Two months away from launch on March 17, Final Fantasy Type-0 HD Game Director Hajime Tabata sat down with Kotaku to talk about the upcoming PSP remaster, as well as his other game, Final Fantasy XV.
Starting with Type-0 HD, Tabata talked about the status of development, revealing that they’ll be working until the last minute to ensure it’s completed on time:
It’s almost in the final stages, our QA checks and stuff are almost done. So we are really reaching the final leg of the process. In bringing it from a PSP to a PS4 title, when we were looking through the game and playing through the game one last time, we spotted some points that weren’t enough, and that we wanted to address—camera being one thing. We’re working until the very last minute so that we can deliver the best product. I’ve asked a lot of people to work very hard in realizing that for us, so that’s where we’re at. I really feel like we’ve reached a point where we have been able to address some of the concerns that users have raised, so hopefully that shows.
In terms of the overall gaming experience Type-0 HD offers on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Tabata is “very proud of it.” When it comes to the graphics though, he admits, “Obviously it’s not on par with the highest level of graphics that the PS4 or Xbox One is capable of, and so there’s a part of me that wishes I could’ve reached those levels.”
As for how long Type-0 HD has been in development, Tabata says, “Actual development for the title started around November or December of 2013 [after evaluating the possible specs]. We’ve gotten up to this point in a little over a year.”
Switching to Final Fantasy XV and the demo code included with Type-0 HD at launch, there still isn’t a date for when everyone can begin playing the demo, “but we’ve mentioned in Japan that we’re working very hard towards making it available around the timing of when Type-0 HD releases. So that’s our current goal.”
The translator for Tabata added, “I think the only caveat to that is that Tabata-san and the development team are trying really hard to get that close to the launch. There may be factors beyond our control – in game development, there’s what we want and then external factors.”
When you do get your hands on the demo, it won’t be the main story you play through, though they are “kinda taking a part of the game that’s related to the main story to a certain extent.” Not simply dropping you into the open world and allowing you to do whatever you want, Square Enix is “designing the demo around kind of a good balance in terms of ensuring that there’s this playability to it, but it’s enjoyable on its own, and we’ve considered all these factors.”
To finish up the interview, Tabata revealed their original goal was to have Final Fantasy XV’s entire story beatable within 40 hours. Now, however, “It’s looking harder and harder to clear within that time. So it’s something that we’re gauging right now and trying to work around.”
[Source: Kotaku]
