FINAL FANTASY XV: What You Need To Know

Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV just wrapped up in Los Angeles, and the internet is going wild. If you were with us as we livetweeted the event, you already know the news. If not, here’s a breakdown of what we found out:

First things first: release date is September 30, 2016, exactly six months from now. It will be available for PS4 and Xbox 1.

We saw a beautiful piece of 2-D art that was commissioned and then turned into a 3-D animation which looks to be the opening art for the game.

The game also features a really good cover of “Stand By Me” by group Florence + The Machine.

Chocobos made it to the game. Yes, you can ride them. Yes, they have the classic chocobo theme.

When driving, the car radio has a selection of music from the various FF games, great for watching the game’s sprawling scenery go by.

Combat is very action-RPG style, use of magic and melee is what we’ve seen so far.

Using magic on monsters changes them: ice spell will leave one covered in frost. Also, if they need to, they will run away.

Lots of environments: big cities, jungles, mountain areas, a Venice-like place, American southwest, all very atmospheric and rich with detail.

There are four characters. First, Noctis: prince who is on the road with his four friends. He’s the protagonist. Has to save the kingdom and all that jazz. Next, Ignis. Noctis’s friend/advisor. Kinda looks like Egon Spengler. Third is Gladio, aka the big guy with no shirt. His family have traditionally been companions/bodyguards/human shields for the royal family. Tough hombre. Last is Prompto, the Joe Blow of the group, no ties to royalty. Already a fan favorite. We’ll find out more about them and their friendship in a special anime called Final Fantasy XV: Brotherhood, which will be five 10-minute episodes released for free online. First episode goes out tonight and the series trailer can be viewed here.

Also, a full feature-length CG movie, King’s Glaive, will be coming out this year as well. It’s about what happens to the King Regis (voiced by Sean Bean) and Luna (voiced by Lena Headey) while you’re off running Noctis all over hill & dale. The King sends out one of his “glaides”–his troubleshooters–named Nyx (voiced by Aaron Paul) to fulfill an important mission. It will be streamable or downloadable, no date given yet. You can see an announcement trailer here.

As always, there’s a minigame. It’s called Justice Monsters 5, and looks to be some kind of cross between pinball and a shoot-’em-up. There will be a tie-in app on iOS, Android, and Windows. Registration starts tonight.

The second demo has been formally announced: Platinum Demo is available for download on PS4 and XBox 1 as of tonight. You play a young Noctis in a game that is actually separate from the game proper, and are escorted through a game with your pet carbuncle. If you make it through the demo, you get to bring the carbuncle with you into the actual game as DLC. The game is designed to be fun for die-hard fans or newcomers, casual gamers, or anyone. Here’s that trailer.

Two–count ’em–two special editions available. First is Penultimate with a steelbook case, the game, a copy of the movie, and lots of bonus content.

Next up is Ultimate, adding an art book, the anime, soundtracks to all of them, way more DLC and a Noctis figurine. There will only be 30,000 made, and they’re only available through Square’s store as of 9 pm Pacific.

So, pretty big news. A ton of stuff, not just for the game but everything supplementary to it. Square has created a whole world around this game, a lot of it free, and put just an amazing amount of detail into it. Now we’ve got six months to wait, but between now and then, all the extras will serve to flesh out the world and keep excitement high.

You can find all about the release on the Final Fantasy XV website.

(Kelly Luck still has a soft spot in her heart for FFIX. Her other SciFi4Me work can be read here.)