New information on FF Versus XIII and Agito XIII from Nomura

[ShinGundam]

From Neogaf :D :
Game will be at TGS with some new announcements. There's new screenshots showing new in-game locations.

New screens show a Shinjuku-like environment, endless wilderness, a gas station. Screens are real time.

Nomura about the game's world, "If you try to go all the way to the end, it's truly far."

Nomura on Versus XIII:

- All the screenshots in the interview are captured from the game running in real time.
- The movement of the clouds in the game are controlled by the physics engine in the game.
- The game employs an open field concept, so you can travel anywhere except into mountains.
- The encounter system is a mix of random and visible encounters? (Confusing point, the blog doesn't seem clear either.)
- Battles are seamless. The only loading in the game will occur when moving between very large areas. They're aiming for the ultimate in seamlessness.
- Objects along the paths of roads can be destroyed.
- Most people will not believe their eyes when they see the high quality of the battles in motion.
- The staff are highly motivated now.
- There will still be improvements and more polish on the visuals made, the visuals in the screens are the game running at the moment.

- You'll be able to use a car as promised. You can exit it and move on foot at any time as well.
- Enemies will be visible on the field, and while some enemies are wandering around, others will suddenly appear and surprise you. (This clarifies what the random and visible comment meant, and it also confirms that game will be similar to FFXII in that sense.)
- Nomura says they're planning for a big unveiling of Versus at some point, but he doesn't really give any deadline for it.
- There will be some announcements at TGS of titles which have not been revealed at all yet.



Nomura on Agito XIII:

- The game is in the tuning phase of development.
- There is a world map in the game, and you can ride chocobos on it and fly an airship around as well.
- Agito XIII and The 3rd Birthday are going to be the greatest titles on the PSP ever.

[LowCaloriePie]

Finally, I've been waiting for info on this game. =]
But I still hate Noctis' clothing.



- Agito XIII and The 3rd Birthday are going to be the greatest titles on the PSP ever.

Sounds pretty confident. :roll2

[Gilghamut]

Found post with some more details, also contains some already mentioned info:


Joining a lengthy interview on Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded, this week's Famitsu has a significantly shorter interview with Tetsuya Nomura on Final Fantasy Versus XIII.

Most of the discussion focused on three new screenshots. It will be a bit tough to follow most of this summary without seeing the screens for yourself, but here are some textual descriptions.

1. A scene of main character Noctis standing on a cliff, looking out over a vast field, with a highway directly below, a desert clearing in the distance, and mountains in the far distance. The caption for this notes that you can walk as far as you can see.
2. A scene of Noctis standing in front of a gas station. In the caption for this scene, the magazine notes that one of the themes of the game is a "road movie."
3. A scene of Noctis facing off against a giant creature in a city-like scene. The visuals here look extremely modern -- you can see crosswalks and even bike lanes marked off on the road below. It looks like an in-game version of Tokyo, except for the giant beast.
The screens are all taken off real hardware, Nomura said. The game currently runs at the quality shown in the screens, said Nomura, and they'll be improving the visuals even further.

Not only are the screens real time, but they represent the perspective from which you'll play the game. The camera angle is for the most part what's shown in the screens -- from a third person view. They were originally considering switching to an overhead view when you moved into the outside world, but ended up keeping the the world as an open field in order to keep you close to the action.

Of course, actual screenshots will have menus and icons. According to Nomura, these bits were removed because they did not want to let details on the game out.

Nomura shared some details on a screen-by-screen basis.

Regarding the gasoline and field screen, Famitsu noted that the game's sky color is finely detailed. Nomura said first that they're using true physics calculations for the movement of the clouds. He also noted that it took the staff a while to determine the visual direction they would take with the game. They could do all sorts of different visual styles by changing such things as filters and sunlight color.

Regarding the field screenshot, Nomura said that the field is an "open field," meaning you can walk through "nearly everything" shown in the field screenshot except for the mountains. He also said, "If you want to go to the end, it's truly far."

Regarding the city scene with the beast, Nomura pointed out that the beast is a military-use behemoth. It has a giant sword on its back.

The city scene is actually a battle screen. Normally, it would have a command menu and other information.

