For a long time, Western fans have been left in the dark concerning a localization for Type-0, and the news only seems to get grimmer each time we hear about it. However, a recent interview with none other than Hajime Tabata himself might bring a glimmer of optimism. As “moribund” as the the localization might be, S-E has not given up hope. You can read the entire interview here, but here’s the part you’re probably most interested in.
Hajime Tabata: “Due to market reasons, we are taking a clean slate in terms of our plans. We feel strongly about bringing this title to the fans in North America and Europe, so if an opportunity arises that can become a conclusive factor, we are prepared to go into consideration right away.”
That’s less than clear, but it’s also far more than many expected. Though the future for Type-0 is nowhere near certain, at least we know that the project hasn’t flatlined. Additionally, Tabata speaks in the interview of his work with Crisis Core and S-E and about his feelings on Final Fantasy in general. As always, if you have any thoughts, comments or even just exclamations of relief, head on down to our forums.
Lightning Returns is the recently announced conclusion to the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy, unveiled at the Final Fantasy 25th anniversary event. For those of you not in the know, the game will feature Lightning as the sole playable protagonist and will be the last game she stars in. Following the recent reveal of the all new title, developers spilled the beans to Famitsu about Lightning Returns. Motomu Toriyama, Yoshinori Kitase, Yuji Abe and Isamu Kamikokuryou have joined together to detail everything from gameplay to art direction to story details, so strap yourself in.
Special thanks for forum member Ramenzilla for finding this.
Scans are beginning to surface on the internet of the latest issue Famitsu, which has more of their interview with Final Fantasy Versus XIII’s director, Tetsuya Nomura. In the page we have, Nomura speaks of announcements being made at this year’s E3, but more significantly, mentions that they’re looking at releasing Versus in three separate parts as a way of bringing forward the release date.
Nomura explains that Square-Enix are aware of the frustration of fans with regards to the length of Versus’ development time. He also says that, after experimenting with DLC in Final Fantasy XIII-2, SE are keen to make regular use of downloadable content and are looking at releasing the last two thirds of Versus as download-only. He does not mention how much these will cost.
If we’re being told this much now, E3 is definitely going to be a big event for Versus fans. Thanks to forum member BlankChocobo for the translation!
In a recent interview with Famtisu Magazine, Nomura has spoken about Final Fantasy Versus XIII while basically saying nothing. He also confirmed that the development of Square-Enix’s remake of the excellent Final Fantasy X in HD is underway.
The graphics have evolved beyond the fairly impressive trailer shown last year and have improved considerably. A few scenes which do not require much ‘player control’ have been remade in CG to wow audiences with Square’s famous prerendered CG prowess, including the scene where Noctis meets Stella for the first time. Square decided to drop the amount of CG in the latest iteration of the series, Final Fantasy XIII-2, so it’s nice to hear the tradition will continue with Versus.
Said trailer was not previously running on Playstation 3 hardware, however the next time we get a glimpse of Versus it will be running on an actual PS3, giving a better idea of how the game will actually look.
Finally, the event known as the Square Enix 1st Production Department Premier which was held last year will not take place again, which isn’t much of a surprise considering Versus is the only Fabula Nova Crystallis game at the moment.
While we’re all hoping for a full blown public display and perhaps even a release date for Final Fantasy Versus XIII, we can only sit and wait as these announcements have no specific event or date attached. Let’s hope when they actually do show something it will live up to our increasingly heightening expectations.
A Q&A has been posted over at the PlayStation Blog featuring the game’s director Motomu Toriyama.
Unfortunately, no new information was revealed, although, for those chomping at the bit for anything FFXIII-2 related, you might want to read it.
In response to the PlayStation Blog’s last question pertaining to Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Toriyama had this to say:
The PlayStation Blog: “When will we finally be able to play Final Fantasy Versus XIII? You know, the game has been in development for eons. Do you have anything to share at this time? Anything!”
Motomu Toriyama: “First, please enjoy XIII-2 while you wait for additional information.”
Curt, but not unexpected. You can read the full Q&A here.
