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| Peter Triezenberg |
The hype train is chugging along.
01.26.16 - 10:24 PM
Final Fantasy XV draws ever closer to its release, and Square Enix revealed today when we'll get our next glimpse of the game. The next Active Time Report will take place on January 30th at 11:00 PM EST/8:00 PST, or on January 31st at 4:00 GMT for European viewers. We'll be getting a closer look at combat, the Niflheim Empire, and magic, as well as some hints about what to expect during the long-teased March event. Final Fantasy XV, along with World of Final Fantasy, will be shown at this year's Taipei Game Show at the end of the month as well.
In addition, the game's developers had some new insights into the city of Altissia, one of the explorable cities in the game. According to planner, Ishikawa Tomonori, Altissia has a wide variety of different shops and locales, being of such scale that even the developers sometimes get lost. Players can explore the streets at their leisure or take a gondola. Tomonori promises that there will be a few "unique characters" to be found here.
Final Fantasy XV will also apparently have two battle modes, one geared towards action and another that is more relaxed. Personally, I think this is a great inclusion, and the developers describe as akin to choosing a difficulty setting. "The equivalent to difficulty level settings in FFXV is a system where you can switch between different battle modes," says lead game designer Takizawa Masashi. "By having this ability to switch modes, 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. This switching system is a key part of the gameplay that we decided to introduce based on the feedback we received from the Episode Duscae demo. We will go into more detail about the system closer to the game's launch so stay tuned for more information." There will also be aerial battles and large-scale boss encounters that take full advantage of Noctis' Warp ability.
Final Fantasy XV is set for release for PS4 and XB1 in 2016.
