Final Fantasy XV

[Newspaper Taxi]

I kind of like the idea of a "Road Trip" element in a modern/fantasy world. It's bizarre, sure, but it's the perfect vehicle for a fresh interpretation on the Journey of the Hero. (I didn't start out meaning to make a pun but now I'm very pleased with myself.)

I might be willing to overlook the all guy thing if it feels like a deliberate artistic decision. It is true that men and women are socialized to behave differently when in mixed company, so maybe you could wring something legitimate out of that. But I'm really being generous and going out on a limb here 'cause it's probably more likely they just were gunning for the teenage boy demographic and didn't care.

But damn, I really want this game to be awesome. While I've found things that I've enjoyed in the recent Final Fantasies, I haven't really had my mind completely blown by a FF game since X. Back when that game came out I was still in high school and I might still have had braces -- needless to say, it's been a long time, indeed.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I think you don't understand how this works.

If somebody is not gender biased in any way they won't just absolutely split all the genders down the middle 50/50. They'll have some ideas that call for male characters and some ideas that call for female characters.

And I do know how politically correct poser progressives work, and they'd find a cast of all male characters sexist but a cast of all female characters completely normal even though in a completely un-gender biased world both would be equally likely.

Do you also think there should have been a female character in Reservoir Dogs? We all know Quentin Tarantino loves to exclude strong females from his films. Maybe Tony Soprano should have been female.

 

[Kelthaz]

I kind of like the idea of a "Road Trip" element in a modern/fantasy world. It's bizarre, sure, but it's the perfect vehicle for a fresh interpretation on the Journey of the Hero. (I didn't start out meaning to make a pun but now I'm very pleased with myself.)

I might be willing to overlook the all guy thing if it feels like a deliberate artistic decision. It is true that men and women are socialized to behave differently when in mixed company, so maybe you could wring something legitimate out of that. But I'm really being generous and going out on a limb here 'cause it's probably more likely they just were gunning for the teenage boy demographic and didn't care.

To me the "road trip" idea feels like the beginning of the story. Something terrible will happen to split the group up, one of the gang will turn evil, and the "hero" will embark on his quest to collect the 8 crystals to save the world from an evil empire (secretly being manipulated by some random guy behind the scenes who is only revealed in the last 10 minutes of the game) and come across an assortment of characters (including a joke character, a man named Cid who gives him an airship, and those Star Wars guys) who help him in his quest.

Call it a hunch.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I find the road trip atmosphere fascinating, certainly not what I expected. Actually trying to sell the US on the idea of driving around looking like some boy band may be a harder sell than having a couple of women around there to reassure everyone it's all heteronormative. It doesn't look very dudebro.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

More clips:
http://kotaku.com/behold-final-fantasy-xvs-first-live-gameplay-footage-1637115048

 

[SPCTRE]

I kind of like the idea of a "Road Trip" element in a modern/fantasy world. It's bizarre, sure, but it's the perfect vehicle for a fresh interpretation on the Journey of the Hero. (I didn't start out meaning to make a pun but now I'm very pleased with myself.)

I might be willing to overlook the all guy thing if it feels like a deliberate artistic decision. It is true that men and women are socialized to behave differently when in mixed company, so maybe you could wring something legitimate out of that. But I'm really being generous and going out on a limb here 'cause it's probably more likely they just were gunning for the teenage boy demographic and didn't care.

To me the "road trip" idea feels like the beginning of the story. Something terrible will happen to split the group up, one of the gang will turn evil, and the "hero" will embark on his quest to collect the 8 crystals to save the world from an evil empire (secretly being manipulated by some random guy behind the scenes who is only revealed in the last 10 minutes of the game) and come across an assortment of characters (including a joke character, a man named Cid who gives him an airship, and those Star Wars guys) who help him in his quest.

Call it a hunch.

Also Chocobos. Also also GIL.

 

[Chaos Descending]

I kind of like the idea of a "Road Trip" element in a modern/fantasy world. It's bizarre, sure, but it's the perfect vehicle for a fresh interpretation on the Journey of the Hero. (I didn't start out meaning to make a pun but now I'm very pleased with myself.)

I might be willing to overlook the all guy thing if it feels like a deliberate artistic decision. It is true that men and women are socialized to behave differently when in mixed company, so maybe you could wring something legitimate out of that. But I'm really being generous and going out on a limb here 'cause it's probably more likely they just were gunning for the teenage boy demographic and didn't care.

To me the "road trip" idea feels like the beginning of the story. Something terrible will happen to split the group up, one of the gang will turn evil, and the "hero" will embark on his quest to collect the 8 crystals to save the world from an evil empire (secretly being manipulated by some random guy behind the scenes who is only revealed in the last 10 minutes of the game) and come across an assortment of characters (including a joke character, a man named Cid who gives him an airship, and those Star Wars guys) who help him in his quest.

Call it a hunch.

This all sounds familiar to me for some reason.

Why could that be?

 

[Kelthaz]

It looks like your concerns were justified Robert. Hajime Tabata, director of Final Fantasy XV, gave an interview about the game and I'm not happy about what he had to say. This game seems like it will be about as dudebro as you can get.

Final Fantasy XV Will Feel Like A Group Of Guys Going On A Road Trip

The party will only have male characters

 

[Robert Maxwell]

That's pretty shitty.

 

[SPCTRE]

Meh, it's not like FF is going to return to the sort of relevance it once had for the industry. It might actually turn out to be a decent game regardless.

 

[Kelthaz]

And another Japanese franchise sells out to appeal to the Western 18-34 male demographic. Where have I see this before?

There's nothing wrong with making a story that is aimed solely at men, but this is the 15th entry in a 30 year old franchise with a huge female audience. It's pretty insulting to exclude millions of your fans to specifically target one demographic. If this had been a spinoff, Final Fantasy: Road Trip, I wouldn't have a problem with it.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

It seems like my concerns may have been a bit overblown because my straight/bi female friends are already calling it "Fujoshi Fantasy XV" and looking forward to lots of male eye candy.

I mean, as long as it makes 'em happy.

They think the red shoe soles are stupid as hell, though.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

It seems like my concerns may have been a bit overblown because my straight/bi female friends are already calling it "Fujoshi Fantasy XV" and looking forward to lots of male eye candy.

I mean, as long as it makes 'em happy.

They think the red shoe soles are stupid as hell, though.

I was thinking that this is the least macho game supposedly targeting just guys.

The thing is with a road trip story it doesn't seem too odd to me for it to be just guys. I mean there's a reason Two Lane Blacktop is the story focuses on guys and Thelma and Louise women. I understand gaming could use more inclusiveness though.