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Final Fantasy XIII
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Final Fantasy XIII title logo, designed by Yoshitaka Amano |
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| Developer(s) | Square Enix |
| Publisher(s) | Square Enix |
| Designer(s) | Motomu Toriyama Toshiro Tsuchida |
| Artist(s) | Tetsuya Nomura |
| Composer(s) | Masashi Hamauzu Nobuo Uematsu (theme song) |
| Series | Final Fantasy Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII |
| Engine | Crystal Tools |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 3 Xbox 360 |
| Release date(s) | JP 2009[1] NA TBA EU TBA AU TBA |
| Genre(s) | Console role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Media | Blu-ray Disc, DVD-DL |
| Input methods | DualShock 3/Sixaxis Xbox 360 controller |
Final Fantasy XIII (ファイナルファンタジーXIII Fainaru Fantajī Sātīn?) is an upcoming console role-playing game being developed by Square Enix who will publish it for PlayStation 3 worldwide, and Xbox 360 in Europe and North America afterwards. First appearing at the 2006 E3, the game features a futuristic, high-tech world.
Final Fantasy XIII is the flagship title of the Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII collection. The game shares a common mythology with Final Fantasy Agito XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII, but they are not directly related to each other. Motomu Toriyama, a director and scenario writer of previous Final Fantasy titles, will direct and write the game's story.
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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.[2] Like those in Final Fantasy XII, battle sequences are integrated into the world environment.[3] The Active Time Battle (ATB) system will return, but is expected to work differently from its predecessors.
During battles, players input commands by selecting an option from a wheel that appears on the bottom left-hand side of the screen. Each command has an ATB cost, which reduces the total ATB bar. Selected commands are placed on a row of upcoming moves, above the bar. As characters fight, each command is used in turn, with the current command in use highlighted yellow. Commands can be chained together for certain effects. The environment also plays a role in battle; for instance, in released footage of the game, the main playable character, Lightning, has been seen sending a soldier into a light, electrocuting him and multiplying the damage. Once the ATB bar has reached zero, it must replenish before the player can input more commands.[4]
A map is placed in the upper left-hand corner of the battle screen, with blue dots representing allies and red dots signifying enemies. Dots emitting circles are the characters currently in combat. The upper right-hand corner of the battle screen shows a circular-shaped gauge, representing the "Overclock" mode. When the gauge is full, Overclocking allows the player to induce a slow-motion effect, causing time to move slower for everything but the player. Once Overclock is activated, a rapidly decreasing number appears inside the circular gauge, signifying the duration of the Overclock status.[4]
Summoning will return in Final Fantasy XIII. Summoned creatures are shown as partly mechanical beings. Shiva will return and takes the form of a pair of sisters who can merge into a motorcycle, which a male character called Snow rides and can use ice to create a path to drive on. Classic summoned monsters Ifrit, Siren, and Carbuncle will also return.[5] Although the main focus of Final Fantasy XIII is a traditional offline RPG experience, Square Enix is attempting to add special online features to the game.[6]
The plot focuses on the fal'Cie, a race existing beyond humanity. The people marked by the fal'Cie for a greater purpose are named the l'Cie.[5] Some 13 centuries ago, a mythical Crystal told the fal'Cie to construct a paradise for humanity. The shell-like city of Cocoon was created and floated high above the surface of the world now known as Pulse, which is later maintained by its own Crystal.[7] Cocoon's Crystal 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. In present day, the wilderness of Pulse has strange effects on people, and the Holy Government of Cocoon quarantines and exiles from the city anyone who has been influenced by Pulse.[8] A woman codenamed Lightning is chosen by the Crystals to be the enemy of humanity and bring about the downfall of the world.[7][9]
The full cast of Final Fantasy XIII is yet unknown. The following characters have been shown in trailers and screenshots of the game, along with other released information.
Final Fantasy XIII was first shown at the 2006 E3 event.[9] Along with Final Fantasy Versus XIII and the PlayStation Portable game Final Fantasy Agito XIII, Final Fantasy XIII is part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII project,[18] but none are a prequel or sequel of the other installments. Square Enix explained that although all three games take place in the same universe, they are not directly related in terms of story.[19] The game runs on the Crystal Tools engine, a seventh generation multiplatform game engine built by Square Enix for its future games. The engine and the game were originally slated to be used with the PlayStation 2 but were later moved to the PlayStation 3.[14]
Several of the game's developers have worked on previous installments of the series. Motomu Toriyama, director of Final Fantasy X-2 and director and scenario writer of Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, will direct the game and write the story. Eiji Fujii, previously the movie director of Final Fantasy XII, will return in this position. Isamu Kamikokuryō, previously the co-art director of Final Fantasy XII, will return as well, with Tetsu Tsukamoto designing the weapons. The main programmers will be Kazumi Kobayashi and Yoshiki Kashitani. Occasionally, developers from Final Fantasy Versus XIII assist with the development of Final Fantasy XIII.[20] Final Fantasy X's battle director Toshiro Tsuchida will return as the battle system director for the game. He intends on giving individual enemies their own personalities and background stories.[21] He chose not to comment when asked whether players will input commands for individual party members or control will be limited to the current party leader.[22]
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".[23] 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,[1] then released simultaneously in North America and Europe on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[24] The latter would start development only after the Japanese PlayStation 3 version is completed, and could possibly come on multiple discs.[25] A Japanese release of the Xbox 360 version of the game is not planned.[26] 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 (due for release in March 2009 in Japan) on Blu-ray Disc for PlayStation 3, along with new trailers of Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy Agito XIII.[27]
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