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Final Fantasy XV Director Talks Square Enix and ‘Final Fantasy Disease’

Maybe we're all infected.

E3, Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy XV, director, Tabata

In a recent interview with 4Gamer, and as translated by Kotaku, Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata brought up an interesting term: Final Fantasy disease. While the interview was quite a lengthy one, it gets really interesting when the topic shifts to Final Fantasy XV itself, the backlash that came with switching directors, and overall negative feedback that came from the fans regarding the game.

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The gist of it is this: Final Fantasy disease is an ‘illness’ that causes people to think or believe that their vision for a Final Fantasy game is the correct one. This is a phenomenon that can be observed in both individuals outside and inside the development team.

According to Tabata, there’s been negative feedback for Final Fantasy XV, such as, for example, folks not being happy with the character choices and whatnot. Of course, Tabata knew that Final Fantasy was a series with a lot of history, but felt it was important to make changes.

“It refers to people within the company who can’t imagine anything other than their own view of Final Fantasy. Since the root is a strong self-affirmation, one’s own view of Final Fantasy takes more priority than the team’s success. If that view of Final Fantasy isn’t fulfilled, then they’re convinced that it’s bad for Final Fantasy. They think, ‘Since Final Fantasy is a special team, then we are also special because we are making it. When the new Final Fantasy comes out, everybody is going to be so into it.’ But that’s not the reality of the situation, is it?”

If anything, his harsh words are a clear indication that he understands the direction the series has been heading toward, and how the fans and media feel about the series’ recent development over the years. It looks like Tabata has a good grasp on where he wants FFXV to go, and how he wants it to turn out, which could be a good sign for the series as a whole.

Final Fantasy XV is set to be released on September 30 for the PS4 and Xbox One.

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About the author

Zhiqing Wan

Zhiqing is the Reviews Editor for Twinfinite, and a History graduate from Singapore. She's been in the games media industry for nine years, trawling through showfloors, conferences, and spending a ridiculous amount of time making in-depth spreadsheets for min-max-y RPGs. When she's not singing the praises of Amazon's Kindle as the greatest technological invention of the past two decades, you can probably find her in a FromSoft rabbit hole.

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