- Release Date: 2010
- Genre: Role-Playing
- Style: Third-Person 3D RPG
| Games: Final Fantasy XIII |
| 5min Related Video: Final Fantasy XIII |
| Wikipedia: Final Fantasy XIII |
| Final Fantasy XIII | |
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Final Fantasy XIII Japanese box art featuring the title logo, designed by Yoshitaka Amano |
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| Developer(s) | Square Enix |
| Publisher(s) | Square Enix |
| Designer(s) | Motomu Toriyama Toshiro Tsuchida Yoshinori Kitase |
| Writer(s) | Motomu Toriyama |
| Artist(s) | Tetsuya Nomura Nao Ikeda |
| Composer(s) | Masashi Hamauzu |
| Series | Final Fantasy Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII |
| Engine | Crystal Tools |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| Release date(s) | JP December 17, 2009[1] NA/EU March 9, 2010[2][3] |
| Genre(s) | Console role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Rating(s) | CERO: B ESRB: T |
| Media | Blu-ray Disc, 3x DVD-DL |
| Input methods | Gamepad |
Final Fantasy XIII (ファイナルファンタジーXIII Fainaru Fantajī Sātīn) is a console role-playing game being developed by Square Enix. It is slated to be released for PlayStation 3 in Japan, and on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in Europe and North America. First appearing at the 2006 E3, the game features futuristic elements and is set in a high-tech world. It is set to be released in Japan on December 17, 2009, and in North America and Europe on March 9, 2010.[1][2]
Final Fantasy XIII is the flagship title of the Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII collection.
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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.[4] Like those in Final Fantasy XII, enemies are integrated into the world environment. Yet unlike Final Fantasy XII battles do not take place in the same "dimension", but rather a short flash transports players to a new battle screen, separate from the main playing world.[5] The Active Time Battle (ATB) system will return, but it works differently from its predecessors. Users will be able to chain large numbers of commands together in order to achieve attack bonuses.[6]
The first battle system was shown during the E3 2006, but it was only a prototype. A new interface was shown recently by Square Enix in various Japanese magazines and trailers (depicted in the image adjacent). In battle, the player can only control one character at a time out of a party of up to three.
Multiple commands can be stacked into slots per turn and released at the same time to form a combo. The number of command slots increases as the characters grow in strength.[6] These commands include series staples such as Attack, Fire, Blizzard and Cure, as well as new ones such as Ruin, Ruinaga, and Radial Strike.[7][8] The difference between XIII's battle system and the ATB gauge is that these commands can still be placed in the slots even though the bar has run out, and the actions will be executed once the required slots are filled up. This, however, affects the chain combo hits as the combo has been interrupted. The game does not make use of MP but introduces "cost points" for each command, which determine how many times the commands can be used per turn. Because magic cannot be used outside of battle, the HP of the party is completely restored after each battle.[6]
A "break state" is one of the new features of the Final Fantasy XIII battle system. The breaks refer to the times an enemy enters a state of non-retaliation. This occurs when a chain combo has been maintained for a certain period of time on an enemy. When a high level combo has been achieved, the enemy will glow red and enter this state, during which the player will be able to inflict high amounts of damage. The chain bar will gradually deplete during this period; when it becomes empty, the break state ends.
A new option in battle was revealed during Gamescom 2009 called "Paradigm Shift" (called "Optima Change" in Japan). Using this option, players can switch party members' roles during battle. For example, a character can be switched to use defensive or offensive tactics as the battle dictates.[9]
The classic summoned creatures called Eidolons (as they were in Final Fantasy IV DS and Final Fantasy IX) will return in Final Fantasy XIII. Each character possesses only one Eidolon that is summoned from a crystal that sprouts from the character's mark of l'Cie.[6]The Eidolons include both series staples like Shiva, Odin, Alexander and Bahamut as well as newcomers such as Brynhildr.[10] When summoned, the Eidolon stay in battle while the characters accompanying the summoner leaves the party.[11] There is also a new feature called "Gestalt Mode" (known as "Driving Mode" in Japan), which when activated joins the summoned and its summoner somehow; for example, the character Snow can ride and steer the combined Shiva Nix and Shiva Styria. This changes the pace of the combat significantly. But not all summons turn into mechanical vehicles; Odin's Gestalt Mode changes him into a horse for Lightning to ride. Alexander's Gestalt Mode changes him into a large castle which surounds the enemy and fires canon balls at them from all sides. [12] The summons play a major role in the game's storyline as well, much like Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy IX and Final Fantasy X.[13]
The player is able to view the HP and name of the enemy before engaging it in battle. When engaging an enemy, the camera moves to another position and the battle menu appears, making the battle transitions nearly seamless.[14] The after-battle victory screen in XIII holds information such as the time it took to finish the battle, the highest number of combos executed, the number of break attacks and the quality of battle which is determined by a ranking of one to five stars.
The leveling sytem for the game is called the Crystalium System which resembles that of the Sphere Grid in Final Fantasy X.[15] Instead of gaining EXP points after winning a battle, characters gain CP (Crystalium Points) which can then be spent in order to unlock skills, abilities and increase attributes, such as maximum HP.
The plot of Final Fantasy XIII revolves around the fal'Cie (pronounced /ˈfælsiː "fal see"/), beings created from crystals residing inside them.[6] People who are marked by the fal'Cie for greater purposes are called l'Cie.[16] Each l'Cie has a Focus, a goal the fal'Cie wants him or her to fulfill within a certain amount of time; however, the fal'Cie do not explicitly say what the goal is. l'Cie gain the ability to summon Eidolons (monsters who fight with the l'Cie), but this ability comes with a price: if an l'Cie dies before completing his or her Focus, or fails to complete his or her Focus within a period of time, he or she becomes a monster known as a "Cie Corpse."[17] For this reason, being chosen as a l'Cie is seen as a curse.
Some thirteen centuries ago, a fal'Cie constructed a paradise for humanity: the shell-like city of Cocoon, which floats high above the surface of the world known as Pulse. Both Pulse and Cocoon are maintained by their own fal'Cie.[6][18] Cocoon's fal'Cie 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 they worried that it would be cast down from the sky into the hell that they saw Pulse to be.
In the present day, the wilderness of Pulse has strange effects on people, and the theocratic government of Cocoon, known as Sanctum, quarantines and exiles anyone who has been influenced by Pulse from Cocoon with the help of its mighty army, PSICOM.[19] However, as Snow leads Team Nora in a vain attempt to stop the purging of civilians, the mysterious Lightning fights her way past PSICOM soldiers to find Pulse's fal'Cie with the aid of Sazh. Through a chain of events, these three, along with two exiles, Vanille and Hope, are chosen by the fal'Cie of Pulse against their will to become l'Cie, and with that become enemies of humanity who are tasked with bringing about the downfall of Cocoon.
The full cast of Final Fantasy XIII is still unknown. The following characters have been shown in trailers and screenshots of the game, along with other released information.