The menus and prompts aren't all that's missing, though. Noctis is shown fighting the behemoth by himself. In the actual game, you'll fight as part of a party. The reason the party members aren't shown in the screen is because Square Enix has yet to officially reveal the weapons and clothing for these characters.

Famitsu noted of the battle scene, the "Shinjuku cityscape is real." The model for the area, said Nomura, is the surroundings of Square Enix's Shinjuku office, right down to the bicycle markings on the street.

The three areas shown in the screenshots are all connected. The screen with the field and the screen with the gasoline stand are from the same location. The field extends out from the rear of the gas stand. These two areas are located immediately outside the city depicted in the battle screenshot.

It all looks like a pretty large area for what appears to be the game's prologue location, Famitsu noted. No need to worry, though, as Nomura revealed that you'll have access to a car. You can board and disembark your car whenever you like. Take your car out into the field area, and you'll eventually approach the submerged area that was shown in past promotional trailers.

It looks like you'll encounter monsters out on the field. Some will be roaming about, with Nomura citing an example of a behemoth walking around on a hill in the distance. In other instances, monsters will appear quickly.

In this week's "Flying get" column, there was a bullet point about the game featuring both symbol and random encounters. I presume this is where these points come from. Nomura did not specially mention symbol and random encounters, though, so it may be a bit too hasty to picture an RPG-like system.

Asked if the field and battles will be seamless, meaning no loading or screen transitions, Nomura said that the battles will be for the most part seamless. When you move between large areas, and when there are event cut-ins, there may be some loading, although the staff is trying to make the game as seamless as possible.

The magazine closed off by asking Nomura when we can expect additional Versus XIII details. This is still a ways off, he said, but he added "We're making preparations for a big announcement."

Tetsuya Nomura on Final Fantasy Versus XIII (andriasang.com, 06.23.2010) (http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/06/23/nomura_on_ff_versus_xiii/)

[ShinGundam]

Screens
http://i.imgur.com/rAV5a.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v681/ShinGundam/1277283138024.jpg

[Dreddz]

Impressive screens. Looks like the game is focusing on more open environments, like FFXIII should have done. Love the artstyle too, doesnt look as overdone as FFXIII's was (and most JRPGs for that matter). I just hope it wont have a stupidly simple battle system like Kingdom Hearts.

[Future Esthar]

Regarding the city scene with the beast, Nomura pointed out that the beast is a military-use behemoth. It has a giant sword on its back.

Where did I already saw this?:):):):):):):)


It seems I will love it given the FFXII similarities.
Hope you can go even farther on the field though.
Also hope you can have an inside car mode like what happens with ships.
And it would be good if it obeys the laws of physics.

[Depression Moon]

Some good news here. The screens look pretty in low quality. Destructible environments is also a welcomed addition.

[Slothy]

Impressive screens. Looks like the game is focusing on more open environments, like FFXIII should have done. Love the artstyle too, doesnt look as overdone as FFXIII's was (and most JRPGs for that matter). I just hope it wont have a stupidly simple battle system like Kingdom Hearts.

Have to agree with you. I'm surprised I'm digging the art style as much as I am from those three screens, and even more surprised that it's not overdone given the man behind the game. Then again, he could be saving the people dressed solely in belts for a full reveal at TGS. :D

[Ezme]

[QUOTE=Dreddz;2870786]Then again, he could be saving the people dressed solely in belts for a full reveal at TGS. :D

Come on people dressed in too many belts is as much final fantasy as chocobos and moogles! :D :p

[nirojan]

anyone else see 3D on that gas station picture...ohh god i was hoping 3D would just be a fad, but now FFvXIII and Killzone 3 are hopping on the bandwagon.

(keep in mind I could be entirely wrong)

[VeloZer0]

- The staff are highly motivated now.
Does that mean the staff weren't motivated before?

[Wolf Kanno]

No, before this was a boring job but now that they know they may get fired for messing up, they are much more motivated. :D

Looking pretty good so far. I'm curious to know how the party system is going to work considering most details say this game is an Action-RPG. Will it be like KH or maybe something closer to Star Ocean giving the player the ability to switch between party members.