Last month, our own editor Ethan had the privilege and honor to attend a Final Fantasy XIII-2 press event in Los Angeles. Not only did he get to play the game firsthand, but he also gathered some additional information and impressions about the game (which you can read about here. He was also able to ask producer Yoshinori Kitase and art director Isamu Kamikokuryou some questions that some of our forum members wanted to know the answers to. Now, thanks to Jeels at finalfantasy.net, a full article with the answers to these questions and many more has surfaced. Check out the answers to the questions provided by our forum members below!
What challenges has developing the sequel presented that weren’t there for its predecessor? (Question provided by: FinalFantasy-XIII.net)
The biggest challenge is to provide, especially the returning player, a new and exciting experience visually and in the game play. Reading the initial scenario for XIII-2, I noticed it was more serious, so we wanted to incorporate a darker tone versus the light that was seen in Final Fantasy XIII, so I think you will notice overall this has a darker feel.
There are a lot of new features in Final Fantasy XIII-2 that were not present in the first game. Were these features originally considered for Final Fantasy XIII but for some reason did not make it into the final cut? (Question provided by: FinalFantasy-XIII.net)
As far as the game play or scenarios are concerned, because XIII-2 was green lit after XIII was already launched, this was a whole new mission. There really was not necessarily anything missed in XIII that was not included in XIII-2. As far as graphically, there were definitely monsters and environments that we could not make possible in XIII that we were actually able to incorporate into XIII-2 that we are happy to get into the sequel.
One of the biggest features we were able to incorporate this time was a lot of the weather elements. We have much more variation. It is done in a much more detailed manner than we were able to before. Especially with the concept of traveling through time and place, these were really vital in expressing the differences in the locations you are visiting. It is important progress that we have made in XIII-2.
Another thing that was added into the game was jumping. Now, jumping was incorporated into XIII until towards the very end of the development process. It was removed because it was deceiving; it looked like you could jump over or jump on things when you could not. That had some negative feedback and we decided to remove it. This time we bought it back, and we kept in consideration while developing the maps as well, so that it actually worked for the functionality.
Another element that was not in XIII is the mini game style game play, like the Chocobo races, slot machines, and also puzzle elements that appear throughout the game. That is another new element that we were unable to incorporate into XIII but we did this time.
Again, thanks to everyone at Square Enix for taking the time and effort to send Ethan out the event, and a very big thanks in particular to Mr. Kitase and Mr. Kamikokuryou for answering our questions and those of other sites, as well!
If you want to read the full article, check it out here.
Dengeki Playstation had an interview with Final Fantasy XIII-2 director Motomu Toriyama and battle director Yusuke Matsui. The directors mainly discussed the game’s battle system and the improvements and additions that were implemented on it.
Transition between switching paradigms are faster than before, as the key point in the battles of XIII-2 is speed. The game will have harder enemies and bosses, so this is definitely a relevant factor as you will be switching paradigms a lot of times in order to win. A major improvement concerning the paradigm system would be the player’s ability to save the combinations they have made, which was what XIII didn’t have.
Toriyama has stated that the bosses in XIII-2 will be tougher than XIII’s, so an easy mode was added. Some bosses are optional, so if you’re having a hard time beating one even at easy mode, you could just skip it and move on to another scenario. The developing team has also made a special program to balance battles in different areas which analyzes the player’s logs and skills on how they defeated an enemy. Additionally, a new feature called the Blood Damage will be introduced in order to make the battles more challenging than what XIII had, where the healer(s) of the party would just do their job until the party wins. Blood damage cannot be healed by a healer, although there will be items that can recover it.
Interestingly, the game will have summon creatures (yes, summon creatures which are apparently different from the monsters we’ll be recruiting in our party). However, they’ll be in different forms than the ones in XIII as the main characters are not l’Cie.
Another major improvement in the battle system is the battle formation. As opposed in XIII where the characters would only do little movements in battles, in XIII-2 their formations will depend on the roles they’re currently in, i.e. the defender would move forward and guard.
The monster collection system, which is the biggest addition to the battle system, will be varied in different ways. Monsters of their own kind will have differences in time of developing their statuses, and monsters of the same role will have different abilities. It is also possible to grow them into powerful beasts, as a monster can inherit the abilities from others. Equipping accessories on these monsters will also change their appearances. Moreover, Toriyama also said that he is in the process of making the ultimate monster and this is his first time using a strategy guide while test playing a game.
