[Spoilers] FFXV story pacing

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Bionicle8563

SOLDIER Second Class
May 25, 2016
300
199
Australia M8
#1
So there seems to be an interview Famitsu got to do with Tabata in which they played till chapter 3 and then asked him about the rest of the game. Tabata replied:
“I believe it covers about 15% or so. The chapters go from 0 to 15."
And
“The entire game structure for Final Fantasy XV consists of both open-world and linear parts,” said Tabata. “The first half keeps going as an open-world, but the story in the second half’s is led by a linear path. That way, you won’t get bored of an open-world as the rest of the game gets tightened up, so we made it in a way that you’ll also get to advance through it as you have in conventional Final Fantasy games. If you play through the first half and only the main route of the second half, I believe the estimated play-time sits at around 40 to 50 hours.”

Read more at http://www.siliconera.com/2016/08/2...-half-second-half-linear/#rdVzDpst7Xd1oHgY.99
(Yeah I just copy pasted the stuff from Siliconera cause why not. Thought its enough to elicit a discussion on its own)

I personally think this can be a great thing because they can make the story feel more important and kinda stop you from dicking around when the next objective is "Save the Princess" or something. As long as they do it correctly and its not confined to corridors, it should be fine. Like having a couple of places to go and get supplies, but it wouldn't allow you to go and fish for an hour or just randomly race around.

Hope I didn't use the Spoiler warning incorrectly/make the title too unrelated.
 

TwoDotsO

Clan Centurio Member
Jul 30, 2016
131
143
#2
The first half keeps going as an open-world, but the story in the second half is led by a linear path. That way, you won’t get bored of an open-world as the rest of the game gets tightened up, so we made it in a way that you’ll also get to advance through it as you have in conventional Final Fantasy games. If you play through the first half and only the main route of the second half, I believe the estimated play-time sits at around 40 to 50 hours.
It's very important to realize exactly what Tabata is saying here. He's specifically referring to the main story of the game when he's stating that it becomes more linear. We can't precisely know what that means, but I'm interpreting it as the game/story holding your hand quite a bit more in the second half and leading you through the story while still giving you the option to do optional stuff.

I don't see it as "once you hit the second half, all optional stuff is inaccessible or non-existent".

Any thoughts on the above?

Edit: I swear the average person commenting on FF XV related posts over at neogaf is juvenile and simply looking for drama/controversy.
 
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Tornak

Keyblade Master
May 18, 2014
718
421
31
Madrid, Spain
#4
Didn't Tabata mention a point of no return in the game? Something like, before the last act, you're asked if you want to continue or finish anything you might have pending?

Maybe the world truly changes due to some divine shit. Or you basically follow a relatively linear path in new areas.

Although he also mentioned the post-end content as said earlier, as well as getting the aircar around the ending part... I can't wait to see what this is all about.
 

Lulcielid

Warrior of Light
Oct 9, 2014
3,826
2,826
28
Argentina
#5
Didn't Tabata mention a point of no return in the game? Something like, before the last act, you're asked if you want to continue or finish anything you might have pending?
He said something along the lines of (paraphrasing):
Hajime Tabata said:
You can turn back to do extra stuff that you left behind just before going to the final battle
 
Likes: Tornak
Sep 26, 2013
383
288
34
#8
This sounds like a good thing to me. I agree that Tabata is referencing the main plot mostly, and the advantage of linearity in such things is that you can put an extra level of polish on events, set-pieces, etc. There's a reason you fight Titan in a small specific arena with linear sections of climbing and traversing, and it's because it allows an event like Titan to be possible at all. Hopefully it means they've got some big stuff planned.
 
Likes: LeonBlade

Zero

ShinRa SOLDIER
UFFSite Veteran
#9
What I've come to realize is that I simply don't care that much about having an open world anymore. I used to think it was the way of the future with many games, especially RPGs, and feel disappointed if I'd hear a game I was interested in wasn't going to be open world. But after playing so many of them and actually realizing how much time I waste wandering around aimlessly, or realizing how collect-a-thon focused some of them are, or asking myself "Does is it really need to be open world if I have a menu with all my side-quests listed and waypoints clearly indicated and I'm just going to go straight there anyway?", or in some cases (Metal Gear Solid V) I'm just like... what good is an open world when there is next to friggin' nothing in it? And the few things that are there are a generic, uninteresting waste of time. Seriously, Metal Gear Solid is right up there with my favorite gaming franchises of all time such as Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, etc., and MGSV ended up being my least favorite numbered game in the franchise. So much pointless, boring traveling across a huge open world. And I'm not accusing every open world game of these things, but the majority of the ones I've played have been like this. So I'm just kind of over it. In any case, I highly doubt that XV will even come close to being anywhere near as linear as XIII was in its early hours. I think it'll be fine in that aspect.
 
