A few days before the launch of Final Fantasy XVI, Square-Enix organized a pre-launch event in Los Angeles, broadcast live tonight from 1:00 a.m.. It’s with a brand new trailer dubbed Ascent that this celebration has begun, even as the Salvation trailer of Playstation Showcase was supposed to be the launch trailer. Then it’s new CEO of Square-Enix Takashi Kiryu who came on stage to speak, speaking in particular of his youth and his philosophy for society. A short message from Jim Ryan was also broadcast. After that, Naoki Yoshida and Michael-Christopher Koji Fox took over, introducing the program and the speakers.
Several other video messages gave voice to Yoshinori Kitase, Final Fantasy brand manager, Atsushi Inaba’s PlatinumGames and Tai Yasue, co-director of Kingdom Hearts IV. Why them? Well, simply becausesome of the developers from that other publisher’s license and members of that other Japanese studio led by Takahisa Taura helped develop some parts of FFXVI. For more details on their exact role, it will be necessary to wait until the game is available before interviews or other tell us more.
The game demo promised for a while now will see the light of day this Monday, June 12, at 10:00 a.m. in France, although it may take a little longer for it to arrive on the servers and appear online. It will allow, as we mentioned, to play at the beginning of the adventure of Cliveabout 2 hours of play retracing the events of his youth, probably until the appearance of the logo, read our most recent impressions of the game. The save can then be transferred at launch. But that’s not all, because a special demo will then be unlocked on the title screen, allowing you to try out the combat mechanics in the Fort Northwind with additional skills compared to the real segment. Yes, this is the demo of our first preview in front of Garuda. It will be possible to replay it as many times as you wish, without porting the progress of course.
The panel with Game Director Hiroshi Takai and Combat Director Ryota Suzuki on the other hand showed of brand new gameplay with an S-rank fighter facing Atlasan armored creature that was level 45 while Clive was only 30. If the content creator Maximilian Dood failed to overcome it, Ryota Suzuki succeeded, showing us his mastery of parries. In short, if you are skilled enough, even a much stronger enemy can be overcome.
Alanah Pearce, creative director Kazutoyo Maehiro and Koji Fox then came to talk about storytelling, recalling inspiration taken from Game Of Thrones mainly in the tone and the desire to create an immersive world. The story revolves around Clive and spans from his youth to his thirties, allowing us to see the evolution of Valisthea through him when he will have to accept himself and his role in this world. And since finding yourself doesn’t happen quickly, the team has therefore chosen to play with time to make us feel it. A point was also made on there Chronographyused to give the essential information at a given timefor example to know who is the character that we have just seen without exiting the game, the lore managed by Harpocrates At lair And Viviannefrom whom Clive will be able to take stock of the geopolitical situation since not all events will necessarily revolve around him. As for the side quests, an objective such as killing three goblins (this is an example) will be placed in a specific context with why they are there, etc., all in a way that does not interfere with the main plot while providing useful rewards.
The last panel dedicated to music with Alex Moukala and Masayoshi Soken had a surprise in store for us, namely the distribution of an advertisement live action carried out by commercial director Diego Contreras in Croatiawhich took the stage for the occasion, taking the form of a musical centered on the transformation of Clive. The arrangement played there was specially composed for the occasion. Among the other interesting details for the composer’s fans, we learned in particular that it is on Mario Slam Basketball that Soken called on Koji Fox to rap and they never left each other. We even had a little musical performance to finish.
The release date of FFXVI is as a reminder set for June 22 on PS5. You can pre-order it on Amazon from €71.99 Or from €68.99 at Fnac.
Read also: Final Fantasy XVI: 25 minutes of gameplay shared between a fiery boss fight and dungeon exploration
| Alexandre SAMSON (Omega Law) Responsible Corrector – Editor | ||
| Addicted to Assassin’s Creed and Destiny, great fan of RPGs and passionate about video game experiences in general. Reader of comics (DC) and various manga (One Piece!). Chemist by training and Whovian at heart. | ||
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