- in an exclusive interview with Examiner, FF15 director Tabata Hajime talked about the story of the game

- he said about the drive of the story:

“One of the important threads of the story in Final Fantasy XV is that tale of how Noctis goes from being a young prince in waiting to becoming the kind of the country,” Tabata said, “That tale is a really big part of the game.”

- on the personal journey of Noctis throughout the game's narrative, Tabata said that he is “growing and developing as a person” which “puts you in a place to experience that emotional journey with him.”

- he talked about how the story and gameplay will be intertwined and how it compares to The Last of Us' narrative:

“We are really trying to aim for something where the gameplay and storytelling are really one in the same.”

"It’s important that the story progresses through the gameplay in a very unforced way, in a similar way that it was done with The Last of Us, for example."

- Tabata seems to hint that a "love story" won't be the main focus in the game

- Tabata confirmed once again that the game will release this year

http://www.examiner.com/article/final-fantasy-15-director-compares-game-s-story-to-narrative-of-the-last-of-us

The Naughty Dog influence?

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But the last of us didn't take 2006-2016 to release.... I don't get how a game like fo4 can release in such a short dev time window...... And this game can't

Unless I missed something, FO4 isnt a good example. Skyrim released in 2011, FO4 in 2015. That's not short dev time. 

Becuase they skip QA And Optimization ;)

Who is the main writer? Bound to be better than 13's 'All the actual explanations of what you are being told is in a datalog for you to read instead of learn by playing' style of narrative like previous FF games.

Article title is really misleading (referring to the one published; I know OP is just quoting it), but regardless, interesting. Not sure I'd reference Last of Us as an example of storytelling being highly interconnected with gameplay, however.

“We are really trying to aim for something where the gameplay and storytelling are really one in the same.”

"It’s important that the story progresses through the gameplay in a very unforced way, in a similar way that it was done with The Last of Us, for example."

But that's literally the opposite of The Last of Us. Gameplay and story were more segregated than 1960s America. What is he even talking about?

TLoU is such a high standard to aim for so im gonna keep my expectations on check.

Not sure why the compairison was drawn... other than he wants FF to be compaired with TLoU.

"Tabata seems to hint that a "love story" won't be the main focus in the game"

FUCK YES! I've never been a fan of love stories in FF (my biggest gripe with FFX) or RPGs in general, so this is great news to hear. As far as the TLoU comparison, it's a bit odd but I assume it's very character development heavy, where we see Noctis go from bratty and inexperience to seasoned badass which I can get behind.