Article: Stella no longer in FFXV; key Versus XIII scenes axed; Duscae demo patch coming on the 9th

[Razberry Knight]

I think you've misunderstood the point a little. You originally said that the removal of Stella didn't make sense. The question here isn't whether or not Stella had a goal, it's about whether that goal fits in with the storyline as it now stands. Like Abstract Debauchery said, as stories develop, particular characters and the roles they may become obsolete and no loner serve a function. Although the developers are trying to keep a lot of the original story they can't keep it all in light of recreating the game as a stand alone title rather than a spin off. We don't know the current story so we can't say whether or not they could keep Stella in due to the newer additions and development in the game's plot; which again, we know nothing about.

We know plenty though. and at this point, they haven't revealed any of the bigger changes. So far it looks exactly the same as previous. The only difference is they removed key scenes. Now again, their main focus is of course changing it to be a single story.

And this is exactly what i'm trying to say....lets say i revealed a character.....i already confirmed their name, and their goal, and what kind of use. Lets say someone else comes in takes over. Regardless of the situation, they remove the character all together and changing it to another character.

NOW.....this is where the opportunity of the audience NOT KNOWING can benefit them and using that character differently or adjusting it to the point where its suited. At this point Luna doesn't appear like a necessary change, but one that appealed to them the most.

Keep in mind when they are talking about changes in order to be a numbered game, they are not talking about characters, they are talking about story-wise what they need to do to be considered one, and so far the highlight is that it stays as one game, not multiple.

The "epic" versus could no longer exist. but that doesn't mean characters have to be gone, REGARDLESS OF WHAT WE KNOW OR NOT. you misunderstand the value of "not" knowing allowing the writers to use them differently without us knowing.

But now we have an entirely different character, which i feel was unnecessary to do. One of the reasons they removed her was lack of understanding who she was. Not because she posed a threat for the story.

 

[Abstract Debauchery]

What you said would have made sense if.....this was the same director and same writer. At this point, new team, new writers and trying to keep to the original design is being not because they can't do it, because they don't understand it.

At this point, they aren't asking for help. For example, replacing Stella. It doesn't look like it was done by the previous developers approval or that they sought out to save the character. It seems more like it just didn't "appeal" to them at all.

New director; new team, huh? Well then, do you really want a new director and a new writing team to continue working on a vision that wasn't their own? Do you really want them to continue writing on something they don't understand? Would you rather have the vision of the original director or for the new team to botch what they worked on and create something inferior because of it?

Take the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. He died before he was able to complete the series, and the series was rather critically aclaimed. After his passing, another author continued his series without knowing exactly what it was the author wanted. He had guidelines, mind you, but this was a different author writing. You can tell that the writing style isn't exactly the same. Many people don't like the later books as they consider the writer that took his mantle to be an inferior author. Is that the fate you would want with FFXV?

So not only has the story developed and changed from what it was, the game has spent damn near a decade in development. The writers have changed, the directors have changed; obviously the story is going to end up changing as well. They either take on a new direction while trying to remain true to the source, or they continue the source with a guideline and hope they can nail what the original creators wanted and risk failing miserably at it. And if they fail, the backlash will be horrid, and people will likely wonder why they didn't do their own thing. Basically, if you want to be real honest about it, it's a lose/lose; lesser of two evils situation right now.

They risk failure with a vision that wasn't their own; or they take a higher chance of success with something that they've made themselves.

Edit: It's also worth noting that after Robert Jordan died, the replacement author took what was to be the final instalment of the series and turned it into three books. Basically, he gave it the Peter Jackson treatment.

 

[Dionysos]

Well I think it was perhaps wiser to turn her into a new character and give her a new (but thematically linked) name if they were going to change her so much, rather than to continue calling her Stella. Although people didn't know much about Stella they formed early impressions of the character as a strong female, an equal to Noctis, and part of a Romeo and Juliet style plot.

This new character, Luna, seems perhaps more passive? We know very little, but perhaps so.

Maybe with the whole T-Bird thing that Noctis' gang has going on it suggests a game which now resembles Grease more than it resembles Shakespeare. Perhaps Luna will play the role of Sandy.

 

[Razberry Knight]

New director; new team, huh? Well then, do you really want a new director and a new writing team to continue working on a vision that wasn't their own? Do you really want them to continue writing on something they don't understand? Would you rather have the vision of the original director or for the new team to botch what they worked on and create something inferior because of it?

overdose of questions of what i know you misunderstood my point...but yes....i'll say it as blunt as possible for you. Yes.

