Final Fantasy XIII: To be HD or not HD that is the question

[Christopher]

Final Fantasy XIII

Background:
Final Fantasy XIII is Square-Enix's main title in the Fabula Nova Crystallis Compilation. It's being produced for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 making it the first new Final Fantasy title on current generation consoles.

Final Fantasy XIII is set in a futuristic world controlling advanced technology and magical crystals. Pulse, the world Final Fantasy XIII is based on has had an evil history which has resulted in the construction of the floating utopian city called Cocoon. For a reason so far unkown, the citizens of Cocoon fear the world below.

The Crystals have the ability to create life forms and machines in Pulse. They also communicate with the super-natrual beings known as the fal'Cie who were responsible for the construction of Cocoon 13 centuries ago. The fal'Cie's descision to create this paradise was made to protect the people from an "infection" on Pulse.

In present day, the Holy Government in charge of Cocoon is extremely paranoid of people coming into any contact with Pulse. Anyone who is suspected of being influenced by the infection is subject to quarantine and is banished from the city. The prisoners on the train are most likely in the process of being exiled. Because of this, we believe Oerba Dia Vanille who is travelling on the train is suspected of being infected.

Although it's uncertain when in the storyline this takes place, Lightning, Snow and Vanille are selected by the fal'Cie to become l'Cie. This burden requires them to become enemies of mankind who must destroy Cocoon.

Characters:


Lightning
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.


Snow
Snow, formerly known as Mr. 33cm for the size of his boots, 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.


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


Sazh
Sazh has known Lightning since they were both serving in the Coocoon army. He is said to be a very vocal character, but is not afraid to show his soft side as he is emotional and sympathetic. He has a pet chicobo, which lives in his afro for safe keeping.

Sazh uses two handguns for battle, but can also use his hands if he is not equiped with any guns


Hope Estheim
Hope Estheim is a fourteen year old boy who lived a peaceful life in Cocoon, until he was banished to Pulse for reasons unknown. Journeying with his mother, their transport to Pulse was interrupted by the battle on Hanged Edge. His mother, under Snow's request, joined the battle, and lost her life in the process.

Hope now blames Snow for the loss of his mother, and directs all his sadness and anger towards him.

Hope's speech is usually quite reserved, but with the duress of travelling with Lightning and becoming a l'Cie, he sometimes lets his emotions get the better of him and has outbursts of frustration or anger.

In battle, Hope uses dual weapons which can best be described as futuristic boomerangs


Lebreau
Lebreau is a member of Team Nora, and she uses a rifle as her main weapon. She also acts as healer during battles. Character designer Nao Ikeda explains why she dresses the way she does, and it is because Team Nora's main base is on a beach, and so as a result, her design was based off of volleyball players.


Sereh Farron
Not very much is known about this character, except that she is engaged to Snow and is the younger sister of Lightning.


Cid Raines


Trailers:




[gametrailers]56990[/gametrailers]


Final Fantasy Versus XIII

Background:
Final Fantasy Versus XIII takes place in a dark, gloomy unknown city ruled by a young prince named Noctis. He is fighting to defend the last remaining Crystal, the mythos that binds the Fabula Nova Crystallis compiliation.

Noctis owns a kingdom which is in the middle of a cold war with an opposing side. He has been seen battling troops which are presumably from his enemies fighting for the last remaining crystal, using multiple weapons ranging from lances to swords and even a machine gun to fight off the attacking hordes.

Later he is seen speaking with a girl named Stella, who is a part of an opposing nation also presumably after the crystal. The story is said to be much like Romeo and Juliet in that two people both members of opposing families fall in love. Noctis appears very shy around Stella but is not an "emo boy", as Tetsuya Nomura put it. He is also friends with a group of people showing classic Final Fantasy traits; a man with a gun, a man who will attack with his fists and an intellectual looking man.

Aside from his friends and enemies attacking him at the gates, another mysterious man is seen attempting to also steal the crystal. He has only been shown briefly, but wears a distinct white cloak and wields powerful magic. His allegiance is unknown at this time.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII has no solid release date, but development is well underway and gameplay has been shown briefly in scans which are sadly not of the best quality. The battle system is being designed by the Kingdom Hearts / Advent Children team, so it is fair to expect something a long the lines of the style of fighting seen in their previous projects. The city shown in the trailers so far has been modelled after real life areas in Japan and will contain elements of today’s world including issues like Global Warming. The story itself is heavily inspired by the works Shakespeare as quoted in multiple trailers: "Nothing is either good or bad but thinking makes it so" is a famous line from Shakespeare's Hamlet. This line is basically the notion that good and bad is a perspective of an individual. It is likely the game will deal with this outlook on things.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII is PlayStation 3 exclusive worldwide.

Characters:


Noctis
During the Tokyo Gameshow 2008, this character's name was officially announced as "Noctis" which is latin, a literally means "night". He is the last member of the royal family in the city where he lives and rules. The city has recently come under attack because they possess the final crystal. He seems very determined to keep hold of this crystal. He portrays a very arrogant and cold character showing very few emotions. However, according to Nomura, he is a very shy person, but during his first encounter with Stella, tries to hide it.

Noctis is the next in line for the throne of the last kingdom to have a crystal. The Prince protects this crystal himself, as seen in the trailers. He seems practically emotionless, but very aggressive in battle.

