Final Fantasy XIII

Unreleased

Final Fantasy XIII (ファイナルファンタジーXIII, Fainaru Fantajī Sātīn) is an upcoming installment in the Final Fantasy series, and is the first of the series to be released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Unveiled at E3 2006, the game features a primitive world and a high-tech futuristic city floating above it, as well as a diverse cast of characters sharing a mutual destiny.

Fabula Nova Crystallis
Along with Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy Agito XIII for the PlayStation Portable, and Final Fantasy Versus XIII, an action game for the PlayStation 3 made by the Kingdom Hearts and the Advent Children teams, make up three facets of the overall project known as Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy XIII.

According to Square Enix, Final Fantasy XIII is neither a prequel or a sequel to Final Fantasy Agito XIII or Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Square Enix has explained that although all three games take place in the same universe, they are not directly related.

Square Enix also announced that there will be more than three titles in the Fabula Nova Crystallis series, however they have not said how many. A diagram was shown with three empty circles around the Fabula Nova Crystallis logo, so it is possible there will be another three titles in the series.

Story
A long time ago, the Crystals and their preternatural servants, the fal'Cie, created a floating, utopian city in the atmosphere of a planet known as Pulse. The Crystals willed that the city be completely isolated from the crude and brutal wilderness below. Fulfilling their masters' wish, the fal'Cie commissioned machines to be the guardians of the citizens in their stead. Barriers were subsequently set up all around the city, and as such was the metropolis granted its befitting name: Cocoon.

Having lived secluded from the outside world for many years, the citizens of Cocoon are now becoming anxious of what Pulse really holds. Recent contact with those from the world below has caused people to question one another and their ways of life. Wised up to the word on the street, the Holy Government of Cocoon have decreed a new edict: Any individuals suspected to be in contact with the world of Pulse are to be banished from the city unconditionally and cast into the harsh environment of the planet below.

In tandem with the increasing uneasiness among the citizens of Cacoon, the believers of destiny are now painting the gloomiest of futures: the downfall of the entire world. Belief has it that one of the Crystals residing on Pulse has sought a woman to destroy the world and its inhabitants. This woman goes by the codename Lightning and is one of the main characters in Final Fantasy XIII.

According to director and scenario writer Motomu Toriyama, Final Fantasy XIII will not have a prominent main character. All playable characters will have equal importance in the plot (similar to Final Fantasy VI).

In summary, the storyline will focus on "those who resist the world," says Square-Enix President Yoichi Wada.

Characters
Information about the characters in the game has been sparse ever since its announcement back in 2006. However, eight prominent characters have appeared in various previews and trailers, some of whom just recently in the trailer shown in the Closed Mega Theater at Jump Festa 2009.

Lightning
Announced by Square-Enix as the protagonist of the game, Lightning is deemed an adversary of humankind, having been chosen by the Crystals to bring about the end of the world. Codenamed Lightning, she is suffering from a type of amnesia, her true name remaining a mystery&#0151;even to her. It has been stated that the player will discover her true name some time during the game. A formidable and agile fighter, Lightning wields a sword that has the unique ability to transform into a semi-automatic gun if she so chooses. As seen in the trailers, she can also manipulate gravity, although the mechanism behind which still remains unknown.

Not much is known about Lightning's background. It has been said that she previously worked for the Holy Government of Cocoon. It is, however, unclear what type of relationship she has with it. Interestingly, trailers show that she will be assisting in the rescuing of Oerba Dia Vanille from the claws of the Cocoon Army. As such, her relation with the Cocoon regime is assumed to be of an opposing nature. As for her relationship with the other main characters, it has been confirmed that she will team up with Snow Villiers in his anti-governmental resistance group.

Snow Villiers
Leader of an anti-governmental resistance group and a l'Cie, Snow Villiers is a sturdy man whose mannerism is reputed to resemble that of a cowboy. As seen in later trailers, Snow drives a motorcycle, which&#0151;quite out of the ordinary&#0151;is composed of the Shiva Sisters. On his right forearm, there is a tattoo that implies his relationship with the fal'Cie. It has also been claimed that the tattoo is the source by which he performs magic.

Snow Villiers is the leader during the rescue of Oerba De Vanille, as seen in one of the later trailers. His motivations for rescuing her is however yet to be confirmed.

Oerba Dia Vanille
A young and spirited girl with autumn red hair tied up in pigtails, Vanille is a citizen of Pulse and ostensibly a subject of great interest to both the Holy Government and the resistance group led by Snow Villiers. She is a l'Cie, and carries a heavy burden she is not initially aware of herself. She wears a savannah-style outfit and wields a modernized bow.

In one scene in the trailer, she is seen standing on top of a cliff taking in the view of the wild nature of Pulse. In another scene, she is walking in a funeral procession, tailing the coffin while escorted by soldiers to a battle plane. It is unclear whose funeral this is. In a third scene, she is seen catching a disc, from which the summon Carbuncle appears. Whether Carbuncle's appearance is of her doing remains uncertain, although judging from Vanille's slightly befuddled expression upon seeing the creature, the summoning seems unintentional.

