| Revision as of 06:18, 25 July 2008 editMyominane (talk | contribs)975 edits Is actually coming to PC.← Previous edit | Revision as of 06:23, 25 July 2008 edit undoMyominane (talk | contribs)975 edits →Release: Better grammar...not that much, someone else can do better.Next edit → | ||
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| ==Release== | ==Release== | ||
| Due to frequent rumored release dates cropping up 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".<ref name="releasedate"/> A Square Enix representative suggested that a release date may be announced during 2008.<ref>{{cite web|author=VG247|date=2008-06-19|title= Final Fantasy XIII to appear at E3; Possible word on release date?|url=http://finalfantasy-xiii.net/2008/06/19/final-fantasy-xiii-to-appear-at-e3-possible-word-on-release-date.html|publisher=FinalFantasy-XIII.net| accessdate=2008-06-19}}</ref> At ] 2008, during Microsoft's media briefing, it was announced that ''Final Fantasy XIII'' would be released first in Japan on the PlayStation 3, then released simultaneously in North America and Europe on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The latter would start development only after the Japanese PlayStation 3 version is finished.<ref>http://games.ign.com/articles/889/889001p1.html</ref> A Japanese release of the Xbox 360 version of the game is not planned.<ref name="PS3exlusiveJapan"></ref> |
Due to frequent rumored release dates cropping up 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".<ref name="releasedate"/> A Square Enix representative suggested that a release date may be announced during 2008.<ref>{{cite web|author=VG247|date=2008-06-19|title= Final Fantasy XIII to appear at E3; Possible word on release date?|url=http://finalfantasy-xiii.net/2008/06/19/final-fantasy-xiii-to-appear-at-e3-possible-word-on-release-date.html|publisher=FinalFantasy-XIII.net| accessdate=2008-06-19}}</ref> At ] 2008, during Microsoft's media briefing, it was announced that ''Final Fantasy XIII'' would be released first in Japan on the PlayStation 3, then released simultaneously in North America and Europe on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The latter would start development only after the Japanese PlayStation 3 version is finished.<ref>http://games.ign.com/articles/889/889001p1.html</ref> A Japanese release of the Xbox 360 version of the game is not planned.<ref name="PS3exlusiveJapan"></ref> A PC version was also announced and is planned to begin development after the PlayStation 3 version is completed.<ref>{{cite web|author=Nvidia's Nzone|date=2008-07-23|title= Square Enix Migrates to PC Development Tools|url=http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_e30802_home.html}}</ref> | ||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 06:23, 25 July 2008
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Final Fantasy XIII (ファイナルファンタジーXIII, Fainaru Fantajī Sātīn) is an upcoming console role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.First appearing at E3 2006, the game features a futuristic, high-tech world, and a storyline focusing on "those who resist the world".
Final Fantasy XIII is the flagship title of the Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII collection. The game takes place in the same universe as Final Fantasy Agito XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII, although they are not directly related to each other. Motomu Toriyama, who was Director of Final Fantasy X-2 and Director and Scenario Writer of Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, will direct the game.
Gameplay
Battle system
The concept for Final Fantasy XIII's battle system is to maintain the strategic nature of command-based battles, while also including the excitement and speed found in real time battles. This system stemmed from a desire to create battles of the type found in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Like Final Fantasy XII, the battles will take place seamlessly on the field with no transitions to separate battle screens. The Active Time Battle system will return, but is expected to work very differently from how it did in previous installments in the series. Final Fantasy X battle director Toshiro Tsuchida will return as the battle system director for the game. He has the intent of giving individual enemies their own personalities and background stories. He also replied with "no comment" when asked if players will be inputting commands for all party members, or if they'll just be in control of the current party leader.
In keeping with command-based battles, players input commands by selection through a reel on the bottom-left hand side of the screen. Each command has an ATB cost, which reduces the total ATB bar. Selected commands are placed on a row of upcoming moves, above the bar. As characters fight, each command is used in turn, with the current command in use turning yellow. Commands can be chained together for certain effects. The environment also plays a role in battle; for instance, Lightning has been seen sending a soldier into a light, electrocuting him and multiplying the damage.
