Square Enix have been hosting location tests for Dissidia Final Fantasy at arcade centers in Japan, and several key developers in Square Enix producer Ichiro Hazama, Koei Tecmo director Takeo Kujiraoka, and head of Team Ninja Yosuke Hayashi answered a few questions in an interview with Dengeki.
So far, it’s been announced that Dissidia Final Fantasy on arcade will feature characters from the first Final Fantasy up until Final Fantasy XIV. Dengeki asks if there’s a chance we’ll see Noctis from Final Fantasy XV as one of the characters that eventually makes it into the game.
“We’re thinking about it, of course. He would likely use something like his ‘Phantom Swords’,” Kujiraoka says with a laugh.
“There are even some among us that have been thinking about it, saying ‘if Noctis will be in it, how will he perform those warps?’” adds Hayashi.
“However, this will have to be after Final Fantasy XV releases,” Hazama says. “It would be a bit too much to play as a Final Fantasy XV character in arcades right after the demo.”
Considering that Team Ninja are working on the development of Dissidia Final Fantasy, Dengeki asks if there’s a chance of seeing characters from the Dead or Alive series. To this, Hayashi responds by saying that for Dissidia Final Fantasy, it would be best to develop the game with Final Fantasy fans in mind. Team Ninja’s role is to provide their knowhow, experience, and technology.
Since their goal is to add 50 characters or more, there may be a lot of space in the roster for other characters, but Hayashi says that Final Fantasy is a series with a lot of characters, so there will be plenty to choose from, and clarifies that they don’t have any plans on adding Dead or Alive characters.
Moving on, Team Ninja’s Soft Engine is used to show more realistic skin texture and movements to the characters of Dead or Alive. Dengeki asks whether the studio will employ it for Dissidia Final Fantasy.
“At first, we asked ‘can we try it out with Terra?’” Hayashi responds with a laugh. “However, currently, it’s been decided not to use it for the time being. I don’t know if we will by the time it’s done, but we’ll try creating the game without using it first. We’ve discussed how once a character that requires it for ‘that’ appears, we’ll think about it again.”
Dissidia Final Fantasy is in development for arcade.
