Final Fantasy XV won't be on Vita/3DS

By Fred Dutton Published 8 June, 2011

Users demand "cutting edge graphics".

Square Enix has no plans to follow Dragon Quest IX's lead and move the main Final Fantasy series onto handhelds.

Final Fantasy XIII producer Yoshinori Kitase told Eurogamer that fans demand top-of-the-line visuals from the core series, leaving them no choice but to restrict the franchise to high definition machines.

"If you're talking about the main Final Fantasy titles, one of the strong focuses of the series is cutting edge graphics. That's what people enjoy and that's what people associate Final Fantasy with," he insisted.

"In that sense I would like to assure our users of this top quality artistic visual achievement. To do that we have to stick with high definition consoles."

Kitase added that Square will continue to concentrate handheld development on franchise spin-offs, such as the Tactics or Crisis Core series.

"Though the main Final Fantasy franchise has always been with top definition consoles, Crisis Core, for example, has been very successful on PSP. So those smaller projects we'll consider for PSP2 or 3DS."

The last entry in the franchise's primary timeline, the much-derided Final Fantasy XIV Online, launched last year, while Final Fantasy XIII-2 arrives for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 next year.

The main Dragon Quest series found huge success when it moved from PlayStation 2 to DS last year, with the acclaimed Sentinels of the Starry Skies shifting over six million copies worldwide since launch.

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About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (24) Latest comment 12 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • insincere_dave #1 12 months ago

    Any chance of making the next game less mind numbingly dull / linear so that I don't give up and sell it after 5 hours please?

  • curryking3 #2 12 months ago

    Probably a bad decision, just what I think with the way Square-Enix handles Final Fantasy these days. They could probably make a lot more money with a lower budget title where they can focus more heavily on the creative aspect of the game. If they have that creativity left in them at least... the developers of Final Fantasy have a rare syndrome in videogaming I think. Usually when a couple of lead designers or directors leave, it doesn't mean the end of the studio, but I still think Final Fantasy has been completely lost since 2006. Just saying...

  • geox30 #3 12 months ago

    I am a user and I demand to release it for the handhelds!

  • Ahskay #4 12 months ago

    Why would you want a remake of VII? It's perfectly playable on the psp, ps3 and the soon to be released Vita. It holds up very well on the portable systems, you should give it a try.

    What we all really want is to have exploration back in Final Fantasy, discovering stuff on your own, finding items, have silly conversations with characters, have a real fantasy-adventure... Like FF7 but also like FF9, but even more as a FF6. I would like those menus back to choose my attacks and not some gambits. I always thought of it as an advanced chess game, i really liked that battle system.

    Now it's more like watching a boring movie for 40hrs long, sometimes you press a button to keep yourself awake.

    OT: Why is Square being so silly? Surely an original FF-project for the 3DS and VITA (done right and in the style of the old glory games) would sell a lot. And whatever happened to that FF13 spin-off game for the psp? Surely it would be logical to release it for the Vita now or are they just getting rid of the project wasting (again) a lot of money, time and effort.
    Edited by Ahskay at 08/06/11 @ 03:31

  • galerian86 #5 12 months ago

    No, not "cutting-edge" graphics.

    WE WANT A FREAKING GOOD FF GAME!

  • Pulsar_t #6 12 months ago

    How about a Final Fantasy that's A. FINAL and B. Not Emo. Thank you!

  • DaemonSpawn #7 12 months ago

    I demand cutting edge gameplay.
    You can't deliver cutting edge graphics anyway.

  • Biker_Bob_1971 #8 12 months ago

    Post deleted at 16:59:10 06-02-2012

  • Poontash #9 12 months ago

    Would rather have a decent story and likeable characters for a change. Couldn't care less about graphics! If we did we wouldn't be buying all the old games from PSN/VC.

  • Dizzy #10 12 months ago

    Users demand 100 hours of cutscenes.



    NOT!

  • PixelPirate #11 12 months ago

    I would just like them to get FFXIII vs out the door this millennium, its becoming the next DNF....

