Final Fantasy 15's Open World Becomes More Linear in the Second Half

While Final Fantasy XV doesn't present players with an open world like that of a Fallout or GTA, it does provide large, open areas to explore. But as the game goes on, the open-world elements "tighten," according to director Hajime Tabata.

Speaking in a new interview with Japanese publication Famitsu (as translated by Siliconera), Tabata was asked about the size of the game. He estimated the three chapters Famitsu played represent "about 15 percent or so" of the game full game, noting that the "chapters go from 0 to 15."

When asked if the structure was similar throughout, Tabata said, "Final Fantasy XV consists of both open-world and linear parts. The first half keeps going as an open world, but the story in the second half is led by a linear path. That way, you won't get bored of an open world as the rest of the game tightens, so we made it in a way that you'll also get to advance through it as you have in conventional Final Fantasy games."

It doesn't sound as if the second half will necessarily force you down a single corridor--when estimating the game's length, he referred to the "main route" of the second half.

"If you play through the first half and only the main route of the second half, I believe the estimated play-time sits at around 40 to 50 hours," he said.

Following a recent delay, Final Fantasy XV is now slated for release on November 29 for PS4 and Xbox One. Tabata told GameSpot recently as part of a wide-ranging interview that it was delayed so that contents of a day-one patch could instead be included on-disc. He also said he has no plans to expand Final Fantasy XV into a Lightning Trilogy-style series, instead preferring to to simply leverage what the team has learned developing it.

If the wait for the game is too much to bear, you can watch more than 50 minutes of gameplay footage.