Final Fantasy XIII

[Jon]

Then you agree

 

 

 

 

 

They why not release on the Wii, Mac and PC with that lovely logic?

 

 

 

 

 

Well if the game doesnt take advantage of PS3's strengths than of course its not the experience it could have been, sadly. I ams ure many will argue this.

 

FF games have historically taken long enough to develop for one console over the years, releasing them accross all platforms would insure we'd all be dead before it was released.

[nightwolf]

This looks good and I'm glad they have decided to carry on the final fantasy series, although I was very disappointed by 12, stupidly disappointed after looking forward to it.

 

They better not cock this one up too! :P

 

FF has always been for sony, I doubt they'd release it onto the wii, that'd be interesting concept. I can't see what the big deal is with it, xbox 360 has quite a few exclusive games to it *cough* fable 2 *cough*

 

Although this now means I have to go and buy both a ps3 and an xbox360..damnit.

[darksnowman]

...FF has always been for sony...

 

I'm sorry but I just have to disagree with this!

[Wesley]

I'm really happy about this. I was thinking of buying a PS3 for this and around two other titles. Now not so sure. I'm glad to say the least.

[Calza]

 

Choze?

[Daft]

 

Choze?

 

Amazing. Forwarded to everyone at Square.

[Dante]

Today at its DK Sigma3173 Event, Square Enix made a series of announcements, including revealing the March release of a Final Fantasy XIII demo. However, those on hand were also impressed by a video shot by series designer Tetsuya Nomura which offered some raw behind-the-scenes insights into the game's development.

 

The video started off with an inside look at Square Enix's internal studio and its overall development environment. However, the scene quickly switched to a meeting where developers spoke bluntly about Final Fantasy XIII in general--and the Xbox 360 version in particular. The game's announcement was a major surprise at the E3 Media & Business Summit last month, where producer Yoshinori Kitase held a roundtable--but left many questions unanswered.

 

In the video, director Motomu Toriyama didn't beat around the bush when Nomura asked him questions about the 360 FFXIII. Starting off, he reconfirmed that, "We haven't changed the direction of the development. We're making the PS3 version first, and then porting to the 360 later." That means that since the game will be released simultaneously on both platforms in North America and Europe, the PS3 release will be held back in those territories until the 360 version is complete.

 

Furthermore, Toriyama also revealed that, as of July 29, his team hasn't yet received the tools needed to begin work on the Xbox 360 version of FFXIII. "I'm telling them to not think about the Xbox 360 right now," he said. "We can think about it after the development kits arrive."

 

The designer also reassured PS3 owners that the game's quality would not suffer due to the 360 port. "We aren't going to change any specifications [of FFXIII] because of the multi-platform announcement," he declared. "Right now, we're fully concentrating on the PS3 version."

 

Nomura and Toriyama also debunked rumors that a PC version of FFXIII is in development. They explained the confusion arose from a misunderstanding when producer Yoshinori Kitase mentioned at E3 that Square Enix is working on a PC project. "We've always been developing on PCs," laughed Nomura. "In fact, I've been doing so since Final Fantasy VI."

 

Judging by the video, development on FFXIII seems to be in full swing, and the remaining character designs are on schedule to be finalized in October. The voice cast has already been chosen, and it will be partially announced at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show, also in October.

 

Unfortunately, a playable FFXIII demo is unlikely to be at TGS 2008, which is Japan's biggest game expo. In the video, the developers openly complained when talking about the bonus demo disc that'll come with the Blu-ray disc of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children in March. Considering how long it takes to mass-produce it onto Blu-ray discs, Square Enix must finish the demo by December in order to ship it out with the computer-animated film.

 

Luckily, the wait looks like it will be worth it, as Toriyama promised the demo will be quite large. Though he didn't divulge many details, he mentioned that the demo takes place a little bit before the game's current trailers, with a vast and complex three-dimensional map.

[Mundi]

 

Choze?

 

This guy is the internet´s most elaborate troll.

He´s some guy from Something Awful, he´s made lots of these kind of videos

[Choze]

The dvd announcement was very predictable. So dissapointing. Screwing euro ps3 owners moreso.

[Hero-of-Time]

Heres some news from the Famitsu SE special.

 

- The FFXIII demo disc included with FFVIIACC will be a PS3 disc, it's not on a standard blu-ray movie disc. This is good news for people with Euro PS3s, since it'll probably mean the demo will work even if the movie is region locked.

 

- There're 3 realtime screens of Agito XIII from the trailer, including a screen of Odin.

 

- 3 pages worth of FFXIII screens and stuff, about 20 screens. There are realtime screens too apparently.

 

- The FFXIII demo will be from the opening part of the game, and will be longer than FFVIIAC (longer than 90mins? ).

 

- 4 pages on Versus, about 10 screens all realtime.

 

- The world in Versus XIII worships a Shinigami and the Shinigami is designed by Amano

 

- The cars and clothing seen in the trailers so far will probably change in design for the final game

 

- The morale of the team is really high!

 

OMG AGITO XIII:

 

- They moved it to the PSP because they couldn't wait for cellphones to get more advanced

 

- The battle will be heavy on action but still sort of turn based. It will use an advanced version of Crisis Core's high speed ATB system.

 

- Crisis Core was 1 player, but this time there will be multiple characters in the party.

 

- Right now it supports Infrastructure multiplayer for up to 3 players.

 

- Summons are part of the character growth system, and can also be controlled by players after summoning.

 

- The game will support both Ad-hoc and Infrastructure.

 

Heres some scans of the magazine.

