Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by EvilReborn (talk | contribs) at 23:11, 6 December 2006 (rv - stop adding info about the "gunblade". It isn't a gunblade in a classic FF sense and therefore should not be regarded as such.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Template:Future game

Final Fantasy XIII (ファイナルファンタジーXIII, Fainaru Fantajī Sātīn) is an upcoming role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix. It is the 13th installment in the Final Fantasy series, and will be the first game of the series to be released on the Sony PlayStation 3. Unveiled at E³ 2006, the game features a high-tech futuristic world, and a heroine who wields a gunblade-type weapon. Motomu Toriyama is the director of the game. According to Square Enix President Yoichi Wada, the storyline will focus on "those who resist the world."

Final Fantasy XIII will run on the "White Engine", a proprietary engine built for Square Enix's next-gen games. The game was originally planned for the PlayStation 2 but was later moved to the PlayStation 3 after the development team discovered the power of the platform.

Gameplay

From the footage shown at E³, battles in the game appear to be in real-time, similar to Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XII, but without the colored target arcs linking player to target. Square Enix has also confirmed that the game will feature real-time battles.

In a developer interview, Motomu Toriyama stated that the E3 Trailer shows what is known as the 'Gravity Bomb', known as the spell 'Gravity' in previous games. Presumably, it refers to the electrical energy field that surrounds the young woman shown in the trailer. She can use it to defy gravity or to attack enemies.

In the upper right-hand corner of the battle screen, a circle-shaped gauge is visible. Once the number inside this circle and other conditions have been met, the protagonist can enter a so-called Overclock status. This status has a slow-motion effect, slowing down everyone but the player. It has been suggested that this Overclock system would replace the traditional limit break system found in previous Final Fantasy games. Overclock seems to resemble the Trance mode in Final Fantasy IX. Once Overclock is activated a number appears inside the meter and decreases, probably signifying the duration of the Overclock mode.

While players will still be able to experience Final Fantasy XIII as an offline game, Yoshinori Kitase has stated in the developer interview that players will also be able to take advantage of special online features.

Battle System

Motomu Toriyama (Director of FFXIII) comments on Final Fantasy XIII's battle system: Final Fantasy XIII took on the challenge of seeing how much of the battles in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children can be recreated in a game. The battles that were impossible to be presented in current Final Fantasy games were shown in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. In reverse, Final Fantasy XIII will show how much of that can be represented in the game."

Development

Along with Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy Agito XIII for the mobile phone and Final Fantasy Versus XIII, an action game for the PlayStation 3 made by the Kingdom Hearts team, make up three facets of the overall project known as Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy XIII. According to Square Enix, Final Fantasy XIII is neither a prequel nor a sequel to Final Fantasy Agito XIII or Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Square Enix has explained that although all three games take place in the same universe, they are not directly related.

The game runs on the White Engine, an all-new exclusive seventh generation game engine built for Square Enix's 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 .

One of the main aspects of the engine is that it allows photo-realistic CGI to be rendered in real-time. It also handles advanced audio processing, cinematic cut-scene transition, physics effects calculations and special effects rendering. The White Engine reportedly uses 4 of the 6 synergistic processing elements (SPEs) available to games, of the Cell processor, to achieve near-pre-rendered CGI quality in realtime.

Characters

The only confirmed main character as of yet is the young woman featured in the E³ trailer. It is uncertain at this time what role she will play in the game. Some people believe she is called Lightning, as this word is displayed in the trailer gameplay footage occupying the spot which would normally feature the active character's name. In previous installments where Tetsuya Nomura had been involved, the characters were named after natural phenomena: Cloud from Final Fantasy VII, Squall from Final Fantasy VIII, and Tidus from Final Fantasy X. "Lightning" would follow this pattern. It has been proposed, however, that this may simply be the name of the game's Limit Break system or of another gameplay feature. Square Enix has yet to confirm any other main characters in Final Fantasy XIII.

References

1. Brad Shoemaker & Dan Tochen (2006). "E3 06: Square Enix announces trio of Final Fantasy XIII games". Gamespot. Retrieved 8 May. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
2. Matt Sloderbeck (2006). "Square Enix Pre-E3 Event Features New Games, New Details". RPGamer. Retrieved 10 May. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
3. Square Enix (2006). "E3 2006 - SQUARE ENIX ~ FINAL FANTASY XII". SQUARE ENIX. Retrieved 10 May. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
4. ^ Duckroll (2006). "Final Fantasy XIII Developer Interview". Gamebrink. Retrieved 8 June. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
5. KingdomHearts77 (2006). "Final Fantasy XIII Famitsu Scan Translations". Final Fantasy-13.Net. Retrieved 19 May. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
6. Chris Winkler (2006). "Square Enix Talks FFXIII, Crisis Core". RPGfan. Retrieved 11 June. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
7. Chris Roper (2006). "E3 2006: Final Fantasy XIII Official". IGN. Retrieved 8 May. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
8. Erik Brudvig (2006). "E3 2006: Final Fantasy XIII Showcased". IGN. Retrieved 11 May. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
9. IGN (2006). "IGN: Final Fantasy XIII Update". IGN. Retrieved 10 November. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
10. Play UK (2006). "New Play UK and OPM UK Scans". FinalFantasy-XIII.net. Retrieved 17 November. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

External links

• E3 2006 | SQUARE ENIX
• E3 2006 - FFXIII TRAILER | SQUARE ENIX
• GameTrailers.com - Final Fantasy XIII (Playstation 3) - Media, News, Reviews, Previews
• FinalFantasy-XIII.net // FFXIII, FFVersusXIII, FFAgitoXIII Source
• Final Fantasy XIII Forums

Template:FFXIII

• Final Fantasy XIII
• PlayStation 3-only games
• Game engines