Final Fantasy XV Map: Fictional World Or Pangaea?
When prompted to imagine what a Final Fantasy map would look like, one should think of several large sections of “Earth”, split apart by vast oceans and, perhaps, small islands hidden off certain coastlines. It’s the way the games have been throughout most of the series’ history, with exceptions coming from titles with double-digit numbers. While open world exploration is central to Final Fantasy XV’s “bro trip,” GameSpot’s interview with game director Hajime Tabata reveal that the game’s map may be closer to a single mass of land.
“The world [of Final Fantasy XV] is connected by continuous land,” Tabata told GameSpot. “If those areas were disconnected, it would feel distant from reality. You’ll find that you’ll be able to walk or drive or take a train and travel through this world seamlessly. I feel you’ll be able to experience something similar to a real trip.”
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What’s more telling about this interview is that when asked if airships would appear in Final Fantasy XV (you know, since it would defeat the purpose of the car and it’s a connected land area anyways), Tabata said it is “still to be determined” as the technical team looks to overcome the challenge of its implementation. The fact that story-related creative concepts are still not set in stone should be indicative of the fact that Final Fantasy XV is still nowhere close to being finished.
Tabata’s vision for the series has already taken some risks with the entire “not being an active or static turn-based RPG” concept of action-RPG gameplay. While Final Fantasy XV seems to drive home the notion of a fantasy game based around the realities of our world, I’m not sure how one Pangaea-like mass of land will play over an entire game. Perhaps the layout is being a bit simplified in an effort to not over/under promise in a game currently in development, but it will definitely be interesting to see how much of a departure from Final Fantasy’s basic tenets we will see from the final product.
Final Fantasy XV will be released on PS4 and Xbox One. Some day.
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