Final Fantasy XV Director Explains Why The Game Becomes More Linear Near The End

Final Fantasy XV has a massive open world to explore, but Square Enix recently confirmed that the latter half will eventually become more linear. Director Hajime Tabata also detailed the transition in a recent interview, saying that the game actually becomes more linear as players begin to focus more on following the story.

During an interview with IGN at PAX 2016, Tabata explained why FFXV was structured this way, and clarified how much of the open world players will still be able to return and explore once they've reached the later parts of the game.

"Rather than it being the latter half, it's actually very close to the end of the game," Tabata told IGN. "I didn't want to end the game in an open world type of environment. At the very end, when the main character and the enemy are going against one another, there's a build up in the story. I wanted to ensure that that last part was a little bit different from the open world environment and more of a packed, condensed type of game experience."

According to Tabata, there's a sequence involving a train, which marks where the open world gameplay will start to focus more on the story, but players won't be entirely cut from exploring.

"Once the train sequence starts, the whole structure of the game changes drastically, where it's really focused on the story developments, and developing in a fast-paced kind of fashion thereafter," he explained. "So you won't be able to physically go back and forth between those two areas. That said, you will be able to go back to that open world environment through the menu, so you will still be able to experience the adventure that awaits you over there, which amounts to over 200 hours of gameplay. So that is still available to the player. After the whole train sequence, it kind of episodically goes through the story and takes it up to the end."

I think this is a wise choice for a role-playing game series widely known for its complelling storylines. Sacrificing open-world elements to focus on developing its epic story is an approach that had worked in the past for Square Enix before. For instance, there's a point in Final Fantasy VIII where the party could explore the majority of the map, but the player eventually reaches the point-of-no-return, where the climax in Ultimecia's Castle is developed. It's good to know that players will still have the chance to explore at least part of the world.

Final Fantasy XV will be available for Xbox One and Playstation 4 on November 29.