Overall, I'm just glad to actually see some real in-game screenshots as opposed to cutscenes shots.

[Future Esthar]

Destructible environments is also a welcomed addition

Agreed.This is what FFXII lacked to be like a close combat FPS.

Final Fantasy should approach the Half-Life style(Hence my previous reference to physics).

[Depression Moon]

- The staff are highly motivated now.Does that mean the staff weren't motivated before?

most likely.

[Suikojowy]

Awesome announcements, just what I wanted to hear and after the disappointment that was Square at E3 I was afraid these games would become vaporware. I can't wait until TGS 10

[champagne supernova]

Awesome announcements, just what I wanted to hear and after the disappointment that was Square at E3 I was afraid these games would become vaporware. I can't wait until TGS 10

Yeah, Square seemed to be focusing more on FFXIV instead of Versus XIII. A bit weird.

Anyway, Versus seems to be shaping up well. As information came out about it, I've thought that it will be better than its cousin XIII, and that trend seems to be continuing. Although XIII surprised me in a good way, so hopefully Versus can supersede my expectations.

[Slothy]

Yeah, Square seemed to be focusing more on FFXIV instead of Versus XIII. A bit weird.

Not really weird at all when you consider the cash cow that MMORPG's can be. Single player RPG's, not so much.

[Roogle]

Awesome announcements, just what I wanted to hear and after the disappointment that was Square at E3 I was afraid these games would become vaporware. I can't wait until TGS 10

Yes, I suspected that Final Fantasy Agito XIII would become vaporware due to the lack of information about the title. I have not heard or seen any major coverage about the game aside from this latest piece of news.

[Future Esthar]

Agreed.As far as I know there is only one oficial trailer of Agito and some screenshots.

[Bolivar]

Feeling these screens as well. Whatever they're doing with the lighting/filters/whatever, its looking pretty damn good.



Yeah, Square seemed to be focusing more on FFXIV instead of Versus XIII. A bit weird.

Not really weird at all when you consider the cash cow that MMORPG's can be. Single player RPG's, not so much.

Plus FFXIV is coming out relatively shortly, whereas Versus XIII is looking like 2011 at the earliest.

There was a part about there being no interface/menus on the screens, because "it's a surprise." I'm really hoping that surprise is

Fight
Magic
Ability
Item

[LowCaloriePie]

There was a part about there being no interface/menus on the screens, because "it's a surprise." I'm really hoping that surprise is

Fight
Magic
Ability
Item

The game is virtual reality. There will be no menus. Duh! :roll2

In all seriousness, it's probably something along this lines of http://web5.twitpic.com/img/126387646-470be70f2fc5379ff7e61a288a702126.4c34b998-scaled.png or http://web8.twitpic.com/img/126387544-f213473f3cd4a5e610f7321a15f9a0e0.4c34b998-full.png. =p

[VeloZer0]

The game is virtual reality. There will be no menus. Duh! :roll2

Ahhhhh!!!!
You just made me imagine some unholy combination of Microsoft Kinect. and the extrapolation of the FF13 'fast paced think for you battle system' concept.

[Rad Bromance]

I'm getting more and more excited for Versus. That shot with the behemoth looks awesome.

My only worry is that it'll be short/not the same length as main series FF games, since that's been the case with just about every spin-off title thus far. Although, whether calling Versus a "spin-off" title is appropriate or not is arguable.

[Stjewy]

I just hope it's better than XIII, caus I'm not really diggin' XIII.

[BarelySeeAtAll]

I haven't played XIII, but I think it could be. It looks like more time and effort's gone in to this :/

But I don't know, I'm not that much of a gameplayer. This one's meant to be darker too, which is always a plus :D

[Stjewy]

I haven't played XIII, but I think it
This one's meant to be darker too, which is always a plus :D
Indeed.
and another plus is NOMURA ! :D

[Wolf Kanno]

Indeed.
and another plus is NOMURA ! :D

That depends greatly on the fan. Personally, I'm not getting my hopes up for the plot because Kazushige Nojima is the scenario writer, and I've pretty much disliked everything he's written for Square(Enix).

