While Square Enix had shown off a new VR mode for Final Fantasy XV with Monster of the Deep, which adds VR to the Fishing Mini-game, the original E3 2016 VR Experience will not be seeing a release.
The E3 2016 demo, dubbed “Final Fantasy XV: VR Experience” gave players control of Prompto and allowed him to use his firearms to take down various beasts in the game in a light-gun style mini-game. In a statement issued to Gamespot, Square Enix said, “Final Fantasy XV: VR Experience at E3 2016 was a technology demo that we showcased. Since then, we have learned much from the technology and have leveraged our learnings from the Episode Prompto DLC. The result of that is our first PlayStation VR title, Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV.”
The original VR Experience was designed as an extra and would have been provided as an update after the game’s launch.
“We’re thinking it’ll probably be a DLC release later for the game,” he continued. “It really is our core belief that we should satisfy the people who buy the game that we’ve made as much as possible; we also want them to play for as long as possible too so it really does help with that–gives them something extra.” said Hajime Tabata, Final Fantasy XV director.
While Monster of the Deep should hold PSVR owners for their Final Fantasy XV fix, we can’t help but feel like we’re missing out on getting to see Prompto’s gun-slinging in first person view.