Final Fantasy XV - what took so long?

Final Fantasy XV ~ What the Heck took so long? And will it sate our expectations? 

Final Fantasy XV has been "in-development" since its reveal back in 2006 alongside Final Fantasy XIII and Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep a little over a decade ago, and both of which have long since been released. The latest edition into the Final Fantasy series of JRPG videogames is slated to come out later this month on the XBox One and Playstation 4 home consoles, however with fans having been eagerly awaiting for over a decade, once released will XV meet every fans' impossible expectations or will it leave the fanbase disappointed? 

Let's look at some reasons why XV has taken thus a whopping "10" years to arrive;

1. Changes in Staff
Since it's reveal in 2006 as Versus XIII, XV has undergone many changes in staff with people coming and going; moving onto other projects or leaving the company altogether though Shinji Hashimoto, Yoko Shimomura, Tomohiro Hasewaga, and Takeshi Nozue remained on board throughout development.

2. Changes to the Setting (i.e. Environment, Plot & Characters)
It was originally announced that Noctis possessed a power called the "eyes of Etro", and Etro herself (a prominent deity in XIII lore) was the presiding Goddess of death in Versus XIII

from the Final Fantasy Wiki: 

In Final Fantasy Versus XIII Etro was the patron goddess of the kingdom of Lucis, where Noctis was the crown prince. Because Etro was known as the goddess of death, Lucis thus had a dark design, only showed at night time, and Grim Reaper motifs recurred in its crests. The royal family and other citizens of Lucis were also to wear black to go with this theme. Nevertheless, the primary conflict shown was that of the politico-resource strife regarding Lucis's possession of the last crystal in the world, and the cold war that it spawned in its wake due to the inequality of powers between Lucis and the rest of the world; it is unknown what measure the lore of Fabula Nova Crystallis and the influence of Etro would play in this.
The game was to open with a formal party to celebrate the treaty-signing between Lucis and Niflheim, where Stella Nox Fleuret talked to Noctis about a legend from her home country of Tenebrae. The legend stated that whenever Etro opens the Unseen Gate, the souls of the dead ascend as a streak of light to the heavens and through the Gate. It is said that when few among the dying see the light, they are given power from the Kingdom of the Dead. Stella stated she can see the light, as could Noctis. Noctis guessed both of them had had a near-death experience.
The treaty-signing was but a ruse and Niflheim forces stormed the city to steal its crystal, Noctis and his friends having to fight their way through soldiers and Behemoths. Noctis was to face a mysterious white-clad man who also appeared to wield the power of the crystal, and even fight Stella, who would display the same power to summon weapons via magic.
This opening scene was removed altogether for Final Fantasy XV where, although Lucis is still attacked, Noctis is away from the capital when it happens.

3. The developers changed gameplay mechanics to satisfy changing consumer needs
This is one is just a guess but  it's not impossible to believe that the game would linger in "development hell" for a little over a decade because the developers want to put out a game that sells well and meets the expectations of the fanbase as well as inviting to new players. It's impossible to meet every single demand of any fanbase, which is why it is important for developers to remember that while fan feedback is important, ultimately the title is their game and should be written as they see fit.

4. The game was completely reworked from the inside-out
This one is pretty much the case, with a shifting development team, and a complete re-envisioning of the original plot it makes sense that the original gameplay and mechanics would be scrapped along with the prototype story and characters.

5. A New engine means a new start
Sort of, the development team for Versus XIII started out using "Crystal Tools" (the engine used for FFXIII, XIII-2, XIV and Lightning Returns), but developed the new Luminous Engine which is what the current and final product will be using. So while yes the development team did move on to a new and better engine, it seems unlikely that it hindered progress at all as it was sure that they had been developing a new custom engine during the course of the development for XV.

6. Online criticism and fan complaints have caused drawbacks in the game's production 
Unlikely, while yes the game has been in limbo for years only to finally get a solid release date of 11-29-2016, that hasn't stopped fans and critics from referring to the game as "vaporware" and "cancelled". Yes negative feedback (especially on a product that has yet to be released) can make anyone feel anxious and upset, however it is doubtful that the opinions of fans and critics had much if any bearing at all on the development cycle of the game.

Some negative attributes some fans have already called the game out on or have speculated about during the game's development;

1. No female party members!
Not really negative, the game is a "male bonding" road trip story as explained in the game's narrative by Tetsuya Nomura. Since its re-branding as XV in 2013, the game has unveiled a slew of female characters such as Cindy, a perky mechanic, Aranea Highwind (AKA the "female Dragoon"), Lunafreya (Stella's replacement!), Iris Amicitia, and Gentiana, though that has not stopped fans from expecting/wanting or demanding a playable female (despite the fact that Noctis is the only palayable character in the game) in some form or fashion.