A map is seen in the upper left hand corner of the battle screen, with blue dots representing allies and red dots signifying enemies. The dots emitting circles are the characters currently affected by the fighting.
The upper right-hand corner of the battle screen shows a circular-shaped gauge, representing the Overclock mode. When full, Overclocking allows the player to induce a slow-motion effect, almost pausing time for everything other than the player. Once Overclock is activated, a rapidly decreasing number appears inside the circular gauge, signifying the duration of the Overclock status. Some believe that this system may replace the traditional Limit Break system found in previous Final Fantasy games.
Summons
Summoning will also return in Final Fantasy XIII. Summons are shown as partly mechanical beings, and the possibility exists that they will be prominent both when in and out of battle. Shiva is one such summon that will be returning, and in Final Fantasy XIII, she takes the form of a pair of sisters who can merge into a motorcycle, which the unnamed blond male character has been shown riding and can use ice to create its path. Classic summons Ifrit, Siren and Carbuncle will also be returning. Producers of the game have recently stated that Summons will appear in "Digital Form" although the full extent of what this means is still unknown.
Online
Although the main focus of Final Fantasy XIII is a traditional offline RPG experience, Square Enix is attempting to add special online features to the game.
Plot
Setting
Square Enix has released only small portions of Final Fantasy XIII's plot since its announcement at E3 2006. Pulse is the name of the world in Final Fantasy XIII, a lush, natural environment inhabited by many monsters, resulting in humans living constantly in fear of an attack. The Crystals decided to create the floating city of Cocoon to protect the humans from this threat. The Crystals of Final Fantasy XIII are sapient beings, able to create life forms and objects.
Cocoon is a futuristic, utopian haven constructed by the fal'Cie, a mysterious race of beings that are beyond humans, when the Crystals decided Pulse was too dangerous for humans and instructed the fal'Cie in creating the Cocoon. The Crystal of Cocoon protects and advances Cocoon through technological creations and the l'Cie, destined people chosen by the fal'Cie to carry out the will of the Crystals. The citizens of Cocoon fear Pulse and its people, whom they believe are trying to destroy the city. The Holy Government of Cocoon has therefore quarantined anyone they believe to be linked to Pulse, and they are exiled from the city.
Characters
The full cast of Final Fantasy XIII is yet unknown; however the following characters have been shown in trailers and screenshots of the game, along with some released information.
- Lightning (ライトニング, Raitoningu)
- Character designer Tetsuya Nomura was asked to create a "female version of Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII", and has described her as "not very feminine". Final Fantasy XIII's lead character is a young woman with strawberry blonde hair. She has been given an unknown task by a Crystal. Some sources say that she is leading a rebellion against Cocoon, while others say she is the enemy of humanity who will bring about the downfall of the world.
- Her weapon can be transformed between a sword and a semi-automatic firearm at will. Lightning is able to use gravity as a tool and weapon, for instance, throwing a small 'gravity bomb' to disable enemies at the start of a battle. She also seems able to defy gravity completely with the use of two buttons on her finger (index and thumb). Once these buttons are tapped together, she can briefly manipulate gravity. Blue sparks run around her body at these times.
- Blond-haired man
- A blond, bandanna-wearing male who has been shown riding Shiva in her motorcycle form, wielding a gun. He is a big character, capable of running while carrying two people around. He was nicknamed "Mr 33 cm" by the staff of Final Fantasy XIII because of his shoe size. He has been described as "cowboy like", and his relationship with Lightning as "unusual".
- Red-haired girl
- A female with red-brown hair who has been confirmed as a citizen of Pulse. Her weapon resembles a modernized bow and can be seen performing a summon using a disc.
Development
Along with Final Fantasy Versus XIII and the mobile phone game Final Fantasy Agito XIII, Final Fantasy XIII is part of the project known as Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII, but is neither a prequel nor a sequel to either of the two 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.
The game runs on the Crystal Tools engine, an all new seventh generation multiplatform game engine built by Square Enix for their future games. Both the engine and the game were originally slated to be used with the PlayStation 2 but were later moved to the PlayStation 3. The engine handles advanced audio processing, cinematic cut-scene transition, physics effects calculations and special effects rendering. The Crystal Tools reportedly uses four of the six developer-available synergistic processing elements (SPEs) of the Cell Broadband Engine Architecture microprocessor to achieve near-pre-rendered CGI quality in realtime. Square Enix has licensed Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 to use on a number of other upcoming current generation titles, but will still use Crystal Tools for Final Fantasy XIII.
