not remained in the final version of XV in a completely new Final Fantasy game, like Stella.

It would be a waste of a character, there's no doubt about that, but if anything we can hope that we'll get to know more about what she was going to be before she was removed.

 

[LeonBlade]

Yes, but that was before he was made director of the remake and when Versus XIII was just starting full development. Things change, as the current version of FFXV has shown and polarized so many as much as excited many others.

It would be a waste of a character, there's no doubt about that, but if anything we can hope that we'll get to know more about what she was going to be before she was removed.

I don't think salvaging Stella is really worth it though, I mean, she's a character that fits a certain story. That's like taking Juliet from R&J and trying to shove her into another story. Things just don't work that way... For all intents and purposes, Stella has just become Luna, that's what happened to Stella.

 

[NemesisSP]

I don't think salvaging Stella is really worth it though, I mean, she's a character that fits a certain story. That's like taking Juliet from R&J and trying to shove her into another story. Things just don't work that way... For all intents and purposes, Stella has just become Luna, that's what happened to Stella.

While I would normally agree, I will have to say that in reality, characters are taken out of stuff all of the time and then re-purposed for other projects. Edea Kramer is one such character who was originally meant to be in a different game than the one she ended up. And while I would prefer seeing Stella in her original role (hence why I said I would prefer seeing her original material in my last post), it isn't unlikely that Stella would be re-purposed beyond just Luna if the demand were there. Hell, if FFXV turned out to be a success and SE would want to do something more with it than what Tabata did, they could always reintroduce the original concept. However, that is not likely, or at the least is unfeasible to do. It'd be like admitting this was how they should have done it to begin with and that sort of thing.

 

[Edge]

While I would normally agree, I will have to say that in reality, characters are taken out of stuff all of the time and then re-purposed for other projects. Edea Kramer is one such character who was originally meant to be in a different game than the one she ended up. And while I would prefer seeing Stella in her original role (hence why I said I would prefer seeing her original material in my last post), it isn't unlikely that Stella would be re-purposed beyond just Luna if the demand were there. Hell, if FFXV turned out to be a success and SE would want to do something more with it than what Tabata did, they could always reintroduce the original concept. However, that is not likely, or at the least is unfeasible to do. It'd be like admitting this was how they should have done it to begin with and that sort of thing.

This is what I wanted to say.

I want to say something unrelated. People said that Nomura was removed from the development team for Final Fantasy XV so he can pay full attention on KH3 and it turned out to be an absolute nonsense. SE can't just remove a director like Nomura without assuring him they will give him more opportunities to direct a mainline FF title + creative control like he had originally had with FFXV. It would be a risk. It would make him leave the company.

 

[LeonBlade]

This is what I wanted to say.

I want to say something unrelated. People said that Nomura was removed from the development team for Final Fantasy XV so he can pay full attention on KH3 and it turned out to be an absolute nonsense. SE can't just remove a director like Nomura without assuring him they will give him more opportunities to direct a mainline FF title + creative control like he had originally had with FFXV. It would be a risk. It would make him leave the company.

He's working on FFVII Remake, isn't he?

 

[NemesisSP]

I also want to add another bit of criticism, to move away from things Versus XIII and Stella (although the latter I have some new criticisms concerning Luna, but I won't go into it until I know more), but I'm finding a bad pattern concerning Tabata and SE's DLC ideas for this game. Such as adding DLC for blood that he proposed when he said they were toning it down, to the idea of having an art gallery DLC instead of something on disc already. The latter of which baffles me because... what's the point of making an art gallery DLC? There's no logical reason for it and no matter how good the art is, I don't think it warrants its own DLC.

Now, I'm not saying that this is definite, he only proposed it, but I still find that bizarre. As for the current DLC offers, the pre-order DLC really seems excessive for this game. I'm not sure if anyone else thinks so, but I figure this is a good place to see if perhaps to figure it out.

 

[Lulcielid]

Excesive in what sense?

 

[LeonBlade]

I also want to add another bit of criticism, to move away from things Versus XIII and Stella (although the latter I have some new criticisms concerning Luna, but I won't go into it until I know more), but I'm finding a bad pattern concerning Tabata and SE's DLC ideas for this game. Such as adding DLC for blood that he proposed when he said they were toning it down, to the idea of having an art gallery DLC instead of something on disc already. The latter of which baffles me because... what's the point of making an art gallery DLC? There's no logical reason for it and no matter how good the art is, I don't think it warrants its own DLC.

Now, I'm not saying that this is definite, he only proposed it, but I still find that bizarre. As for the current DLC offers, the pre-order DLC really seems excessive for this game. I'm not sure if anyone else thinks so, but I figure this is a good place to see if perhaps to figure it out.

Pre-order DLC is by far the most innocent of all DLC. And with DLC like blood and art gallery, it was never specified if it would even be paid or not. As of right now, no paid DLC has even been announced to my knowledge.