Sazh Katzroy
A dark-skinned man with a baby Chocobo. He is the only other character besides Lightning to appear in battle. Only shown in magazine scans, and not shown in any trailers, little else is know about him.

Other Characters
A man with orange afro was revealed in a trailer shown in the Closed Mega Theater at Jump Festa 2009. Very little is known about this man besides that he is dark-skinned, wears green clothes and has an orange afro hairstyle. However, judging from the trailer, he is likely a member of Snow's resistance group.

A tattooed woman, like the man with the orange afro, who has oriental features, a black bowlcut hair and a butterfly tattoo on her shoulder, was revealed in the trailer shown in the Closed Mega Theater at Jump Festa 2009. Besides her appearance, no information about her has been revealed. Said trailer indicates that she, too, is a member of Snow's resistance group.

A young man with goggles was also revealed in the trailer on display at Jump Festa 2009. He wears black and pink clothes and a pair of goggles. Like the two characters above, the man appears to be an ally of Snow's.

A woman with glasses and blonde hair reaching all the way down to her knees, appears to be situated in the higher echelon of the Holy Government. She is seen wielding a high-powered sniper rifle. In a scene in one of the released trailers, she is interrogating Vanille.

A man with hair tied up in a ponytail can be observed briefly in a scene in one of the trailers, where he is leading a group of Cocoon military officials. As of yet, there have been announced no details pertaining to this man.

Crystal Tools
Final Fantasy XIII will run on Crystal Tools (formerly known as White Engine), a proprietary engine built for Square Enix's next-gen games. With Crystal Tools, realistic CGI cutscenes can be created, and the quality of these cutscene sequences has never been achieved before on the PlayStation 2 or the PlayStation.

Gameplay
From the footage shown at E3 battles in the game appear to be in real-time similar to Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XII, but without the colored arcs from player to enemy. This was demonstrated by the heroine attacking enemies on the hovercraft runway. The real-time element may have been confirmed by Square Enix, who stated that the game will have "real-time gameplay". It has been further described as "More tactical than FFX, faster than X-2, and almost as seamless as XII".

Each action the player makes (for example casting a spell) seems to cost points, which adds up on an "ATB cost" numerical value on the lower part of the screen. In the 5 action slots (on the bottom of the screen) it seems that a player can queue up to five commands at a time to execute in battle; so long as the sum cost of all actions are not greater than the character's total "ATB cost" points. All of the currently known commands shown from the trailer and scans thus far are "Escape", "Cure", "Shoot", "Aerial", "V Strike", "Attack", "Fire", "Blizzard", "Thunder", "Defend", and "Firaga" each with an allotted amount of "ATB cost" (Note: If you observe carefully, the word 'Blizzard' is spelled 'Blizzrad' in the scan.) It may be that the player fills up the queue, and then the character performs these actions in successive order making it an interesting combination of real-time and turn-based battle systems.

When the blue gauge becomes full the player is given the opportunity to instigate a move, the action slows down while the player selects up to 5 commands and possibly targets. The game then resumes to real time once the move has been confirmed. This will add a dynamic to real time combat which other games such as Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden have pioneered.

Like previous Final Fantasy games this combat system appears to also feature a limit break system called Overclock. A circular meter on the top right corner fills up as the character fights, which puts the character in Overclock mode and she is engulfed in a blue aura. It is unknown what Overclock does to the character, though it might resemble the Trance mode in Final Fantasy IX. It was also assumed that during Overclock Mode, time freezes for anyone but the player characters. Once Overclock is activated a number appears inside the meter and decreases, probably signifying the duration of the Overclock mode.

Staff

 * Game Director & Scenario Writer: Motomu Toriyama
 * Character designer: Tetsuya Nomura
 * Art director: Isamu Kamikokuryo
 * Main programmer: Kazumi Kobayashi
 * Movie director: Eiji Fujii
 * Main theme: Nobuo Uematsu
 * Music Composer: Masashi Hamauzu
 * Game Producer: Yoshinori Kitase
 * Image Illustrator and Title Logo Designer: Yoshitaka Amano
 * Battle Designer: Toshiro Tsuchida
 * Weapon and Equipment Desiger: Tetsu Tsukamoto

Development
It was revealed at E3 2008 that Final Fantasy XIII will be released on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 in North America and Europe, but will remain a PlayStation 3 exclusive in Japan. The game will hit the shelves in Japan some time in 2009, followed by a later simultaneous release in North America and Europe on both platforms.

A demo version of Final Fantasy XIII will be released with Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete in Japan in March 2009 exclusively for Playstation 3. Covering the opening prologue, the demo aims to familiarize players with Cocoon and the l'Cies. Only Lightning and Snow will be playable.

Trivia

 * The game was originally planned for the PlayStation 2, but was later moved to the PlayStation 3 after the development team discovered the power of the platform.