Some of the developers of Final Fantasy XIII are veterans. Eiji Fujii, previously the movie director of Final Fantasy XII, will return as the movie director. Isamu Kamikokuryō, previously the co-art director of Final Fantasy XII, will return as the art director, 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 Final Fantasy XIII development.
Release
Due to frequent rumored release dates cropping up 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". A Square Enix representative suggested that a release date may be announced during 2008. At E3 2008, during Microsoft's media briefing, it was announced that Final Fantasy XIII would be released first in Japan on the PlayStation 3, then released simultaneously in North America and Europe on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The latter would start development only after the Japanese PlayStation 3 version is finished. A Japanese release of the Xbox 360 version of the game is not planned. A PC version was also announced and is planned to begin development after the PlayStation 3 version is completed.
References
- ^ "Announcement Regarding Final Fantasy XIII Release Date". Square Enix. 2008-01-30. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- "Final Fantasy XIII Description". GamePro. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
- "Final Fantasy 13 Coming To Xbox 360". X-Play. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - "Square Enix Migrates to PC Development Tools". NVIDIA Corporation. 2008-07-23. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
- Sloderbeck, Matt (2006-05-08). "Square Enix Pre-E3 Event Features New Games, New Details". RPGamer. Retrieved 2006-05-10.
- ^ Brudvig, Erik (2006-05-08). "E3 2006: Final Fantasy XIII Showcased". IGN. Retrieved 2006-05-11.
- "E3 2008 - SQUARE ENIX ~ FINAL FANTASY XII". Square Enix. 2008. Retrieved 2006-05-10.
- Donaldson, Alex (2007-02-26). "Final Fantasy XIII Battle System Director Announced". RPG Site. Retrieved 2007-02-26.
- Gantayat, Anoop (2007-03-02). "Final Fantasy XIII Battle System Detailed". IGN. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
- Déprez, Régis (2008-01-17). "FFXIII : quelques invocations" (in French). jeux-france.com. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
- Winkler, Chris (2006-06-07). "Square Enix Talks FFXIII, Crisis Core". RPGFan. Retrieved 2006-06-11.
- ^ Gantayat, Anoop (2006-11-08). "Final Fantasy XIII Update". IGN. Retrieved 2006-11-10.
- "Fabula Nova Crystallis / Interviews / Famitsu JumpFesta 06". FinalFantasy-XIII.net.
- ^ Final Fantasy XIII Xbox 360 Trailer
- ^ IGN Staff (2008-01-23). "New Final Fantasy XIII Details". IGN. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
- "Final Fantasy XIII Update". Gantayat, Anoop. 2007-01-19.
- Smith, Luke (2006-06-07). "FFXIII Interview: Nomura, Kitase, Hashimoto and Toriyama". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2007-03-30.
- "PlayStation Official Magazine UK". Issue 014.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Check date values in:|date=(help) - Roper, Chris (2006-05-08). "E3 2006: Final Fantasy XIII Official". IGN. Retrieved 2006-05-08.
- Goldstein, Hilary (2007-01-25). "Final Fantasy Meets Gears of War". IGN. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
- "キーマンが語るゲームの今！ 進化するゲーム・ビジネス" (in Japanese). Nikkei Arena. 2007-03-20. Retrieved 2007-02-18.
- Eurogamer (2008-06-19). "Final Fantasy Versus XIII Development Temporarily is Not Suspended". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
- VG247 (2008-06-19). "Final Fantasy XIII to appear at E3; Possible word on release date?". FinalFantasy-XIII.net. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - http://games.ign.com/articles/889/889001p1.html
- Final Fantasy XIII exclusive to PS3 in Japan
- Nvidia's Nzone (2008-07-23). "Square Enix Migrates to PC Development Tools".
External links
- Final Fantasy XIII E3 2006 page at the official North American Square Enix website
- Final Fantasy XIII E3 2006 page at the official Japanese Square Enix website Template:Ja icon
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