Final Fantasy 15 Trailer: Redefining Top-down RPG Gameplay, New Director Named

Square Enix has announced a changing of directors for Final Fantasy XV just before unleashing a very impressive trailer at the 2014 Tokyo Game Show.

That's not Cloud, Zell and Sasuke hanging out in the video above -- it's the cast of Final Fantasy XV. Kotaku reports that Square Enix has announced that Tetsuya Nomura is no longer directing Final Fantasy XV. A Square Enix representative said that this was to allow Tetsuya Nomura's focus on the company's other, upcoming titles, like Kingdom Hearts III. To top it all off, Square has released the latest trailer for FFXV, and it looks to be worth the wait. FFXV was originally announced nine years ago as Final Fantasy Versus XIII and its name was changed to XV earlier in the year.

Final Fantasy XV's new director is Hajime Tabata, who helmed Final Fantasy Type-0 on PSP and Type-0 HD, which is coming to PS4 and Xbox One next year. Tabata also directed Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.

Square Enix CEO Yosuke Matsuda had this to say about the game's changing of directors:

In reviewing our development structure, we have decided to assign Hajime Tabata as the new director for Final Fantasy XV. Currently, Tabata and the entire development team are working, whole-heartedly, towards completing the production of Final Fantasy XV and ensuring the delivery of the highest quality Final Fantasy title to date. We invite every one of our fans to view the fruits of our labor through Final Fantasy XV's demo, and promise to present a game that further surpasses expectations when the finished product is released.

As the director of Final Fantasy XV, Tetsuya Nomura has mainly worked on the original concept for the story and universe in addition to creating the characters. Hereafter, he will be focusing his efforts on the production of titles that can only be made possible by Nomura, himself, and delivering products that exceed the quality of past titles, starting with another one of his representative projects, Kingdom Hearts III. Square Enix will continue to work on these titles with the best staff formation in an effort to deliver them to everyone as soon as possible and appreciates your continued support.

As you can tell by the new trailer, Noctis will be riding around the world in a convertible with Prompto, Ignis and Gladiolus. Just when you think that the game didn't feel like a Final Fantasy, a massive, sports arena-sized Adamantoise is seen as the boys speed their car around it. We also get to see many of the game's new mechanics, such as using a flashlight to use in the dark, Noctis' teleporting sword, day-to-night environment changes and the game's Kingdom Hearts-like action system. The whole thing looked like one giant cutscene, but it wasn't -- this is what a current-gen game should look like, especially when its core design isn't watered down to meet the requirements of last-gen systems. We must hope that this Final Fantasy isn't filled with poorly worded jargon and dopey dialogue like XIII was.

Final Fantasy XV is heading to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, likely in 2016. A demo for XV will be available by buying Final Fantasy Type-0 HD, which launches on March 17, 2015 for PS4 and Xbox One as well..

You should blast this song in celebration of this new trailer: