| Final Fantasy XIII | |
| |
Fainaru Fantajī Sātīn | |
| Developer(s) | Square Enix Product Development Division 1 |
| Publisher(s) | Square Enix |
| Release date(s) | PlayStation 3 version:
Xbox 360 version:
Microsoft Windows version:
iOS & Android version: |
| Genre | Role-playing game |
| Game modes | Single player |
| Ratings | CERO:BAges 12 and up ESRB:TeenTeen PEGI:16+16+ USK:File:USK 12.png12+ ACB:MM CSRR:Yellow |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Steam, iOS & Android via Dive In |
Final Fantasy XIII is an upcoming console role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix exclusively for the Sony PlayStation 3 as a part of the Final Fantasy video game series. First appearing at E³ 2006, the game features a futuristic, high-tech world. Only three characters have been revealed thus far: a woman, with the code name Lightning, who wields a weapon which functions as a sword and a firearm; an unnamed man who is her ally; and a second female, carrying a bow.
Final Fantasy X-2 director Motomu Toriyama returns as the director of the game. According to Square Enix President Yōichi Wada, the storyline will focus on "those who resist the world". Final Fantasy XIII and the other games of the Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII collection take place in the same universe, but are not directly related to each other.
Gameplay[]
The concept for Final Fantasy XIII's battle system is to maintain the strategic side of 'command input' battles while also including the excitement found in 'fast-paced' battles. Like recent entries in the franchise, the battles will be in real time, without any random battles. It has been confirmed that Final Fantasy XIII will have parties.
As seen in the E3 2006 trailer, battles are menu driven. Commands are selected from a reel on the bottom left side of the screen. Each command has an ATB Cost, which reduces the ATB bar. It is believed that the bar fills up over time, like the traditional ATB system, but in Final Fantasy XIII you can input commands while it is still filling.
Selected commands are placed on a row of upcoming moves (above the ATB bar). As Lightning fights, she will use each command in turn, with the current command in use turning yellow. Commands can be chained together for certain effects. The environment also plays a role in battle, as seen in the E3 2006 trailer when Lightning sends a soldier into a light, electrocuting him and multiplying the damage.
A map is seen in the upper left hand corner of the battle screen, though in the only footage available, the dots aren't moving. This is likely to change as Final Fantasy XIII goes further into development. Presumably, blue dots are allies and red dots are enemies. The dots emitting circles are the characters currently affected by the fighting.
The upper right-hand corner of the battle screen shows a circular-shaped gauge, representing the Overclock mode. When full, Overclocking allows the player to induce a slow-motion effect, almost pausing time for everything other than the player. Once Overclock is activated, a rapidly decreasing number appears inside the circular gauge, signifying the duration of the Overclock status. This system may replace the traditional Limit Break system found in previous Final Fantasy games.
Summoning will return in Final Fantasy XIII. Summons are shown as partly mechanical beings, and it has been hinted that they will feature not only in battle, but in outside gameplay as well. Shiva is the only summon to have been revealed. In Final Fantasy XIII, she takes the form of a pair of sisters who can merge into a bike. The blonde-haired character from the Jump Festa 2006 trailer is seen riding this vehicle.
Although the main focus of Final Fantasy XIII is offline, Square Enix is attempting to add special online features to the game. Final Fantasy X battle director Toshiro Tsuchida will return as the battle system director for the game. Final Fantasy XIII's crew is aiming to recreate battles like the ones seen in Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, and place them into a playable environment. Toshiro Tsuchida has the intent of giving individual enemies their own personalities and background stories.
Plot[]
Cocoon is plunged into chaos when a Pulse fal'Cie is discovered in an old Pulsian point of reference in the city of Bodhum. Fearing that someone who has been in its vicinity could now be a servant of the Cie of a hostile fal'Cie from another world, the Cocoon governing body enacts a purge to eliminate anyone who was in Bodhum during discovery the fal'Cie. At the center of these events is Serah Farron, a local girl who had accidentally wandered into the track and was made a l'Cie and is now being held captive by the fal'Cie in it.
Lightning's sister Serah aims to save her in the middle of the Purge, and ends up meeting with various circumstantial allies before the abode of the fal'Cie Anima: Serah's fiancé snow and two young men involved in the Purge he was protecting, hope and Vanille, and a gun-wielding blimp pilot Sazh. How to find Serah crystallizes after asking lightning to save Cocoon. Believing Serah be dead, lightning leads an attack on the fal'Cie Anima that briefly transports the group into another realm, where you come face to face with the Pulse God who makes all of a l'Cie, showing them a vision of the mythical beast Ragnarok destroying Cocoon. Back in the real world, the group has to deal with the fact that they were unwittingly made enemies of Cocoon, as if they do not follow the path laid down for them by the fal'Cie to be turned into mindless monsters known as Cie'th.
Box Art/Editions[]
