Feb 192016
Square Enix has promised regular updates about Final Fantasy XV starting today. They should be out every Tuesday and Friday.
The first update is about dungeon design.
First of all, I want to say I’m happy Final Fantasy XV has dungeons. With the open world design, they could have chosen to go a different path and not have dungeons to explore. While we don’t know exactly what these will be like, I hope they’ll be traditional RPG dungeons to visit at key points during the story.
As posted on the official blog and translated by Dualshockers, Environment Artist Hiromitsu Sasaki (pictured) and his team hope to make Final Fantasy XV’s environments “beautiful but also dark and scary, so that gamers won’t forget them.”
On Twitter, Sasaki reiterated his points and said he wants to “add beauty in dark/scary places.”
He also expressed his desire to make dungeons “unforgettable experiences” and referenced underground areas.
It sounds like we can look forward to underground dungeons, then.
(Sasaki and his team are also working on technical details, such as balancing light and darkness and determining the angle of the slopes you can traverse. They also mentioned that battles can take place on sloped surfaces.)
While this update is a little short on actual content, I like these details. I’ve noticed that horror games, from survival horror to games like Bloodborne, often have the most beautiful environments. I look forward to seeing that sort of dark beauty in Final Fantasy XV.
As for being unforgettable, good. This should mean they’re unique. Something that has frustrated me in a few recent games (such as Tales of Zestiria, trial shrines excluded) is when dungeons follow typical patterns and look more or less the same.
In your opinion, what makes a video game dungeon unforgettable?
The Water Temple in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is unforgettable. Due to frustration.
The Great Deku Tree dungeon in the same game I think is also unforgettable, or at least the big jump and break the spiderweb in the centre part.
Meanwhile, I think The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past‘s dungeon design is…very forgettable, which is why I dunno why people think the design in that game is especially amazing.
I was leaning toward “unforgettable” in the good sense, though I’ll admit some of the first dungeons to come to mind were ones that seared themselves into my memory through frustration.
Interesting. I don’t actually remember the Great Deku Tree dungeon well at all.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker‘s Dragon Roost dungeon is very likely the Zelda dungeon I’ve played the most, entirely due to because of the Collector Edition‘s demo of that dungeon.
…Sorry, it’s just that when you say the word dungeon as it relates to gaming, I think of LoZ.
I see. I think of RPGs.
I mean, if I look at my favourite RPGs, I don’t consider any of the “dungeons” in those memorable.
RPG sections are more memorable when they’re NOT in a dungeon-esque setting!
So… they’re memorable in overworlds? Towns? I’m thinking about traditional RPGs that generally have an overworld that leads to towns and dungeons.
…Yeah, I guess?
Like, what’s the most memorable parts of Chrono Trigger? Non-dungeon moments?
I don’t count boss fights as a dungeon moment, really.
Well, I suppose in RPGs, the story and characters are (usually) the most memorable parts.
For gameplay, though, I think it’s good to have memorable locations. I wouldn’t count boss fights either, but more the design of the dungeon/location.