 

[Daft]

I love the look of Versus. I like the suits and the cars. And the shade of goth/emo that is on everything.

[chocoboko]

Yea, have to agree with Daft. I'm more looking forward to Versus than to 13.

I just like the atmosphere there.

[flameboy]

So Versus is more action orientated right? Cos at the moment I am very preferring the look of it and am enjoying crisis core which is less turn based, so perhaps I will enjoy versus more? Imagine if versus ended up better than 13, microsoft would be gutted.

[Dante]

Better scans

[Hero-of-Time]

Heres some info from IGN.

 

Motomu Toriyama is interviewed in the latest issue of Famitsu's periodic PS3 offshoot, Famitsu PS3. The focus of this issue is on Square Enix's recent DKS3713 event, and the FFXIII director ended up discussing a number of areas regarding the lead project in the Fabula Nova Crystallis franchise, including the upcoming demo that, as announced at the event, will be bundled next March with the Japanese release of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete.

 

Describing the demo, Toriyama said, "Like the FFVII demo that was included with PlayStation's Tobal Nol.1, you'll be able to play from the opening through the prologue. We're making it so that players will understand about the world of the Cocoon and how the Lucys are handled."

 

Toriyama hinted that the demo could be of substantial length. While not giving a specific play time, he said, "We'd like to make it something with lots of volume." To this, he added with a laugh, "I think it will be longer than FFVIIAC."

 

As to what all that content will consist of, Toriyama wouldn't get too specific. He did confirm, however, that the realtime sequence that was shown in the DKS3713 trailer won't be included. That section of the game actually follows the demo, Toriyama explained, mirroring comments that were made by the development staff in a documentary film that aired at the event.

 

During the demo, players will be able to take control of more than just Lightening. The mysterious blonde-haired male character from the trailers will be playable as well.

 

Toriyama clarified a bit about how FFXIII handles its characters. There's no actual "main character" in the game. Players will experience the story from the perspective of multiple characters, something that he refers to as being a "new style." The demo will offer a glimpse at this new type of storytelling system. He considers players sampling the new system to be a major point for the demo.

 

The game's battle system appears to reflect this switching off of characters. The game's battle system is party-based, Toriyama explained. Players switch between characters as they fight.

 

Toriyama also shared a few general details on FFXIII aside from the demo.

 

The blonde-haired male character who will be playable alongside Lighting in the demo is still without a name, but Toriyama confirmed that the character will also have a name in the motif of weather.

 

Asked about the tattoo that the character appears to have on his arm, Toriyama noted that it's not actually a tattoo. Other people will have something similar in different areas of their body. While the details are a secret, he suggested people consider the symbol to be something related to the Lucy.

 

The realtime sequence that closed off the DKS3713 trailer showed the current cast of characters battling enemies in a subterranean field -- possibly a cave. Toriyama confirmed that this area of the world is at the very lowest levels of Cocoon, and a closed off space. Also, while this section of the world appears to be covered in ice, it's not actually ice, but crystals.

[darksnowman]

Do we know what "the Lucy" are yet? They are referred to a few times in that IGN piece above.

[chocoboko]

Okay...for some of the fan girls...(like me)

Here are pictures with better quality!

 

http://www.forever-fantasy.net/images/news/final-fantasy-versus-xiii-high-quality-01.jpg

http://www.forever-fantasy.net/images/news/final-fantasy-versus-xiii-high-quality-02.jpg

[Aimless]

I wish my bed-hair turned out like that.

 

darksnowman, I think it's fair to assume that the term 'Lucy' derives from a troubled translation of l'Cie (that's a lowercase 'L') which are apparently the chosen ones of some higher race, the fal'Cie. It mentions both in the E3 trailer; I haven't been following the story hints at all.

[darksnowman]

Aimless, thanks. I Googled fal'Cie and got some results. From what I see, Lucy is actually Lusi. Some info here on the FF Wiki if anyone else is curious.

[Sheikah]

In my opinion steering completely clear of anything relating to the plot is best, what with people usually overhyped before the game is even released if they do too much reading.

 

With FFXII I read up quite a bit before the game was released and felt the whole thing wasn't fresh to me as I played it, while the previous PS1 FFs were all new to me.

[Shenlong]

I know you're not meant to resort to violence so easily, but i'd love to wail on that punk. I love the bit where he goes "i don't know if you know anything bout japanese culture - but i'm an expert". This game looks insane i'm glad its on the 360 got no plans for a ps3 for a while.

[Sheikah]

Okay...for some of the fan girls...(like me)

Here are pictures with better quality!

 

http://www.forever-fantasy.net/images/news/final-fantasy-versus-xiii-high-quality-01.jpg

http://www.forever-fantasy.net/images/news/final-fantasy-versus-xiii-high-quality-02.jpg

 

And so emerges the 'not so graphically brilliant' screenshots that are always tucked away until the hype has died down somewhat. Still looks great though.

[Daft]

And so emerges the 'not so graphically brilliant' screenshots that are always tucked away until the hype has died down somewhat. Still looks great though.

 

?!?

 

They all look great.

[Sheikah]

?!?

 

They all look great.

 

Nah, those screenshots look more in-game while the previous ones have all been near FMV quality. It could just be the quality of those images though.

[darksnowman]

In my opinion steering completely clear of anything relating to the plot is best, what with people usually overhyped before the game is even released if they do too much reading.

 

With FFXII I read up quite a bit before the game was released and felt the whole thing wasn't fresh to me as I played it, while the previous PS1 FFs were all new to me.

 

Yar I agree, but its still nice to know a few terms so we can understand what they talk about in interviews and stuff.