Tetsuya Nomura created the cover for the 500th issue of Dengeki PlayStation this week, and you can see the image below featuring characters from the Fabula Nova Crystallis series. Lightning, Serah, Noel, Noctis, Machina, and Rem represent. This issue has a multitude of interviews with Final Fantasy staff, including Tetsuya Nomura.
This week’s Dengeki PlayStation will feature new artwork of Final Fantasy Versus XIII‘s Noctis (amongst Lightning, Serah, Noel, Machina, and Rem) by Tetsuya Nomura, but you can expect to wait even longer to see more of the game. The magazine cites that the game will not be present at this year’s Tokyo Game Show in September, leaving Jump Festa in December as the last date this year that the game could show up at. We also learned that Theatrhythym: Final Fantasy will be a 25th anniversary game for the Final Fantasy series.
This week’s issue of Famitsu will contain an interview with Final Fantasy Versus XIII director Tetsuya Nomura in what will appear to be our first substantive information since the Square-Enix 1st Production Department Premiere in January. Preliminary information about the game is making it’s way onto the web tonight. Here’s what we’ve been gathering (this post will be updated as information becomes available):
Cutscenes in Final Fantasy Versus XIII are said to be “manipulatable”, and this may imply that the camera may be movable during them. When approaching cutscene direction, Mr. Nomura seems to take a page from the FPS genre in which event scenes do not necessarily disturb the flow of gameplay.
In previous Final Fantasy games, different models are used for event and gameplay scenes in which higher-polygon characters are used for event scenes. Mr. Nomura says that for Final Fantasy Versus XIII they have “unified” the models for both events and gameplay, meaning that they may be the same or very similar models during each phase.
Combat in Versus XIII will be dynamic, and there will be changing situations that will keep the gameplay fresh.
Famitsu seemed to be impressed with the screenshots Mr. Nomura toted along with him, one person noting that they did not believe that it was a real-time screenshot because of the graphical quality. A lot of time and skill has gone into the graphics for the game, especially the lighting.
Oh, and we’re getting a Noctis phone (like that Cloud phone that was released all those years ago with Advent Children).
Voice recording for the game is actually in progress, and it seems that they are recording while the game is still in deep development, meaning that the actors may come in at different stages of the game’s progress to record their dialogue. The four male characters (Noctis, Ignis, Gladiolus, and Prompto) have all been recording dialogue and they have conversations where their voices overlap.
Tetsuya Nomura also explained to Famitsu that he does not know when he will be able to share more information about Final Fantasy Versus XIII, but he apologizes that he is making everyone wait so long for this game. It seems he wants to make his next info dump meaningful.
The screenshots shown to Famitsu show various areas of the city, one showing a rough-looking part of town and another screenshot displaying how the lightning in the game will reflect areas in the day or night. We’ve seen in the SE1PDP conference trailer how day and night cycles will be present in Versus XIII.
The first screenshot shows off an arcade and seems to be in a rough area of town the area we’ve seen in the trailers reminiscent of Vatican City and Italy. Noctis is present as well as a behemoth enemy. This is the screenshot that the Famitsu reporter was amazed at as far as graphical quality. The second screenshot is also in the city about about noon with the third showing off the same location at night. Noctis is seen as the playable character in these screenshots.
Takeshi Nozue who co-directed Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children with Tetsuya Nomura was brought onto the project for his expertise in lighting, and contributed to how impressive it makes the game look in it’s current build.
Production on Final Fantasy Versus XIII is currently being worked on by key members of the project’s staff, but the full-swing of the game’s production is currently being prepared in which more staff (most likely for making art assets) will be brought in to assist with the project.
The newest issue of Jump lists Final Fantasy Versus XIII for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 as seen in the scan snippet below. However without an official statement from Square-Enix it is speculated by many to be a printing error on the part of the magazine. (Yes, this does happen.) It also seems like a very unlikely place to announce an official multiplatform jump. The internet is already abuzz with this news, but this time let’s take this with a grain of salt until further clarification is provided. I’m leaning toward the side of a printing error, but let us know what you think by commenting below.
