Gamers need to realize that when Final Fantasy XIII was announced, last year, as a multiplatform title, the subliminal message that was sent by Microsoft due to that announcement was quite clear. Regardless of whether or not gamers would actually admit it, the undeniable fact remains that such an announcement is destined to create a paradigm shift in the way people view Microsoft forever.

If you pay close attention to the Square-Microsoft relationship and its progression, you would begin to notice a pattern materializing before your very eyes. The pattern is more like water testing. Let me explain, if you are at a lake, and you suddenly feel the need to swim, your first thought would not be to jump in; the first thing you would normally do is test the water temperature; if it’s too cold and you are still feeling the urge to jump in, then you would need to slowly and gradually immerse yourself, in order to avoid jolting your system with a sudden temperature shift, until you are completely immersed in water; only at that point will you be able to swim freely and enjoy the experience. That is exactly what Square Enix has done.

If you notice the gradual story progression of  the Square-developed titles for the Xbox 360, you would easily be able to predict where things are going. In April of 2006, they released Final Fantasy XI Online, a title that was released, over two years ago, on both the PS2 and PC, and was therefore, nothing more than a port of a title that Square has already profited from. In July of 2007, they released Project Sylpheed, a third-person space shooter from a genre that is not one of Square’s strong points.

In September of 2008, they released Infinite Undiscovery, a JRPG title developed by tri-Ace, one of Square’s most important second-party developers. In November of 2008, they released The Last Remnant, a JRPG title, developed by Square’s internal studio, that was initially announced as a multiplatform title, but was suddenly released as an Xbox 360 exclusive. Finally, after being fully immersed in the Xbox 360 waters, in February of 2009, they released Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope, a JRPG title, developed by tri-Ace, that was a sequel to one of Square’s biggest first-party franchises, exclusively on Microsoft’s console!

If we also add the fact that, at E3 08, Square-Enix announced Final Fantasy XIII as a multiplatform title, and the fact that Front Mission Evolved has been recently announced for the Xbox 360, it would be quite clear to us where things are going. Therefore, it is my belief that in 2009, one or more of the following predictions will surely be realized:

1. Final Fantasy XIII will finally be announced for the Xbox 360 in Japan.

2. Final Fantasy Versus XIII will finally be announced as a multiplatform title.

3. Kingdom Hearts 3 will be announced as an Xbox 360 exclusive!

To any gamer that developed an embolism from my last prediction, may you rest in peace.

God Bless You All

Master Samo

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With Final Fantasy XIII coming out this year in Japan and next year in the US, expect a lot of information on that title to be revealed over the next couple of months.  While XIII looks to be a great hit, the other game in the Fabula Nova Crystallis compilation, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, looks to be another hit from Square Enix.

The game was originally revealed at E3 2006 along with Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Agito XIII. Since then only a handful of trailers have been released to the public, but so far the trailers seem to be very exciting for fans of Final Fantasy.  The trailers focus around the main character of the game, Noctis. In the trailers Noctis shows off his intense combat skills including teleportation and the ability to use multiple swords as a shield and combo. Other characters featured in the trailer include Stella, an enemy of Nocits, but not because they wish to be. They are forced to fight each other due to some type of reason that has not be revealed to the public yet. Also shown in the trailer are three friends of Nocits, who will appear along side Nocits throughout the game.

Tetsuya Nomura, creator of Kingdom Hearts and character designer for the Final Fantasies, is heading the project. He has stated in the past that the combat system will be a more mature and realistic version of Kingdom Hearts combat system along with some third person shooter elements like seen in Dirge of Cerebus. At the moment no official combat videos have been released to the public, but expect to see something later this year (maybe TGS).

Nomura has also stated in the past that the world the game is trying to create is a much more darker and realistic world. Unlike the fantasy seen in previous Final Fantasies, Nomura wants the game  to be “believable” and venture off the beaten path seen in Final Fantasies.

