Final Fantasy XIII Full Information

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In an interview with the magazine web Kikizo, Yoshinori Kitase (Producer of the Final Fantasy series) and Shinji Hashimoto (Square Enix Corporate Director) came back on one of the most anticipated games of next year: Final Fantasy XIII . They discussed many points of carrying the game on Xbox 360 gameplay issues. Excerpts follow.


Regarding the growing success of the series outside of Japan, Kitase admits to having no doubt at some point, too sought to erase the peculiarities of the Japanese series: "We make a big effort to eliminate the specifics of our Japanese games . Perhaps we were too conscientious in this regard ... Perhaps the Japanese origins of these games are part of this having people. For FF XIII, we are trying to do things as naturally as possible, without bothering about the guide for a specific market. The game is made in Japan, so the culture naturally follows, I suppose. "

The main character of Final Fantasy XIII and her name is actually a sham. "Lightning" is but a mask for her real name, and is the code name she goes by to keep her true identity off the records.

Our two bonshommes then add that the arrival of the game on Xbox 360 should not be regarded as a betrayal players Playstation, it is more a gift to players Microsoft. The game will be on Xbox 360 when the PS3 version is completed. In addition, the difference between the capacity of a Blu-ray and a DVD does not seem to pose too many problems.

Regarding the gameplay, so few are advanced note when even a few confirmations from the producer of the series: "In the manner of Final Fantasy XII, there will be a field full of monsters that roam, with which character can interact, or seek to avoid rather the contrary. If you touch, will lead a transition in combat. We can not say how many characters make up the squad. "Frankly not enough to reassure critics of the 12th episode, which had apparently not digest this radical change in the game system.

This interview tells us that the female, yet unknown name, is the main protagonist of the story, which should nevertheless put forward a host of others. Developers seem happy to finally have a woman as main character of an episode of the original saga. Other questions refer to the universe very science-fiction FF XIII, as well as on the very variety of weapons and enemies seen in the trailer.

"For FF X, it was more than fantasy, while FF VII was oriented high-tech. The team behind FF XIII is composed mostly of members of the team FF X. We wanted to change a bit and guide us towards a world more science fiction. "

"The trailer and images were created early in development, and this time there were only humanoid enemies that we could show. Same for firearms. In the final product, we can assure you that there will be more variety. "

Kitase also tells an anecdote about Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the Final Fantasy series, now party in other lands, leaving excellent games like Blue Dragon or Lost Odyssey Mystwalker with his studio. To set the series, Sakaguchi had this expression: "As long as we have these dialogs in a blue and white text with borders, everything will be fine.". Unfortunately for him, thanks to technological advances, they could not keep this feature.

Finally, if this year developers want to reduce the waiting time from the rest of the world after leaving Japan, we must recognize that because of the large number of texts contained in the game, the difference between the outputs is inevitable . So much for Final Fantasy XIII.

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Story - Final Fantasy XIII

Like so many aspects of FFXIII at present, what is known about the prologue and story is very vague, and makes very little sense. Here's us trying to put it together.

Square Enix has said very little about the story or Final Fantasy XIII so far, but they've managed to throw us a couple nice tidbits about the prologue to the story, as well as it's themes; determination, fantasy and futurism.

There are two known parts of the world of FFXIII so far, Cocoon and Pulse. Pulse, the planet, or at least a large part of the planet, is a land of wild monsters, and not much civilization, but it is there. Cocoon is a city in the sky, a perfect environment for humans to live in, protected by a powerful crystal. Beings themselves, crystals have specific motives and plans, Cocoon's crystal in particular is practically raising humans.

The citizens and holy government are very suspect of anyone in Cocoon who has been, or is believed to be, influenced in any way by the people of Pulse, and are banished from Cocoon.

Pulse also is said to have it's own guiding crystal. A symbol of peace, Pulse's crystal chose it's people, and determined their destiny to lead the world. Lightning was chosen as an enemy of humankind that will bring destruction to the world. Not much sense can be made from this, but since Lightning is seen invading Cocoon in the trailers, it wouldn't be crazy to think by humanity, they mean the people of Cocoon, but it is too tough to call.

Final Fantasy XIII starts off with Pulse being pretty fed up with the society of Cocoon, as they plan and carry out an assault against Cocoon. Lightning leads the charge of the assault, as it's said to start a quasi-revolution. Cocoons strength as a fortress are supposedly susceptible to infiltration, which frightens the people of Cocoon. They fear the possibility of the City falling from the sky.

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Characters - Final Fantasy XIII

LIGHTNING
She Will Destroy The World

The main character of Final Fantasy XIII and her name is actually a sham. "Lightning" is but a mask for her real name, and is the code name she goes by to keep her true identity off the records.

She does not like to talk about herself or her past but remains mentally and physically strong and independent. Lightning is well toned and quite the acrobat, as seen in the trailer, and not that surprisingly (based on her portrayal in the trailer) is not sweet. Square Enix has compared her to a noble soldier, as she is one strict gal.

Weaponry wise, Lightning uses a transformable sword/gun.



MR.33CM
A Nickname for His Shoe Size

His name is unknown, but outside the game his nickname is known as Mr. 33cm for the size of his boots. He is said to be big enough to carry two people at once, and run at same time.

He's seen in the trailer saving Lightning from enemy troops as he pulls up on his Shiva motorcycle. He's described as having a wild fighting style, but in the trailer he simply looks to be firing an enemy gun.



PIGTAILED GIRL
A Little Known Fact

The only known fact about this character is that she is a Rushi, of which nothing is known what even that means really. She wears tribal-esque clothing and is seen in Pulse.