Update: From Aibo (FF-Reunion’s) official Twitter, he has contacted V-Jump and they have confirmed it is a printing error. Jump subsequently apologized for the misinformation.
As promised, Square-Enix has begun uploading the HD trailers for the games that were featured at the Square-Enix 1st Production Department Premiere. By following the links below, you will be able to watch the trailers on their designated websites. Note: The Dissidia 012 trailer is not up as of this posting, but should be up shortly. Enjoy!
Update: We’re linking to the YouTube videos Square-Enix has put up.
■ Final Fantasy Versus XIII HD trailer.
■ Final Fantasy Type-0 HD trailer.
■ Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy HD trailer.
Last night was Dengeki PlayStation’s turn for post-SE1PDP information, and now it’s Famitsu’s turn at bat. We will be posting new informations as they break.
Via: AndriaSang (Final Fantasy Versus XIII)
+ Your characters in Versus will not have jobs. However, your enemies will include dragon knights (or dragoons if you prefer) and summoners.
+ There is a summoning element to the game.
+ Your weapon selection will include: swords, axes, spheres, hand guns, machine guns, rifles, bazookas, and shot guns. This is just a partial list, though.
+ The Ignis character (the guy with the glasses) is good with assist-style attacks. He can toss knives at enemies. (Note: I’m not sure if Nomura actually uses the Ignis name, or if it’s just the person who wrote the summary.)
+ The character with the scar on his face uses a fighting style. He can make use of a pile bunker and broad sword.
+The blonde character is a gunner
+ The game will have positional damage elements for attacking enemies.
+ Larger enemies will have weak points.
+ The game does not have team attacks for your party members. Repeat: does not.
+ You can combo your attacks across character changes — that is, you can keep your combo going when you switch the character you’re currently controlling. As an example, you can make the scarfaced character do positional damage with his hammer, then switch to Ignis, or you can make the enemy shrink away in fear from Ignis’s magic then call in another character to attack.
+ You can bring party members back to life if they die. The exception is Noctis. If he dies, the game ends
+ The difficulty is being set towards the high end.
Via: AndriaSang (Final Fantasy XIII-2)
+ Regarding Final Fantasy XIII-2, Nomura reveals that the key world in the game will be different from the world of Final Fantasy XIII. However, FFXIII’s world will also appear in the game.
This week’s post-SE1PDP issue of Famitsu features a length interview with Final Fantasy Versus XIII director Tetsuya Nomura. We’ll be posting some of the sweet details on this post as they emerge throughout the evening.
Via: AndriaSang (Final Fantasy Versus XIII)
+ The actual battle screen in the final game will show character names.
+ Some areas regarding how the battle screen shows commands will probably change for the final.
+ Magic has different effects depending on the character who uses it.
+ A young blonde male character shown in the magazine’s screenshots is good with guns. He alone has aiming controls and can aim for enemy weak spots.
+ When other characters use guns, they have just a normal lock-on.
+ The game has a large number of weapons. Main character Noctis can use them all.
+ Your battle party can have up to three members. However, the members who aren’t taking part in the battle will join in on conversations.
+ There are more party members than the four shown in the magazine. However, the game doesn’t have a massive number of party members.+ Main character Noctis is not “cool.” He’s just a normal youth. He feels “I am strong,” but he’s not as strong as he thinks.
+ Some segments of the trailer show natural landscapes. These are like the fields you encounter in other games. The game will have time progression: morning, afternoon, evening and night.
+ Contrary to some theories, the dragon rider character who appears in the trailer is not heroine Stella. Nomura says he wouldn’t show Stella in such a state. The character you see in that sequence is an enemy.
+ You can steal army vehicles for your use. You can ride air ships, cars and Chocobos.
The blonde character shown in the trailer is Noctis’s friend. The other two characters are friends from Noctis’s childhood. The person with glasses is like Noctis’s tactician.
+ You’ll recall that someone in the trailer says “You’re not fit to be king,” or something to that effect. This statement is not directed at Noctis. (I think everyone assumed it was!)
