Why You Shouldn’t Panic Over FFXV Not Being Fully Open World

Square Enix has tried to distance Final Fantasy XV from being described like a Western open world game, and back in May Tabata said outright Final Fantasy XV isn’t fully open world.

But today, when fans learned Tabata said in a new interview that the second half of the game has a linear progression, panic ensued.

People claim Square Enix lied, Final Fantasy XV will have Final Fantasy XIII’s structure in reverse, and that this dooms Final Fantasy XV.

None of this is true.

First, if you believed Final Fantasy XV would be a true open world game, you should have started panicking a while ago. Again, Tabata already clarified the game’s structure a couple months ago:

The game isn’t set in an open world where you can freely go wherever you like. Since there is a main quest, the more you progress, the more places you’ll be able to go.”

He said it wasn’t fully open world the way players thought it might be. My takeaway from that explanation was that it was a semi-linear structure, similar to traditional Final Fantasy games (although without a world map).

With that out of the way, here is Tabata’s new statement:

The entire game structure for Final Fantasy XV consists of both open-world and linear parts. The first half keeps going as an open-world, but the story in the second half’s is led by a linear path. That way, you won’t get bored of an open-world as the rest of the game tightens, so we made it in a way that you’ll also get to advance through it as you have in conventional Final Fantasy games. If you play through the first half and only the main route of the second half, I believe the estimated play-time sits at around 40 to 50 hours.”

Now, let’s break it down and see why you shouldn’t panic over Final Fantasy XV not being fully open world.

“The entire game structure for Final Fantasy XV consists of both open-world and linear parts.”

At first glance, this is different from what he said before. However, it adds up with what we’ve seen. We know from Tabata’s earlier statement that Final Fantasy XV is not full open world. At the same time, they’ve shown open areas that allow a great deal of freedom and exploration.

Together, it suggested there were open world areas within a linear structure. This isn’t new.

“The first half keeps going as an open-world”

The open nature we’ve seen so far will be the first half of the game. Since Final Fantasy XV was estimated to have a 40-50 hour story plus 100 hours of side content, players shouldn’t worry about not having enough to do.

“but the story in the second half’s is led by a linear path.”

The wording here is vital. Unlike how it’s been reported, Tabata did not say “the second half is linear.” He said the story is led by a linear path.

It doesn’t become Final Fantasy XIII’s hallways. Its story follows a linear progression. This is normal for the Final Fantasy series and many other RPGs.

That way, you won’t get bored of an open-world as the rest of the game tightens

Some open world fans might object to the idea that an open world could ever be boring, but this re-emphasizes the previous point, that the change in structure is meant to support a tighter, more focused story progression.

“so we made it in a way that you’ll also get to advance through it as you have in conventional Final Fantasy games.”

This goes back to the implications of Tabata’s comments in May, that Final Fantasy XV’s structure is actually akin to conventional Final Fantasy games.

Note, he did not say Final Fantasy XIII.

Past Final Fantasy games have a semi-linear structure where new areas open up as you advance in the story. You have options, places to explore, and side content, but the story itself follows a linear path and the entire world isn’t free to explore.

That’s what Final Fantasy XV’s second half will be like.

“If you play through the first half and only the main route of the second half”

One key word stands out here: only.

If you play through only the main route of the second half.

This should clear up any lingering fears that the second half of Final Fantasy XV will be fully linear. If it’s possible to play only the main route, then there must be content in the second half aside from the main route.

In other words, Final Fantasy XV’s second half still contains side content.

“I believe the estimated play-time sits at around 40 to 50 hours.”

This goes back to the playtime estimate, and it’s interesting to note that the 40-50 hour range previously cited for the main story is how long Tabata feels it will be if you play through the first half and the main route of the second half.

It’s strange that he mentions “the first half” as a whole as part of that time estimate, which either means most of the side content actually is in the second half, or he’s just considering the story parts of the first half without saying so.

Either way, there’s one important thing to take away: Final Fantasy XV has a lot of content.

Finally, there’s one more reason you might panic over these comments, so let’s clear that up as well. Since the second half is the one with the linear story path, some fans worry this they’ll be railroaded to the end from that point on, unlike traditional Final Fantasy games which open up before the final boss.

Back when Tabata first mentioned the semi-linear structure, he also said “you can return to areas you’ve previously visited so long as it’s before the last boss.” Therefore, backtracking will be possible.

More importantly, Tabata told Game Informer that you’ll get the ability to fly “near the end of the game as an additional challenge.”

We’ve seen the Regalia flying across numerous environments.

This shows you’ll be able to freely travel through the world once you can fly. You won’t be able to fly until near the end of the game. Therefore, you’ll still be able to backtrack and explore in the game’s second half.

Final Fantasy XV may not be fully open world, but that doesn’t mean it will be linear, either. In fact, from everything they’ve said so far, Final Fantasy XV’s structure will in many ways resemble the structure of traditional Final Fantasy games.

Any other reasons you’re worried about this new revelation? Do you still think Tabata and Square Enix are trying to deceive fans? Let’s discuss it in the comments.

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The post Why You Shouldn’t Panic Over FFXV Not Being Fully Open World appeared first on Samantha Lienhard.