  • uzivatel #12 12 months ago

    @Serret: "we"? I am pretty sure I want even FFXIII-2 more than a remake of a game that was cool 15 years ago.

    @galerian86: ... WITH CUTTING-EDGE GRAPHICS.

  • drhickman1983 #13 12 months ago

    I'd rather have a game with the graphics of FFVI, but with actual exploration and towns and stuff. Maybe a few NPCS. And most importantly a good story.

    FFXIII was pretty dull, and felt far too linear. Now, alll Final Fantasy games have linear plots, except previous titles had ways of masking the linearity, through exploration, hidden areas and npc dialogue. XIII attempted to hide behind cutscenes.

    I've frankly lost all interest in the Final Fantasy series, despite it being a corner stone of my gaming history. Good show, Squeenix.

  • ZuluHero #14 12 months ago

    Yes we do like the cutting edge graphics, but we'd also like cutting edge gameplay too! Make sure you don't forget to add it next time! ;)

  • Makeem95 #15 12 months ago

    Considering people derided FF13 and FF14 despite their cutting edge graphics, you'd think they'd get the hint that graphics aren't everything. On a side not, I want Dragon Quest on the PSP/NGP!

  • actionfitz #16 12 months ago

    "cutting edge graphics. That's what people enjoy and that's what people associate Final Fantasy with,"

    yeah.
    shame about the gameplay and story these days though.
    Hasn't been a decent FF game in years.

  • andywilkie35 #17 12 months ago

    Thank fuck they won't be moving it to DS - Dragon Quest IX was a terrible followup to VIII, which I consider one of the best games I've played. Watered down shite where nothing happens (although to be fair this sounds a bit like FFXIII now I think about it)

  • Toothball #18 12 months ago

    @andywilkie35

    I really enjoyed DQ9 though, haven't enjoyed an RPG that much for a long time.

  • Yuroko #19 12 months ago

    Well, that's a shame. Hand helds are my preferred place to play RPG's. Final fantasy 7 on PSP was great. Perhaps worry less about graphics and more on gameplay, level design and reducing loathsome characters in your games instead.

  • geeza2020 #20 12 months ago

    Square really dont have a freakin clue what people want from FF games anymore, do they? Couldnt give two shits about having the most absolute cutting edge graphics, I want decent likeable characters, a story thats actually engaging and not lots of emo's and children running around spouting nonsense about l'cie and fal'cie, maybe some towns to explore with NPC's to talk to, some mini games of some kind, a proper inventory and weapon system with tangible progression with armour and weapons, and not the absolute shite weapon system (IMO the worst system in any RPG ever made) from XIII. Also a world map with at least the illusion of choice and discovery, not just 40-50 hours of boring corridors interspersed with cutscenes containing terribly written dialogue and atrocious acting. Fix all that, then maybe we'll talk graphics.

  • SpaceMonkey77 #21 12 months ago

    Tired of FF, Square have brow beaten this series almost to death. It eats up so much of their time and money that they've become blinded to what's wrong with it, and what gamers want from it.

    They should consider going a ME style action rpg route with FF, because while they've always been turn based, action rpgs are sidelined by jap studios a lot. Give me an FF game like a mix of Dark Souls, Skyrim and Vagrant Story, then we'll talk. FF has gotten to flash on graphics and cosplay pandering characters, and indeed has forgotten good gameplay and exploration.

    Yes, graphics matter, but graphics are peaking/have peaked. Focus on the gameplay, Square.

  • taurus82 #22 12 months ago

    A want a Final Fantasy with DMC or Darksiders style gameplay.

  • Climhazzard #23 12 months ago

    We also demand it to have a good story, a better soundtrack, less tedious gameplay and some less annoying characters. I miss the Playstation FF days.

  • KanePaws #24 12 months ago

    I thought users demanded good gameplay and good story, not good graphics... but I guess SE knows what they're doing, what with the lukewarm reception of XIII and the far-too-early release of XIV... >_>