Lastly, it has been revealed before that when the current party leader dies in battle, you are able to switch to the other party member. Since the monsters are being controlled by Serah and Noel technically, the battle is over once the 2 human party members are killed.
Thanks to forum member Ffamran mied Bunansa for the heads-up!
Source: Andriasang
Hajime Tabata has blessed Nico Nico users with a live stream of some new Final Fantasy Type-0 gameplay. The gameplay includes regular battles plus traversing the world with a Chocobo, the the RTS style Battle for Supremacy, and Airship battles. The quality may not be great but Tabata is quizzed about certain elements of the game during the stream which more than makes up for it. GameFAQ members Flower Girl and Kouli have translated the interview.
Is it hard because it’s action oriented?
Compulsory gamplay up to the ending is of low difficulty. Please don’t panic.
It does not entirely come off as an action game since there are RPG commands you have to use to clear the game. Characters still depend on level as in RPGs for battles.Is it alright to play this if I never played FF before?
You can play this without any problems even if you have never played FF before.
This shares the same mythology as FF13 though so players who played FF13 might feel familiar.How much is the approximate gameplay volume.
It’s run through would be around 40 hours but it is impossible to clear everything in a single run through. (i’m not sure about this part but it goes) There’s an additional fight in the 2nd play through which completes the game but that does not mean players cannot enjoy the world after everything is done.Will there be DLC?
No.
[None they will charge for anyway. However he does reveal that there will be free DLC available if you link the game to your Square Enix Members account]
See part of the stream uploaded to Youtube below.
Thanks to forum member Iron Maw for finding this.
Hajime Tabata has been interview by Square-Enix’s own Gangan Comic Magazine, in which he gives a few brief new details on Final Fantasy Type-0. The interview reveals that they’re still keeping their cards close to their chest, even though there’s only two weeks until the games release.
The first thing Tabata announces is that the game should take approximately 40 hours to complete during our first run. A fairly respectable length, especially for a portable title considering FFXIII was 50 hours in length. Interestingly, Tabata also says we’ll be able to experience a different story surrounding Class 0 during our second play through. He doesn’t go into any detail about what we can expect.
Other than this, Tabata also says we can expect a thirteenth main character to go with the twelve announced so far. It looks like we might have to wait until the games release to see who it could be.
Source: Andriasang
Toriyama and Kitase have been interviewed by Dengeki Playstation, in which they reveal a few new details about DLC and how Monsters play out in your party in Final Fantasy XIII-2.
So far, a fair amount of DLC has been announced. Kitase tells Dengeki that we can expect a lot more with downloads coming out about twice a month after the games released. He does however say that it won’t be as simple as just downloading an item or costume. To unlock them, you have to clear certain requirements within the game, such as defeating a particular monster. Right now, they’re making the necessary adjustments to the game to make it so the downloadable costumes will be visible in cutscenes.
Dengeki has gives a detailed explanation of the games Summon Raid and Syncro Drive Gauge systems used by Monster party members.
Summon Raid
Some Monsters turn into crystal during battles. The amount that do is dependent on the Monster. You can set up three monsters for use with Summon Raid, each with different roles in combat. When the player switches Paradigm, the monster with the role best suited for it will be swapped in.
Syncro Drive Gauge
When a Monster is fighting with your party, it builds up the Syncro Gauge. When the Gauge is full, the Monster has the chance to perform a special move. It may involve the player performing quick-times.
Source: Andriasang
Final Fantasy XIII Japanese Commercial 1 HD
Final Final Fantasy XIII Trailer (Translated)Final Final Fantasy XIII Japanese TrailerFinal Fantasy XIII Release Date Announcement Video
FFXIII - Promised Eternity - Piano Cover Final Fantasy XIII-2 Digital Contents Selection Attack on Titan Guy Humps Hornets' Nest, Dies Hope y'all like Android/iOS junk Time Gate: Minimum Game Cancel Stupid Things You Used to Believe Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn relaunches this summer on PC and PS3 Square Enix Origin Forum Need Serious Help!!!
Japan: December 17th 2009
NA: March 9th 2010
Europe: March 9th 2010 Japan: December 15th 2011 NA: January 31st 2012 Europe: February 3rd 2012 Japan: TBA NA: TBA Europe: TBA Japan: October 13th 2011 NA: TBA Europe: TBA