This team was moved to optimize time, not to rework a broken piece (Final Fantasy XIV).

Take the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. He died before he was able to complete the series, and the series was rather critically aclaimed. After his passing, another author continued his series without knowing exactly what it was the author wanted. He had guidelines, mind you, but this was a different author writing. You can tell that the writing style isn't exactly the same. Many people don't like the later books as they consider the writer that took his mantle to be an inferior author. Is that the fate you would want with FFXV?

If Final Fantasy XV had all the original writers die and they only had the bare concept, then i still would believe they should work as best as possible to keep that vision. But keep in mind, they have removed key visions for it. And their excuse was that they didn't understand it. But for a character that was rarely seen, what made them decide to change it altogether?

So not only has the story developed and changed from what it was, the game has spent damn near a decade in development. The writers have changed, the directors have changed; obviously the story is going to end up changing as well. They either take on a new direction while trying to remain true to the source, or they continue the source with a guideline and hope they can nail what the original creators wanted and risk failing miserably at it. And if they fail, the backlash will be horrid, and people will likely wonder why they didn't do their own thing. Basically, if you want to be real honest about it, it's a lose/lose; lesser of two evils situation right now.

They risk failure with a vision that wasn't their own; or they take a higher chance of success with something that they've made themselves.

Edit: It's also worth noting that after Robert Jordan died, the replacement author took what was to be the final instalment of the series and turned it into three books. Basically, he gave it the Peter Jackson treatment.

You see.....thats the thing, at least keep the vision that we were introduced with, we don't even need to know the grittier hidden details that were never revealed, but it looks like in this case they made her a more mainstream dansel in distress rather than a complicated, interesting character. many people have already considered her to be a downgrade in design.

I'm not naive

 

[Abstract Debauchery]

overdose of questions of what i know you misunderstood my point...but yes....i'll say it as blunt as possible for you. Yes.

This team was moved to optimize time, not to rework a broken piece (Final Fantasy XIV).

Bro, I think you need to take a step back and breathe a bit. You're coming off a bit insulting there over the topic of a game, dude. It's not that important.

Regardless of the reasoning behind it, the team was still reworked. Writers, directors, etc, were moved around to get out a complete game that was way overdue to the point where they decided to make it FFXV.

If Final Fantasy XV had all the original writers die and they only had the bare concept, then i still would believe they should work as best as possible to keep that vision.

And they likely would have failed, dude. Hell, look at the Hobbit movies for a moment. Tolken's probably rolling around in his grave. You can try as hard as you might, if you're the original writer, you're not going to hit what they wanted. It's significantly difficult and damn near impossible to do.

But keep in mind, they have removed key visions for it. And their excuse was that they didn't understand it. But for a character that was rarely seen, what made them decide to change it altogether?

So, they didn't understand it. That's fine. However, if they can't understand it, why would you want them to keep writing it? You said so yourself that it was a character we rarely saw. You said that we knew plenty about her. We had her name, we knew that she had some beef with Noctis, and we didn't know much else. From the standpoint of the intended audience of this game, we didn't know shit. We had a design, we had the barebones concept of a character. She's gone now. It's not exactly a huge loss, considering we had next to nothing to begin with.

You see.....thats the thing, at least keep the vision that we were introduced with, we don't even need to know the grittier hidden details that were never revealed, but it looks like in this case they made her a more mainstream dansel in distress rather than a complicated, interesting character. many people have already considered her to be a downgrade in design.

I'm not naive

It's almost as if you're getting upset over a piece of concept art not being included in the game. We knew next to nothing about Stella, and we know next to nothing about Luna. It's a little to early to state "you replaced an interesting character with a non interesting one". Her design is different, but what's pleasing to the eye to some won't be to the other. There's no sense at all in arguing over aesthetic when that's pure opinion and opinion alone.

Personally, I'm still happy that the team is actually working on writing and beginning to change things up and announce it. It implies their somewhat confident in their choices. They're working on what their vision of the game is while not worrying about their predecessors vision. I'm not going to damn the game to hell just because a character got canned. That's like me being pissed off that in the trailer for Fallout 4, they used a dog as a companion pet rather than a cat because the cat might shoot lasers out of its ass the the dog hasn't been confirmed to do the same yet.

Now, on that note, can anyone give me a complete list of what we knew about the character? Villain? Main antagonist? I know she was supposed to be a love interest of sorts, but that's it. Do we even know if they were to be a playable character? Were they to be in the party? Even if we know all this, is it really that big of a deal in the end? Perhaps I'm just failing to understand in the end. But a character, whose role we barely knew, is being changed to something else, whose role is confirmed to not be as big as what she previously was. At the end of the day, I can't help but think that it's just one character.

