Final Fantasy XV’s director says the women will serve as more than just “love interests”

Final Fantasy XV has had a lot of tongues wagging in the past year. But as is often the case, major changes to a popular series are often accompanied by criticism. While many fans are worried about the changes to the combat mechanics, others have voiced their concerns about the lack of female representation in the all-male party.

Game director Hajime Tabata addressed a few of these issues in a recent interview with The Examiner, and said that the party would encounter various women during the course of their adventure, serving as both friends and foes.

“There are quite a lot of female characters the guys will meet along the road they take and they really enhance the story, and perform a lot of different roles in the story, not just as love interests but other ways as the story progresses.”

The issue of representation has been at the forefront of gaming discussion for some time now. Although there has been a large effort on the part of developers to be more inclusive, many people are still not satisfied that enough is being done to make people believe that gaming is for everyone. At the same time, others have stated that they are happy for games to be more inclusive, but that developers shouldn’t be forced to include various demographics if it means deviating from the story that they originally had in mind in order to appease everybody.

While it’s unclear what went into the decision for the all-male cast in FFXV, only time will tell whether or not the female representation in the game will be enough for fans. 

How do you feel about the all-male party in Final Fantasy XV? Should the developers have made more of an effort to be inclusive, or are you happy that they stuck to their original ideas for the game?