Square Enix delivered on their promise. They said that they had something special in store for fans of Final Fantasy, and they unleashed it in the form of "Omen". This arrived just an hour after their stage presentation at this year's Paris Game Show in Paris, France, and you can check out the short film for yourself.
The four and a half minute short film, "Omen", was posted up over on the official Final Fantasy YouTube channel, which is where Square said it would be yesterday during their vague promotional tweet. It starts with the main protagonist of Final Fantasy XV, Noctis, pulling up in his fancy car to a gas station and walking through the door only to have it transform into a regal room where a voice over from a little girl briefly talks as Noctis walks over to a window.
The scene hops back to the dark-haired protagonist in the Regalia where he drives wistfully through the countryside while terror fills in the skies in the form of Empire transport craft. A ghostly specter of Luna watches from the side of the road as explosive missiles slam into the ground behind the Regalia -- a short sequence follows where Noctis leans over to the passenger side seat while speeding down the road to spot a glimpse of a solemn white wolf with a brace on its right front leg.
Noctis flips the car and flies out while having a spotted vision of Luna in terrible trouble where she's battling against a mysterious foe.
The troubled hero finds himself being led through a portal in an empty desert by the small Arctic wolf. The portal leads back to the Empire -- this time it's a subway car full of soldiers.
It's likely that all these locations will be featured throughout Final Fantasy XV, but the short film doesn't focus on gameplay possibilities. The short film, instead, wants to be artful and mysterious during the first half.
Things pick up after the subway, and we finally start to see Noctis amping up. They show off some of the bosses players will fight throughout Final Fantasy XV, along with a sequence on the bridge where the prince battles through Imperial forces, leading up to him losing his sword (and a good chunk of his upper body clothing) while he attempts to make his way to Luna.
He eventually loses his sword and reverts to using the Empire's own weapons against them, which opens up a really blatant question: Can Noctis use guns?
In the short film we see the prince eventually lose his shirt completely, lose his weapons and undergo a bit of an identity crisis as the young pup he was following seems to turn into a demonic presence. The dream-like (or more nightmare oriented) short film ends with Noctis fighting against his own nature and destiny, killing Luna and screaming in the process. It turns out that it appears to be a dream of King Lucius, and he asks for forgiveness from the gods for his actions.
It sets up Final Fantasy XV in a unique way because it may not be as straightforward as some of the trailers have led on. There were some really good story foundations laid in Kingsglaive, so I'm interested in seeing how they pick up from there and further unravel the story in the full game when it launches November 29th for the Xbox One and PS4.
