FINAL FANTASY XV EPISODE DUSCAE 20150320171723

In a rather bizarre, but admirable way of doing things, Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata has taken feedback from the official Episode Duscae demo survey, and has addressed each complaint one by one, via a recent livestream event. If you'll recall, the aforementioned survey covered a lot of ground, asking users to rate the demo overall, rate its separate components, and take a minute to detail their least favourite parts of Episode Duscae.

And so here we are, with a mountain of translated responses from Tabata. Starting with more general data, on average, Japanese users rated the demo 8.0/10, while both North American and European users settled for 8.3. Overall, the demo was rated quite highly, with most individual scores sitting between the 7 and 9.

After sharing the numbers, Tabata then goes on to detail the most common criticisms of the download, starting with the lock on mechanic, which we thought was easily one of the most useless systems that we've used in a while. "Honestly, there were many instances where we also felt that the targeting system wasn't behaving as we had envisioned," he said. "The most common internal criticism was that the targeted enemy would go off-screen," he continued, before adding: "We've already begun addressing it."

Moving onto complaints such as the camera being too close to Noctis so that you can't see around you during combat, and the fact that the camera itself is unnecessarily difficult to swing around, Tabata again assures us that it's all being worked on, with a far smoother camera, and optional camera distances being implemented.

Your allies' artificial intelligence will see improvements as well, with many players complaining that they often get in the way of attacks, and struggle to properly defend themselves – and we can certainly attest to that. "We're fully aware that the AI is dumb. I get upset, too, when they go and get themselves knocked out," Tabata responded.

Next, graphical and technical criticisms come into play, with the director once again assuring us that the development team is optimising the full release as best as it can. In contrast, Tabata is quick to point out that the game is gunning for a feel of realistic movement when told that many users found the movement was too slow, or unresponsive. "We are highly focused on footing, or feeling connected to the ground. This isn't just about the contact between characters or aiming to make every and all movements realistic, but more importantly, it's about making sure the player character truly feels like party of the Final Fantasy XV world, as that will in return allow the player to immerse themselves in the game, and experience everything in the game as something that truly belongs," he said.

He also all but confirms that the final product will feature a mini-map or compass, and a traditional dodge roll – which should really come in handy during combat. On top of that, it sounds like Final Fantasy XV will receive some sort of difficulty setting, as apparently, most Japanese players found battles too tough, while Western users generally found combat to be too easy. Tabata elaborates: "There's no difficulty option currently in the works for the final release. But since we're working towards releasing the game simultaneously worldwide, instead of releasing first in Japan and then to the rest of the world, we do feel there is a sense of obligation to fulfil lots of needs. And as one of those needs, we understand that difficulty options may be important. So I think we'll include it. We will." Sounds good to us.

At the end of the livestream, bonus Western-based complaints were put before the director, which focussed on the often awful voice acting, and the opinon that Cindy, the demo's mechanic who has a love of short shorts, is 'too sexy'. Thankfully, regarding the former, Tabata confirms that "the voice acting is already different than what's in the demo", while talking about the latter, the director points out that "she's actually not meant to be an erotic character. Her character is very energetic and outgoing, a very active character."

And finally, it's revealed that the demo itself will be getting patched next month. The update will include numerous improvements, such as the addition of more combat options, a better camera, and, perhaps most importantly, tweaked targeting mechanics.

And so, we have to ask: are you still playing the Episode Duscae demo? Are you hoping to see the full game at E3? Feel free to watch the entire question and answer section that we've embedded, and tell us what you think of Noctis' escapades in the comments section below.

[source gematsu.com]