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Final Fantasy 15 could be "what you might term an action-RPG"
"That's a trend, and you ignore things like that at your peril."
Final Fantasy Producer Yoshinori Kitase has been speaking in an interview with Edge (always a good thing to do in interviews, we find), and has some rather interesting things to say.
Acknowledging the popularity of western action-based RPGs like Dragon Age and Mass Effect, and their effects on the Final Fantasy series, Kitase commented
"I think the nature of the franchise is to present something new each time," he said. "In the global market we see many players moving away from games that used turn-based systems toward what you might term an action-RPG.
"That's a trend, and you ignore things like that at your peril."
Of course Final Fantasy has already tried the action RPG route with the divisive FFXII, which removed turn-based battles in favour of an MMO-style combat model, to mixed success. Final Fantasy XIII, meanwhile, went back to the classic Active Time Battle, but stuck to linear gameplay that was equally divisive.
"FFXIII and FFXIII-2's battle systems have those elements of speed and action that are the key words for us, though that doesn't necessarily mean we're going to stick to the same route in our next game," he said. "That's something only time can tell."
In the meantime, FFXIII-2 is shaping up to offer the best of both worlds with its open-ended gameplay and excellent battle system, as we discovered in our hands-on with the game.
