'Final Fantasy' Gameplay News: Game Director Says They Want Players to Experience Next Project in 'Massive' Open World
The game director for Square Enix's highly popular "Final Fantasy" franchise, Hajime Tabata, recently said they were planning to let their fans experience a "massive" open world setting on their next video game project.
While "Final Fantasy XV" also featured some traveling, outdoor camping, and other activities in an open world setting, Tabata implied in a recent interview with GameSpot that they can still do better in terms of expanding their next project's environment.
"The biggest takeaway we got from creating an open-world Final Fantasy game is that we understand why the big western developers that make these massive open world games require that much manpower," Tabata shared.
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The "Final Fantasy" game director was confident that his team in Square Enix had achieved "a lot of progress from a technological standpoint." While they were able to go beyond what they have done in earlier projects, Tabata admitted: "But we also streamlined our internal process to keep up with that pace."
On the other hand, if there is one thing Tabata can promise to "Final Fantasy" fans about their next major game project, it is that they are going to do things "even bigger and better."
Aside from having a bigger world, Tabata also admitted his already experienced team can still draw inspirations from other titles – specifically from Nintendo's equally massive release "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild."
Tabata admitted that it was "embarrassing" that he had not yet been able to play "Breath of the Wild" since it was hard to find a Nintendo Switch unit, even in Japan. But, according to him, just by getting feedback from his colleagues who were able to try the game, he knew "Breath of the Wild" was "a really complete game" that was "very polished, almost a perfect game."
The veteran game developer then said they were going to use what they learned from playing a game like "Breath of the Wild" to create the next "Final Fantasy" project while using "our own technology and our own knowhow."
"Final Fantasy XV" was released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One last year. Its PC version is slated for release in 2018.
