#WATCH: Final Fantasy XV Gamescom Gameplay Trailer

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Samuel is freelance writer, occasional illustrator, craft enthusiast and fan of all visual creative media. He is a published author who splits his time between client copy-writing and creative writing.

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Earlier in the week Square Enix graced us with a brand new trailer for Final Fantasy XV, the long awaited next entry in the series. The trailer, entitled ‘Grace‘, wasn’t exactly the most exciting piece of viewing. Watch it below …

See … ? Don’t agree? Go back and watch a father awkwardly hold his son in the rain for OVER A MINUTE and tell me this is an exciting trailer.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice looking trailer – I’ve always admired the beauty of anything that comes out of Square Enix’s Visual Works department. They know what they’re doing when it comes to the looks. Unfortunately it seems Square Enix still can’t cut together a decent trailer.

I suppose it is hard to keep up the hype over a game that was technically announced almost a decade ago under a different title, Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Yes, I’m aware most of the game has been re-written and remade, but that doesn’t make me any less aware that this project started its life back in 2006 when I was still in high school and saving up for a Playstation 3 … specifically for this.

Yet despite Square Enix’s inability to engage with their audience from time to time, they’ve been good to me this year with the announcement of several new Final Fantasy spin-offs (although their silence on the new Dissidia game is worrying me a little). There have even been rumours flying that Final Fantasy XII may be getting the HD remaster treatment (hopefully with the International Zodiac Job System content, minus the odd title).

They always manage to pull through and they did so once again with an extra bit of gameplay. This time the trailer wasn’t pulled straight from the Episode Duscae demo we’ve all played through many times now. Well done, Square Enix.

Final Fantasy XV is a brand new world, closer to the real world than we’ve ever seen before (just look at that trailer above), but that’s not going to stop a few familiar fantasy faces popping up. The infamous Malboro makes an entrance in this trailer. Presumably, based on the success of Noctis and the gang’s battle, the series most infuriating and formidable recurring plant beast (first seen back in Final Fantasy II!) will be featured as a tricky boss. Perhaps even a superboss!

It’s nice to see all these little nods in Final Fantasy XV, especially considering the last single-player entry Final Fantasy XIII was such a departure with its lack of iconic monsters and even the removal of the series’ victory fanfare. Whilst it is wonderful seeing a return to wide-open exploration too, based on my experience with the demo there are still some tweaks in order. A complete lack of field music could do with being seen to, because nothing makes that battle music sound quite so repetitive and the treks across long fields feel quite so lengthy.

So, feast your eyes upon the brief glimpse of Final Fantasy XV’s latest gameplay and continue to wait for a definite release date: