Despite its positive reception, Final Fantasy XV has received its fair share of criticism for forcing the player down a linear path during the latter half of its frequently confounding narrative, but was it originally intended to be far more open-ended? Nobody except Hajime Tabata knows the definitive answer to that question, but a new video that’s surfaced may provide some clues.
Having discovered a rather handy out of bounds glitch in the JRPG, YouTube user Fotm Hero (via IGN) has provided some lengthy footage of himself exploring the lands surrounding the Nilfheim Empire’s kingdom, some of which look remarkably detailed for areas that aren’t normally accessible.
The locales visited in the video are the same as those you probably saw as fleeting landscapes during Noctis’ train journey to confront Ardyn, but you can see them up close and personal, as it were, in the footage below.
- 0:00 : Cartanica
- 12:33 : 3 kilometers before Cartanica station
- 16:34 : 5 kilometers before Cartanica station (African Savannah looking area.)
- 24:32 : Eusciello (snowy area.)
- 39:30 : Area where Prompto falls from the train.
- 50:56 : Pagla, area where Noct is having a conversation with Ignis on the phone while being on top of the train.
- 56:05 : Tenebrae
While the majority of the environments are clearly unfinished and unused assets, one has to wonder whether they were originally intended to be fully explorable landscapes populated with NPCs, quests, landmarks and the like. Of course, there’s every possibility that future DLC will take place here, too. Square Enix has confirmed that story DLC focusing on each of Noctis’ companions is in the works and considering what happens to Prompto during the events of XV‘s story, his add-on could very well take place here. As for the immediate future, it appears as if the muscle-bound Gladiolus is first up for some character development, where he’ll face off with iconic series character Gilgamesh.
Expect more details on Final Fantasy XV‘s post-launch content in the near future.