His fighting style is very unique - - and odd to say the least - - and should make for interesting game play. He has a lot of different weapons that he summons from thin air. He doesn't even have to hold them to use them. Noctis has well over a dozen weapons at his disposal, such as swords, guns, axes and spears.



Stella
During TGS 2008, at the same time as Noctis, this character was confirmed to be named Stella, which is latin for sStar. Perhaps the heroine of the game, this character is seen in the Tokyo Game Show 2007 Trailer sitting down in a room when Noctis walks in. She surprises him as she stands up, frowning /glaring at him. As they stand and face each other a “Suikoden” like symbol appears behind them both. A fiery read one behind her and a blue watery one behind him.

This woman is said to be an unfortunate enemy of the Prince's, as they are in opposition to one another; however, if they circumstances were different, they probably wouldn't fight. Stella is the only confirmed antagonist of Final Fantasy Versus XIII so far.

Nomura at the end of May 2009:
-Looking to create a masterpiece
-Versus members are more or less the same as FF7 members and everyone is working very synergistically
-Synergistic team isn't making compromises, so the quality is naturally going up
-I try to audit the progress, but because everyone is auditing themselves very severely, most problems are cleared at lower levels
-Currently testing battle system and map gimmicks (?)
-Town lighting test for day and night were inspected and it felt as though the town really existed in front of me
-I really want to show, right away, character's actions when they're left alone for a while
-Please wait a little bit longer for new Versus information. Once we get to a certain point, I will show you something very surprising

Jump Festa 09

At this year’s Jump Festa, Square Enix did the unexpectable and showed off a new gameplay trailer for Final Fantasy Versus XIII. This time it was in a mega-theater, rather than a small room with the game recorded on a handy-cam.

The trailer starts off on a bright day with Noctis waiting on a highway, eventually getting picked up by a car, then speeds off. The whole trailer is real-time and Andriasang describes it as “stunning, particularly the lighting.” The trailer ends with the phrase, “Revelation will come next time.”

Trailers

[consolegaming]

360 Version or GTFO

[jiggles]

360 Version or GTFO

Have you got strawberry floating brain damage or something?

I see tanks, I see flans, I see what looks like a floating SMG-style island in the clouds, I see chocobos. In Versus, I think I see a KH-esque battle system and (holyshit) a WORLD MAP!

[consolegaming]

360 Version or GTFO

Have you got ******* brain damage or something?

I see tanks, I see flans, I see what looks like a floating SMG-style island in the clouds, I see chocobos. In Versus, I think I see a KH-esque battle system and (holyshit) a WORLD MAP!

LOL I couldn't resist.

[Christopher]

360 Version or GTFO

Have you got strawberry floating brain damage or something?

I see tanks, I see flans, I see what looks like a floating SMG-style island in the clouds, I see chocobos. In Versus, I think I see a KH-esque battle system and (holyshit) a WORLD MAP!

I know right? 360 is welcome to lesser XIII game

[Sarge]

New(?) Trailers.

FF XIII

[gametrailers]43656[/gametrailers]

Versus XIII

[gametrailers]43655[/gametrailers]

[Slayerx]

Wow thanks Sarge they look amazing although im more excited about XIII Versus atm.

[jiggles]

I genuinely can't decide which I'm looking forward to more.

The XIII trailer is awesome, and shows Square really are unrivalled when it comes to creating a sustained sense of awe at the settings.

The versusXIII trailer shows the same kind of juxtapositioned fantasy that made Kingdom Hearts so awesome. KH was brilliant because it was a full-on, dark fantasy tale in the Disney setting, and versusXIII looks to do the same with the modern world.

[Christopher]

Both games look stunning. I really can't wait for both of those. I think Versus just pips XIII for the whole FFVIII vibe I'm getting.

[jiggles]

It's amazing that so few of us care about this.

GR is a terrible cross-section of the gaming community.

[Christopher]

It's amazing that so few of us care about this.

GR is a terrible cross-section of the gaming community.

It is weird that for such a big franchise we have so fans

So you, Rubix and me for the next 18 months then?

[jiggles]

gooseberry fool yeah, I'm down!

People here only care about Final Fantasy when Sony lose it as an exclusive.

[Christopher]

I am even looking forward to Dissidia.

[Neo Cortex]

Hey 'cmon I'm still here, I dont know which game I want most though

[Christopher]

Yay another one to join our Final Fantasy love with

Accept my PSN friend request Jamie

[Neo Cortex]

Oops, I actually have to log in to get that

[jiggles]

I am even looking forward to Dissidia.

No love for Agito?

[Slayerx]

*cough*

Anyone else going to be getting Advent Children next year ?

Its' a release with a playable FFXIII demo in Japan think im going to import it.

[Christopher]

I am even looking forward to Dissidia.

No love for Agito?

Yeah but when that'll be out I have no idea.

Yay we now have Slayerx too.

I will be getting Advent Children on Blu Ray hopefully English subs with Jap voices.

[jiggles]

*cough*

Anyone else going to be getting Advent Children next year ?

Its' a release with a playable FFXIII demo in Japan think im going to import it.

o/

I only hope ACC is region-free (obviously, the demo will be). Only 3 months away!