 

[Razberry Knight]

Bro, I think you need to take a step back and breathe a bit. You're coming off a bit insulting there over the topic of a game, dude. It's not that important.

Regardless of the reasoning behind it, the team was still reworked. Writers, directors, etc, were moved around to get out a complete game that was way overdue to the point where they decided to make it FFXV.

first off, you responded to me, and you are the one asking the overbaring questions. i think you need to back off first.

you misunderstood me, plain and frickin simple. and those questions meant nothing to my point.

And they likely would have failed, dude. Hell, look at the Hobbit movies for a moment. Tolken's probably rolling around in his grave. You can try as hard as you might, if you're the original writer, you're not going to hit what they wanted. It's significantly difficult and damn near impossible to do.

Hobbit's film trilogy adaptation was more of a re-imagination to have more links to the Lord of the Ring series.

So, they didn't understand it. That's fine. However, if they can't understand it, why would you want them to keep writing it? You said so yourself that it was a character we rarely saw. You said that we knew plenty about her. We had her name, we knew that she had some beef with Noctis, and we didn't know much else. From the standpoint of the intended audience of this game, we didn't know shit. We had a design, we had the barebones concept of a character. She's gone now. It's not exactly a huge loss, considering we had next to nothing to begin with.

We had interviews, we had discussions, we had key scenes that revealed a lot on what kind of character we will be seeing.

Maybe to someone who never read up on it. Now you're giving me the "ok, forget about it" approach. Maybe you didn't know a thing. But there was so much more being said, so much actually being seen. Its more than visuals, its actual role.

It's almost as if you're getting upset over a piece of concept art not being included in the game. We knew next to nothing about Stella, and we know next to nothing about Luna. It's a little to early to state "you replaced an interesting character with a non interesting one". Her design is different, but what's pleasing to the eye to some won't be to the other. There's no sense at all in arguing over aesthetic when that's pure opinion and opinion alone.

you knew nothing about stella. She wasn't a concept art. But you just don't understand my problem with this. or maybe you do, but you just chosoe to act like you dont and give me the wrong reasons why i shouldn't be upset about this.

Personally, I'm still happy that the team is actually working on writing and beginning to change things up and announce it. It implies their somewhat confident in their choices. They're working on what their vision of the game is while not worrying about their predecessors vision. I'm not going to damn the game to hell just because a character got canned. That's like me being pissed off that in the trailer for Fallout 4, they used a dog as a companion pet rather than a cat because the cat might shoot lasers out of its ass the the dog hasn't been confirmed to do the same yet.

Final fantasy XIII's team was also extremely confident, look how that turned out?

Now, on that note, can anyone give me a complete list of what we knew about the character? Villain? Main antagonist? I know she was supposed to be a love interest of sorts, but that's it. Do we even know if they were to be a playable character? Were they to be in the party? Even if we know all this, is it really that big of a deal in the end? Perhaps I'm just failing to understand in the end. But a character, whose role we barely knew, is being changed to something else, whose role is confirmed to not be as big as what she previously was. At the end of the day, I can't help but think that it's just one character.

look for it yourself. Her character was directly linked to Noctis's character development, being the one to hit one of his major insecurities.

 

[Abstract Debauchery]

first off, you responded to me, and you are the one asking the overbaring questions. i think you need to back off first.

you misunderstood me, plain and frickin simple. and those questions meant nothing to my point.

Jesus, man. You don't think you're taking this a bit too hard?

Those questions had a lot to do with the subject at hand, man. You claim I've misunderstood you for no other reason than because you've said so. This will be my last post on the subject considering that you're getting a bit standoffish about it. If the questions were overbearing for you, that's too bad, as they weren't designed to be that, they were meant to make one think.

The second a friendly debate becomes an argument, I'm kind of out. I'll just take my ball and go home, dude.

Hobbit's film trilogy adaptation was more of a re-imagination to have more links to the Lord of the Ring series.

This is kind of why fans of the book were pissed about the movie. They didn't stick with the "vision" and it wasn't a very good adaptation and the re-imagining wasn't fantastic. I enjoyed it, but by no means did it scratch my Hobbit itch.

We had interviews, we had discussions, we had key scenes that revealed a lot on what kind of character we will be seeing.

