Final Fantasy Type-0 HD
During the production of "Final Fantasy Type-0", the development team explored the possibility of a high-definition port of the game. The idea never went beyond experimentation as the team was focused on keeping the game as a portable experience. The team also experimented with a sequel on eighth generation consoles, but production was halted when the development team were transferred to "Final Fantasy XV". After some time working on "XV", original director Hajime Tabata decided to develop "Type-0 HD" for eighth-generation consoles. The game began development in mid-2012, around the same time "XV" was shifted onto PlayStation 4 (PS4) and Xbox One. Tabata came on board in July of that year as director and producer, though his involvement was fairly minor due to his directing duties for "XV". The main development was handled by HexaDrive, who had previously collaborated successfully with Square Enix on "The 3rd Birthday", and had developed the high-definition remasters of "Ōkami" and "". The remaster was intended as an incentive for "Final Fantasy" players in both Japan and the west to purchase eighth generation consoles before "XV"s release. The original plan was for a port to both the seventh generation PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles, and eighth generation consoles. After the PS4 proved popular at the 2013 Tokyo Game Show, and as Tabata had no development experience with seventh generation console hardware, the team focused on the eighth generation versions. According to art director Yusuke Naora, moving from the PlayStation Portable to eighth-generation hardware proved hard for the team. Despite early claims, no version of "Type-0 HD" was developed for the PlayStation Vita. According to Tabata, this was due to difficulties in porting between console and Vita development environments, and his wish for a playing experience he could only envision on home consoles.
Development of Final Fantasy XV
After TGS 2014, where "Episode Duscae" was first announced, Tabata and the team adjusted the gameplay experience based on fan feedback. The original plan was for a large area of the worldmap that players could explore using the car. While the ability to drive the party's car was originally included, it was later cut as Tabata feared that the feature would be too new for older fans of the series, who might have mistaken "XV" for "a driving game". The team decided to focus on the characters and environment. The demo included English and Japanese audio for all regions. The demo released in all regions alongside the physical and digital releases of "Final Fantasy Type-0 HD". The physical version was exclusive to day-one editions of "Type-0 HD", while the digital version was valid for two months after purchase. The code had to be redeemed within one year of purchase. While players could save their progress in the demo, save data could not be carried over to the main game. Despite this, the team announced its intention to create a bonus for those who purchased the demo. A patch titled "Episode Duscae 2.0" was released in June 2015, which included enhancements for the camera and controls, fixes for bugs, and adjustments to gameplay. The demo ran on Version 1.5 of Luminous Studio.