[Multiplatform] Official Final Fantasy XIII Thread

Be interesting what Square has planned for the new hardware. It's really the first time they will be working with hardware that is above the cutting edge standard so we'll see what they can do with it.

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I don't mind the Sci-fi setting, but I sure hope they spend more time in natural areas over other places. The forest shown in the trailer absolutely floored me with its detail.

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Versus is starting to sound interesting. With what has been shown and now the new information that a main component of the battle system is the ability to teleport, it sounds like we're going to get a game with a heavy amount of battle flair which may put even Kingdom Hearts II to shame.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Final Fantasy 12 was also completely scrapped very far along in development because they decided on a completely different approach for the game. That more than anything was what accounted for the extremely long development cycle for FF12.

FF13 is coming along nicely though. Remember that the final PS3 development hardware just came out a little over a year ago and if FF13 makes 2008 at least in Japan, that puts the game at a very short two year development cycle.

The extended trailer for FFXIII Versus has me pretty excited though. It looks like the gameplay might largely end up exactly what I was hoping for --Sora's Final Form in KH2 on steroids.

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I'm not asking for Shakespeare here, just a plotline that doesn't insult the player's intelligence. The only thing really remarkable about Squeenix's games these days is how expertly they pander to the target 10-16 demograph.

Or you know, the most consistently high production value found in the entire industry.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by :beardmode:

I've discovered our impasse. You think it resembling FF VIII is a good thing, whereas I see ties to FF VIII and try not to dry heave. VIII is by far the worst game in the series for me. Beautiful music, but unbelievably terrible story and characters. So it's just that we like different installations of the series. See how nice I was? I didn't even refer to it as Final Fantasy VIII: Dawson's Creek or anything. God did I loathe that game... Same orphanage? Worst twist in the history of gaming.

Just wondering. How do you equate graphic styling to the storyline? You seem to have this ability to know the storyline of a game just based on its style which I admit is an amazing feat.

FF13 does remind me of FF8s setting as well and actually the setting in FF8 was one of the few things I enjoyed from the game. The cyber-punk style was interesting and a nice detachment from the steam-punk styling normally found in Final Fantasy games and it looks like FF13 is going with this style.

The simply fact that the main character already cracks a smile at the end of that short trailer leads me to believe that we aren't dealing with a Squall or Cloud personality clone. But of course these are just guesses and I'm at least willing to give the game a chance rather than condemn the story and the game itself based on some of the strangest correlations I've ever come across.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

They are just shifting resources so they can get FFXIII out faster than trying to work on both at the same time. This means a much sooner FFXIII and a slightly later FFXIII Versus rather than both of them coming out later.

This is good news, not bad news.

FELIPE NO

I'm impressed. I basically said before that if they were serious they'd go after FFXIII and they did. I don't think this is going to have much impact in Japan but the sales figures in the US shall be interesting.

I'm just saddened a bit by the multi-disc prospect. That pretty much puts the game in the realm of being very linear and a step backwards of possibility cutting off access to parts of the game which they were moving away from in FFX and FFXII but well Final Fantasy has never been much of an open ended game to begin with.

We'll see what this does for the more niche games though from companies like Atlus, NIS, GUST, etc. I don't see them going to the Xbox 360 still, but hey most people didn't expect FFXIII to either. Whatever, as long as they don't go to the Wii exclusively.

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Originally Posted by Buffet Overflow

Wait, what? Didn't you answer your own rant there?

On another note, do you really think they'd even be putting the game on multiple discs after developing it for PS3 for so long that it wasn't already linear as hell to begin with? Again, you raised that point yourself, but whining about the multidisc prospect is silly.

Espeically after MGS4 proved that just because it's all on one Bluray disc, that doesn't prevent the game from being ridiculously fragmented. How'd you like it if you got a free open world with a 10 minute install between continents?

I don't give a shit about installs and I actually prefer them as they improve performance.

As for the linear issue. Yes they are linear, however FFX started to break that mold by allowing you to travel to all places before and give you some side quests to do. FFXII took this even further with complete access to the world and the hunt system to give it a purpose. One would hope these aspects would be further improved upon with FFXIII. However with the announcement of the game going to DVD-9 this is now very unlikely and we'll be returning to the even more linear nature of series that we saw in the PS1 era, with the multi-disc format being a large contribution to why they so linear.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Buffet Overflow

You clearly have not played MGS4, because you don't get what I'm referring to. MGS4 only lets you install one chapter at once, with a massive install, and STILL has terrible load times. I'm not saying it's guaranteed FFXIII will have that issue, but when you argue that blu-ray automatically ensures that there's no ridiculous fragmentation, I can point to MGS4 and say otherwise. There's no difference between it and a multi-disc game with the exception that MGS4 doesn't even make you leave your chair. How convenient!

I hate the use of other games, I really do so much because they prove nothing. MGS4 isn't FFXIII. They aren't even in the same genre and have completely different asset flow to deal with in each. MGS4s solution does not apply to FFXIII so don't even bother.

And yes I own the game. There are no massive load times either so I'm wondering if you have actually played the game or not.

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So did Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey, which were 3 and 4 discs respectively. Your point?

Same deal. Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey were designed with a multi-disc plan from the start. The games could have developed into something totally different if they didn't have to take it in to consideration. We don't know. But what we do know is multi-disc game design has different requirements than a single disc. This is going to have a significant effect on the final product. There are things you simply cannot do when dealing with multiple discs or you have to pick and choose from a list of planned features rather than get the full featured suite into a single disc solution.

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So wait they are releasing the PS3 version in Japan then a year later the PS3/Xbox 360 version will finally make it to the US? So more massive delays thanks to this announcement. Niiiice.


I take it back. Fuck you Microsoft.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Also there seems to be a buzz on that there 2ch site that some SE developers left over this decision and thats why the FFXIII Versus team was pulled onto the project. There can't be any truth to this.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I'm liking the modern clothing design in FFXIII Versus. They picked some pretty pimp suits out of what could have been a horrible line-up.

I was speaking idiomatically.