A long awaited ‘Final Fantasy’ returns at E3

Show attendees play video games on the new Sony PlayStation 4 at the Sony booth during the Electronic Entertainment Expo, in Los Angeles, Tuesday, June 11, 2013. AP

LOS ANGELES — It’s a video game more than seven years in the making.

Square Enix revealed Monday during Sony’s presentation at the Electronic Entertainment Expo that “Final Fantasy XV” would finally see the light of day. The latest entry in the long-running role-playing series was previously known as “Final Fantasy Versus XIII” and was first revealed at E3 way back in 2006.

What’s taking so long?

Tetsuya Nomura, Square Enix’s chief creative head, said technology had to catch up with his imagination. While the title was originally intended for the current-generation PlayStation 3, “Final Fantasy XV” will be available for Sony’s next-generation PlayStation 4, as well as Microsoft’s Xbox One.

“Several times, there were changes in engines that we used,” the Japanese game designer said through a translator Tuesday at Square Enix’s E3 booth. “To make what I imagined in my mind on the current generation of consoles was very challenging. What you saw yesterday in the trailer was very difficult to create in the current generation of consoles.”

Nomura declined to elaborate on how the game will play, but footage shown at E3 suggests “Final Fantasy XV” will trade the series’ signature turn-based combat for quicker-paced action.

“The game was announced seven years ago, but the concept has never changed,” Nomura said.

The original “Final Fantasy” was released in 1987 and has spawned dozens of sequels and spin-offs.