Final Fantasy XV Release Date Announcement Event Slated For Late March

With all the hype that has been generated for the next Roman numeral installment in the Final Fantasy series many gamers are eager to know exactly when it will finally come out. Square Enix is preparing a big event that will answer that burning question and may even possibly something else that trailed this news. Those interested in gaining admission to the show will be required to RSVP in advance in order to get a ticket for it. This will not be available until the 4th of February. The Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV event announcement was made along with another small video of game play that definitely provokes more speculation on the full breadth of mechanics allotted to the player in Final Fantasy XV.

This new display of in-game action, dubbed the Niflheim Base Battle Footage, is a very striking sequence. It shows Noctis and company infiltrating a military base in the city Niflheim, hence the video’s title. That much is self explanatory, but shock comes from the new game play mechanics implemented in this scene. The base is heavily fortified and fight that many troops head-on would be unfeasible. There is actually a surprising amount of emphasis on using stealth to avoid detection and the use of subterfuge. Square Enix has already shown Noctis’ ability to instantaneously warp from one point to another across short distances, but this skill coupled with the stealth mechanics creates a very neat game play dynamic.

He can warp just behind enemy infantry troops and quickly kill them with one blow. It is clearly an instant win stealth kill between two adversaries alone because Noctis eventually gets caught, revealing that soldiers regularly take two to three hits with normal physical attacks. This ‘instant win’ feature is a nice way to break up the monotony of grinding and has proven to be a welcome feature in select Persona games as well as the Mother or Earth Bound series. The game play footage video sort of abruptly ends with a mysterious dragoon diving in to strike down Noctis who swiftly blocks her.

The company has already shown Final Fantasy XV to be a gorgeous looking game, but this new footage show a side of the game that no one expected to even exist. The fact that the fidelity is so high along with all of the soldiers and mechanized tanks you see in one environment without the frame rate faltering once is quite an impressive. Interestingly enough, the implication of stealth, lighting of the scenery and the presence of the bipedal mechs give FFXV an ambiguous Metal Gear classic feel. The team has clearly been trying to set this entry in the franchise apart from the rest both aesthetically and mechanically which certainly looks to be yielding positive results.

For those who intend be present at the Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV show, the event is going to be held at the Shrine Auditorium in Hollywood on March 30 at 7 PM PDT. With hosts Greg Miller and Tim Gettys (Kinda Funny), Uncovered will viewable by anyone who is unable to be in person via live streams on both Twitch and YouTube. Hopefully, more light is shed on this new game play revelation on top of a concrete release date for this highly anticipated release.