Square Enix revealed more scenes, enemies, and companions that will be seen in the Episode Duscae playable demo for Final Fantasy XV in a teaser trailer included with the final trailer for Final Fantasy Type-0 HD. During an official Active Time Report live-stream event on February 4, director Hajime Tabata also revealed the demo’s release date, confirming it will release on March 17, 2015, exclusively with Day One Edition copies of Final Fantasy Type-0 HD.
In a previous Active Time Report, Tabata did not confirm when Episdoe Duscae would be released, but assured players the only way to gain access to the limited-time demo would be by purchasing the regular or collector’s edition of Final Fantasy Type-0 HD.
“I’d like to tell you now that the demo will be limited to the first shipment of the game, or what we’re calling the ‘Day One Edition.’ The demo will never be reprinted beyond this initial shipment, so it’s really a special gift for those of you who pick up FINAL FANTASY TYPE-0 HD early.”
From what we can see in the Japanese demo teaser trailer, Episode Duscae is shaping up to be quite the “special gift” for Final Fantasy fans who’ve waited almost a decade to play this game. The score accompaniment featured in the trailer sounds like a fanfare march, rallying the viewer to prepare for all the action and adventure to come. The demo allows players to roam freely in the area of Duscae as the game’s main character, Noctis. There, he can explore caves, top off his tank with (a now female) Cid, indulge in fireside chats, fistbump in the forest with his friends, and do battle against mammoth-sized beasts.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, and as is evident in the above teaser trailer, the gameplay will be a departure from the series’ traditional turn-based combat systems. XV will be the second numbered Final Fantasy game with a real time, action-oriented combat system in the same vein as Type-0 and the Kingdom Hearts series.
In December 2014, a work-in-progress demonstration of the open world gameplay and real time combat was also prominently showcased in the Jump Festa trailer. It should be noted that unlike the teaser trailer above, the Jump Festa trailer covers the entire game and not just the demo.
An official release date for the full game has yet to be announced, but Final Fantasy XV is scheduled to launch on both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.