Dummied Out / Final Fantasy XV

Final Fantasy XV has a shockingly huge amount of cut content buried in the game's source code, which reveals much of its Troubled Production and how the story changed throughout the years; according to a (largely accurate) leak, about 50% of the game was cut or left unfinished before release. While some of it was added back via DLC or patches, so much is still lost in the files that players could only wonder What Could Have Been.

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Deleted scenes, voice lines, and text dumps:

To summarize, nearly every dialogue in the game was trimmed out for various reasons. Standouts include:

• Not really dummied out, but there's a full conversation between the main party cut-off when the logo appears and fades out their voices in the first chapter.
• A voiced line where King Regis refers to Noctis' mother by name.
• Text files of Jared's death scene reveals that his death was to be shown on screen, with NPCs in Lestallum commenting on his death.
• Many unused NPC chatter lines about the events in Kingsglaive, their dismay, and criticism about Regis' immigration policy, the fall of Insomnia, and more events happening throughout the game.
• There is also a very lengthy conversation between Ardyn and Ravus's chat that was noticeably cut in Chapter 9.
• A deleted scene found in text files is Ravus himself giving the Sword of the Father to Noctis before dying in front of him. There are also extra unused battle lines in his boss form.
• Nearly half of Ardyn's dialogue, which would have made his Foil to Noctis more apparent, was missing in the final script. Especially in Chapter 13, where he's crueler in his taunts to Noctis.
• Ravus and Luna's dialogue before Altissia has all the lines that express his concern for her wellbeing removed for some reason, making him sound colder to her.
• A lengthy chat between Noctis and Weskham is cut in chapter 8 before Luna summons Leviathan.
• There are a few alternate dialogues in some chapters. However, the content remains the same, the way they learn about some events depends on their location, like the group learning about the fall of Insomnia on the radio instead of in the newspaper.
• There's a deleted dialogue between the bros in their reunion in chapter 14 but instead of being happy to see Noctis again, all four party members resign themselves to Noctis' impending death. There's also some extra dialogue after he says his final line in the campfire scene.
• Bahamut and Noctis's dialogue in the Beyond has two choices, where Noctis begs to be let out of the Crystal after hearing that he will fade away after purging the Starscourge, or resigning himself to die. This is quite similar to Ardyn's reactions in Episode Ardyn.
• There's a funny dialogue between the party members whenever the song "Afrojack" plays.
• There are some descriptions of unreleased items like an AP adapter, a Radiant Gemstone, a Cactuar mace, three "Kingly Tee" costumes, and a "Prince Hunter Fatigues" with and without the jacket.
• There are sound clips of Chocobos being hurt or killed, which suggests that they were enemies at one point or they can be killed during battle.
• There's a cut Luna tutorial hidden in the Royal Edition version.
• Old versions of the "Hunter Becomes the Hunted" and "Mutant Maurader" quests. The difference is lines suggesting the monsters were in the middle of demonification were removed.
• Some unused lines for Chapter 5, a few brought back in the Pocket Edition.
• More references of Prompto being a technophile and using a weapon from Niflheim were also cut.
• Early scripts of chapter 9 (and Episode Ignis as seen below) were datamined and reveal a longer story that were cut in the final product:
  • A few banter between the bros before and during the fight and Noctis navigating the huge crowd in Luna's speech were cut. This also removes some lines stating where Prompto, Gladio, and Ignis were currently located via comms. Also, Noctis has more lines communicating with the others until two-thirds of the story when Titan creates a tidal wave.
  • The lines referring to the cut quest removing the harpoons attached to Leviathan were removed, which is, unfortunately, a big chunk of the early part of the chapter.
  • Noctis begs/asks/demands Leviathan give him her power before the Leviathan starts destroying Altissia and Noctis accepts the challenge of defeating her.
  • The bros would have met once more after the evacuation, before being separated by Leviathan's waves and meeting up again one by one shortly. There's also a scene where they found the ride that Prompto uses to transport Noctis at the start of the boss fight.
  • A few lines suggesting that the Leviathan fight was supposed to be longer, and a few lines were put back in Pocket Edition
• Unused line of Noctis asking Titan for help in his trial before Titan joins the party. Also, the old script for Titan's mission was found in the game files.
• A few additional lines were cut in Cor and Cid's first meeting with the party in chapter 2. An audio comparison of the Cor's lines between the cut and finished product can be found.
• Other characters would have also given map locations, but this was never implemented.
• An unused dialog between Noctis and Prompto in Chapter 14 talking about taking photos in a somber tone.
• Unused near-hit lines for Aranea, Cor, Ardyn, Luna, and surprisingly, Libertus.
• Text files pertaining to a "Forest of memories", the same forest Noctis met Caburncle in Platinum Demo, can be found. Decoding the text shows that the original chapter 14 is where Noctis sees the memories of Luna and Regis before unlocking a secret memory that would had strengthen his resolve in doing his duty. This being cut is likely the reason why Luna's scenes had jarring placements and for her demoted role. The forest and this part are referenced in Noctis's episode in "Dawn of the Future".
• Some unused Noctis' battle lines in the Royal Edition.

