Final Fantasy 15 director Hajime Tabata discusses how the Regalia – the game’s airship – will function compared to the airships from previous games in the series.
In older Final Fantasy games, players were able to pilot airships freely throughout the game worlds. More recent entries in the series ended that tradition, but the upcoming Final Fantasy XV is bringing player-controlled airships back, which is perfect for the game’s large open world setting.
However, the airship inis not quite the same as the massive crafts seen in previous games in the series. As was revealed a couple of weeks back during the Final Fantasy XV release date announcement event, the Regalia car in the game can also transform into an airship and take flight.
Players are able to fly the Regalia freely around the open world, just as was possible with airships from the series’ past. However, unlike older games, players won’t have to worry about battling enemies while in the sky. This was possible in past games due to them having turn-based battles, and would be trickier to pull off using Final Fantasy XV ‘s action-oriented combat system– unless the Regalia was outfitted with weapons or something along those lines.
So far, the Regalia has not been shown to have any weapons, but players will be able to upgrade it over time. In fact, the version of the Regalia that Noctis and his friendsacquire near the beginning of the game will lack the flight capabilities that make it an airship. The Regalia will only be able to take flight after players complete a challenge near the end of the game. It’s unclear at this point if this challenge will be one of Final Fantasy XV ‘s many side quests, or if it will be part of the main story.
Learning that the Regalia can fly, and will effectively be Final Fantasy XV ‘s airship, is huge news. However, there is apparently still more to learn about the airborne vessel, as Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata has teased that more news on the vehicle is coming in the months leading up to the game’s release in September.
Final Fantasy XV will be available on September 30th for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Source: Game Informer