Wealth of New Crisis Core and FF XIII Info

Posted on Thursday 8th June 2006 at 00:12 by laszlow

One of Square-Enix's head honchos presented a ton of new delicious tidbits of news in a recent interview with the Japanese gaming site Dengeki Online, primarily concerning the upcoming PS3 games Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII as well as Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII for the PSP.

First of all, Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII were both originally slated for the PS2, but eventually production was moved to the next generation of consoles because Tetsuya Nomura, who was Versus' project director, was still working on Kingdom Hearts II at the start of production. We know that the three games in the FF XIII project (the two previously mentioned as well as Agito for mobile phones) will share the same universe but other than that we have only speculation. Anyhow, here's some big news: FF Versus XIII is going to have an intense action battle system, but the "real" FF XIII is going back to the ATB, with an extra emphasis on speed and chain comboes. The girl from the trailers is the game's main character, but she'll also have allies in battle (surprise, surprise...). Also worth noting, both FF XIII and Versus XIII will have classic Amano logos, but FF XIII's background will be white and Versus' will be black.

Nomura is really set on making FF Versus XIII different from the classical FF tradition, so his team is combining members of the FF VII and VIII teams for visuals and his Kingdom Hearts team for the game's engine and interface (FF XIII is being worked on primarily by the FF X / FF X-2 team) to create a classic FF feel with a new action-oriented battle system. Nomura also emphasized the fact that the word Versus also has two meanings: the English definition of identifying two or more opponents and the Latin definition of changing directions.

And now, here's some interesting news for FF VII fans. The PSP game Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII will be centered around four characters: Zack, Aeris, and two male characters yet to be identified. The game will implement voice acting, a materia creation system, and the abilities of Shinra's SOLDIER members. Unfortunately, Nomura refused to give out any more details.

Source: RPGFan

Posted in: Square-Enix News, News from Japan

Written by	laszlow
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Comments

Zeromus_X	Comment 1: 2006-06-08 00:19
	Heard about the atb thing, thank goodness. Not that I don't care for real-time, but I do love my atb. (And the FFX-esque penalty for attacks, sounds interesting.)
bond4154	Comment 2: 2006-06-08 13:35
	Quote ...both FF XIII and Versus XIII will have classic Amano logos, but FF XIII's background will be while and Versus' will be black... You mean "white". Moderator Edit I didn't realize it was your job to make pedantic corrections. Welcome back. -R51 I aim to please...and proofread. =P
karasuman	Comment 3: 2006-06-08 14:08
	FFXIII is the main reason I really hope that the PS3 doesn't tank. I'm really excited about a fantasy game with a female main character who doesn't also moonlight as a pop singer.
Elena1999	Comment 4: 2006-06-08 15:42
	Quote (karasuman @ 8th June 2006 07:08) FFXIII is the main reason I really hope that the PS3 doesn't tank. I'm really excited about a fantasy game with a female main character who doesn't also moonlight as a pop singer. I don't think the system will tank. It may struggle for a while with the very high price tag but I think Sony would lower the price before every letting the thing fail. For any other reason it might tank, I am not aware because I don't pay that much attention to specs and 3rd party support. I just wait to see what comes out for the systems.
GamblingCat	Comment 5: 2006-06-08 23:10
	Id say the same thing about the systems, but overall for the games, just got to wait and see.
FabulousFreebird	Comment 6: 2006-06-09 11:24
	Very interesting bit o' news. I'm now confident that I'll pick up a PS3 once it's available in stores and when I can afford to pay money on it. From what you said about Crisis Core, it sounds like a real interesting game and makes me wonder whether or not I should pick up a PSP as well...
bond4154	Comment 7: 2006-06-10 10:06
	Allow me to tell you a short story about the post above. See how it originally consisted of only three words? Well, that was simply because I had no keyboard. I got into a rather nasty argument with my mom, and, to punish me from using the computer, she took away my keyboard. It would've been sensible to take the cords instead, but, alas, she is no expert when it comes to technical equipment, and so her knowledge of wires and such is limited to the keyboard's USB port. So how did I manage to make the post? Call it copy-and-paste. Human will is so fascinating sometimes. ...Ah, yes, Final Fantasy XIII, of course. Allow me to sum my thoughts about it. I think we should put Tetsuya Nomura back where he belongs, back in character design. Sure, Advent Children and Kingdom Hearts looked really good, as did Dirge of Cerberus, but I'm also slightly tired of all the jumping around with flips and scaling buildings with a single leap, that kind of stuff. It's slowly draining away the Final Fantasy we know. Yes, you may say that the series is evolving, but to me, it just seems like Nomura's way of riding the wave called "pop culture" with heavy rock BGM, Matrix-styled overhyped battle scenes, and skateboards. That aside, I should say that I'm somewhat glad the FFs decided to go with a more futuristic setting again. I have always enjoyed the setting of FF8, and I have no reason why not to accept yet another futuristic Final Fantasy. However, I probably will not be getting a PS3, so this FF, as well as other FFs that will be released, is probably going to be something I'm going to pass up.
A11smart	Comment 8: 2006-06-20 21:11
	Alright, I know this is going to sound very n00bish, but this alternate version of XIII to be released: is this like the international releases that were only playable on import Ps2s, and thus not offered at the retail level, or something I can preorder at EBgames et al? R51, I know you prefer us to research our questions, and thus I was able to void the entire region-specific questions; at least most sites were clear on the Ps3's regionless launch. However, there doesn't seem to be a clear answer on this one. It's very exciting to see the prospect of another ATB game!
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