Final Fantasy XV's Gameplay Detailed in Famitsu Weekly; Camping, Cooking, Battling, and More

In Famitsu Weekly, Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata did an interview with the magazine and gave more details about a new town in the game, the character Cindy, as well as the battle system and camping mechanics.

Thanks to SQEXGAL, we’ve gotten to see a translated version of the interviews, which you can check out over at sqex.info.

In the Final Fantasy XV trailer shown at the previous Active Time Report, we got a quick glimpse of a new town, known as Lestallum, filled with shops at street vendors. Tibet has confirmed that you will be able to shop in the town and “there are things like restaurants and hotels” as well. He also stated players will be able to interact and converse with the NPCs. Lestallum is a town “where you can gain information and stock up on supplies while you travel around the area”.

In the interview, Tabata also revealed more information about the new character, Cindy, and that “she’ll also be making an appearance in the Duscae demo”. The character Cor was also brought up in the interview and Tabata stated that “he is not a constant party member”, though there will be instances in the game where he’ll join you in combat.

In that latest Final Fantasy XV trailer, we also got to see the protagonist Noctis facing off against a large titan-like monster. Tibet revealed in the interview that “the battle system doesn’t change in boss fights”, though the game will contain scenes that “include exclusive co-op moves and actions”. With the battle system in Final Fantasy XV, players can set their combos beforehand and long-press on a button to execute their attacks. Apart from holding down buttons to attack, players will also be given the ability to parry enemy attacks.

The interview also touches on the camping elements that we’ve seen so far in the Final Fantasy XV footage that’s been released. According to Tabata, “you can camp regardless of the time” but you’ll only be able to do it in a safe area. Camping looks like it’ll be a pretty essential part of the game as it was also revealed that that’s where you receive your experience points from defeating enemies and returning your party members to normal status after a battle.

Another interesting aspect of Final Fantasy XV is the introduction of the cooking element. One of the game’s characters, Ignis, will be able to cook food which provide stat bonuses if you buy ingredients from the towns. You will also be able to turn the wild monsters in the field into foodstuff.

Tabata ended off the interview by stating that the team was close to compiling content for the Episode Duscae demo and were working on “optimising the capacity and frame rates”. You can read the full translated interview here.

Final Fantasy XV is set to be released on the PS4 and Xbox One at some unknown point in the future, and players will get to play the Episode Duscae demo should they choose to purchase Final Fantasy Type-0 HD.