[Multiplatform] Official Final Fantasy XIII Thread

Man if they announce a new Chrono series and the character designs are by Toriyama I will soil my pants in the nastiest way!!!

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Yesterday 1UP passed along a juicy tidbit about Final Fantasy XIII appearing as a PlayStation 3 exclusive at May's E3 from the pages of the next Electronic Gaming Monthly's Rumor Mill, and it didn't take long for Square Enix's public relations department to send out an official response to the buzzing.
Of course, if I've learned anything from public relations statements in the past, anything past a "no comment" only encourages more people to believe the rumor (and often means there's some truth). Final Fantasy remaining exclusive to Sony isn't much of a shock to begin with, but the news was enough to get Square Enix to prepare this:

"While there have been numerous rumors about Final Fantasy XIII, Square Enix has never released any information about the title. The recent online article stating that the title will be exclusive for PlayStation 3 and shown at E3 is not based on any official information obtained by us. I hope readers will remember April Fool's day is tomorrow and many Print and Online outlets pull pranks ever year, before they get their hopes crushed by a joke." -- Sonia Im, PR manager at Square Enix
For the record, 1UP's article was not a joke, nor was EGM's statement about Final Fantasy's alleged next-generation exclusivity. Heck, if it was, that would probably go down as one of the lamest attempts at faking out in the history of botched April Fool's jokes.

C'mon, we're better than that.

-1up.com

There you have it.

I've been thinking a lot about what kind of main character would suffice this time around. The last few main heroes, like Zidane and Tidus, haven't exactly reached the popularity of guys like Cloud or Squall. I doubt Vaan will do any better. Basically the last few heroes have been the cheerful, effeminitely designed type, so I think I've had enough of that.

On the other hand, I don't really want another angsty character, because Cloud and Squall pretty much defined that trait. But I would like a character that I can call bad-ass with confident.

So that's why I'd like for them to take the middle road; a main character who's badass, but has enough wit and kindness to him that he isn't considered an angsty mess. The perfect example (and a certain someone is going to get very smug when I say this) is Yuri from Shadow Hearts 2.

Either that, or a female main lead. Not a female who shares the lead with a male (Tifa, Rinoa, Ashe), but a geniune main female character, like Terra/Celes (who both share the role, but both happen to be women).

Doesn't really prove anything though. It's not like EGM's Rumour Mill is a single solid source of legit information because if it were then it wouldn't be the "Rumour" Mill.

As for FFXIII in general, all I can hope for is that Tetsuya Nomura as lead character designer stays as far away from the project as possible. After 5 games and 1 film I'm fed up of the all the lead characters looking alike and the whole as much leather/buckles/zippers look.

I guess that's why FFXII looks like a breath of fresh air in comparison to the Kitase/Nomura FF titles but still, I'm not keen to go back to that look so soon.

I'm really hoping for a FFIX-like Final Fantasy!
We've had FFX, FFXI and FFXII with mostly (reasonably) realistic looking human characters....but now I'm hoping for a cast and settings that are much like the ones in FFIV, FFV, FFVI & FFIX again!
(and FFVII too, but the super-deformed characters were changed to more realistic looking characters because of Advent Children and KH)

That's just a personal preference though, but I'm sure it'll never happen!

Originally Posted by Tappy

I'm really hoping for a FFIX-like Final Fantasy!
We've had FFX, FFXI and FFXII with mostly (reasonably) realistic looking human characters....but now I'm hoping for a cast and settings that are much like the ones in FFIV, FFV, FFVI & FFIX again!
(and FFVII too, but the super-deformed characters were changed to more realistic looking characters because of Advent Children and KH)

That's just a personal preference though, but I'm sure it'll never happen!

Since Square-Enix's Division 1 is on this title, you can forget it, sorry!

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Doesn't really prove anything though. It's not like EGM's Rumour Mill is a single solid source of legit information because if it were then it wouldn't be the "Rumour" Mill.

That's true, hence why I said I would take a gamble and believe them. As far as I know, whenever they mentioned a rumor for something FF, they've been right just about every time. Turks game? Happened. FFVII sequel? Half right. Vincent game? Check.

In any case, Nomura confirmed that we would be seeing his next project by TGS 2006, at the latest. Of course, it could be that E3 will give us an FFXIII teaser while TGS will give us an additional project.

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I'm really hoping for a FFIX-like Final Fantasy!
We've had FFX, FFXI and FFXII with mostly (reasonably) realistic looking human characters....but now I'm hoping for a cast and settings that are much like the ones in FFIV, FFV, FFVI & FFIX again!
(and FFVII too, but the super-deformed characters were changed to more realistic looking characters because of Advent Children and KH)

I hear you. After 3 depressing games, FFIX was a breath of fresh air, and I loved the character designs (as close to Disney as FF will get). Still, I'm certain Square will want to create something photorealistic as their debut PS3title. The FFIX style would be a better fit for the Revolution anyway, if they ever bothered.

