Final Fantasy XV has had a long road. The game has changed platforms, characters and its name in the nine long years since we first saw it back in 2006. A demo for the game released alongside Final Fantasy Type - O gave fans hope that progress is indeed being made on FFXV, and that within a year or two we might even be playing the full game.
Fans expecting a major announcement at this year's E3, however, will be sadly disappointed. FFXV director Hajime Tabata says we won't be hearing any news on the game at the show. There also will not be a new trailer for the title on display, as Tabata says the team is more focused on making the game.
Tabata revealed the news during the latest episode of Square-Enix's "Active Time Report", where Tabata also talked about changes coming to the FFXV demo as well as the omission of a major character from the game.
Back when FFXV was called Final Fantasy Versus: XIII, a female protagonist by the name of Stella played a large role in the game's story. However, Tabata says since then the story for the game has changed significantly. As a result, Stella is no longer part of the title, and instead the team has created a new female character by the name of Luna.
"We wanted to keep her as a heroine in Final Fantasy XV's story, and pursued ways to tie her in to FFXV's design as well," Tabata says. "But we found it increasingly difficult to make sense of Stella's character and role within FFXV. So then we thought, do we want to recreate Stella with a different role and image, or do we want to start over with a new heroine? And after a lot of consideration, we decided not to include Stella in FFXV."
A major scene involving Stella's character has also been entirely removed from the game.
"All these things I have been talking about have been the subject of extensive debate and were decided with utmost resolve in order to make Final Fantasy XV into the best game possible," he says. "So, at least in our mind, these decisions are making the game better."
Fans will be able to play the updated version of the FFXV demo on June 9, with many of the changes coming as a direct result of fan feedback.
Be sure to follow T-Lounge on Twitter and visit our Facebook page