While only tidbits of the story have been revealed to the public, some info has been revealed. Noctis is the last heir to an isolated nation, which holds the last Crystal protected by kings. Its isolation is due to the city’s resistance to protect itself against invading heretics. This is the basic plot point revealed so far to the public. Obviously Noctis is trying to protect his kingdom, and that “the last crystal” is obviously of some major importance. The team is taking inspiration from Shakespeare plays such as Hamlet and Romeo & Juliet. The struggle between Noctis and Stella is supposed to reflect Romeo & Juliet, while Noctis and his story is supposed to be loosely based off of Hamlet.

Yoko Shimomura, the composer in the Kingdom Hearts games, is currently the composer on the game. Her compositions can been seen in the trailers that have been released to the public. The game takes advantage of the Crystal Tool’s Engine, like Final Fantasy XIII. The game also takes advantages of the PS3’s six-axis controls, but to what level is still unknown.

With Final Fantasy XIII coming out in 2010 in the West, don’t expect Versus until at least 2011 in the West, but expect more information in the near future. This title looks to have a lot of potential.

Written By MattG

How long has it been since the public learned about Final Fantasy Versus XIII? Oh yeah, the first trailer of the highly anticipated Square-Enix game was revealed to the world at E3 2006. It’s now March 2009, and still no word on when the game will come out; and gameplay? Haha, I hope you enjoy 5 seconds of in-game engine every 3 years.

For those of you who don’t know, Final Fantasy XIII Versus is a sister game to Final Fantasy XIII. It’s being led by Tetsuya Nomura’s, Kingdom Hearts team. The two major appeals to the game are the action battle system it is adopting from Kingdom Hearts, and the fact that many inside sources consider it to be the darkest Final Fantasy game ever made.

After 3 years, we barely know anything about Final Fantasy XIII, so what does that mean for Versus? If Square Enix’s past history holds up, don’t expect this game to come until 2011. There were rumors in the summer, that Versus was put on hold so that members from that development could come over to Final Fantasy 13 and speed up it’s development. Although, Square tried to debunk these rumors, it’s hard to think that there has been no hiccups along the way for this game. Besides a trailer released in January there has been no update on the game since 2006. No word on a release date, and as long as Final Fantasy XIII isn’t out don’t expect Versus out for a while.

Currently, most expect Final Fantasy XIII to hit the Western market in 2010. Although some are hoping for a late 2009 release, don’t count on it. The game still has no solid release date for Japan, and after the release there it usually takes Square 6 months to import the game. Add that onto the fact that Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada recently came out and said that Final Fantasy XIII may be delayed because of the delays to Dragon Quest IX.

Why does Square Enix delay one good gme because of another? That’s simple, it’s all about money. Release your AAA titles apart from each other. If they release them both at the same time then people will end up buying one and not the other due to financial issues.

This all hurts Versus because with Final Fantasy XIII coming out in 2010, then chances are Versus will come out in Japan in 2010 and the West in 2011. That would be 5 years after announcing the game at E3 2006! Haven’t game companies learned that it’s better to not say anything and then deliver instead of making huge promises and then making the people wait? It becomes more head scratching when you consider that this project has been in development since 2003-2004 in conjunction with the main title.

Square, get on the ball! Your fans enjoy Star Ocean, Infinite Undiscovery, and the portable games you guys put out, but we want the franchise that is your company. Take a note from the guys at Epic. They announced Gears of War 2 last spring and less than a year later the game was on the shelves. Also, why is it that a company like Capcom can release a game like Resident Evil 5 worldwide within a week of each other, but it takes Square 6 months to do the same? Now you can’t rush perfection, but hopefully these games are something else. If they are like the games you have released the past 6 months then the fans really have to wonder if Final Fantasy died when Squaresoft became Square-Enix, and more importantly if Final Fantasy lost the “it” factor it used to have when Sakaguchi left.

Well unfortunately guys, we probably won’t see Final Fantasy XIII until 2010 and Final Fantasy Versus XIII until 2011. Remember when Final Fantasy games came out every couple of years? Ah, those were the good ole days. Oh well, time to go dust off Final Fantasy VII.

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