Big lines in front of gaming stores are more or less a thing of the past in Japan, mostly due to online shopping becoming more widespread and convenient. Yet, some rare occasions still bring Japanese gamers together to sand in line since the wee hours. Final Fantasy XV‘s massively anticipated launch is one of those occurrences.
At 8:15 this morning, Square Enix hosted a launch event in front of the iconic Yodobashi megastore in Akihabara, which is pretty much “the” place where Tokyo gamers like to go stand in line when a big release happens.
As you can see below, things were already quite lively at 6:15 in the morning when it was still quite dark outside.
FINAL FANTASY XV発売記念イベント現地到着！すでに長蛇の列が！皆さん、朝早くから本当にありがとうございます！#FFXV #FF15 pic.twitter.com/H7v2VzCkif
— FINAL FANTASY XV (@FFXVJP) November 28, 2016
As time passed, the crowd became larger, as you can see below courtesy of Twitter users ﾂﾙﾐﾛﾎﾞ, sqex_cafe, Ren, つくねmini, and 三面怪人271号 . There were about 200 people in front of the store, ready to welcome the launch of the most awaited JRPG of the year.
ヨドバシAkiba、本日発売「ファイナルファンタジーXV」の購入・発売記念イベントに平日早朝にもかかわらず約200人がながい列をつくる pic.twitter.com/uZb6cQsNKp
— ﾂﾙﾐﾛﾎﾞ (@kaztsu) November 28, 2016
【#sqex_cafe】
さて店頭、ヨドバシAkibaさんの第２エントランス前は、たくさんの方にお集まり頂いております！！
この後８時より、FFXVの発売記念イベント開催ですo(^▽^)o pic.twitter.com/fDaw7TuXHZ— sqex_cafe (@sqex_cafe) November 28, 2016
ヨドバシ秋葉原がめちゃめちゃ並んでる……
ファイナルファンタジー１５発売日かぁ
欲しいけど買えん pic.twitter.com/sNRI9Izr6C— Ren (@Renhasu09) November 28, 2016
ヨドバシがえらいことになってる pic.twitter.com/qcZszWiasI
— つくねmini (@tsu_kune) November 28, 2016
ヨドバシの前がすごい。高まるね。FF15。今日は仕事してる場合じゃない pic.twitter.com/wrmBphKhBp
— 三面怪人271号 (@NyankiiDispatch) November 28, 2016
ヨドバシAkiba「ファイナルファンタジーXV」発売記念セレモニー
発売記念イベントには早朝約200人が列をつくり、平日にもかかわらず、たくさんの人たちが配られたタオルを掲げ発売を盛り上げていた pic.twitter.com/8HJVc9lbOH— ﾂﾙﾐﾛﾎﾞ (@kaztsu) November 29, 2016
Square Enix had the “Star of Lucis” Audi R8 that appeared in the Kingsglaive featured film on display, and quite a few of the people involved with the game’s production in attendance, including Director Hajime Tabata, President Yosuke Matsuda and part of the voice cast (courtesy of Fami_xv)
記念撮影タイム #FFXV #FF15 pic.twitter.com/pgM040B6oN
— Fami_xv (@Fami_xv) November 28, 2016
The event culminated with a lovely launch count-down created with the engine of the game, animated by its characters and monsters. You can enjoy it below.
発売おめでとうございます！ #FFXV #FF15 pic.twitter.com/CEfPwATXqz
— Fami_xv (@Fami_xv) November 28, 2016
And now the floodgates are open, with the game already available in Japan, Asia and Europe. North America will follow soon. A ten years-long rollercoaster ride ends, while the legend finally begins.
While you’ll have to wait a bit longer for our review (you can read the reason here), what I played so far simply made me smile, a lot.
Since the game launched on a Tuesday, we’ll have to wait over a week to know how it performed during its Japanese debut. Media Create will release the first numbers on Wednesday, December 7th. I have a feeling that they won’t be disappointing. We’ll see if I’m right in eight days.
If you want to see more launch celebrations, you can checkout the Japanese livestream here, with a really lovely and a bit crazy homage to the fans, and the European launch event here, with the reveal of a slightly weird new in-game weapon.
Incidentally, today we also get the final artwork of the count-down, created by Yuuki Matsuzawa, who also did the game’s key art.
