Final Fantasy XIII
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is an upcoming installment in the Final Fantasy video game series, and is the first of the series to be released on the 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.
Fabula Nova Crystallis
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 .According to Square Enix, Final Fantasy XIII is neither a prequel or 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. Square also announced that there will be still other titles in the Fabula Nova Crystallis series, though they have not indicated how many. A diagram was shown with three empty circles around the Fabula Nova Crystallis logo, so it is possible there will be another three titles in the series.
Combat
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 enemy. Square Enix has also confirmed that the game will feature real-time battles.
Each action the player makes (for example casting a spell) seems to cost points, which adds up on an "ATB cost" numerical value on the lower part of the screen. In the 5 action slots (on the bottom of the screen) it seems that a player can queue up to five commands at a time to execute in battle; so long as the sum cost of all actions are not greater than the character's total "ATB cost" points . All of the currently known commands shown from the trailer and scans thus far are "Escape", "Cure", "Shoot", "Aerial", "V Strike", "Attack", "Fire", "Blizzrad" [sic], "Thunder", "Defend", and "Firaga", each with an allotted amount of ATB cost. It may be that the player fills up the queue, and then the character performs these actions in successive order making it an interesting combination of real-time and turn-based battle systems.
When the blue gauge becomes full the player is given the opportunity to instigate a move, the action slows down while the player selects up to 5 commands and possibly targets. The game then resumes to real time once the move has been confirmed. This will add a dynamic to real time combat which other games such as Seiken Densetsu have pioneered.
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. It has some unique properties by allowing her to defy gravity, as well as allowing her to use it as a weapon.
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.
Characters
Not many details have been revealed about the characters of the game. From the trailer shown at E³ the character shown was a young woman wielding a retractable gunblade-type weapon which can transform into a sword or gun, but does not function as both at the same time -- instead it can transition from one to the other, as shown in a brief scene in the trailer.
The character's name is rumored to be Lightning. Several screenshots of the battle screen display the name Lightning next to the ATB meter. "Lightning" appears in a consistent spot on the screen even as the character performs several different attacks. Another argument in favor is that Kitase/Nomura games have a tradition of aerial themed names for the main characters such as Cloud, Squall, Tidus ("sun" in Okinawan), and Sora ("sky" in Japanese). However, this word could also refer to a spell (though this is unlikely since a spell is listed to the left called "Thunder"), a Limit Break, or possibly a special sort of attack unique to the game.
Other rumors give her the name "Natch". This appears to stem from an incorrect understanding of a review of the initial press conference; the word is actually mentioned in reference to Final Fantasy Versus XIII, and doesn't appear to be a name but a comment on the number of spiky-haired characters created by Tetsuya Nomura.
Graphics
The game runs on the White Engine, an all-new exclusive next-gen graphics engine built for Square Enix's future games. It was originally slated to be used with the PlayStation 2 but was later moved to the PlayStation 3. The White Engine can be used to create highly realistic in-game cut scenes, the likes of which have never before been seen on either the PS2 or the PlayStation.Online option
While players will still get to experience Final Fantasy XIII as an offline game, Yoshinori Kitase has stated in the developer interview that players will also get to play Final Fantasy XIII online as well.
Release date
The release date is unknown; however, several gaming sites, such as EB Games, speculate that the game will be released around July 2007 [link]Staff
- Director: Motomu Toriyama
- Character designer: Tetsuya Nomura
- Art director: Isamu Kamikokuryo
- Main programmer: Kazumi Kobayashi
- Movie director: Eiji Fujii
- Main theme: Nobuo Uematsu
- Composer: Masashi Hamauzu
- Producer: Yoshinori Kitase
- Logo Design: Yoshitaka Amano
- Weapon and Equipment Design: Tetsu Tsukamoto
References
External links
- [Fabula Nova Crystallis at Square-Enix.com]
- [E³ Teaser Trailer -- Official Site]
- [E³ Teaser Trailer - Gametrailers.com]
| Collection |
|---|
|
Final Fantasy Agito XIII - Final Fantasy XIII - Final Fantasy Versus XIII
|
| Main series: | I — II — III — IV — V — VI — VII — VIII — IX — X — XI — XII — ''XIII |
| Compilations and collections: | I-II — Collection — Anthology — Chronicles — Origins — ' — Compilation of VII — ' |
| Direct sequels: | ' — ' — ' — ' — X-2 — Agito XIII — Versus XIII — Final Fantasy XI II (tentative name) |
| Spinoffs: | Crystal Chronicles — ' — ' — Mystic Quest — Tactics — Tactics Advance |
| Related series: | – Kingdom Hearts series |
| Film and television: | ' — ' — ' — ' — |
| More info: | Creatures — Characters — Designers — Items — — Magic — — Music — Races — [List of Final Fantasy weapons|Weapons] |
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