World of Final Fantasy

World of Final Fantasy
File:World of Final Fantasy logo.png Logo artwork for World of Final Fantasy designed by Yoshitaka Amano
Developer(s)	Square Enix
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Director(s)	Hiroki Chiba
Producer(s)	Shinji Hashimoto
Artist(s)	Yasuhisa Izumisawa Tetsuya Nomura
Composer(s)	Masashi Hamauzu
Series	Final Fantasy
Engine	Orochi 3
Platforms	PlayStation 4 PlayStation Vita
Release date(s)	2016
Genre(s)	Role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player

World of Final Fantasy (Japanese: ワールド オブ ファイナルファンタジー, Hepburn: Wārudo obu Fainaru Fantajī) is an upcoming role-playing video game in the Final Fantasy series. It was first announced at the 2015 Electronic Entertainment Expo during Sony's press conference. The game is set to be released for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita systems sometime in 2016. The game is intended to feature gameplay reminiscent of early games in the Final Fantasy series, with an emphasis on accessibility to younger players. The game will follow two siblings who have been thrust into a world known as Grimoire, where they encounter characters and creatures from various Final Fantasy games.

Gameplay

World of Final Fantasy is a role-playing video game in which players take control of twin siblings Lann and Reyne as they navigate the world of Grimoire. In Grimoire, all the characters and monsters encountered by the player are rendered in a chibi-style. The exceptions are Lann and Reyne, who can shift at will between chibi form and their true forms. During their travels, Lann and Reyne befriend various monsters called Mirages that they can utilize both in battle and within the navigable environment: examples of this usage include riding larger Mirages as mounts or using them to navigate environmental puzzles. The game's battle system makes use of the Active Time Battle (ATB) system employed by multiple Final Fantasy games. In battle, players control a party of Mirages which can be stacked upon each other to grant various boons in battle while decreasing the number of turns that can be taken. The types of Mirages used affect the party's available skills and abilities in battle. Mirages are befriended in battle after they have been sufficiently weakened, and once in the party can be freely named. In addition to standard Mirages are special Mirages that can be temporarily summoned into battle using Action Points (AP): the Mirage remains in battle, replacing the main party, until the summoner's AP is depleted.

Premise

The story is set in the world of Grimoire, a land inhabited by classic Final Fantasy characters and monsters. The two main protagonists are Lann and Reyne, siblings suffering from amnesia and holding a strange power in one of their arms. The pair travel to Grimoire hoping they recover their memories, and end up making alliances with classic Final Fantasy characters and a companion creature called Tama.

Development

World of Final Fantasy is directed by Hiroki Chiba: while his debut project as director, he previously worked on the series as a designer and writer, most notably on Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy Type-0. The aesthetic was intended to contrast directly with the increasingly realistic graphics of the main series. The story was written to be similar to Final Fantasy games prior to Final Fantasy X, with the volume meant to be equivalent to Final Fantasy VI, VII and VIII. Its main focus was creating a light-hearted experience while still retaining darker narrative elements associated with the series. The "World" title held multiple meanings: it was at once a Final Fantasy world in its own right, and a world where multiple Final Fantasy titles merged.

The normal-sized characters were designed by veteran series designer Tetsuya Nomura, while the chibi designs were done by Yasuhisa Izumisawa, who had previously worked on Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. Classic monster designs were drawn from early series artwork by Yoshitaka Amano. The chibi designs were drawn from those created for mobile spin-off Pictlogica Final Fantasy, with designs being shared between the two projects. Due to the veteran characters being used having strong initial images, Chiba was careful not to damage that image with the new visual interpretation. During this process, Chiba consulted Nomura on how the characters would move in this new form. Chiba was responsible for all the included characters, rejecting suggestions from other staff members and focusing on story relevance when choosing. Amano also designed the artwork for the logo, using the concept of a large number of monsters fighting with the main characters. The music was handled by Masashi Hamauzu: in addition to original music, Hamauzu was in charge of doing new arrangements of classic themes.

The battle system was inspired by the Active Time Battle system variants used in the Super Famicom era of the series. The concept of monster stacking was first suggested by producer Shinji Hashimoto, which the stacking ability was inspired after Chiba saw a sketch by Izumisawa of a Magitek Armour with multiple other monsters stacked on top. After this was decided, the development team were faced with the problem of console specifications which would effectively display this effect. Because of this, they decided to develop the game for the PlayStation 4. In addition, they wanted players to be able to play the game in shorter sessions in addition to having access to it on the go, so they also developed a version for the PlayStation Vita. This decision allowed the team to implement cross-saving features between the platforms. The game used the Orochi 3, which was chosen to help speed development due to its developer-friendly structure. The game was first revealed to the public at the 2015 Electronic Entertainment Expo. At the time of its reveal, the game was said to be 30-40% complete.

External links

• Official website