Maybe to someone who never read up on it. Now you're giving me the "ok, forget about it" approach. Maybe you didn't know a thing. But there was so much more being said, so much actually being seen. Its more than visuals, its actual role.

There's not much to read on. The interviews are bloody tablescraps. I have a handful of information, as that's all that's really avaliable. Billy Bob came out and said a few things about a character. Alright, that's fine. I know a bit. But a bit is all I know.

you knew nothing about stella. She wasn't a concept art. But you just don't understand my problem with this. or maybe you do, but you just chosoe to act like you dont and give me the wrong reasons why i shouldn't be upset about this.

No one, yourself included in this, has been able to provide much on who or what the character is. I don't understand your problem, you're right. But you need to take into consideration that no one's going to deliberately pretend they don't know what the fuck you're talking about to piss you off. I don't think you should be upset and you don't like these reasons. This is why I'm going to kind of just stop. Not trying to start fights or get someone pissed off as much as I am just trying to have a discussion.

Final fantasy XIII's team was also extremely confident, look how that turned out?

I'm glad you brought this up, as I hated FFXIII. Here's the thing. They weren't all that open with the story. They were hugely confident, which isn't a bad thing. A lot of people hated that game. But a lot of people loved it a whole lot more. I clearly wasn't their target audience with that story. I believe it was fundamentally flawed, as you had to look through a menu of a codex just to get valuable back story information. That didn't seem to be an issue as it won many game of the year awards and sold extremely well and was praised by many critics.

look for it yourself. Her character was directly linked to Noctis's character development, being the one to hit one of his major insecurities.

His three friends that go joy riding in his car are also directly tied to his character development. What do we know about them? Next to nothing. If they wrote one of them off, I'm fairly certain no one would bat an eye. Perhaps, and only perhaps, Noctis has also changed as the story and development of the game have changed. I'm still of the opinion that it's rather far, far, far, too early to write a game off and damn it to the shadow realm because one character got axed.

Wait for more information as it comes out and see where it goes. After all, I didn't hate FFXIII until development was done and more information was outed. I cemented that hate whenever it was released in Japan and I saw what it was. But I didn't hate it because I didn't agree with someone about the game during an interview while the game was in development. That's a self-fulfilling prophesy at that point. If you walk in thinking you're going to hate something, you're probably going to end up hating it. It you go in expecting the worst of something, the worst is all you're going to see. Don't separate the forest from the trees.

As to not get you anymore upset, I won't be posting about the subject anymore. It's kind of silly, to be frank.

 

[Razberry Knight]

Jesus, man. You don't think you're taking this a bit too hard?

you came off at me first. i gave you an equal amount of emotion. now you want to act the defensive and just go on your way? so be it. i'm giving my reasons. First off, i said nothing insulting. you just don't want to be in a discussion where someone is more passionate than you.

Those questions had a lot to do with the subject at hand, man. You claim I've misunderstood you for no other reason than because you've said so. This will be my last post on the subject considering that you're getting a bit standoffish about it. If the questions were overbearing for you, that's too bad, as they weren't designed to be that, they were meant to make one think.

i don't claim you misunderstood me, you "did" misunderstood me.

This is kind of why fans of the book were pissed about the movie. They didn't stick with the "vision" and it wasn't a very good adaptation and the re-imagining wasn't fantastic. I enjoyed it, but by no means did it scratch my Hobbit itch.

There have been multiple adaptations at this point, keeping the same vision over and over isn't the same as FFXV and you know that.

There's not much to read on. The interviews are bloody tablescraps. I have a handful of information, as that's all that's really avaliable. Billy Bob came out and said a few things about a character. Alright, that's fine. I know a bit. But a bit is all I know.

then you clearly didn't follow ffxv from the beginning.

No one, yourself included in this, has been able to provide much on who or what the character is. I don't understand your problem, you're right. But you need to take into consideration that no one's going to deliberately pretend they don't know what the fuck you're talking about to piss you off. I don't think you should be upset and you don't like these reasons. This is why I'm going to kind of just stop. Not trying to start fights or get someone pissed off as much as I am just trying to have a discussion.

you really didn't even "TRY" to understand my problem with this though. Every one is satisfied in never knowing in the first place then actually knowing what was presented. Its like everyone suddenly has amnesia.

For the record there is iinformation out there. granted, its really hidden as much of the information before was un-translated or not given much attention to.

