Final Fantasy 15 may be the first game in the series to appear on the next-gen PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but the game was originally intended for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 as Final Fantasy Versus 13. The game was meant to share the same universe as Final Fantasy 13, and director of the Final Fantasy 13 trilogy Motomu Toriyama recently explained to IGN how the game has transitioned from Versus 13 to 15.
When Toriyama was sked about Etro, the goddess who plays a big role in Final Fantasy 13-2 and is mentioned in the debut trailer for Final Fantasy 15, some fans interpreted the mention as confirmation of a link between the games. However, the director quickly pointed out that this Etro's appearance is not so simple.
"You must remember, it was a long time ago that we named those three games: XIII, as well as Versus and Agito which we now call Type-0. Obviously those three projects were going to be developed against the backdrop of this Crystal trilogy, or Fabula Nova Crystallis. But each project has a different set of characters and they're set in different universes and worlds," Toriyama told IGN. "When Etro is mentioned in the context of XIII and XV, we're referring to the same goddess of Death. It's the same goddess, but how she's featured, how she appears and how she's involved with the story is completely different. They're different stories and different projects. So while it's the same character, her involvement is very different."
Toriyama went on to declare that with the release of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 the story of Gran Pulse and Lightning will be concluded, and will not appear in Final Fantasy 15, though the setting could appear in smaller titles:
"The Final Fantasy XIII trilogy is definitely coming to an end; that's definitive...Lightning's saga is coming to an end as well, so all the worlds and areas like Cocoon and Gran Pulse surrounding her tale will be done with too. Having said that, there is a possibility that they may be used or depicted in a future project, but not a whole game...There won't be another full Final Fantasy title looking at Lightning or these areas."
It will be interesting to see what other potential links between Final Fantasy 13 and 15 exist, and if they will be a product of Final Fantasy 15's long development or if they are deliberate references to a shared mythology.