Final Fantasy XV Entirely Drops Versus XIII's Heroine Stella, Episode Duscae 2.0 Next Week

In a new episode of Square Enix's Active Time Report this morning, Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata shared new details about the title. This includes three major ways the narrative has changed after transitioning from its old framing as Versus XIII.

In Versus XIII's original story, penned by Final Fantasy veteran Kazushige Nojima, Final Fantasy XV protagonist Noctis had a female counterpart. Stella was positioned as the heroine of that story. She will no longer appear in the game.

"We wanted to keep her as a heroine in Final Fantasy XV's story, and persued ways to tie her in to FFXV's design as well," Tabata says. "But we found it increasingly difficult to make sense of Stella's character and role within FFXV. So then we thought, do weant to recreate Stella with a different role and image, or do we want to start over with a new heroine? And after a lot of consideration, we decided not to include Stella in FFXV."

A new character, named Luna, has been created instead. Tabata says they'll reveal more about her in the future.

For those that have been following the development of Final Fantasy XV since before the name change, you might recall the city of Insomnia. This was the setting for the Versus XII trailer. The sequence that transpires in that trailer, with invaders from Niflheim crashing a party, has been cut entirely.

Tabata says that the Niflheim army attacks after Noctis and team leave the city. The reason for this change is a spoiler, but what he does say is that the scene served as an introduction to Stella. With her gone, the team was freed up to move things around.

The final change is more minor. Tabata promises that the gameplay of fighting in Insomnia, or a city like it, will be integrated in some way.

Tabata also says that previously released characters, like the female dragoon, are still included in the story. "All these things I have been talking about have been the subject of extensive debate and were decided with utmost resolve in order to make Final Fantasy XV into the best game possible," he says. "So, at least in our mind, these decisions are making the game better."

Tabata concluded this section of the broadcast by confirming that Final Fantasy XV is a different game than Versus XIII. More will be revealed at Gamescom as the team "reboots the campaign."

For those waiting for the retooled Episode Duscae demo, you won't have to wait much longer. Square Enix says that it will be released on June 9 at 8 a.m. Pacific / 11 a.m. Eastern.

Square Enix also says that it will not be creating a trailer for E3. The team is focused on new content and announcements for Gamescom. The next Active Time Report will take place at that time, also. For more on the long development of Final Fantasy XV, check out our timeline.

Our Take
The Final Fantasy XV team is making some hard cuts after the transition, and this is going to be a loss for many who have been following the game's long development. I hope this doesn't mean that we'll lose out on a strong female presence as Terra, Celes, and Yuna, are some of my favorite characters in the franchise.