I'm glad you brought this up, as I hated FFXIII. Here's the thing. They weren't all that open with the story. They were hugely confident, which isn't a bad thing. A lot of people hated that game. But a lot of people loved it a whole lot more. I clearly wasn't their target audience with that story. I believe it was fundamentally flawed, as you had to look through a menu of a codex just to get valuable back story information. That didn't seem to be an issue as it won many game of the year awards and sold extremely well and was praised by many critics.

My point with FF13 was their confidence means nothing at all. So why did you ever brought that up confidence as a major point? SE is the king of confidence. I could care less if their confident. I'm not confident at all.

His three friends that go joy riding in his car are also directly tied to his character development. What do we know about them? Next to nothing. If they wrote one of them off, I'm fairly certain no one would bat an eye. Perhaps, and only perhaps, Noctis has also changed as the story and development of the game have changed. I'm still of the opinion that it's rather far, far, far, too early to write a game off and damn it to the shadow realm because one character got axed.

Key point is that the mention of them going to ride in cars with friends was only brought up "AFTER" it was announced as FFXV. And keep in mind, as we discovered more information about it during the time of FFXV, she played more of a role then the other party members before.

And that is why i'm so upset. Noctis is no longer as appealing as he was before now that Stella is gone and we have this. Trust me, I've regressed from FFXV change after change. No switching between party members, game dominated by car driving and only episode duscae to show off that you can travel by foot (although conveniently in asection where the palyer loses the car).



HERE'S MY POINT:

Stella was barely revealed, but we knew enough to know what an idea of what kind of role she has. Misunderstanding the character had so many options of amplifying what they do know about her, or looking at her form a different perspective. Its not the same as deleting a character entirely.

If they misunderstood Stella, they also misunderstood Noctis. and this looks more like a hollow form of what the original is. this doesn't look like a whole new game. It looks like slight modifications.

and what further pisses me off is why even call this part of the fabula nova crystallis project? if they have enough room to remove a single character, they can rework other things so its not tied to the dreaded FNC.

 

[C i d]

Please do not bring your argument to a personal level. Any more such posts will be deleted and infractions will be given.

Do not reply to this post. PM me if you have any questions.

 

[Razberry Knight]

My main point is that SE had equal opportunity to use what we didn't know about Stella in order to use her in a slightly different fashion. At this point, removing Stella was not a necessary choice, it was just the chocie that allowed them to do more changes without worrying about the original design.


Keep in mind, their main excuse was that they didn't understand Stella, and to that they had more than enough opportunity to turn her into something they can understand from what was officially revealed. Scenes change all the time. For example; Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep had reworked scenes and even removed scenes or heavily reworked scenes.

Also, keep in mind who would prefer a damsel in distress over a strong female character? We need to know what is actually considered a "heroine" and what is called a "supporting female character". Luna has yet to show us any "heroine" aspects. Stella has.

 

[Shaissa]

Luna hasn't really shown us much. I think she will be a "herion" in the end. I don't think they'll do the "damsel in distress" deal.

I think another reason why they could of cut Stella might have to do with the "race" of people in FFXV now. Maybe they make Luna more like a certain race of people, which the Stella we have seen just doesn't fit.This is just a guess and can be 100% wrong, but at this point, anything is possible.

 

[Kalythe]

My disappoint level is so high. I can't deal with the heartbreak of a terrible Muse album and Stella being axed, all in the same week.

 

[Rey]

I waited a little to say my piece on this but I feel the need to post now.

I) First, I want to say that this is incredibly disappointing. There was HEAVY evidence that suggested Stella was not scrapped, and was still currently in the game. Of course, Square Enix sounded serious this time around, so I have no choice but to believe them. They usually show spoilers in trailers, and well, we have not seen Stella at all, so it must mean she is gone. I share the same feeling as Mitsuki about Stella, and it totally matters to me, maybe not so much, but it does on some level. Let me begin by saying that Stella was supposed to be the top FF female. She was posh, elegant, beautiful, and looked mature and not like a heroine who falls in love straight away. She had a badass Rapier that I was really hoping to use in the game, but she is scrapped and SE has long axed character switching as well. It is a damn shame that they scrapped her, a real damn shame. You know what this whole thing tells me about Square Enix? It tells me that they are INCAPABLE of creating a coherent storyline for XV. They said Stella contradicted what happens in XV, right. Why didn't they just change her "vision" a bit instead of rebuilding her completely? SE has shown extreme laziness in this active time report. Many of the things fans wanted to see in versus is all gone. They kept Aurora (black haired girl), and the dragoon girl in a trailer that was saw ages ago. It makes ZERO sense to scrap Stella. I would have liked if they changed her vision, but nope, SE are clearly stupid in the head.

