When it comes to Final Fantasy, Square Enix usually ensures that its games are at the forefront on graphical technology. Going all the way back to the Super Nintendo, the long-running RPG series has consistently pushed the limits of whatever hardware it happens to be running on – and, from the looks of things, Final Fantasy XV will be no different. Running on Square's Luminous Engine, the game is absolutely gorgeous, and it's easy to assume that all of Square's titles moving forward would use their tech.
Strangely enough, that's just not the case: speaking to Nova Crystalis at GamesCom 2015, Square Enix stated that the upcoming Final Fantasy VII remake would not be using the Luminous Engine – sadly, they didn't reveal why. Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata confirmed the news, simply stating that "Final Fantasy VII is not planned to be made with that."
So, the big question is: why isn't Square using its own ridiculously powerful engine on what is arguably the studio's biggest project in years? Sadly, Tabata didn't offer much in the way of info, but there are a few possible explanations as to why Final Fantasy VII won't be running on Final Fantasy XV's tech.
Currently, Final Fantasy XV is the only game running with the 2.0 version of the Luminous Engine (the 1.5 version was used in the Episode Duscae demo, while a scaled-down version was used for Final Fantasy XIV). In fact, Final Fantasy XV was re-worked to use the engine when it was decided that the game would become a PlayStation 4/Xbox One title. Since then, no other titles have been announced to use the engine, save for one: Kingdom Hearts III.
Then, for seemingly no reason, Kingdom Hearts III was switched over to the incredibly popular Unreal Engine 4. Square Enix never made much of a fuss about it, and save for the story itself, the studio offered no explanation for the switch. It might not sound like much, but moving a game from one engine to another is no easy feat – it's not something a studio would do without a reason.
Now, with the Final Fantasy VII remake passing on the Luminous Engine, it's starting to seem like the tech isn't all that easy to work with. It's extremely powerful, there's no doubt about that, but if projects are actively moving away from the engine, that doesn't necessarily bode well for its usability.
Of course, without any official word from Square Enix, there's really no way of telling how or why the Final Fantasy VII remake is passing on the Luminous Engine. There's a chance that the development team just isn't far enough along in development to confirm which tech they'll be using.
Sadly, it looks like it'll be some time before fans can get their hands on either game, as Square Enix has yet to announce a release date for either game – but you probably shouldn't expect to see Final Fantasy XV until 2016 at the earliest.
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