Tanaka confirms that it was the plan all along to make "Rapture" into the latest numbered installment in the Final Fantasy series. However, he jokes that they were not sure if Square Enix would have already made it to 14 during the four years they spent in development, forcing them to go with Final Fantasy XV Online. Career loners will be glad to know solo play is getting a lot more attention this time around. However, the developers are still going to have a lot for parties to do. The core concept is growth through one's natural, everyday activities. Perhaps you solo a lot of quests, maybe you meet some people and band together against evilIt's all about enjoying the game in your own way, and developing as you see fitTanaka chimes in to express his preference for balanced parties, as opposed to everyone meleeing at once. When designing the party system, he made sure it would facilitate more strategic setups, where everyone can play their respective role.
Tanaka admitted the Battle System as a whole has not yet been perfected because that is something beta testers will need to take a crack at. The interviewer also brought up PvP, to which the developers responded they were considering options for the latter. They explain that while the game will involve cooperation, this does not necessarily always mean party vs. monster. They say PvP will more likely take a shape similar to Final Fantasy XI, and they seem to shy away from allowing players to simply fight and kill each other anywhere, worrying it could lead to monopolization of content.