"Final Fantasy XV" is easily one of the most ambitious JRPGs ever made and has been in development for a decade. However, during PAX West (via IGN), director Hajime Tabata stated that the game will become a little bit more linear and story-heavy during the end and he did explain why this direction was taken.
"I didn't want to end the game in an open world type of environment," he stated. "At the very end, when the main character and the enemy are going against one another, there's a build up in the story. I wanted to ensure that that last part was a little bit different from the open world environment and more of a packed, condensed type of game experience."
Tabata did explain that this doesn't necessarily mean players won't be able to go back to the open world portion of the game to visit other places and finish other quests. However, transitioning from the final portion of the game back to the previous areas will be different.
According to Tabata, the linear portions begin with a train sequence and this is near the every end. From that point on the players won't be able to physically go through a door or hallway back to the open world and explore. Instead, they'll have to warp back out via a menu option, ensuring players can still travel back and forth.
From that train sequence onward the game focuses entirely on its story as the heroes and villains collide, ensuring the plot is not lost with the open-world mechanics of the previous sections. It will remain this way from that point on until the end of the game.
"Final Fantasy XV" will launch for the PS4 and Xbox One this Nov. 29. No PC version has been confirmed but Tabata has stated in the past that a PC port may be released in the future but it won't be launching simultaneously with the console versions.