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Enemies - Final Fantasy XIII

AIRBORN ATTACK UNIT
Slice and Dice

This mechanical beast, something between a scorpion, a dragon fly, eight circular saws, is seen chasing down the run away train in the trailers. This is more than likely a boss enemy due to it sheer size and power. The airborne machine successfully stops the train in the trailer and reveals it's enormous circular saw-esk arms as it faces off with Lightning.


BEHEMOTH
Might be, Tough to Call

This heavy steroid abuser is thought largely to be the Behemoth of Final Fantasy XIII, or at least a note worthy variety. This particular one here has quite the intricate head dress, complete with large colourful ribbons, a lot of metal and some decorative leather that falls on the sides of it's face. Besides noticing the dead look in it's eyes, big teeth and more razor sharp claws, this Behemoth also comes with pants. Yes, pants, and sleeves as well, perhaps belonging once to a shirt.

The metal head dress seems to also act as a weapon, flipping forward with the flick of the extremely muscular neck. Behemoth's fighting style alone shows that this creature is obviously intelligent as it has no problem running around on all fours, or standing up to swing it's enormous sword which even puts the Buster Sword to incredible shame. Behemoth appears in the Final Fantasy XIII trailer when it seems to be summoned from within traffic on a busy highway.


DRONEGUARD
The Rolly-Polly in the Back

These drone guards are only seen for a moment in the trailers, but from what is seen, they seem to bob around smoothly. They look to be large rolly-polly-esk police robots, which would help explain why they're seen side by side with other law enforcement, as well as explaining the large flashing red police light on the very top of them.

No forms of offensive equipment has been seen with these robots. They may very well be beverage dispensers, intimidation robots (they don't look too sinister, but they have a sharp glare for how bobby they really are), or possibly decoys or mobile storage for arms and ammunition.


SOLDIER
Expect Lots of Them

Highly trained killing machines in theory, incredibly weak enemies in reality. The soldiers from the trailers are probably not from the beginning of the game. In but a single attack, Lighting casts Fire, and hits a group of soldiers, dealing roughly 800-1200 HP in damage. This is more than likely quite a few hours into the game considering the player can do that amount of damage.


BLUE SOLDIER
The scout, perhaps?

These blue coloured soldiers look rather similar to the regular yellow soldiers we've seen thus far, excluding the uniform color. It's hard to judge the difference between this soldier and the others, but he might be a Scout as one attacks Lightning with a short energy rod, which looks to be quite the underpowered weapon. They also look quite agile, but low on armor, the usual correlation.


ROBOT
101011

As Lightning is in the middle of dancing with Guns and Swords, these stubby-limbed robots are seen falling out of the sky from drop ships. It's a good thing they've got rocket propulsion built into their leg-like torso stubs...

These robots have quite a large collar and what looks to be six eyes, folding arms, a Samus-esque gun arm, four long rods sticking out of their back and a paint job good enough for a formal dinner. They also all seem to come with a rainbow of different weapons from robot to robot, from the gun arm, to an arm with six foot longer spikes, and also a shield.


BEAST
Rawr!

A cybernetic K-9 or large cat of some sort, similar to the K-9-like Deepground beasts from Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus.

This creature also looks similar to large wild cats, like a leopard or tiger, just without the fur, ears, eyes, and 2 digits off each paw. Their skin also looks quite thick, which explains why it likely takes many many bullets to kill them, yup, that explains everything.

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Game Play - Final Fantasy XIII

Knowledge about the gameplay of Final Fantasy XIII is basically limited to the battle system at the moment.

Final Fantasy XIII's battle system is shaping up to be radically different from those of Final Fantasy's past. The main points of difference are: the battle system is designed to be as flashy, smooth, animated and fast passed as Advent Children's battle scenes, there is no MP in battles but an ATB Cost Gauge, and cost figures beside each command, magic and non magic alike, there are no random battles, but battles aren't as seamless as Final Fantasy XII's system, weapons can transform during battle if the player choses, different attacks can be sequenced together in a large variety of combinations, players have to be mindful of their position on the battle field, including vertically, and the final not worth addition is the inclusion of an OverClock mode.

OverClock mode is reminiscent of the drive gauge from Kingdom Hearts or the Limit Bar from Final Fantasy VII. Once the gauge is filled (it is unclear what drives it to fill), players can enable the OverClock mode, which slows down all of the surrounding enemies, as well as unlocking special character specific abilities and increased attack and magic power.

Lightning, specifically, has small metal plates on her finger tips which allow her to manipulate gravity. Doing so enables her to preform some extraordinary acrobatics while enveloping her body with a blue-ish aura.

You will be able to fight with a party in Final Fantasy XIII, and control the other characters, however many are allowed in a party is currently unclear. More control is said to be had in the new battle system despite it's increased speed. Also the system is still time based, time still flows as you input commands, and you will have to wait for your turn during battle based on the ATB (Active Time Battle) Gauge.

The vision behind then new battle system is quite broad and difficult to follow as most of what has been learnt has left a very large amount of questions unanswered. The conceptualization of the system, which has been notes a bit publicly so far is vague and full of holes. Don't expect to fully understand the battle system until Square releases game-play videos of it in action.

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The Darkest Final Fantasy Yet

Final Fantasy Versus XIII takes place in a time very similar to the current day. The story of game is going to be emotionally charged, and reflect some of the ugly issues of the real world. The antagonist is the unnamed Prince, the heir to the thrown of the last Kingdom. This Kingdom is much like a modern city, but is isolated from the rest of the outside world.


The city kingdom is protected by a Magic Order, and the kingdom itself holds the last crystal in the world. The story only begins with the fight over the last crystal, as it's said it's just the start of a new generation.