Cut guest party members and summons:

• There are unused lines in chapter 4 where Titan joins the party as a guest after his defeat, give Noctis a strength buff, and help fight the Niflheim soldiers. This mechanic is later brought back in Episode Ardyn with Ifrit. This and Luna's summon being Bahamut hint that all the XV Gods might had be planned as guests instead of just glorified cutscenes.
• Ardyn was also planned to be a guest member in chapter 3, would give a few treasures, hilariously invite himself at camps in chapter 7 to give out map points, and would even be the one to guide the party to Wiz's Chocobo Post.
• Luna was discovered in Debug mode to join the party, but trying to add her to the party wouldn't make her appear and will make the game soft lock. Either this was a leftover when she was scripted to join the party in the DLCs before its cancelation or when she was supposed to join the party in the early stages before rewrites forced the devs to remove her. Some fighting animations◊, enough to mod her back to the game, and text lines still remain, showing her interacting with the party and revealing that her summon would be Bahamut.
• There is an unused summon called "The Wise", hinting that the developers wanted to have the Kings of Yore be summonable, but also got scrapped along the way.
• Umbra can also join the party and is even controllable in debug mode and mods, which is similar to a "dog cam" shown in a development video. DLC test files also show Pryna is also summonable and basically a Palette Swap of Umbra, but some texts still would say Umbra instead of Pryna.
• One dataminer managed to discover some basic code for a playable Ravus in Episode Ignis.

Cut locations:

Due to time constraints, most of Niflheim, Tenebrae, Altissia, and Insomnia were normally inaccessible. While a small part of Altissia, Insomnia, and Niflheim became explorable after release, the rest will never see the light of day when the remaining DLCs supposed to happen in those places were canceled.

