Square Enix Defends FFXIII @ GDCLack of traditional RPG features due to time constraints.03.12.10 - 5:55 PM
While attending this year's edition of the annual Game Developers Conference,
Final Fantasy XIII director Motomu Toriyama defended the recently released PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360-based RPG against criticism (voiced, for instance, by our own James Clark in his
review) lamenting the lack of traditional genre features like town exploration. Toriyama argued that the implementation of such features, which had been series mainstays, would have prolonged the already lengthy development process even further. Hence the development team opted to focus exclusively on the really important aspects, e.g. telling a powerful story.
Looking ahead to the next installment, Toriyama was confident that the knowledge and experience gained during Final Fantasy XIII's development process would allow Square Enix to once again integrate traditional elements.
