Final Fantasy series brand manager on Final Fantasy XVI and X-3, XIII series sales, more
Final Fantasy XVI may not necessarily be an action RPG.
Final Fantasy series brand manager Shinji Hashimoto discussed a bit about the series, as well as Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue, during the recent Lucca Comics & Games 2016 expo in Italy.
Here are a few noteworthy tidbits:
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
A release date hasn’t been decided, but we want to release it as fast as possible as to meet the 10th anniversary.
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue
There won’t be a Kingdom Hearts HD 2.9. As for the completely new Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage, while it depends on how you play, it’s not something that you’ll be able to finish quickly.
Since we’re working our hardest on the game right now, please wait a little bit longer. There was a rumor on the Internet that the game will launch in 2017, but we haven’t announced anything.
Final Fantasy X-3
Thanks to everyone, Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remaster sold very well. Everyone has come to expect a Final Fantasy X-3 from the plot of the audio drama included with the collection as a bonus. It’s a wall we cannot currently cross, as Kitase and Nomura are tending to Final Fantasy VII Remake and Kingdom Hearts III right now. First, we’re concentrating on the titles we have announced. Since Tidus and Yuna are immensely popular, we want to cherish their drama.
Final Fantasy XIII
We released three titles across the Final Fantasy XIII series, and I think we were able to produce sufficient results. If everyone had higher expectations, we would have considered various ways to sell it. Since Lightning is immensely popular even now, we have to think about how we can bring her up in the future.
It may be true that Final Fantasy XV has a modern aesthetic, but since we reassess the numbered releases of the Final Fantasy series from scratch, we don’t know if that will be the case for the next game. Sometimes the direction is changed on purpose based on the director, like when we went from Final Fantasy VIII to Final Fantasy IX. Since it’s based on the director’s way of thinking, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will always be an action RPG.
Watch the video of Hashimoto at the expo below, via Gamerclick.
Thanks, Game Kana.