II) Worry about Luna.


Yes, fans are worried about Miss Luna. She is the Stella we once knew, albeit with a completely different cute look and a story that contradicts the original Stella. I am worried that Luna will be an overused JRPG trope such as complaining she cannot save the world, complaining that loving Noctis will put her in trouble, etc. Since Stella is ELIMINATED, Luna is the only feasible guest character that is a woman. Luna is also the only character that is female that even looks like she has a role in the story, *cough Cindy cough* Why should fans worry? Ultimately, it comes down to what Luna's role really is. Who is she exactly? I am just glad she is not Cindy right now; therefore, I am willing to give her ONE chance to prove she is like Stella. Oh, and because Luna is probably the only female character who will make things interesting (maybe dragoon girl and black haired girl will also, but who knows) she needs to be given a chance as a character. NOW, if she is SHIT, I am never forgiving SE ever again for removing Stella and scenes from versus. You heard me, and I did say NEVER.

III) Her name

Luna's full name is Lunafreya Nox Fleuret they clearly kept an idea of Stella when designing her. She has the same surname, middle name, and her name means moon instead of star. How lazy is this, Square Enix? This character is CLEARLY STELLA in some way or form and in my opinion they did not have to scrap Stella because "she contradicted XV" Haha, why not just give Luna's story to Stella. I swear, SE is so stupid sometimes.

IV) My overall opinion of this crazy news.

Right, as I said above, I am obviously hoping that Luna will be a good character, and that is why I am giving her a chance. Sure, this news hurts me pretty badly, because I admired Stella's design and wanted to see a heroine that is half villain and half good. I assume that was Stella's original purpose, and it is sad to see it gone. All that being said, fans are taking this to be terrible news, and while it is bad news for sure, it is not the end of XV. XV has the potential to be amazing, and the best FF title to date. Fans are obviously disappointed about Stella, but there is still hope, and I assure you that once they see a new trailer of XV in August, they will be back on the FF XV hype train. We still have great potential female characters, and we do not even know Noctis and Co much yet. We only got introduced to a little part of them in the FF XV demo, and I know I am anticipating what comes next, but it doesn't mean that I haven't lost respect for Square Enix.

Farewell, Stella Nox Fleuret, May you rest in peace 2006-2015

 

[Razberry Knight]

my sentiments (almost) exactly. Especially on incorporating Stella....

 

[ff1-10]

Right when I saw the subject line of the thread, my jaw dropped. OH, the DISAPPOINTMENT! *SMH*

I was looking forward to Stella a lot, for the same reasons everyone who is disappointed, is disappointed for. I love seeing strong female leads, and Stella sounded like a great interesting one. I liked how she seemed upright, confident, yet mysterious at the same time. I especially liked how it seemed she was able to make Noctis trip on himself, leading to the potential romance I was looking forward to. That Shakespearian love tale sounded awesome and was something I truly wanted to see.

First it was the anime-like design change, now she's completely gone. It truly is disappointing, but I will always remember her.

Versus used to look like a strong, dark, mysterious game. Now...it looks and sounds awkward to me, like they don't know what they're doing. Then again, Final Fantasy has appeared that way for a very long time now. We'll just have to see what happens with 15 and Luna, but from her looks, I doubt she is strong in the way Stella was supposed to be. I am truly disappointed.

 

[Thule Esperada]

Uugh... This is so disappointing. I was actually interested in Stella's character. I recall that there was some impication that she would have been something of a reluctant rival to Noctis. If that was true then axing her is such a waste. Especially since Luna seems to be a generic love-interest/princess character. Gone is the combat capable equal to Noctis, and in her place we get a frail looking damsel.
Geez, the more Square reveals about this game, the more I just want to paly Versus XIII instead. Even with only concept trailers available, it still manages to look much more interesting.
I fear this game is going to go the way of games like The Order 1886, Evolve, Destiny and Watch_Dogs. An over hyped disappointment.

Also; a road trip movie isn't nearly as cool a concept as a yakuza gang war.
I already miss Nomura and his inability to make a game on time...

 

[Linnaete]

Actually, the bros-only road trip aspect was already there during the Versus days and isn't a FFXV innovation.

 

[Razberry Knight]

It's hard to say...no mural had the advantage our saying that was always part of the concept.
Now that they switched directors, he has to confirm the bigger obvious changes

 

[Ohri-Jin]

Not to mention they never seem to reference rl places anymore either a la Shinjuku.

RIP Stella