• Lucis:
  • The most tragic cut of them all, the city of Insomnia is way bigger than what people can explore in the main game, which is only the citadel and a few blocks close to it. Even in the early stages of development like Platinum Demo, people discovered that it's possible to explore places outside the boundaries and find detailed assets of buildings unused in the final game.
  • This only works in the console version, but doing an OOB glitch in the Free Battle mode during installation allows access to a detailed alternate version of Insommia different from PD Insomnia and the final game that seems to be cut at the last minute. The low poly textures suggest this is an early version of the Insomnia map and the Episode Ardyn map is heavily based on this one.
  • Northern Lucis, as a whole, is entirely empty and only a few parts have collision data. It cannot be accessed by normal means as the roads leading into it are either blocked or looped to prevent entry. This and the area after the blockade leading to Insomnia can only be explored via a glitch or by modifying the files to remove collision. Interestingly, exploring the areas shows Pylons connecting to nowhere, and flying out way beyond the northern map border shows huge hidden islands only seen in the complete world map.
  • An unused Niflheim outpost is located in Leide, and debug mode shows it's called the Viewbliss Outpost.
  • There's also Tollhends Stronghold and while it's named and indicated on the map, it cannot be explored. There are text files found that suggest that this and Viewbliss Outpost were part of a dummied quest line and would have been explorable alongside Perpetouss Keep^note Originally unexplorable during release, but repurposed as the site for the FFXIV crossover.
• Doing an OOB glitch in Lestallum shows unused shops and chairs hidden within the rooftops, meaning that there were plans to be able to explore the rooftops at one point before changing plans.
• While only 1/4 of Altissia can normally be explored, the rest of the city like the Alter of the Tidemother, Cathedral Plaza, a Gondola Port, Fountain Plaza, Restaurant Square, and Waterfall Village are detailed enough that it's clear the whole city is explorable but cut due to lack of time. This is evident with many copy and paste NPCs just standing around some areas and a few shops obviously blocking the paths leading to these places, though trying to explore all of this by foot will lead to a lot of falling below the map and crashing the game.
• Niflheim:
  • By going out of bounds, people discovered that the whole continent can be explored by foot and the dummied-out places were fully detailed and meant to be explorable even with the Regalia, albeit with many unfinished parts and roads leading to nowhere.
  • The second elevator in Catarnica station was supposed to lead into the town below. In a few Out of Bounds videos, the town was detailed enough to be explorable even in the first version and was continuously updated with new buildings and even Cindy's truck in each patch.
  • Likewise, the rest of Succarpe is detailed enough to be explorable, though buildings have no collisions and there are clearly unfinished outposts littering the roadside. A few areas similar to some areas from Versus XIII trailers are also recognizable and autodrive is even possible in the area if the regalia is successfully glitched in. Another interesting thing is that the train tracks and roads to the northernmost part will show it coming out from the water. ^note In an early map, the back part of Altissia has an exit via train leading to Niflheim, and this is where it presumably has been connected to. There were also hints of the party driving to Niflheim from Accordo, but time constraints forced the devs to cut all this out.
  • Unlike Succarpe, Eusciello is less detailed and only has a small imperial outpost that can't be really explored due to a timer, but glitching outside the area will show a few unfinished towns and buildings unseen in cutscenes.
  • There's a level supposed to lead into Shiva's corpse and the area was supposed to be explorable. As one leak revealed and the Pocket Edition later confirmed, there would have been a dungeon near Shiva's corpse where Noctis would receive Shiva's blessing after completion.
  • Tenebrae cannot be explored except for a small area outside the castle, but some OOB glitches show a few interesting places like the Sylleblossom Garden, Luna's room, and a few unfinished hallways that lead to nowhere.
  • An indoor train station shown in development videos ends up missing in-game.
  • A huge chunk of Gralea is given so much detail in its assets that it's obviously meant to be explorable but was trimmed down into only a small explorable area before being forced to travel to Zegnautus Keep.
  • Ever wonder why some hallways in Zegnautus Keep seem to cut off out of nowhere? Those lead to huge unused and unfinished areas marked for deletion, with some points of interest like a room full of mechas and tanks.

Cut Quests:

• There was a cut quest in chapter 3 or 4 where Cor gets captured and announced to be executed, and the party tries to rescue him before being lured into a trap. This would lead to another encounter with Loqi.
• In Altissia, there is an unused quest requiring Noctis to cut anchors and cables attached to Leviathan, something shown in the early XV trailers.
• Some cut sidequests include Carmelia requiring the party's assistance, Weskham sending the party to the black market, and solving a detective case.
• All those magazines scattered all around the world? Those were supposed to have questlines attached to them and not just be flavor text.
• Only found in the German version, but there would had been a quest where the party prepares and celebrates Talcott's birthday.

DLC-related and Royal Edition files:

Even the DLCs have some aspects that didn't make the cut:

