It’s The Same Old Story, But Told in a Much Bigger Way

Magical crystals have long played an important role in the Final Fantasy mythology, but they seem more important than ever in Final Fantasy XV. Every kingdom in the game’s world once possessed a crystal, but years of warring resulted in only Lucis’ crystal remaining. This creates a schism between the technophobic Lucis and its rivaling countries, who have overcompensated for their lack of magical power with advanced, manmade weaponry. The game begins with Niflheim — the country particularly desirous of Lucis’ crystal — launching an invasion on the magical kingdom.

At Least Half of the Game is Open-World

The series’ signature overhead maps notwithstanding, gamers have long been tempted by the premise of a sandbox Final Fantasy game (that wasn’t an MMO). With XV, the series will finally deliver, at least partially: according to the game’s director Hajime Tabata, the first half of the game will take place in an open-world environment, but will become more linear during its latter half for reasons related to the story.