+ Nomura says something along the lines of: This year, we have Type-0 and XIII-2, so please forget about Versus for a while. He asked that people be patient and understand that they’re trying to do something incredible.
+ At the earliest, we could see more from Versus XIII at E3.
Via: AndriaSang (Final Fantasy XIII-2)
+ XIII-2′s story begins in Gran Pulse after the ending of XIII.
+ The story will feel like it expands out from the after story that was included in the booklet with Xbox 360′s Final Fantasy XIII International.
+ Outside of Lightning, other characters will appear in the game in unexpected forms. Some will see major changes.
+ XIII-2 is a full sequel. You’ll learn some of the things that took place in the background scenes of XIII.
+ The story will be more dark and mysterious than XIII’s.
+ The story will focus on the goddess Etro.
+ The game will not have the pop feel of Final Fantasy X-2 (I think this means no dancing Lightning booooo)
+ The battle system will be an evolved form of XIII’s ATB system.
+ They’re listening to opinions both inside and outside of Square Enix and from outside of Japan regarding characters, story and interface.
+ There may be a difficulty setting.
duckroll – NeoGAF, AndriaSang (Final Fantasy Type-0)
+ The concept of the battles in the game is “Magic in Action” where although you are armed with weapons, magic is the main tool.
+ An important concept in the game is “there is no need to gather everyone together”.
+ The multiplayer system in the game is designed to enhance the single player experience.
+ Players will be able to join the games of other players, but they will be restricted to a time limit of 3 minutes. This timer can be extended, but this isn’t a game where you can expect to play for long with friends.
+ Machina and Rem are two of the “other main characters” in the game. The main story revolves around the 12 characters that make up the main team, but there will be other characters as well.
+ The playable party members consist of this 12+2 set up.
+ You will be able to travel between battlefields via a world map to execute your missions.
+ The game’s design requires the player to use all 12 party members to defeat the enemies and complete their goals. At any given time you have 3 party members, while the rest are in reserve. When a party member is killed, you can call in reinforcements.
+ As you play on your own, other players will gradually take part in the battle.
When you help other players, you earn points.
+ In general, your full party heads to the battle field together.
Via: FF-Reunion, AndriaSang (Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy)
+ There’s a bit about a “Chara-Icon Original Quest Editor”. You can create and distribute quests, which can include “event scenes”, and apparently there’s a lot of objectives to choose from.
+ Dengeki’s report on Dissidia Duodecim Final Fantasy has some details on how the story for the original Dissidia will be incorporated into the new game. You’ll recall that the original’s story, referred to as 13, is included in Duodecim, whose story is referred to as 12.
+ 12′s story is played in a set order. Once you’ve cleared it, you’ll gain access to 13. You’re free to play 13 in whatever order you like. The story of 13 exists as a section of a dungeon in Duodecim. (Try not to be confused — the sequel’s story is the lower number! The 12 and 13 refer to the number of the battle between Chaos and Cosmos. Consult your favorite Wiki for more details.)
+ Dengeki also has a few details on the game’s quest creation system. As previously detailed, you can create original quests, which can be sent out to other players. By making use of character icons, you’ll be able to create mini stories for these quests. + You can also create event scenes.
+ It looks like the official site will be distributing quests too. The summaries of Dengeki’s story don’t mention anything about the downloadable music and costumes that Dengeki Games mentioned (see below.)
+ Nomura is interviewed in the magazine and says that they’ll be adding stuff until the very limit. He jokes that if they make another Dissidia, they’ll have to change the hardware.
Update: Here’s some scans! (Click here to view.)
Author’s Update: This information was erroneously attributed to Famitsu, when it is coming from Dengeki PlayStation magazine. Whoops!
New scans are up post-SE1PDP and they show off one of the newest characters in Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy: Yuna! We also get a good glimpse of the new second alternate outfits for Tidus and Jecht. Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy will release on March 3, 2011 in Japan, and is still slated for Q1-2011 abroad.
UPDATE: Shonen Jump has two scans of Final Fantasy XIII-2, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, and Final Fantasy Type-0.
