Over the past few months, Square Enix has been much more open about the development of Final Fantasy XV. It's about time, considering gamers have been waiting for nearly a decade, but it's great to see the developer finally showing the title off. With the Episode Duscae demo just over a month away, fans still have a little while longer to wait - but don't worry, Square Enix knows that you want more, and they've delivered.
Following a livestream presentation earlier today, Square Enix has released over an hour of new Final Fantasy XV gameplay. Fans have seen the game in action before, but Square Enix has never released such a detailed look at the game.
The actual demo starts at around the 32-minute mark, and from there, it's straight Final Fantasy XV gameplay. It's not just running around the world's open fields or driving along the mountains, either: this is a full demonstration of the game's new controls and mechanics.
Fans have known for some time that Noctis (the game's main character) is able to warp around the battlefield and switch between various weapons on the fly, but Square Enix never really explained how it would play. The control scheme seems relatively basic: warping, parrying, striking and skill sets are all handled by an individual button, and many are context sensitive.
The game's magic system, or MP, is slightly different than it has been in past Final Fantasy games. Aside from basic strikes, many skills use MP - warping, for example, uses a small amount of MP every time you use it. In previous games, MP was used by spells and nothing else - here, it seems that MP has a far wider range of uses.
If you're looking for info on Final Fantasy XV and its upcoming demo, this is the best place to look. While the video may be in Japanese, it's easily the most detailed and informative preview of the game to date - there's no reason a language barrier should stop excited fans from watching.
At this point, the isn't that far away: Final Fantasy XV: Episode Duscae is set for release this March.