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DrBretto

Warrior of Light
Mar 18, 2016
1,605
1,436
41
#10
What I've come to realize is that I simply don't care that much about having an open world anymore. I used to think it was the way of the future with many games, especially RPGs, and feel disappointed if I'd hear a game I was interested in wasn't going to be open world. But after playing so many of them and actually realizing how much time I waste wondering around aimlessly, or realizing how collect-a-thon focused some of them are, or asking myself "Does is it really need to be open world if I have a menu with all my side-quests listed and waypoints clearly indicated and I'm just going to go straight there anyway?", or in some cases (Metal Gear Solid V) I'm just like... what good is an open world when there is next to friggin' nothing in it? And the few things that are there are a generic, uninteresting waste of time. Seriously, Metal Gear Solid is right up there with my favorite gaming franchises of all time such as Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, etc., and MGSV ended up being my least favorite numbered game in the franchise. So much pointless, boring traveling across a huge open world. And I'm not accusing every open world game of these things, but the majority of the ones I've played have been like this. So I'm just kind of over it. In any case, I highly doubt that XV will even come close to being anywhere near as linear as XIII was in its early hours. I think it'll be fine in that aspect.
This is not Skyrim. It's not that kind of open world. Think FFXII.
 

Zero

ShinRa SOLDIER
UFFSite Veteran
#11
This is not Skyrim. It's not that kind of open world. Think FFXII.
Oh, haha, I know :) I've been following every bit of info on the game for 10 years now, so I'm well aware of that. Moreover, I wasn't painting XV with that brush. The point of my post was to state why I think open world games can be overrated and why the mention of XV possibly being more linear at some points than others doesn't bother me.

Rereading my post now I see that I didn't actually say that very clearly. I currently like everything that has been shown about how the game's world is set up, but if there are parts of it we haven't seen that will be more linear, well, I'm fine with that too. Anyway, I like that you see XV similar to XII in that aspect. I more or less feel the same way and, to me, XII was the perfect balance between linear and open world.

I like that you all here aren't freaking out over this like many other places on the internet :)
 
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DrBretto

Warrior of Light
Mar 18, 2016
1,605
1,436
41
#12
Oh, haha, I know :) I've been following every bit of info on the game for 10 years now, so I'm well aware of that. Moreover, I wasn't painting XV with that brush. The point of my post was to state why I think open world games can be overrated and why the mention of XV possibly being more linear at some points than others doesn't bother me.

Rereading my post now I see that I didn't actually say that very clearly. I currently like everything that has been shown about how the game's world is set up, but if there are parts of it we haven't seen that will be more linear, well, I'm fine with that too. Anyway, I like that you see XV similar to XII in that aspect. I more or less feel the same way and, to me, XII was the perfect balance between linear and open world.

I like that you all here aren't freaking out over this like many other places on the internet :)
I will apologize, I re read your post and realized that I glossed over the second half after forming assumptions about you after the first paragraph. I got pretty upset at someone for doing the same with me, so I apologize for being a hypocrite.

To be fair though, I do troll around gamefaqs. It was a twitch reaction, lol.

On a macro level, I have been predicting a backlash on open world games in general for years. I posted a lot about it while following last year's pre release obsession, MGSV. Mainly, I attacked the Skyrim/GTA gameplay model, though, not the seamlessness, which I don't think we're done exploring the possibilities of yet.

FFXV appears to be something of a transitional style that explores the possibilities I reference. What some cynics are calling big and empty, I say are vast and spectacular, and in a scale not previously possible. Where a game like Skyrim sells you on this freedom if gameplay, FFXV is using the technology to sell a sense of scale, which goes hand in hand with the awe-inspiring size of the giant creatures. This is part of my particular fascination for this game.


Back on the original topic: I just got a feel in my head about what that second half means for the game and, if I'm picturing it right, I think it's definitely a good thing. It suggests to me that the first half, it's appropriate to be out and about camping and having fun, and the second half is more urgent. It's like starting the game near the calmlands. I'm sure you'll be able to stop and go back if you want, you just won't be spending the whole game opening the next sidequests hub since the last sidequest hub.
 
Likes: Zero

Zero

ShinRa SOLDIER
UFFSite Veteran
#13
I will apologize, I re read your post and realized that I glossed over the second half after forming assumptions about you after the first paragraph. I got pretty upset at someone for doing the same with me, so I apologize for being a hypocrite.

To be fair though, I do troll around gamefaqs. It was a twitch reaction, lol.
No worries, man.
 
Likes: DrBretto

Kunika

Stiltzkin's Apprentice
Aug 10, 2016
5
1
43
#14
"the story in the second half’s is led by a linear path" But this also means that we can still freely roam around the game if we dont do the main quest, right? I think one charm of the Final Fantasy is to explore the world and beat hidden boss, collect achievements, obtain hidden weapons, upgrade Chocobos (if possible), and etc before we get to the final boss.
 

llazy77

Warrior of Light
May 27, 2014
1,149
550
29
#16
"the story in the second half’s is led by a linear path" But this also means that we can still freely roam around the game if we dont do the main quest, right? I think one charm of the Final Fantasy is to explore the world and beat hidden boss, collect achievements, obtain hidden weapons, upgrade Chocobos (if possible), and etc before we get to the final boss.
It towards the end of the game not the entire second half.