It looks like the next issue of the weekly Japanese magazine Famitsu will be a huge one, the magazine is teasing that “The ban on information for that popular title will be lifted.” (via Gematsu).
Famitsu tends to tease stuff a lot, and more than often the reveals tend out to be underwhelming. Now you may be wondering what this popular title could be, some of the front runners in the speculation race are Final Fantasy Versus XIII and The Last Guardian, both of which have been under development for over half a decade.
Along with the info on the game, next week’s Famitsu will also a top 30 most anticipated games list voted by their readers.
The Final Fantasy franchise is considered by many to be the king of the JRPG genre. The franchise reached it’s peak with Final Fantasy VI and VII, which captured the hearts of gamers everywhere. VII, in particular, set the standard for JRPGs and is a highly revered game overall, spawning several prequels and sequels that are collectively known as the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.
From there onwards, Final Fantasy slowly crumbled. Although Final Fantasy X and XII were adored by many fans, there is no doubt that VII ruled over them all. No Final Fantasy game has been able to surpass VII. In fact, the standard of Final Fantasy games fell so low with the release of XIII and it’s sequel, XIII-2, that people began to believe that there would never be a better Final Fantasy.
Unlike Final Fantasy games of the past decade, Final Fantasy Versus XIII stays true to the roots of the franchise. Where X and XIII were linear, Versus XIII is open-world; where XIII-2 had a drab story, Versus XIII seems to have an interesting tale. It is quite obvious that Versus XIII will be a good game. But maybe it’ll be something more than that. Maybe it’ll be dominant over VII.
Of course, one can never be sure of this. We cannot know whether Versus will be the best Final Fantasy game. But when a game has an open world, vehicles (including airships), real time battles (like in the Kingdom Hearts series) and a protagonist with great hair and a silent personality, you can’t go wrong.
No doubt this seems like an exhilarating game. One that will not be forgotten easily. But the question is…
Where is Final Fantasy Versus XIII?
The game was announced back in 2006 at E3, along with Final Fantasy XIII. Since then, it has remained in the dark, save for the occasional bit of news or that trailer we got back in 2011.
So much has happened since the initial announcement. Bioware managed to release all three of it’s Mass Effect games, revolutionizing the Science Fiction RPG genre. The Mass Effect games were, without a doubt, loaded with a lot of content, yet Bioware managed to create all three of them in the past few years. Not only that, but all three of Naughty Dog’s Uncharted games were released too. These three games were, once again, not easy to create especially due to their fantastic visual quality.
Even Diablo 3 and Duke Nukem Forever, two games which fans had been anticipating for years, were also released. Furthermore, Sony and Microsoft introduced their own motion controllers; Call of Duty 3, World at War, Black Ops and all three Modern Warfare titles were released; all the Assassins Creed games were released, with the third one coming out soon. And to top it all off, Sony’s PlayStation 3 reached it’s peak and is now coming to a close.
During this time, what has Square Enix delivered? Final Fantasy XII, XIII, a failed MMO (XIV) and a sequel that no one cared about (XIII-2).
6 years, and there is still no Final Fantasy Versus XIII. What’s worse is that there is no sign of the game at the upcoming Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary Event. This is simply outrageous. What were the guys over at Square Enix thinking?!
I think this wait is just too much. Fans of Final Fantasy deserve to see more of this game and get a release date. It is very likely that the game will make an appearance at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, but nothing is for certain. After all, this is Square Enix we’re talking about. With the life of the PlayStation 3 slowly ending, a delay is not feasible. This game needs to get a release date, and fast.
Do you think that Final Fantasy Versus XIII will be getting a release date soon?
Talking about Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Mercero stated that the game will borrow elements from Final Fantasy Versus XIII along with its predecessors Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2. He also said that the development is progressing swiftly and that the game is currently going under focus testing so they know what people like and what they don’t. He also stated that Lightning Returns will be much different that its predecessors.
About Final Fantasy Versus XIII he stated that the game is still in development. He talked about how ambitious the project was and when the game appears again fans of the series will be very much satisfied.
Back in 2006 — before PlayStation 3 was still being assembled in one of those secret Sony lairs – Square Enix, upholding the long tradition of PS brand centric Final Fantasies announced the Fabula Nova Crystallis series for the much loved duo in the very near future.
How did that letter of love got lost somewhere in translation? It is hard to say. Perhaps the sweet smell of greens, the liability of investing a lot, or simply a trinket to toss over for more people to savor. The list is as endless, as it is complicated. But for now, let’s focus on where do us geeky, sore-eyed, Fantasy deprived gamers stand in this mist of FF nothingness on PS3?
For kick starting that seething anger roiling underneath our skins, we lost FF (Final Fantasy) XIII to a lot of things; Microsoft, poor planning, bland story telling, uninteresting focused or unfocused babbles, and all the other intentional nonsense stopping it from possibly becoming the crème de la crème of Fantasies. A bullet was fired, it missed, and all of us got hurt in our little hearts filled with so many fantastical hopes… the agony was unbearable.
As the sands of time passed down the hourglass, our wounds were healed, and hence we waited for the coming FF that would change the way people supposedly looked at JRPGs (Japanese Role Playing Games). But the problems of misinterpretation, misreading, and so many other misses came back to haunt us. Where is Versus XIII? Truth be told, perhaps even Nomura-San doesn’t know what he got himself into, or maybe us vile JRPG purists are exaggerating.
Years have gone by with nothing but a tiny peek at gameplay in that once-upon-a-too-long-ago trailer from Nomura. Little additions were there, and so were the horrid misses. The game (seemingly) plays a lot like Nomura’s PS2 Disney fairy tale ventures; Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, which, believe me, is the most positive sign to come out of this long fruitless wait.
Our spiky haired Noctis, who got that hair style from Nomura’s secret obsession with Sasuke Uchiha, moves sleekly across the screen, brandishing sword-like things, and throwing sparkles everywhere. Impressive that feat truly was, and so were the forceful abduction of enemy machines. The other characters seem to have their own set of arsenal, specially the blond guy with manageable hair, who can take out enemies with an accurate aim feature.
Art style is impressive, and unlike the closed, almost drab surrounds of XIII, Versus looks like it could just redeem itself of the sins of its mother. The environments are much varied. From the posh terraced party hall and the wide roofs, to the wilderness of lush jungles; at least the game will not bore you with XIII’s endless supply of dullness.
The characters don’t seem forced, or not-needed, and are of interesting kind. Noctis, your ridiculously good looking Square hero, is badass and kind of mum, donning all-black cool looking clothes is nicely contrasted by the loud blond. And the brooding genius and the gruff companion complete this team of four, each promised to have their own abilities and what not.
Usually, the brooding handsome ones are dressed in black.
Alas, if only there was more to this show and tell, but there isn’t. TGS (Tokyo Game Show) will be a no show, and god knows how many other gaming functions Nomura intends to miss. Why the aversions though? It is a bit simple. The game is shouldered on a massive budget, if executed wrongly, it could just drown SE in really deep waters. Nomura probably just wants to save his well-earned reputation.
Then there is the whole graphics slump, which could be a foreboding to something nasty, but maybe the game does look as impressive as Nomura is found to ceremoniously state a lot. But until there is no show from SE, there will be no tell, only heart-breaking rumors of multi-platforming, cancellation, and such.
Latest interviews suggest the game might have some sort of online features, like purchases for the enthusiastic buyers. Whether it is untrue or it leans towards the truth, that is still under that heavy shroud of ambiguity.
I for one, have some faith left it Nomura. What are your thoughts? Watch the video below again, just for nostalgic factors.
