Final Fantasy XIII

[The NZA]

 

trailer

 

Kotaku says...a 10 year franchise?

 

In the latest issue of Japanese mag Nintendo Dream, Square-Enix producer Shinji Hashimoto talks about the future of all things Final Fantasy, but clues us in specfically on the shelf-life of the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII series. IGN's overseas correspondent translates all the juicy details.

 

With Final Fantasy VII entering its tenth year of exploitation, appearing on the PlayStation 2, PSP and mobile phones, Square-Enix seems to have learned a great deal from its long-running milking endeavor. According to Hashimoto, we can expect to be "sucked into the [Fabula Nova Crystallis FFXIII] world for 10 years." We know of two PLAYSTATION 3 games and one mobile title in the works, but won't bat an eyelash upon the announcement of cross-platform releases for any number of platforms, including the DS, PSP and, maybe, just maybe, the Wii and Xbox 360.

 

It only makes sense, as the merchandising, asset reuse, and cross-promotion opportunities are simply to deliciously profitable to pass up. Personally, I can't wait to pass the FFXIII baton down to my kids and pine for a simpler time, when we only got one Final Fantasy game every few years and, damn it, WE LIKED IT. *pounds desktop angrily*

 

I got mixed feelings, and the demos not even out yet, so they barely count, but...

on one side: let's be honest, its a huge cashcow, plus the fact that its somehow getting 3 games around release means at least some of it will definitly be multi-platform, which is good, assuming the quality of the spinoffs rises above, uh, what weve seen in more recent milkings of FF VII.

on the other side...what happened? I know FF: Spirits Within scared Square (financially) off of new projects years back, but its been a long time, and theyve got Enix now. What happened to the compnay in the 90's that did Einhander, Bushido Blade, Parasite Eve, Brave Fencer, etc? I dont want to be one of the fanboys who lables Square the new EA (and to some degree, Capcom) but this does fall in line with that.

 

Then again, XII was amazing. I understand its not all the same creative team, but if theyre still able to put out quality like that, i definitely have faith in them for at least XIII, and am excited to hear its (supposedly) keeping some form of the same engine. I guess we'll wait & see...it does look gorgeous so far though, look for more when the demo's out in the fall.

[the division of joy]

i'm excited about this, but only in the kinda way that i hope it does something that XII never did, and that was have a gripping storyline.. the likes that have been missing since seven or eight

[The NZA]

...are you kidding me? how far did you play into XII? honestly, that was the best storyline since VI. VIII was crap, by the way.

[the division of joy]

i played a good way into it, its just my opinion that the storyline didnt grip me.... i didnt feel as if i could love any of the characters as i did with seven or eight... maybe i've just set the bar too high

[The NZA]

I just...i really dont see how.

 

VII was the big step up to 3-D. Gorgeous, epic cinemas/summons, but the new kids swear by the realism, when i just saw (albeit beautifully rendered) backgrounds and blocky characters, no more or less "real" than the 2-D sprites, i thought. We didnt have faces yet, for one.

 

Plot was good, and a villian was hyped. But honestly? the plot starts to come apart disc 2, and you had tag-along characters like Yuffie, Cait Sith, Barret etc who i jsut didnt know why they were on board past their time.

 

VII....starts off epic and great looking. Music was a good return, etc but this was a wholly dissapointing experience. What was good? The huge cast of nobodys that didnt get fleshed out (Quistis, Selphie, Zell, uh, others i dont even remember)? The forced romance, the bad inner monologue, the plot that completely falls to pieces somewhere around the "were all orphans!" bit? Ugh, i wanted to like VIII so much more.

 

IX was a great, last throwback for the old-school fans. X was a solid PS2 entry, XI i missed cause it was online, but XII had it all: great graphics/detail (faces! weapons! detail! try it out with component cables, honestly), a great plot full of political intrigue that stays quality across the board, excellent voice-overs, and unforgettable characters like Balthier and others. Toss in a new battle engine that doesnt feel forced and overall? I think its the best FF (overall/whole package) since VI. I know were arguing opinion here, but seriously, every FF fan should really get into XII, it restored my faith in the series.

[the division of joy]

what really made me love eight was the magic system and having to draw from things, i have no idea why, but i really liked it... i do agree the plot was a bit crappy at times, but i thought the gameplay was great.... nine, the only one of the series i missed out on but im getting my mits on it soon enough

 

but seven... its the first game that ever really ate up months and months of my life playing it.... but i agree that the game could have done without yuffie and cath sith, they were never, Ever used by me... my line up was always cloud red xiii and cid, and it never failed me

[The NZA]

Same lineup, but i switched Red XIII for the enigmatic Vincent, i always wanna rock at least one gun-guy in the party.

