Paving the Way for the Next Generation of Final Fantasy What Agni’s Philosophy means for the future of the franchise.

Amidst a slew of new games revealed during E3 last week, Square Enix quietly showed off its next-gen Luminous engine. Titled Agni’s Philosophy, the real-time demo shows off the potential of the company's new tech, which will likely be seen on the next generation of Xbox and PlayStation consoles.

In a behind closed doors demo at E3, IGN had a chance to sit down and see the demo in motion, watching Square Enix manipulate elements on the fly as they revealed the true power of Luminous. The engine has come a long way since its initial reveal last year. Photo-realistic doors and hallways have been matched by hair and clothing, with the most impressive element coming in the form of a scraggly beard in the demo’s opening moments.

As Square Enix walked us through the demo, we were shown just how much control developers will have over each element. Within seconds, we watched while the beard in question was made thinner, thicker, straighter, curlier, and even transformed into different colors. Skin tones, age spots, shadows and more can be changed instantly, and each result looks nearly photo-realistic. With a few clicks, the old man shown in the demo was given everything from a thick Santa Claus-like beard to thin patches of wispy facial hair.

In that regard, the Luminous engine is a designer’s paradise. Tool sets including a content navigator, cutscene and shader editors, material creators and more were shown, each part of Square Enix’s plans to create a simple-to-use infrastructure for developers. In a scene halfway through the demo where insects come together to form skin over a monster’s skeleton, Square Enix showed us just how much detail a programmer can add. Within seconds, the number of insects on screen was increased to 100,000. Upon close inspection, every single one had detailed wings and bodies.

Luminous significantly steps up visual quality, but Square Enix advised us that the engine is “not limited to graphics.” The company hopes to raise the bar for AI, animation, physics and even sound in next generation games. The engine is meant to be highly efficient, with the goal of drastically changing game development by making games faster and cheaper to produce.

While the Luminous engine itself has been in development for quite some time, the Agni’s Philosophy demo took only six months to produce in full. The demo was a collaboration between all of Square Enix’s studios, with Visual Works creating the scene from concept art and backgrounds envisioned by Tomb Raider studio Crystal Dynamics. The demo’s creative director, Takeshi Nozue, determined the story of the demo, which the company describes as “a life-changing encounter for our heroine, the magic-wielding protagonist Agni." Nozue previously co-directed Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children in addition to designing and supervising animation for Final Fantasy IX, X and X-2.

Agni’s Philosophy was created using a high-end, consumer-grade PC, though Square Enix wouldn’t give us any specifics. There are no plans to license the engine for now - it will instead be limited to use by internal and outsourced studios. Luminous will primarily be used by Square Enix’s Tokyo studio.

As for the question of whether Agni’s Philosophy has to do with the next Final Fantasy game, Square Enix isn’t saying much. For now, an internal survey asks whether or not fans liked Agni as a protagonist and what they think of the world portrayed in the demo. With enough positive answers, anything could happen.