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

The FFIX style would be a better fit for the Revolution anyway, if they ever bothered.

Yeah...maybe, but I'm not really looking forward to another FF Crystal Chronicles game! :/

I wouldn't mind a sequel to FFIX though.....I'm sure there are much more stories to tell about Zidane, Vivi and co.

I wouldn't want another CC either, unless they actually created a world of believable characters and story. But yeah, something that takes place entirely in FFIX's world would be a real treat, and I think it's doable too. Unlike FFX, a lighthearted plot with no real threat to the world would work for FFIX. It would be interesting enough to see how everyone is doing after a couple of years.

Originally Posted by Tappy

I wouldn't mind a sequel to FFIX though.....I'm sure there are much more stories to tell about Zidane, Vivi and co.

That would be nice.

And Quina Quen deserves his/her own RPG

^DOES NOT.

Unless of course, he gets a Kingdom Hearts cameo first.

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RUMOR: Game Informer's Loose Talk rumor reported that Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIII will adopt the real time battle system from Final Fantasy XII

-Magic Box

Having not played FFXII (well, beyond the demo), I don't know what to make of this, but a faster-paced battle system would definetely be key in a PS3 RPG. The days of characters standing still waiting for their turn have to end, as it would look kind of silly if the characters were rendered with photorealism.

What I'd love to see is the Reaction command from KH2 implemented. It would make for some awesome battles, especially if combined with a limit break.

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RUMOR: Game Informer's Loose Talk rumor reported that Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIII will adopt the real time battle system from Final Fantasy XII

Hmm. That's funny cause,

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Finally, a Final Fantasy VII remake for trhe PS3 is apperantly actually in development and will be using the real-time battle system from Final fantasy XII

http://gamesarefun.com/news.php?newsid=6196

I keep hoping for a larger cast. Since FFVI, no Final Fantasy has really tried to forge an epic cast of characters.

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Hmm. That's funny cause,
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Finally, a Final Fantasy VII remake for trhe PS3 is apperantly actually in development and will be using the real-time battle system from Final fantasy XII

Yeah, I know. I think basically no one knows for sure if it's one or the other. But the fact that the same feature is being listed for two possible FF's, I think that might be a good indication that one of them will show up soon.

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

Either that, or a female main lead. Not a female who shares the lead with a male (Tifa, Rinoa, Ashe), but a geniune main female character, like Terra/Celes (who both share the role, but both happen to be women).

I've always thought of FFVI as not having a main character. I think most of the characters sort of share the spotlight equally, and it's not like you ever have to have Terra or Celes in your party. Just because Terra is the first character you get to control, it doesn't mean she's the main character. Many of the characters have compelling backstories, and all contribute to the general storyline of the game. That's kind of what I'd like to see in the new FF, actually. A large cast of characters that are all fairly interesting and relevant to the plot.

I hear that a lot, but honestly it feels pretty obvious (to me) that Terra is the main lead. The story pretty much relies on her, from the beginning to the end, even though it's optional to get her in the 2nd half. Since Celes is required though, I like to think both she and Terra share the role. After all, I read originally they were supposed to be just one female character who would experience everything both girls did.

I'm hope it will be something like FFVIII themed. FFVIII had like a different feel to it than the other FF games.

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Yoshitaka Amano, one of the character designers who works on Final Fantasy games, was interviewed by Japan Vibes recently. The French magazine's interview revealed something interesting. Fortunately, French is Canada's second language so I actually understand what they're saying! Here is the translation of one of the juicy parts:

JV: A word about your other projects at the moment?
YA: I took part recently in the animated film, The Planet of the Winds which has not yet screened. Other than that, I am currently working on Final Fantasy XIII and I have many other projects.

As you can see, that confirms that FFXIII is already underway. Unfortunately, Amano did not mention the console the game's aimed at or even mentioned what in particular he's in charge of. It would have been interesting to know if he's only working on the logo or if they're into the character design stages already. Although chances are that it'll be a PlayStation 3 exclusive, Square-Enix is slowly turning into a multiplatform company - so who knows?

http://ps3.qj.net/



I wonder if Amano "working" on the game means he's actually the character designer? Even if Nomura's the director, I'm sure some people would kill to have Amano as lead character designer (motsy).

I will say his art's certainly improved since his old FF days.

I never exactly understood where Amano's role stood as opposed to Nomura's. I mean, I know he desighns the logos but how much of an influence did he have on character desighns? Did he merely take Nomura's creations and recreate them with his style for portraits? If that's the case, (and don't get me wrong here cause I'm glad he's involved and ADORE his work) I think his inclusion in these games is a bit random and (gasp!) unnecessary.


Anyway, all these little tidbits and articles from around the web have fully confirmed is that FFXIII is indeed gonna happen. Which, is something that we've recieved official confirmation on well before FFXII was released in Japan. Urgh, God I can't wait till E3 for some real freaking news.