In regards to the music in Final Fantasy XV, there’s going to be Florence and The Machine contributing to the soundtrack, including her stirring rendition of Ben E. King’s Stand By Me. Do you have any reason for picking her and that song and were there any other songs or artists you were thinking about going with?

Yeah, there was actually quite a few options that were brought up. That said, among those, we felt that Florence and The Machine would match most perfectly with Final Fantasy XV and that’s why we decided to move forward with her. Especially when it comes to communicating that story and the universe of this title through the music, Florence and The Machine, we reached out to them to develop that side of things and then we’re also collaborating with AfroJack, where he is an artist that really brings about that combat element, and that beat and the unique aspect of those elements, and he delivers that through his music for us. So yeah, we have those two artists that were part of this project.

Will Final Fantasy still have the day one patch? Because I know part of the extension was so that didn’t happen because of the whole, lots of people don’t have PlayStation Plus or online connectivity, so is that still going to be part of it?

So, they don’t go hand in hand. You know, whatever we can implement in the disc, we will implement in order to provide a full experience to those who purchase the game. That said, for people who do have that network connectivity or an online environment, we will continue to deliver what is necessary through those means to people who have that accessibility. Whether that be any necessary patches or DLCs moving forward, they’re two separate parts of the pod basically; one a full experience through the disc and what we can implement in the disc, and for those who have an online network connectivity, any additional support or DLCs that we can envision.

So were not dismissing the patches or the DLCs whatsoever, but when looking at what is provided through the disc, we wanted to ensure that the level of quality is met in terms of what we’d like to deliver on a standard Final Fantasy release, as well as something that surpasses that quality. So especially when thinking about ensuring that a broader consumer base will be able to enjoy the game, we wanted to ensure that that was met with the disc version.

Speaking of the season pass, are there any more details we can get on what will be part of it? All we’ve gotten are the titles and a few clues.

Once the development on the main game ends, and once we can pick up the pace on the DLC development, we’ll be sure to communicate all the details. Unfortunately at this time, we don’t have all the assets or information to do a full blown communication of what it entails. That said, that is forthcoming. That said, our overarching plan is confirmed in that we do want to place focus on each of the characters, not only in the episode, but making sure that their personality comes through in the gameplay as well. So that plan, overarching plan is confirmed, so we are confident to say the DLC content that we will be pushing out will be extremely valuable and our consumers will find value in what we offer.

How much were you involved in the Kingsglave movie and the Brotherhood show, if at all?

So when we initially started our conversations about these projects, I was involved in determining where exactly it would be positioned in relation to Final Fantasy XV, so I was in direct communication with the staff that is hands on working on these projects and informed them of my personal desires and discussed what would be the best positioning, and also started up the production. Even after production started, on these projects, we’ve had deep conversations about the content and how that would deepen the experience players would get when playing the main game. There was continuous involvement on my front in ensuring that that ultimate Final Fantasy XV experience, that there was more gravity to it through these other mediums.

I was actually talking to an interviewer from a Japanese outlet called Dengeki PlayStation, and what that person was saying how in relation to Final Fantasy XV, Kingsglave is something that communicates and gives people a sense of the universe of Final Fantasy XV prior to launch of the game, and similarly Brotherhood gives you a deeper understanding and a greater understanding for the characters prior to the launch of the game, so they put it pretty well in those words. So from the perspective of Final Fantasy XV, that’s how they contribute to the overall universe of the game.

XIV is going to be one of the biggest Final Fantasy experiences. Can you compare it to any other game size-wise?

It’s not going to be a direct answer, unfortunately, because it’s hard to compare, that said, we are developing and creating a game in which you travel or journey by car, so a certain degree of — we did need to create it in a larger scale or a big scale. A certain level of scale was needed in order to create a game that surrounded travel by car. So even compared to other games, we can definitely say that it’s something that’s incomparable, something new, something that you’ve never experienced before in relation to some of the other games that are already out on the market.

What games have you been playing lately, if any?

I haven’t been playing any games! So, there was an instance that drove me to download Final Fantasy II on my phone so that I could play it on the plane on one of my business trips. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to play it yet. I’ve only seen the opening scene or sequence, but I have downloaded that so that I can actually experience it firsthand. But actually really delving into a game and really playing it, it’ll probably be after Final Fantasy XV ends for any type of game.

Do you have any games you would recommend? Mafia? Is Watch Dogs 2 good?

I haven’t been able to play those yet, but I’ve been playing a lot of Overwatch. It’s a lot of fun.

Yeah, it definitely looks fun.

Yeah and it’s a very pretty game too.

Yeah, I’ve been watching things here and there, but I just haven’t gotten to playing. I’m actually looking at it, it’s that kind of first-person type of gameplay, but then it also draws on each of these characters and giving them personalities, and also building those special abilities and what not. In that sense, it kind of draws or there are similarities to how Final Fantasy creators work and their process. Even throughout the development, that is a title that we’ve been watching, just checking out, and seeing a renaissance.

So there you have it, folks. We had a nice long talk with Tabata-san and got some good information out of him. He was very nice and had tons to say. For more on Final Fantasy XV, keep coming to Hardcore Gamer.