2. It's Too Linear!
The game is not even out yet and many on the web and on gaming forums are bemoaning the fact that the reputed end-half of the game is to be "extremely linear" in comparison to the beginning. If this is true, lets hope that the first half of the game in entertaining enough to make a narrow end-half seem feasible.

3. They replaced Stella!
Originally the leading lady of Final Fantasy XV (when it was Versus XIII) was to be Stella Nox Fleuret, however after the eventual re-branding to "XV" Stella was replaced by a younger looking "Lunafreya", who is to act as the consort to be to Prince Noctis. Since Stella was essentially just a prototype or a demo-reel character, it's really hard to get a grasp for what her personality is/was so it was probably justified on the side of the production team to simply scrap her altogether in favor of a completely new character. Because she was such a pre-development character its difficult to really have taken up any emotional attachment or connection for the character, when in reality it is actually more likely that all of her would-be traits, characteristics, charm and appeal were merely re-packaged into Lunafreya.

4. They Keep Changing the Release date!
Final Fantasy XV had originally been slated to release sometime in-between 2014 or 2015 (the latter seeming more appropriate in keeping with the theme), however we finally got a concrete release date of September 30, 2016 only for Square-Enix to change the release date to November 29, pushing the game's release back almost three months. Fans were understandably upset, with pre-orders looming and expectations running wild at this point, however one needs to keep in mind that bug testing is an essential part of game development. It is the developer's responsibility to make sure that the final product is presented in a finished and playable state before releasing it to the public, and Square-Enix has taken this extra time to ensure that the game will be as bug-free and finishable as possible.

5. Final Fantasy VII is to blame!
This one is rather far-fetched, but I've seen it mentioned on some forums that some fans of the Final Fantasy series and those in particular who are eagerly expecting XV to drop have blamed the emergence of the "Final Fantasy VII remake" for the game's repeated delays, and indefinite stay in development hell. While yes a few of the lead devs from XV (Shinji Hashimoto, Yoshinori Kitase, and Tetsuya Nomura) are working on the remake of VII, it is unlikely that the entirety of the XV team has been compromised or stunted because of this and is more likely that both development teams, aside from their lead developers have independent teams. Also the remake of VII wasn't announced until 2015, well after XV had been halfway completed so therefore it stands to reason that the on-going development of the VII Remake had little if any impact on XV's release.

And for some positives to look forward to pending the game's release;

1. Yoko Shimomura is composing the score
That's right, beloved composer of the Kingdom Hearts series has been contracted to conduct the soundtrack for XV since it's early stages as "Versus XIII", which means that fans of the KH soundtracks will surely love the XV soundtrack as well. In fact a few tidbits from the official soundtrack have already been released.

2. The game is mostly open-exploration (mostly) 
From the look of things the game promises a very open-world aspect to exploring, fighting monsters, leveling up, and traveling. While its unlikely that Final Fantasy XV will be on Skyrim levels of off-rails open-world exploration, it looks to be less restrictive than the previous XIII games, which is in my opinion a step in the right direction.

3. Familiar voices will be appearing in the English version 
Anime and videogame veterans Matthew Mercer and Kari Wahlgren have been cast as "Cor Leonis" and "Aranea Highwind" respectively, so while not main party members they will be at least popping into the game.

4. It is slated for a multi-platform release
Final Fantasy XV will be released for both the Xbox One and Playstation 4 consoles, but no mention of a PC release? I would not give up hope for a PC release of XV, as the previous trilogy of Final Fantasy XIII have all been released on computer systems (released a little while after the game's initial release) so it stands to reason that XV will follow this logic as well.

5. Summons return, and they look badass
As if you needed another reason to go out and get XV when it releases, take a look at the gameplay footage and tell me it isn't badass. You can have fun frying annoying mobs of monsters with Ramuh's judgment bolt, or drown your enemies with Leviathan's tidal wave attack, and I'm sure long-standing FF classics such as Ifrit and Shiva will be returning as well.

In closing I'd just like to say that I for one am incredibly excited for XV to finally drop, it's been a decade in the making and it is that much closer to release, just about two weeks away! I know I can't force everyone to hold off on judgments or bashing the game but as one gamer to another I would hold off any 'final opinions' until actually playing the game, it will be out soon enough and then we will all know whether XV has lived up to the hype or is a decade-old colossal fizzle.