• There are many unused battle lines in the first three DLCs.
• Examining the cut voice files in Episode Gladiolus reveals some cut story dialogue, like how Gilgamesh tied his soul to the Trial Grounds after Ardyn's first defeat to prepare future generations for Ardyn's return.
• When Episode Gladiolus was released, an early draft of Episode Prompto area was accidentally included, but not used in the DLC. Additionally, a mech found in the files was originally Prompto's snowmobile that can transform into a mech.
• Unused lines in the train scene flashback in Episode Prompto, whereas the game only shows a soundless flashback.
• There is a cut dialogue in Episode Ignis where instead of talking about vegetables in the friendly match, Noctis complains that Ignis is trying to steal his popularity as seen here.
• There is a dummied dagger in Episode Ignis that's supposed to be the reward for beating the game but didn't make it through.
• There's an additional line in the credits in Episode Ignis where Ignis asks Noctis to eat something before Noctis breaks down crying.
• List of changes in the data mined early scripts in Episode Ignis in comparison to chapter 9:
  • The story would start with Ignis and the other's perspective when Luna woke Leviathan, not when Noctis was fighting it. The story would also follow the events of the old chapter 9 more closely (see above).
  • There's also a rescue mission helping the civilians evacuate alongside cutting the cables and anchors on Leviathan before trying to rush to Noctis.
  • Ravus gets stabbed by Ardyn after he discovers that the latter was rejected by the crystal.
  • Ardyn vs Ignis would have happened before Ardyn kills Luna, not afterward, which would have lined with Ignis's statement in chapter 10. Also, Ignis was pierced by a Royal Arm instead of being trampled by Ardyn but still would have used the ring to fight him.
  • Aranea, Biggs, and Wedge also help out in the evacuations, but they are only heard in comms. Weskham and Carmella would have more additional dialogue, with Aranea selling Weskham Imperial Intel. This is later referenced in her canceled DLC and Dawn of the Future.
  • Additional dialogue of Noctis and Luna finally meeting each other and her giving the ring, though this time in a happier tone, suggesting an alternate ending where Luna lives.
  • Another conversation with Carmilla, Weskham, and the bros on Ignis's blindness, the destruction of Altissia, and how to break Lunafreya's death to Noctis before he wakes up.
• There are many unused lines for Cor, Gladiolus, Ignis, Prompto, and Aranea encountering the Player Character in Comrades. It also reveals that Cor is aware of the Kingsglaive's treachery that happened in the movie and that Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto would join The Glaive in quests.
• In Aranea's cut lines for Comrades, there are hints of a quest to search for Biggs and Wedge after the events of chapters 12 and 13.
• In Episode Ardyn, there's a scene where Ardyn would meet Lunafreya while Noctis is still in the Crystal, which is repurposed in Dawn of the Future.

Others:

• Unreleased fitness attires for the whole party intended to be a paid mod are hidden in files, but was forgotten when all support on the game was stopped. These can be restored by a mod.
• There's actually some soundtracks of the early version of the Omega weapon theme and the Type-D race unused in the game.

Versus XIII and Early XV remnants:

• Remnants of Versus XIII text files and some Stella dialogue taken from the 2013 trailer can still be found.
• The old job system text files unused even in Episode Duscae shows the player can assign roles to the other party members and the old magic system is closer to the traditional FF magic system than the magic grenades in the final build. The accessories in the final game also used to be the passives and stats for the job classes. There are also two unused ring magic: Toad and a healing spell.
• Noctis' Versus XIII Outfit, Regis' Versus XIII Outfit, and an unused model of an early Niflheim soldier are still in the game files, though only found in console versions and removed from the PC versions. Judging from the model's quality, this was likely a remnant from the PS3 era. Though a PC mod for Noctis's versus XIII ripped straight from the original files is available.
• Some Platinum Demo and Episode Duscae text files still remain hidden in the final game's code.
• Early dossiers of Ignis, Ravus, and Ardyn with lore not in the final story are also dummied out, such as Ignis' forebearers being advisers to the royal family and Ravus' dossier indicating cutting ties with Luna, which didn't happen in Kingsglaive.
• A collection of weapons that didn't make the game. Some weapons currently in-game are actually reskinned versions of the cut weapons.
• A specular map◊ hidden deep in the image source still has the Versus XIII logo, although it's blurred and hard to see.
• At least 23 Warpstrike commands were found hidden in the game files^note post #7. Presumably cut due to being connected to the old class job, leaving only the gap closer Warp strike.
• Doing an Out of Bounds glitch in Episode Duscae and traveling away from the demo area will turn the moon into a huge blood moon, shown in a few promotional events.◊
• There's a plate in Platinum Demo that was supposed to summon Ramuh when stepped on, but all files related to him being summoned were deleted.
• Unused Character names like Stella, Sapphirus, Luthus/Lupus^note An old translation of Ravus's name, Flora ^note might be a placeholder for Iris's name and Odin still exists in game files.
• An early version of Regis's flashback sporting longer hair in Chapter 13 is still hidden in the final game build. This clip is used in Platinum Demo and the Reclaim Your Throne trailer.
• Some weather and lighting effects files from Episode Duscae and the ones shown in the trailers still remain and can be modded back, albeit with a few glitches happening.
• An early build of the Armiger Unleashed still remains in the early patches of the game before it was released. By comparing the builds, it's possible to see the changes like the earlier build (V1.18) being activated with the Ring of the Lucii rather than the Founder King's sigil, shorter duration time, and slightly different animations.