Final Fantasy XIII

[edit]Gameplay

The concept for Final Fantasy XIII's battle system is to maintain the strategic nature of command-based battles. The system stemmed from a desire to create battles similar to those found in Final Fantasy VII Advent Children.[3] Like those in Final Fantasy XII, battle sequences are integrated into the world environment.[4] The Active Time Battle (ATB) system will return, and it works differently from its predecessors. Users will be able to chain large amounts of commands together in order to achieve attack bonuses [5].

The battle system that was shown during the E3 2006 trailer was only a prototype. Recently, Square Enix showed battle footage in various Japanese magazines and trailers which introduced a new interface. You can only control one character at a time in battle, although battle parties of up to three characters have been shown. You can stack up to three commands per turn and release them all at the same time to form a combo. These commands include series staples such as Attack, Fire, Blizzard and Cure, as well as new ones such as Launch, which sends the enemy up in the air. The game does not make use of MP but introduces "cost points" for each command. Cost points determine how many times the commands can be used per turn. The overclock gauge from the prototype battle system is replaced with a break bar. The minimap shown earlier has also disappeared from the battle interface. The player is able to view the HP and name of the enemy before engaging it in battle. When the player engages an enemy, the camera moves to another position and the battle menu appears, making the battle transitions nearly seamless.[6]

The classic summoned creatures will return in Final Fantasy XIII. Shiva returns in the form of a pair of sisters who can merge into a motorcycle, which the character Snow rides, and can use ice to create a path to drive on. Carbuncle emerges from a disc-like object when it is touched by the character Vanille. Ifrit and Siren also appear in shown footage.[7] According to sources, producer Yoshinori Kitase has confirmed that Bahamut will also appear in the game.[8]

[edit]Plot

[edit]Characters

Lightning as she is seen in the official E3 teaser trailer

The full cast of Final Fantasy XIII is yet unknown. The following characters have been shown in trailers and screenshots of the game, along with other released information.

Lightning (ライトニング Raitoningu?) is a young woman previously associated with the Cocoon military, who has been given a task by a Crystal.[9] Lightning has long strawberry-blonde hair and is 178 cm tall. For her design, character designer Tetsuya Nomura was asked to create a "female version of Cloud Strife fromFinal Fantasy VII". During development, he has described her as "not very feminine".[10] Lightning wields a combination of a gun and a sword and can also manipulate gravity with a device on her thumb.[11]

Working with her is Snow Villiers[12] (スノウ・ヴィリアース Sunō Viriāsu?), a blond, bandanna-wearing male who rides the summoned spirit Shiva Sisters in their motorcycle form and totes a large gun.[9] Snow is the head of Team Nora, a resistance group against Cocoon.[13] He is a big character and is capable of running while carrying two people.[14] He was nicknamed "Mr. 33 cm" by the staff of Final Fantasy XIII as a nod to his shoe size.[15] In the October 2008 issue of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, it is revealed that he uses a power that is related to the tattoo on his left forearm.[16]

A third character is Oerba Dia Vanille[17] (ヲルバ＝ダイア・ヴァニラ Oruba-Daia Vanira?), who is a girl with red-brown hair worn in pigtails and lives in Pulse.[18] In a trailer, she is seen captured by the Cocoon army and walking in a funeral procession. She is described as an optimistic person, who carries a heavy burden in her heart. Her weapon resembles a modernized bow.[19]

A fourth playable character, Sazh Katzroy (サッズ・カッツロイ Sazzu Kattsuroi?), was first featured in V-Jump Magazine. He is a middle-aged man with an afro who Lightning knows from her time serving in the military. Sazh wields dual pistols, his strong point is striking enemies from a distance. He is a good combination with the close-range Lightning. He has a baby chocobo as a pet that appears to live in his afro. He is described as a middle-aged black man with good judgment and moral discernment. He has a gentle personality and is easily moved to tears, and joins the party early in the game.[20]

