"Final Fantasy 15" is a departure from the franchise largely because of its different battle system, which is new to gamers and fans of the role-playing video game series by Square Enix and this uniqueness could either make or break the game, as per Nikkei Shinbun.
The Japanese newspaper believes that the game's battle system, which is inclined toward some hack and slash-ish action, may not appeal to long-time followers of the franchise. But Square Enix appears to have a concrete workaround for that.
In the "Final Fantasy 15" forums, lead game designer Takizawa Masashi said that players can actually switch battle modes. This is a feature that fan feedback from "Episode Duscae" made possible.
"We want to make it so that both players who like action oriented, technical gameplay and also those who want to fight at a slower, more relaxed pace can all enjoy the combat in their own style," he wrote.
It also does not look like this will affect the game's sales performance. Nikkei Shinbun predicts that Square Enix will be able to sell more than one million copies of "Final Fantasy 15" in Japan. The newspaper said that this is actually a slightly low figure since smartphone games is becoming popular in the country.
Meanwhile, more gameplay details were revealed by folks from Square Enix about the upcoming game. Game planner Ishikawa Tomonori teased a bit about Altissia, a city featured in the game that will be highly explorable.
"Altissia has many and varied locations, such as multiple cafes, ship-bourne market places and parks etc.," Tomonori wrote. "The city is of a considerable scale, to the extent that even the developers sometimes get lost there!" he added.
Tomonori described Altissia to have "a complex maze of streets" and in majority of those streets, "Final Fantasy 15" players will get to meet "unique characters." The place also has restaurants and breathtaking sights players will want to see on board a gondola.
"Final Fantasy 15" is expected to be released sometime this year.