A former soldier of the Cocoon military, Lightning sought the fal'Cie of Pulse only to be made l'Cie much to her dismay. Lightning has long strawberry-blonde hair and is 177 cm tall (5'10"). She discarded her real name after her parents died in an attempt to emotionally reinforce herself so she could protect her sister Serah, though this only causes things to worsen between them. For her design, character designer Tetsuya Nomura was asked to create a "female version of Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII". During development, he described her as "not very feminine".[20] Lightning wields a weapon that's a combination of a gun and a sword and can also manipulate gravity with a device on her thumb.[21] In battle, she is agile and uses acrobatic moves. She can also summon the Eidolon Odin to fight by her side in battle, who can assume a horse-like form that she can ride on.[22] Her l'Cie mark is in the center of her chest. Her Japanese voice actress is Maaya Sakamoto.[23]
Prior to becoming a l'Cie, Snow is the head of Team Nora, a resistance group against Cocoon.[24] He is a big character and is capable of running while carrying two people.[25] He was nicknamed "Mr. 33 cm" by the staff of Final Fantasy XIII as a nod to his shoe size.[26] He uses his fists to take down opponents, focusing on brute force compared to the fast and agile Lightning, and it was revealed that he uses a power that is related to the l'Cie mark on his left forearm in the October 2008 issue of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine.[27] After becoming a l'Cie, Snow gains the power to summon the Eidolon Shiva, which takes the form of two sisters, Nix (二クス Nikusu) and Styria (スティリア Sutiria), who can combine into a motorcycle form for Snow to ride while toting a large gun.[28] His Japanese voice actor is Daisuke Ono.[23]
Vanille is a mysterious, but upbeat, young girl with red-brown hair worn in pigtails who lives in Pulse.[16] Her weapon is a kind of foldable fishing rod with multiple lines that can be reeled.[29][30] In a trailer, she is seen captured by the Cocoon army and walking in a funeral procession. In the demo and trailers, she narrates many of the events. She is first seen with the rebel leader Snow when he hands her a gun to defend those being forced to leave Cocoon; she is then seen with Hope, watching as the rebels lose the battle against the soldiers. Her Japanese voice actress is Yukari Fukui.[23] Her English voice actress is the Australian comedian Georgia van Cuylenburg.[31]
Sazh is a middle-aged man with an afro whom Lightning knows from her time serving in the military. Sazh wields dual pistols, and his strong point is striking enemies from a distance. His l'Cie mark is at the base of his neck. He has a six-year-old son called Dajh, whose mother died three years prior to the game. Sazh gets separated from his son during the game, and reuniting with his son is his main motivation.[32] He also has a pet baby chocobo that lives inside his afro. Sazh is described as having good judgment and moral discernment. He has a gentle personality and is easily moved to tears, and joins the party early in the game. His Eidolon is Brynhildr[33], a female fire-elemental knight original to this game, who can transform into a race car.[34] His Japanese voice actor is Masashi Ebara.
Hope is a fourteen-year-old boy with silvery-blonde hair and orange, yellow, and green clothing. He uses boomerangs in battle. He is first seen in the game demo wearing the same Purge attire as Vanille, when his mother offers to help Snow and Team Nora fight off PSICOM. She dies during the battle, and though Snow honors her final request to protect her son, Hope nonetheless hates Snow in a grief-induced rage for his connection to his mother's death. His Eidolon is the holy-elemental summon, Alexander[35] which transforms into a fortress in Gestalt Mode, and is able blast enemies afar with multiple cannons. [36] In the game, Hope is seen arguing with Snow about helping the l'Cie.[30] He is later seen with Vanille fighting off a horde of Cie Corpses. His Japanese voice actor is Yūki Kaji.