Well, that was certainly exciting, wasn’t it folks? After a bit of shut-eye, it’s time to start recapping everything we learned about the Final Fantasy series’ developments at the Square-Enix 1st Production Department Premiere. We learned that Final Fantasy XIII will be getting a sequel, Final Fantasy Agito XIII is now Final Fantasy Type-0, Final Fantasy Versus XIII is still real, and a few new additions for Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy. The following list of informations will be built over the course of the evening from all of my sources, so stay tuned as we summarize the events!
DISSIDIA 012: FINAL FANTASY (Trailer) (Website)
+ A trailer of Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy was shown, and we saw our first glimpse of Yuna in a cutscene as well as in battle. She is able to summon her Aeons in battle and during her EX-Burst to fight her enemy. During a cutscene we see that Final Fantasy XI‘s Prishe is a new Duodecim alum. In a FMV cutscene at the end, we saw Gilgamesh descending from the sky towards Final Fantasy V‘s Bartz but we never see him manifest. He shouts: “It’s been a long time, Bartz!”.+ Duodecim Prologus is a downloadable demo for the full game that was shown promptly at the end of the trailer. It includes an exclusive scenario and unlocks the ability to use Final Fantasy VII‘s Aerith Gainsborough only as an Assist character in the full game. The demo does cost a few hundred yen to play.
+ Fans have cracked and extracted new music and alternate outfits for the Duodecim cast from the Prologus demo. We also got our first snippet of Nomura’s artwork of Gilgamesh and Prishe (courtesy FFChaoticCosmos, YouTube users “Dissidiaa”, “DrakeClawfang”)
FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 (Trailer) (Website)
+ Yep, it’s real. Final Fantasy XIII-2 will continue the story on Pulse and Lightning and her new rival will constitue a key new plot point. The game will be out this year in Japan for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Motomu Toriyama is returning to direct. The trailer shows an armor-clad Lightning at an unknown location before she is seen locking swords with a dark-haired man. Prior to the trailer during the conference, a video was shown explaining the lore behind Final Fantasy XIII and the Fabula Nova Crystallis series thusfar. UPDATE: Lissar has provided translations of the trailer here. You can view that video here. The HD version of the trailer will be made available on the official site on the 20th.
FINAL FANTASY TYPE-0 (Trailer) (Website)
+ Final Fantasy Agito XIII has been renamed and detached from the Fabula Nova Crystallis trilogy. Director Hajime Tabata stated “[we] changed the title because he felt that they were not making a game which had anything to do with FFXIII.” The game will be out on PSP in summer 2011 in Japan and will be on two UMDs. As promised, the trailer showed the harsh world of a war-torn country.
FINAL FANTASY VERSUS XIII (Trailer) (Website)
+ The new trailer shows us a few of the new voice casts, Noctis included. Full gameplay showed Noctis and company battling in large cities wild landscapes, and even on top of moving platforms. The game is very action oriented with characters moving about freely. Noctis was also able to use a tank and a bipedal robot in some scenarios as he battled through the various areas of the map. Final Fantasy Versus XIII is still exclusive to the PlayStation 3 and will have a worldwide release in 2012.
EXTRANEOUS NOTES:
+ Final Fantasy XIII-2′s trailer will go up on it’s site on January 20th.
+ Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Final Fantasy Type-0, and Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance will go up on January 27th on their respective sites.
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
Thanks everyone for tuning in to our coverage! I especially want to thank Kagari of NovaCrystallis for helping us out with the conference stream, Aibo of FF-Reunion for his coverage, the folks at FFChaoticCosmos for tearing apart the Prologus demo for all of us to gawk at, those brave individuals that uploaded footage to YouTube and the staff and members of KHInsider and FinalFantasy.net! Thanks, guys! (Can I sleep now?)
Howdy, folks! I’ll be covering all of the events tonight and into the morning when Square-Enix’s conference will begin. Most of the developments will take place early tomorrow morning, but I expect we will get a few tidbits of information over the course of the evening and into the early morning hours before things start. In terms of accuracy of information, we will try to verify all incoming reports to the best of our ability, and if there is a change or retraction of information, we will post that as well. Keep checking back on this post and we’ll be doing our best to keep you updated as events transpire! And thank you for visiting FinalFantasy.net!
