Game director Hajime Tabata confirms that Moogles will appear in Final Fantasy 15, following a huge swell of fan support regarding the iconic creature.
Tabata commented on the new inclusion of Moogles a few days after the official Final Fantasy 15 Twitter posted a poll about the creature's place in the game. Unbeknownst to many fans, Tabata and the rest of the Final Fantasy 15 team were planning on leaving Moogles out of the game before the response on social media made them realize doing so would upset too many players.
Tabata commented on Twitter:
"I will think of a fun little way to feature Moogles in Final Fantasy 15."
Much to the delight of a fanbase that has some concerns about Final Fantasy 15's development process, Tabata has been very receptive to changing Square Enix's latest installment of their JRPG classic. After making some serious changes to Final Fantasy 15's combat system, Tabata suggested that he was happy to put in the extra work required to make Final Fantasy 15 the biggest game in franchise history, but that some of those changes come with a caveat:
"Importantly, at this stage of development I will not be making a trade off with the other work remaining in order to fit them in. So it won't be a very chatty Moogle, but will be done with a suitably light level of development work as a fun little #FFXV extra."
Moogles have alternated between background characters and key features of the plot depending on the Final Fantasy game, so the creatures' relegation to narrative extra isn't new territory. Luckily, Tabata's openness about subjects as far ranging as gender equality in Final Fantasy 15 to why Noctis and friends wear black has kept fans both informed and well-prepared for the big changes coming to the series. That way, gamers won't be surprised by how Moogles are used in the new game and are less likely to be upset by it.
There's a reason for Square Enix and Tabata's feedback-based approach to Final Fantasy 15's eventual release. After such a long period of development, fans are growing increasingly impatient waiting for the announcement of Final Fantasy 15's release date. Although recent cinematic and gameplay trailers have shown a polished, exciting product, Tabata knows that the game has a lot riding on it for both Square Enix and the JRPG genre as a whole. As such, it's no wonder the development team is willing to do as much as possible to appease anxious gamers.
Still, Square Enix and Tabata appear to be going above and beyond the usual standards of interaction between developer and fanbase. Are you happy that at least one Moogle will be in Final Fantasy 15? Just how much do you think social media has impacted the development of AAA games? Let us know in the comments below.
Final Fantasy 15 is estimated for release in 2016 for PS4 and Xbox One.