A raven-haired woman donning clothing resembling the traditional Indian Sari adorned with tribal accessories, and bearing the mark of a l'Cie on her left shoulder. As revealed by Tetsuya Nomura in an interview, during the early stages of development she was intended to be a male character.[37] Though she is a l'Cie from Pulse, she actually works for the Cocoon Sanctum. She wields a spear that can transform into a sansetsukon in battle, and her Eidolon is Bahamut, who upon his Gestalt-mode takes flight. She is voiced by Mabuki Andou in the Japanese version of the game. [38]
In the Jump Festa 2009 and the official global trailer, three characters who are part of Snow's resistance group, NORA, are seen in the hijack of the captives' train. One is Gadot (ガドー Gadō), a man with orange hair and dark olive skin. He uses a machine gun in battle, providing quick assistance when it comes to executing combos. The second is Lebreau (レブロ Reburo), a black-haired woman with a butterfly tattoo on her shoulder and a sense of invincibility. She uses a shotgun in combat and acts as the team healer. Gadot and Lebreau are said to be childhood friends of Snow.[41] The third is Maqui (マーキー Mākī), a relatively younger, blond-haired, worrisome man with goggles on his head. These three characters were designed by Nao Ikeda, who based their clothing on sports, having been inspired by NBA, beach volleyball, and snowboarding fashions, respectively.[42] The four known members of NORA are featured in the Final Fantasy XIII demo, although Maqui does not participate in battles.[8]
During Gamescom 2009, producer Yoshinori Kitase confirmed an addition character other than Serah: Sazh's son, Dajh (ドッジ Dojji), whose mother died when he was three. The baby Chocobo that rides around in Sazh's afro actually belongs to Dajh, who bought the little chocobo at a gift shop during their travels together. However, because of his status as the son of a l'Cie, Dajh is taken from Sazh by Jihl Nabaat as a martyr for Cocoon.[43]
Final Fantasy XIII was first shown at the 2006 E3 convention.[44] 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,[45] but none is a prequel or sequel to any 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.[46] 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.[25]
Final Fantasy XIII' is made by Square Enix Production Team 1 (led by Yoshinori Kitase), meaning that the development team will look more like it did when Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 were made, rather than Final Fantasy XII. Several of the game's developers have worked on previous installments of the series. Yoshinori Kitase, director of Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII and producer of Final Fantasy X and Dissidia: Final Fantasy among others, will once again return as producer for the game. 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 assisted with the development of Final Fantasy XIII.[47] 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.[48] 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.[49]
Final Fantasy X's co-composer and Dirge of Cerberus's composer Masashi Hamauzu will be scoring the game.[50] The score will feature orchestral recordings by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra,[51] though there will also be synthetic tracks implemented by Keiji Kawamori and Mitsuto Suzuki.[52] A single featuring the game's theme songs, "Because You're Here" (君がいるから Kimi ga Irukara) and "Eternal Love", is planned to be released on December 2, 2009 and will feature vocals by Sayuri Sugawara.[53] Although the game's main theme[54] was originally announced to be composed by Nobuo Uematsu, Hamauzu was assigned to it after Uematsu was selected as the composer for Final Fantasy XIV, making XIII the first game in the main series to not have any work by Uematsu.[55] The game's soundtrack will be released in Japan on January 27, 2010, along with a limited edition. The standard version will have four discs, while the limited edition will contain a bonus "drama CD" written by scenario writer Motomu Toriyama.[56]
On November 13, 2009, it was announced that the song "My Hands" from English singer Leona Lewis' upcoming second album Echo, was chosen as the theme song to Final Fantasy XIII's North American and European release.[57]
The game's producer, Yoshinori Kitase, along with other creators of the game put together a video with interviews and new footage on November 13, 2009. The conclusion of the video announced that the game is to be released on March 9, 2010, for both Europe and North America.[2]
During Microsoft's media briefing at the 2008 E3, Square Enix announced that Final Fantasy XIII would be released in North America and Europe on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Furthermore, the Xbox 360 version will come on multiple discs.[58] A Japanese release of the Xbox 360 version of the game is not planned.[59]
A playable demo of Final Fantasy XIII is included in Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete (released on April 16 in Japan and June 2 for North America[60]) on Blu-ray Disc for PlayStation 3, along with new trailers of Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy Agito XIII.[61] The demo, however, is not reflective of the actual game as it was created using an old build of the game.[62]
Square Enix confirmed at a Japanese press event that Final Fantasy XIII will be out on December 17, 2009 in Japan. Suntory also plans to release the Final Fantasy XIII Elixir to promote the game's release.[63] At the same press event, Square Enix also announced that it would be bundling Final Fantasy XIII in Japan with a limited edition white 250GB PlayStation 3 Slim with a pink colour print of Lightning on the surface of the console, which will release on the same day.[64]
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