After rumors suggesting that Final Fantasy XV would be delayed until late November surfaced this weekend, Square Enix announced the news no one wanted to hear early Monday, confirming that fans will indeed have to wait two more months until the blockbuster RPG launches worldwide.
Now, there's no mistaking that this is unfortunate news: fans waited 10 years for this game, and now, they have to wait even longer before they can finally get their hands on it.
However, here's the thing: after waiting 10 years for Final Fantasy XV, surely a delay of only two months is nothing by comparison. Remember, we have been waiting for the game ever since 2006 when it was known as Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Times were certainly different back then: George W. Bush was still president, social-networking site Twitter had just been founded and the scientific world was abuzz about the possible presence of water on Saturn's moon Enceladus, thanks to NASA's Cassini-Huygens spacecraft.
Seven years later in 2013, things took a turn when Final Fantasy Versus XIII came back into the limelight as Final Fantasy XV (so, "technically," what we know as FFXV has only been in production for three years). Plenty of things happened behind the scenes during that time: the game, having only reached 20 to 25 percent completion, underwent a major overhaul as the staff behind the game changed (notably, Hajime Tabata replaced Tetsuya Nomura as director). Similarly, the game was no longer a mere PlayStation 3-exclusive spin-off, now, it was a mainline Final Fantasy title that would be available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and maybe even the PC.
Simply put, contrary to rumors in 2012 that suggested Final Fantasy was cancelled, the game was real, and we would be getting it in the future. As for when that day was? Fans would have to wait until the Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV event in March 2016 for their answer.
After an event that showed off the game's art, music, characters and even other forms of media that would be based off it, Square Enix revealed that the game would be coming on Sept. 30, 2016. At the time, amusingly enough, the slot-machine that revealed the date briefly locked into "November 30," before locking into its then-official date.
Back then, it was something of a joke, and the audience even had a little of a chuckle. However, now, it is almost prophetic, as the game will be coming one day before, November 29, as initially reported by Gamensia late Friday and confirmed early Monday by Tabata.
After all those years of agony, surely two mere months is nothing in comparison. As Tabata explains, the game was delayed in order to "allow the development teams time to further polish and conduct quality testing so that the reality of the game can match the expectations of both the fans and the creative teams." In fact, he declared the final game will be so good it will "send other games running in panic."
Honestly, this is a good thing, because based on what was seen in May, FFXV likely couldn't accomplish that. Yes, the game looked impressive, but it also had an assortment of issues, such as crashes, glitches and a floaty battle system that would have made Square Enix seem like a miracle worker if it managed to fix everything in time for the alleged Sept. 30 launch.
What's more, the delay will allow players to avoid a massive day one patch that they would have to download before having a chance to play the game (remember the Wii U on launch?).
Recent history has shown us that games delayed in this manner only come out stronger for it. Fans were outraged when Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and No Man's Sky were delayed, but both have gone on to become two of PlayStation 4's most successful debuts in history. It would not be unreasonable to assume that Final Fantasy XV would come out to similar fanfare, should it be given the time to fully develop.
In the end, you could argue that maybe Square Enix should have held back on announcing a date, but honestly, the biggest complaint should be where its new release date puts it. Once assumed to be a late summer/early fall release, Nov. 30 puts it in the middle of a busy holiday season. The title will no doubt do well regardless, but now, it has to compete with the likes of Gravity Rush 2, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, Dead Rising 4 and Pokemon Sun and Moon for attention.
So, yes, the delay is unfortunate, but if Final Fantasy XV is to be the game that fans expect it to be, then two months is a necessary — and short — wait.