 

XIII's demo is rumored for fall, more to come.

[the division of joy]

hmm, i was always at too high a level to allow vincent into my party really, i might give up a weekend and try it with him.... he was cool as shit....

 

and i'll give xii another go though... stalker is getting too cuntishly hard and i need a break before i rip out my beard

[archangel]

[The NZA]

uh, that was a good one, arch?

 

Again, there should be plenty of XIII and spinoffs for all 3 systems, plus Square just announced an all new-RPG for both systems, ill make a thread later. their recent show seemed more about the cash-cow of DS remakes and demand for a VII update/remake than news on this title, sadly. More to come.

[The NZA]

wow, so that whole FF-non-exclusive talk died down pretty fast.

 

new trailer, finally! Hope for a 2008 release is not completely lost, check it out:

 

 

while we're at it, new trailer for the quite side-story, Versus XIII:

 

[Maldron]

Also coming to Xbox 360. For all y'all what care.

[archangel]

Is that Confirmed?!

[Maldron]

Is that Confirmed?!

 

Yes, it was announced at E3 at the end of Microsoft's press conference 20 minutes ago or so. No news about Versus XIII, but Final Fantasy XIII itself is going to see a simultaneous release on 360 and PS3.

[archangel]

TAKE THAT PS3!!!! YOU ALMOST HAD ME, YOU FILTHY BASTARDS. BUT NOW THAT FFXIII IS BEING RELEASED ON THE XBOX, YOU'LL NEVER GET YOUR GRUBBY HANDS ON!!!

 

MUAHAHAHAHA! PUT THAT IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT!

[Maldron]

TAKE THAT PS3!!!! YOU ALMOST HAD ME, YOU FILTHY BASTARDS. BUT NOW THAT FFXIII IS BEING RELEASED ON THE XBOX, YOU'LL NEVER GET YOUR GRUBBY HANDS ON!!!

 

MUAHAHAHAHA! PUT THAT IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT!

 

*shrug* There's still no news about VSXIII being mutiplatform or not.

[bishopcruz]

Tetsuya Nomura's pretty much a hack IMO so I don't care as much. I just am AMAZED that M$ was able to pull this off it's fucking HUGE. I mean I don't imagine this will make a huge difference in Japan, but it could be MASSIVE here.

[archangel]

It might also be indicative of something else. Square tends to stay with a single platform.

[The NZA]

Not since the 90's, they havent been. They did stuff on gamecube, they do a lot of handhelds. the cost of this one alone, this made sense for them.

 

damn, this is big. yeah, it wont make a dent in japan, but itll really help them sell more here in the US...i wonder how many discs its gonna be. I'm sticking with the PS3 version since multi-plat games usually go better on the system they were originally designed for...but yeah, however much MS dumped at their door, it was worth it.

 

ps Tetsuya Nomura's a hack? since when? We've seen like 2 screens of Versus!

[bishopcruz]

ps Tetsuya Nomura's a hack? since when? We've seen like 2 screens of Versus!

 

I was never impressed with Kingdom Hearts, at all really. I WANTED to like it but couldn't. Then there is the hell that was advent children. REALLY pretty, but otherwise quite shit. So I never much cared about VS13 one way or the other. I have heard good things about TWEWY, but have yet to play it, it might change my mind.

 

Anyhow, I figure there will be a 6 month or so difference in the release of the Japanese and US version of 13, and the US version will be simultaneous, but the Japanese one won't.

 

but for Sony fanboys:

Edited July 14, 2008 by bishopcruz

[The NZA]

*cries*

 

Seriously though, KH series isnt my bag either but theyre not bad games. TWEWY is crazy awesome and its really your loss for not at least trying it, man. ..and for every Advent Children or Ehrgeiz, he did Parasite Eve, Brave Fencer, and wiki swears by him as graphic designer of FF VI. His resume's not bad enough to dismiss the effort.

[The NZA]

huh. ok, so XIII versus is still PS3 only, but this bit from the liveblog confuses me a bit:

 

first they will finish ffxiii in japan. and then they will start localization for english.

at that point, they will start the xbox 360 development.

 

am i misreading that? how does it come out at the same time for both if development's that far off?

also, they're not releasing it at all for the 360 in japan? that's uh, that's interesting.

[archangel]

where'd you read that? The Wiki article says it's going to be on both platforms, and so did E3 (according to Mal)

[Maldron]

where'd you read that? The Wiki article says it's going to be on both platforms, and so did E3 (according to Mal)

 

Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy VS XIII are two different games, Arch.

[bishopcruz]

IMO it'll get released in Japan PS3 timed exclusive then when it comes out here it will come out there too. People also thought that DMC4 was going to be a Japan PS# exclusive also.