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Final Fantasy XIII is a console role-playing game being developed by Square Enix. It is slated to be released exclusively for PlayStation 3 in Japan, and on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in Europe and North America. First appearing at the 2006 E3, the game features futuristic elements and is set in a high-tech world.
Final Fantasy XIII is the flagship title of the Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII collection.
PUBLISHER: Square Enix
DEVELOPER: Square Enix
CONSOLES: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
RELEASE DATE: Late 2010
GAME TRAILER:
Gameplay
The concept for Final Fantasy XIII's battle system is to maintain the strategic nature of command-based battles. The system stemmed from a desire to create battles similar to those found in Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. Like those in Final Fantasy XII, enemies are integrated into the world environment. Yet unlike Final Fantasy XII battles do not take place in the same "dimension", but rather a short flash transports players to a new battle screen, separate from the main playing world. The Active Time Battle (ATB) system will return, but it works differently from its predecessors. Users will be able to chain large numbers of commands together in order to achieve attack bonuses.
The first battle system was shown during the E3 2006, but it was only a prototype. A new interface was shown recently by Square Enix in various Japanese magazines and trailers (depicted in the image adjacent). In battle, the player can only control one character at a time out of a party of up to three.
Multiple commands can be stacked into slots per turn and released at the same time to form a combo. The number of command slots increases as the characters grow in strength. These commands include series staples such as Attack, Fire, Blizzard and Cure, as well as new ones such as Launch, which sends the enemy up in the air and allows the character to perform mid-air combos on the opponent, and spells such as Ruin, Ruinaga, and Radical Strike. The difference between XIII's battle system and the ATB gauge is that these commands can still be placed in the slots even though the bar has run out, and the actions will be executed once the required slots are filled up. This, however, affects the chain combo hits as the combo has been interrupted. The game does not make use of MP but introduces "cost points" for each command, which determine how many times the commands can be used per turn.
A "break state" is one of the new features of Final Fantasy XIII battle system. The breaks refer to the times an enemy enters a state of non-retaliation. This occurs when a chain combo has been maintained for a certain period of time on an enemy. When a high level combo has been achieved, the enemy will glow red and enter this state, during which the player will be able to inflict high amounts of damage. The chain bar will gradually deplete during this period; when it becomes empty, the break state ends.
Magic, including summoning, is restricted to characters that belong to the group called l'Cie. Magic is not readily available in the beginning of a game, but it is bestowed upon the characters after a certain event. Because magic cannot be used outside of battle, the HP of the party is completely restored after each battle.
The classic summoned creatures called Eidolons (as they were in Final Fantasy IV DS and Final Fantasy IX) will return in Final Fantasy XIII. Shiva, Carbuncle, Ifrit, Siren, and Odin appeared in shown footage. Producer Yoshinori Kitase has confirmed that Bahamut will also appear in the game. When summoned, the Eidolon stay in battle while the characters accompanying the summoner leaves the party. There is also a new feature called "Gestalt Mode", which when activated joins the summoned and its summoner somehow; for example, the character Snow can ride and steer the combined Shiva Nix and Shiva Styria in a "Driving Mode". This changes the pace of the combat significantly. But not all summons turn into mechanical vehicles, Odin's Gestalt Mode changes him into a horse for Lightning to ride. Each character will posses only one Eidolon that is summoned from a crystal that sprouts from the character's mark of l'Cie. It has been recently revealed that the summons will play a major role in the game's storyline as well, much like Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy IX and Final Fantasy X. Characters will be able to use special skills other than ones gained while working with summons.
The player is able to view the HP and name of the enemy before engaging it in battle. When engaging an enemy, the camera moves to another position and the battle menu appears, making the battle transitions nearly seamless. The after-battle victory screen in XIII holds information such as the time it took to finish the battle, the highest number of combos executed, the number of break attacks and the quality of battle which is determined by a ranking of one to five stars.
A new option in battle has been revealed during Gamecon 2009 called Paradigm Shifting. Using this option, characters can switch supporting party members' roles during battle. Character can switch to more defensive or offensive tactics as the battle dictates.
Story
The plot focuses on the fal'Cie, beings created from the crystals residing inside them. The people marked by the fal'Cie for a greater purpose are named the l'Cie. But being a l'Cie has a price; for should they die before fulfilling their Focus, they will turn into monsters called "Cie Corpses". Some thirteen centuries ago, a fal'Cie constructed a paradise for humanity: The shell-like city of Cocoon floating high above the surface of the world now known as Pulse, both maintained by their own fal'Cie. Cocoon's fal'Cie created life forms and machines for its inhabitants to use, and humanity flourished. Over time, the people of Cocoon began to fear for the safety of their world, and were worried that it would be cast down from the sky into the hell that they see Pulse to be.
In present day, the wilderness of Pulse has strange effects on people, and the theocratic Cocoon Sanctum quarantines and exiles anyone who has been influenced by Pulse from the city with the help of its mighty army, PSICOM. However, as Snow leads Team Nora in a vain attempt to stop the purging, the mysterious Lightning fights her way past PSICOM soldiers to find Pulse's fal'Cie with the aid of Sazh. But by a chain of events, these three along with two of the Purgees, Vanille and Hope, are chosen by the fal'Cie of Pulse against their will to become l'Cie among others, and with that become enemies of humanity that would bring about the downfall of Cocoon.
Release
Due to the frequency of rumored release dates appearing 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". During Microsoft's media briefing at the 2008 E3, Square Enix announced that Final Fantasy XIII would be released first in Japan on PlayStation 3 in 2009, then released in North America and Europe on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The latter would start development only after the Japanese PlayStation 3 version is completed, and the 360 version will come on multiple discs. A Japanese release of the Xbox 360 version of the game is not planned.
At the DKΣ3713 Private Party event in August 2008, Square Enix announced that a playable demo of Final Fantasy XIII will be included in Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete (released on April 16 in Japan and June 2 for North America) on Blu-ray Disc for PlayStation 3, along with new trailers of Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy Agito XIII. The demo will see a limited release, subject to the initial shipments of the Advent Children package. The demo, however, is not reflective of the final product as it was created using an old build of the game.
The official Japanese website has recently (as of late April 2009) been updated to include mention of a broad "Winter 2009" release window for Japan. However, when speaking to Japanese press, Square Enix claimed the game might not even come out in this fiscal year. Speaking at a Dissidia: Final Fantasy-related press event in London, producer Yoshinori Kitase stated that the team was aiming to cut down the time it takes for localization. Suggesting a European release "before winter 2010", he mentioned that localization was underway with some translation and voicework already completed. At the same time, it was denied there were any current plans for a Western release of the trial version.
Giant advertisements of Final Fantasy XIII appeared on the cross-street of Olympic Blvd. and Figueroa Street in the city of Los Angeles on May 23, 2009. These consisted of three huge billboards, showing the three lead characters of the game: Vanille, Snow, and Lightning, confirming the release date of the North American version of Final Fantasy XIII to be in 2010 on both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
During Microsoft's E3 2009 conference, it was announced that Final Fantasy XIII was to be released "Spring 2010" worldwide and for both consoles (except Japan) and that a concrete date has not been determined yet.
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