When Square Enix announced the news that they removed the former heroine Stella from Final Fantasy XV, many have criticized their decision, and I could see why. One of the earlier trailers showed that she was a pretty important character to the game's storyline, so it made us wonder why they replaced her with another female character named Luna.

During a chat with Game Director Hajime Tabata yesterday, Dualshockers asked whether there will be a strong element of romance in the story, and what’s his response to those who didn’t like Stella’s departure.

According to Tabata, the theme depicted by the road trip is that of traveling with friends, and also the bond between Noctis and his father, as the car was actually Regis’ vehicle, and that’s a metaphor for traveling with him.

He also clarified that FFXV is definitely going to show the bond between men and women as well.

While developing the theme of the journey, the team decided to add a stronger and more determined female character rather than having a more passive and weak heroine or a damsel in distress, so they needed to replace Stella with Luna to fulfill that role. Luna is described to actively engage with the events in the story, and she's presented as a very strong-willed character: she talks to people about her hopes and dreams ,and she acts on her own initiative, really playing an important part in the story.

Tabata-san said that the fans who have been critical with Stella's removal, maybe will change their opinion when they’ll find out more about Luna, what kind of character she is and how she will be significant to Final Fantasy XV's story. So do you think Square Enix has a good reason of replacing Stella?