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17|7:22P – Directors Hajime Tabata (Agito) expects Square-Enix fans will have fun at the event whether they show up in person or watch on the exclusive stream. Director Tetsuya Nomura (Versus) has finished the rehearsal process for the promotional videos that will be shown at the event. Aibo from FF-Reunion will be attending the first press/invite-only portion of the conference, he is reporting speculating that there may be a new Fabula Nova Crystallis-related game revealed as two non-FNC-related titles.
18|2:19A – Shinji Hashimoto, Yoshinori Kitase, and Hajime Tabata are in attendance. (Pic.)
18|03:01A – Looks like things are starting to get underway. (Pic.)
18|3:14A – Shinji Hashimoto currently has the podium and is opening with a bit about the 1st Production Development Department. Kenichi Suzumura and Takahiro Sakurai are also MCs. The latter is the Japanese voice actor for Cloud Strife…
18|3:21A – KH: BBS Final Mix director Hiroshi Yasue is talking about Kingdom Hearts 3D. It seems the full title is called: KINGDOM HEARTS DREAM DROP DISTANCE. That’s KH3D’s official title. It will make use of the stereoscopic 3D in gameplay. You will play as Sora and Riku. It seems this game will use verticality more than it’s predecessors with the 3D technology.
18|3:32A – Dissidia 012 is up. They are showing footage and Mayuko Aoki is back as Yuna’s Japanese VA.
18|3:37A – Prishe from FFXI is the newest character to be revealed… Someone has seen Aerith as an assist character! Something perhaps to do with Duodecim Prologus.
18|3:45A – A title is being described on stage: “About to film the myth of La Pfaff s more of the following”, “God governs all of the world = Buniberuze.”, “Buniberuze is killing the mother goddess Muin, got the world. Muin, the invisible world – invisible to the world disappear.” Yoshinori Kitase is taking the stage to announce a possible Fabula Nova Crystallis-related title.
18|3:49A – Kitase is talking about how they want to continue the lore of the Fabula Nova Crystallis series… and apparently we are seeing Lightning in armor. Yes. It’s FFXIII-2. Motomu Toriyama is directing. Here’s the game’s logo: (Pic) They are aiming for a 2011 release date for FFXIII-2. It will be on PS3 and 360. A blogger at Famitsu comments the world seems a bit darker than the original game.
18|3:57A – Final Fantasy Agito XIII is up at bat. There’s a video that displays a few of the characters and a summon sequence with Ifrit…
18|4:04A – Some chatter about “Final Fantasy Type-0″ now… Ok bear with me. It seems as if Final Fantasy Agito XIII has been renamed to Final Fantasy Type 0 and that it is coming out in 2011, it will be on 2 UMDs. The director, Tabata, said that they changed the title because he felt that they were not making a game which had anything to do with FFXIII. Here’s the new logo with the same Amano artwork. (Pic.)
18|4:14A – Versus time. A new trailer is being shown. The footage is voiced and includes some rapidly moving battle scenes… Final Fantasy Versus XIII is still named as such. Also it is still a PS3 exclusive. Worldwide 2012 release. In the footage: “a whole lot of gameplay footage, including combat scenes with swords and guns, a scene where you control a tank-like vehicle, a scene where you climb aboard a bipedal robot, a battle with a massive creature (this may be the combat scene from the TGS trailer), and a battle where Noctis wields his sword against a group of soldiers.”
18|4:32A – I believe the first part of the conference concludes here. “The Final Fantasy XIII-2 trailer will be available for viewing at the official site on the 20th. The other trailers will be available on the 27th. They will all be in HD”.
18|4:37 -
Final Fantasy XIII-2 website: http://www.square-enix.co.jp/fabula/ff13-2/
Final Fantasy Type-0 website: http://www.square-enix.co.jp/fabula/0/
Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance website: http://www.square-enix.co.jp/kingdom/3d/
Final Fantasy Versus XIII website: http://www.square-enix.co.jp/fabula/versus13/
18|4:37 – Lightning in FFX-2 with armor: (Pic.)
