Final Fantasy Versus XIII

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Final Fantasy Versus XIII

Developer(s)	Square Enix
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Designer(s)	Shinji Hashimoto (game producer) Tetsuya Nomura (game director, character designer) Yoko Shimomura (composer) Yoshitaka Amano (image illustrator, title logo designer)
Series	Final Fantasy series Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII
Engine	White Engine
Release date(s)	TBA
Genre(s)	Action role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: RP (Rating Pending)
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3

Final Fantasy Versus XIII (ファイナルファンタジーヴェルサスXIII, Fainaru Fantajī Verusasu Sātīn^?) is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 video game console. Alongside Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Agito XIII, the game makes up part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII compilation. Unveiled at E³ 2006, the game focuses on a mysterious protagonist, the last heir to a dynasty ruling the only remaining city in the world to control crystals who under unforeseen circumstances, is forced to make a stand when his kingdom, people and its crystals comes under attack from marauders that would conquer the city and take the crystals as their own.^[1]

According to developers of the game, the game is not a sequel nor a prequel to other Final Fantasy XIII entries, but a wholly independent story unfolding with different characters and different visual designs. According to Square-Enix, they all take place in the same universe, but aren't related to each other directly.^[2]

The game is directed and designed by Tetsuya Nomura, who previously directed and designed the extremely successful Kingdom Hearts series with Yoko Shimomura scoring the music and Shinji Hashimoto handling the production.^[3] A trailer of the game has been screened at both the E³ 2006 expo and the Tokyo Game Show, and is now available to the public.^[4] Square-Enix has shown a new trailer in a closed mega theatre at Jump Festa, with new footage.

Very little information regarding the design or plot of the game has been revealed as yet, although Square Enix representatives have stated that it will be primarily action-oriented and may be the darkest Final Fantasy. As of a recent interview with Nomura in Dengeki PlayStation 2 magazine, Nomura has stated that he aims to create previously unseen "tricky" battle sequences, reminiscent of the CGI film, Final Fantasy VII Advent Children.^[1] Various websites such as IGN have speculated that the game might be released sometime in 2008.^[5]. In recent interview translations, Nomura says the game will play like a more realistic version of Kingdom Hearts with some elements of a third-person shooter similar to Dirge of Cerberus.

In Latin, "versus" can be the past participle of the verb "vertere" which means "to change direction." In English, it is a preposition which means "against, in opposition to."^[6]^{[not specific enough to verify]}

1 World
2 Characters
3 Development
4 References
5 External links

[edit] World

As with every Final Fantasy, the style of this world is unique and seems to skewer modern and medieval cultures. The main character's country is very advanced and modern, the only in the world. All the other countries seem to have remained in the middle ages. The main power in the world is the Crystals. All the countries (except the protagonist's) had them but have lost them due to continued war. It seems all the other countries poured their resources into weapons, granting them advanced rifles rather than swords and magic. Now, only the main character's country has a Crystal, and a cold war has been brewing over it's use, as it is beneficial to the military. Recently a peace treaty was talked about (Mentioned in the radio in the JF trailer). However, marauders with guns invade the city as the main character battles them, disrupting the peace.

[edit] Characters

The protagonist with twelve floating weapons surrounding him.

The protagonist is a mysterious young man with dark blue hair and matching eye color. He is the last heir to a dynasty, ruling the only remaining city in the world which controls crystals. He protects his home from marauders that plan to conquer the city and take the crystals as their own. He wields a number of different weapons, including swords, spears, and lances, and can even induce them (telekinetically or otherwise) to move in the air independently of him and form a whirling barrier around himself. He has also demonstrated the power of instantaneous teleportation. His physical features seem to change depending on his actions, as his eye color turns red when holding his sword and his hair flashes white when teleporting. It may be also that he can use magic, as hinted by Nomura.
Nomura has also confirmed that a heroine, parallel to the protagonist, will be present in the game.^[1]
Mysterious soldiers. These unknown warriors wear armor that has a medieval design, but also carry assault rifles resembling modern automatic weapons.

[edit] Development

Development of Final Fantasy Versus XIII started around two to three years ago prior to E3 2006, in conjunction with Final Fantasy XIII, after the Final Fantasy VII Technical Demo for the PS3 was completed.^[7] Most of the development was begun on the Playstation 2, but was later migrated onto the Playstation 3 when the development team determined that a single DVD and the Playstation 2's hardware wouldn't suffice the storage and visual requirements. Most of the development was restarted on the Playstation 3.^[8]

Development of Final Fantasy Versus XIII was also never considered to be branded a whole new Final Fantasy XIV, as the concept, thinking and background of the game could not be possible in a standard numbered iteration of the franchise.^[9]

Square-Enix announced in early 2007 that they had licensed Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 to use on all next generation titles, but have forgone mentioning whether Final Fantasy Versus XIII will be adapted to it, even though stating that Final Fantasy XIII will still use the White Engine.^[10] ^[11]

It was recently announced that Final Fantasy Versus XIII will use the motion-sensing capabilities of the Playstation 3's SixAxis controller.^[12] It is not yet known what for.