I really, really know better than to be excited by this game but for some reason that Niflheim trailer (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO7nyrNBFXA) has done it. It's probably because it is the first time since the announcement that its name has changed from FFVS13 to FFXV that the game has actually resembled FFVS13 (compare the combat scenes to the 2011 trailer seen here:
https://youtu.be/YiIx9VJWSl8?t=3m31s).
I'm opening myself up to the same disappointment Square Enix gives me time and time again, but it gives me hope that not much has been cut from the FFVS13 formula. Some of the stuff that has been cut so far has been replaced (supposedly improving the game) and just off the top of my head:
- Replaced Stella with Luna (Couldn't give a crap less. They nearly look identical and they swear Luna is a better fit for the story.)
- Replaced party switching with like four different types of team-up attacks (I'm also not as worried about this as I was, since Noctis was so incredibly OP compared to his companions it wouldn't be any fun to be them anyways. They could have had more useful companions but as they are now Noctis can already do everything they do and more).
- Condensed the planned sequels into one story to span only this game.
But what worries me are the aspects of the tone and atmosphere that seem to have been cut since it was made into a mainline FF game.
Compare the original reveal trailer (
https://youtu.be/ACSpgGAjGfM, the first 2 minutes of this video), which was absolutely dripping with atmosphere and melancholy theming from the music to the visuals and actions playing out on screen, with the Dawn 2.0 trailer (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWdUrKlV51A). The Dawn 2.0 trailer is obviously supposed to be conveying some sort of feelings or themes, but I just don't find it as compelling.
All foot soldiers in armor with guns have been replaced with robots, which one could assume to be to avoid any blood shed, which was prominently displayed in the 2006 reveal. Tabata also said that the reaper worship in Lucis (referring to how each nation apparently has a summon that they worship, with the bad guys (Niflheim) having bahamut, Accordo having leviathan, and so forth) was cut. Lucis used to worship death, but since it was taken out it will probably either be "the Goddess" (who was thought to be etro back when the game was still using Fabula Nova Crystallis, but now the game's use of the mythology is ambiguous) or something to do with sleep since Noctis and his father has both been shown at times to be "tired" in a way that implies it is important to their stories. Either way I'm a little disappointed.
Interestingly, the dudebro buddy road-trip vibe has been there since at least 2008 (
https://youtu.be/ACSpgGAjGfM?t=4m25s).
All that rambling aside, I really don't know what to think of the game. I had written it off, but with the new trailer I am stupidly hoping that it wasn't altered as much from the original as I thought. IMO, this game absolutely needs something in its plot or character development to set it apart from other recent Final Fantasies (13's friendship crap and all that), preferably a dark or tragic twist. I know a lot of people don't enjoy Nomura's work, but I just hope switching leadership, budget, and focus (not to mention the enormous scale of all the people working on XV) hasn't lead the game to become overly generic in order to appeal to as many people as possible.
