After Game Director Hajime Tabata revealed at PAX last week that Final Fantasy Type-0 HD on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One was about 80% done, he spoke with Kotaku and gave us an estimated release window:
We probably wouldn’t age another year until it’s released. We really do want the PS4 and Xbox One install base to grow in Japan as well, so we do want a release as quickly as possible.
So, if Tabata’s comments hold true, you should be playing Final Fantasy Type-0 HD on your PS4 before the end of August 2015.
Switching the conversation to a lack of PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Type-0 HD, Tabata explained that he wants the HD version on the new consoles to garner a younger audience, ultimately helping Final Fantasy XV when it’s eventually released.
Adding how he hasn’t had any experience developing for the PS3 or Xbox 360 – so it wouldn’t make sense to work with those platforms – Tabata mentioned that development for Type-0 HD started around the same time Final Fantasy XV’s development jumped to PS4 and Xbox One:
I started to be involved around July 2012ish. And at that time, I started to gain a better understanding of the PS4/Xbox One console, and really liked the environment of the platform itself, and I believed it would be a good fit for Type-0 as well.
As for the original PlayStation Portable version, Tabata confirmed Square Enix had planned to bring it to North America and Europe, but due to the US PSP market shrinking, “it wasn’t the best time for us to garner the best results.” And if you were hoping a digital-only English version of the game on PSP might come West, Tabata said, “That is not being considered. First and foremost, we want to get the packaged version to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.”
We also won’t be getting a PlayStation Vita version of Type-0 HD, though Square Enix did consider it:
We did consider whether a Vita version would make sense for the title or not. And then afterwards – this is actually something I realized after creating the PSP version – in order to really bring out the best in this title, I felt that a bigger screen would be more appropriate in terms of the depth that it provides and the distance you have to the enemies, to the characters. It just made more sense to take it to the big screen.
In terms of controls, also, it made more sense to have these sort of intuitive controls that are available for the console. In addition to that, I am aging as well, and my eyesight is getting worse, so it was easier, naturally easier to develop something for the bigger screen versus the smaller screen.
Finally, while Final Fantasy Type-0 HD won’t have any new content over the original, you can expect HD graphics, new controls for the controllers, and four difficulty modes, because the ending’s difficulty was too high and “not everyone was able to reach that ending… We wanted everyone to really experience, to make it to the end to see the conclusion for themselves.”
Tabata was able to speak briefly about Final Fantasy XV as well, with the question of whether or not Type-0 HD’s development would delay XV at all, considering he’s directing Type-0 HD and co-directing XV:
So I had personally, I do want to really kinda push the install-base for PS4 and Xbox One in Japan as well. I believe that FFXV would play a big factor in that, so I’m prioritizing my time for the development of that, to make sure it releases as soon as possible.
With Type-0 HD at the point in development where it’s “just fine-tuning and balancing the game,” he says about 10% – 20% of his time is devoted to it.
He then explained the difference between Type-0 and XV:
As an over-arching theme, Type-0 is a war-themed game, so it’s kind of like a war movie in a sense. Whereas XV is a road trip kind of movie and adventure that focuses on brotherhood. The overarching theme is kind of different in terms of scenario.
Do you think we’ll see Type-0 HD by the end of August 2014?
[Source: Kotaku]
