FFXIII designer: 2008 release and demo coming.

[Akira]

FFXIII designer promises demo, 2008 release date

19 Comments by Griffin McElroy Jan 27th 2008 3:15PM
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, RPGs

We know that Final Fantasy games, much like fine wine and Radiohead albums, take some time to come together nicely -- still, it's hard for us to believe that Final Fantasy XIII (in all its shapes and forms) will be dropping by its latest release date of "this year". We've had our hearts broken so many times by delays for hotly anticipated titles that we've sadly come to expect them.

Fear not, says the comforting voice of long time series character designer Tetsuya Nomura, the long wait for the Fabula Nova Crystallis collection will be over soon enough. Not only does he swear by the game's 2008 release date, he teases at a playable demo for FFXIII on the PlayStation Network a while before the game is released, to show off the game's revamped battle system. So don your steepled hat and cuddle tight your cactaur plushie -- your chance to sit down with the unluckiest chapter in Square Enix's seminal RPG franchise could be just around the corner.

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/27/ff...-release-date/

[Albert]

Yay!

[EasyE726]

Now find Kingdom Hearts 3 info.

[ZombieSpeedball]

Now find Kingdom Hearts 3 info.

Seriously.

[Kefky]

Meh, I wish they had the FFXII team working on this. I just hope the game isn't a step backwards in the franchise, since FFXII was a good step forward.

[Ziolko]

Meh, I wish they had the FFXII team working on this. I just hope the game isn't a step backwards in the franchise, since FFXII was a good step forward.

"Step backwards" isn't always too bad. FF 9 was sort of a step backwards and it was one of my favorites.

I'll be buying my PS3 when this game comes out. I just can't miss Final Fantasy games.

[Ryudo]

I'll believe it when I see it. They said stuff like this about FFXII, and it took forever to come out.

I'm thinking summer '09 myself.

[Akira]

Meh, I wish they had the FFXII team working on this. I just hope the game isn't a step backwards in the franchise, since FFXII was a good step forward.

Agreed. Though if you specifically mean the gameplay and battle system, we may in luck.

Battle system

The concept for Final Fantasy XIII's battle system is to maintain the strategic nature of command -based battles, while also including the excitement and speed found in fast-paced battles. This system stemmed from a desire to create battles of the type found in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, while adding multiple player characters to the battle. Like Final Fantasy XII, the battles will be in real time, without any random battles.[4]

Active Time Battle makes a return in Final Fantasy XIII but works completely different to how it did in the previous games that used it. In keeping with command-based battles, players input commands by selection through a reel on the bottom-left hand side of the screen. Each command has an ATB cost, which reduces the total ATB bar. Selected commands are placed on a row of upcoming moves, above the bar. As characters fight, each command is used 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; for instance, Lightning has been seen sending 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, with blue dots representing allies and red dots signifying 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.[5]

Final Fantasy X battle director Toshiro Tsuchida will return as the battle system director for the game. He has the intent of giving individual enemies their own personalities and background stories.[6] He also replied with "no comment" when asked if players will be inputting commands for ally characters, or if they'll just be in control of a single character.[7]

[Ryudo]

You know, I have no clue if Grandia 2's battle system was the first of its kind, but it's nice to see that the battle system from it is sort of the basis for the "more popular" RPGs now (even though it is a masterful game with a great story and it is my favorite RPG ever).

[jason hissong]

Well, I don't have a PS3 or 360, so I'll have to be content with FF XII that I'm currently playing through.