In the Jump Festa 2009 and the official global trailer, three more characters who are part of Snow's resistance group are seen in the hijack of the captives' train. One is a man with orange hair and dark olive skin called Gadot (ガドー Gadō?) and another is a black-haired woman with a purplish butterfly tattoo on her shoulder named Lebreau (レブロ Reburo?).[21] Gadot and Lebreau are said to be childhood friends of Snow.[22]The third is a young blond-haired man wearing goggles named Maqui (マーキー Mākī?).[23]

In a trailer at the DKΣ3173 event in Tokyo in 2008, two antagonistic characters were featured: a high-ranking female commander with knee-length blond hair and glasses who interrogates the captive Vanille in the trailer, and an intimidating man wearing his hair up in a ponytail, who leads the Cocoon army.[9]

[edit]Story

The plot focuses on the fal'Cie, a race existing beyond humanity. The people marked by the fal'Cie for a greater purpose are named the l'Cie.[18]Some thirteen centuries ago, a mythical Crystal told the fal'Cie to construct a paradise for humanity. The shell-like city of Cocoon was created to float high above the surface of the world now known as Pulse, and it was maintained by its own Crystal.[24] Cocoon's Crystal created life forms and machines for its inhabitants to use, and humanity flourished. Over time, the people of Cocoon began to fear for the safety of their world, and were worried that it would be cast down from the sky. In present day, the wilderness of Pulse has strange effects on people, and the theocratic Holy Government of Cocoon quarantines and exiles anyone who has been influenced by Pulse from the city with the help of its mighty army, PSICOM.[25] A former soldier of that army, a woman codenamed Lightning is chosen by the fal'Cie against her will to become a l'Cie, and with that to be an enemy of humanity and bring about the downfall of Cocoon.[6]

[edit]Development

Final Fantasy XIII was first shown at the 2006 E3 convention.[26] Along with Final Fantasy Versus XIII and the PlayStation Portable game Final Fantasy Agito XIII, Final Fantasy XIII is part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII project,[27] but none is a prequel or sequel to any of the other installments. Square Enix explained that although all three games take place in the same universe, they are not directly related in terms of story.[28] The game runs on the Crystal Tools engine, a seventh generation multiplatform game engine built by Square Enix for its future games. The engine and the game were originally slated to be used with the PlayStation 2 but were later moved to the PlayStation 3.[14]

Several of the game's developers have worked on previous installments of the series. Motomu Toriyama, director of Final Fantasy X-2 and director and scenario writer of Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, will direct the game and write the story. Eiji Fujii, previously the movie director of Final Fantasy XII, will return in this position. Isamu Kamikokuryō, previously the co-art director of Final Fantasy XII, will return as well, with Tetsu Tsukamoto designing the weapons. The main programmers will be Kazumi Kobayashi and Yoshiki Kashitani. Occasionally, developers from Final Fantasy Versus XIII assist with the development of Final Fantasy XIII.[29] Final Fantasy X's battle director Toshiro Tsuchida will return as the battle system director for the game. He intends on giving individual enemies their own personalities and background stories.[30] He chose not to comment when asked whether players will input commands for individual party members or control will be limited to the current party leader.[31] Final Fantasy X's co-composer Masashi Hamauzu will be scoring the game, with former regular series composerNobuo Uematsu providing the main theme.[32]

[edit]Release

Due to the frequency of rumored release dates appearing on the Internet, Square Enix's official website issued a statement reminding consumers that any "confirmed release dates" reported by sources other than Square Enix are "erroneous and should be disregarded".[33]During Microsoft's media briefing at the 2008 E3, Square Enix announced that Final Fantasy XIII would be released first in Japan on PlayStation 3 in 2009,[1] then released in North America and Europe on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The latter would start development only after the Japanese PlayStation 3 version is completed, and could possibly come on multiple discs.[34] A Japanese release of the Xbox 360 version of the game is not planned.[35] At the DKΣ3713 Private Party event in August 2008, Square Enix announced that a playable demo ofFinal Fantasy XIII will be included in Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete (due for release in April 16 in Japan and North America[36]) onBlu-ray Disc for PlayStation 3, along with new trailers of Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy Agito XIII.[37] The demo will see a limited release, subject to the initial shipments of the Advent Children package.[38]