Square Enix’s big Final Fantasy showcase tonight has seen a pretty big snag, as gaming news site, Gamespot has accidentally posted a video (since made private), which revealed the hugely anticipated release date of Final Fantasy XV, which was set to be announced during tonight’s presentation. As rumoured, Final Fantasy XV is set to release worldwide on September 30th of this year.
Along with news of the release date, the video also confirms a new demo that will be made available tonight to coincide with the release date announcement. Following from the Final Fantasy XV: Episode Duscae demo that was packaged with first-run retail copies of Final Fantasy Type-0 HD in March of last year, which introduced players to an unfinished vertical slice of exploration and combat with the game’s four main characters, this new demo will instead showcase a younger version of main character, Noctis, who becomes trapped in a dream world of his own making.
This new demo will show off a more finalized version of the production values and battle system in Final Fantasy XV, and will presumably be made available to everyone, not just purchasers of a prior game in the series. Not only that, but those who complete the demo will also score an exclusive summon beast, Carbuncle, which should be familiar to avid Final Fantasy fans, having made appearances in numerous prior installments in the series. Carbuncle can be taken into one’s full copy of Final Fantasy XV when it’s purchased on or after the release date, and it’s confirmed that completing this demo is the only way to access Carbuncle in Final Fantasy XV, who can’t be found in the game proper.
This demo incentive of offering exclusive items to take into a final game purchase is becoming more common with Square Enix, who offers similar bonuses for their Bravely Default games for Nintendo 3DS, which both offer demos that tell exclusive stories unavailable in the main game, and which also allow you to carry leftover items into your final game purchase to boot. Square Enix will be releasing Bravely Second: End Layer on April 15th, with its demo recently being made available on the 3DS eShop.
Final Fantasy XV is set to release for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Keep journeying to Eggplante for all major news and updates on the Final Fantasy series.