I do find it amusing that this game is backtracking so much in terms of design. The more game design elements revealed, the more it sounds like an old SNES/PS1 RPG. World map? Controllable Airship? Towns and NPCs? Fully controllable party? Its like its 2000 all over again kids. :D

[VeloZer0]

The more game design elements revealed, the more it sounds like an old SNES/PS1 RPG. World map? Controllable Airship? Towns and NPCs? Fully controllable party? Its like its 2000 all over again kids. :D
Possibly because some of us feel it has been all downhill for the genre since then. Not that I personally know anyone like that... :shifty:

It's funny that you mention that. From my perspective it seemed to promise that, and everything new I hear seems to be clawing back away to something more 'modern'. The latest news seems to promise a decidedly un-classical experience.

[black orb]

>>> I have to be honest I dont like those screens at all :yuck:, the game looks too dark for my taste and fighting in a city at night? whats next, Zombies? :eep:.. Geez, I really hope Squarenix doesnt screw up this game..:luca:

[Depression Moon]

Is anyone else getting tired of waiting for news for big video games?

[ShinGundam]

[!] google_ad_section_start [/!]Is anyone else getting tired of waiting for news for big video games?[!] google_ad_section_end [/!]

Yes, i know i am used to it now, I am waiting for ZOE3 which is delayed in favor for MGS:R, there is people who still waiting for FF7:R, KH3, , Trico ,GT5, SRW and so on.


>>> I have to be honest I dont like those screens at all :yuck:, the game looks too dark for my taste and fighting in a city at night?
Too dark :eep:? explain

[VeloZer0]

I don't even have enough time to keep up with video game releases as it is. I'm about two years behind.

[black orb]

>>> I have to be honest I dont like those screens at all :yuck:, the game looks too dark for my taste and fighting in a city at night?
Too dark :eep:? explain
>>> Dark = the absence of light. Even the main character name means night..:luca:

[BarelySeeAtAll]

The game is apparently the darkest FF they've done. That requires a bit of darkness, it's hardly going to be all sunshine is it?

Jeez.

[McLovin']

Wtf is Square up to. The staff is now motivated? Motivated to make a good game finally since at least FFX?

[Mo-Nercy]

Pretty positive signs so far. Those screens are pretty impressive. I'm hyping myself up already.

[Future Esthar]

Well.Looking at the trailers I also thought that FFXIII would be much better than what it is.

Hope that didn´t happen with Versus.

[ShinGundam]

Nomura comments on Versus and Agito on T3B twitter account

Agito and Versus Now Undergoing Voice Casting (added 10:21)

Continuing with his update on Final Fantasy Versus and Agito XIII, Nomura wrote, "Agito and Versus have different production styles and progress states, but they're both presently undergoing voice casting. 3rd's recording will end shortly. Next up is Agito."

Final Fantasy Versus XIII's Fields (added 10:19)

Finally, some commentary on Final Fantasy Versus XIII!

Wrote Nomura, "Versus has had many difficulties, and past method of production have been completely inapplicable, but these are the difficulties of birth, so we are working hard. We have a lot to announce, but because we're going in order, I can't say too much yet."

By "order," Nomura is referring to what appears to be Square Enix's policy since last year's Tokyo Game Show to promote games in the order of their release. Nomura has commented on this in past interviews.

He continued, "There have been many questions regarding fields. It's not a completely open world. It's like the 2D FF games in HD. Although, in terms of looks, it's not a top-down view, it's like the screenshots that have been released. You'll move through the world from that view."

In case you haven't seen the screenshots (I believe they have yet to appear outside of print), the game has a behind-the-back viewpoint.

2D FF in HD :oooo

[Wolf Kanno]

Sounds like the game may have a static camera view. The big difference between 2D and 3D was that all areas appear in one view for 2D whereas it could be played with and changed to different views for specific areas (Top down view for example) a bit in 3D. This doesn't sound like a problem seeing as the game is an action RPG.

Artistic camera angles don't really translate well for action titles. I really hope Nomura has some live video of the gameplay for TGS. I want to see how this game is going to work.

[Flying Arrow]

Unless I'm mistaken, this game is going to actually have PSX-ish pre-rendered backgrounds in HD? Interesting.

[Wolf Kanno]

Now here's some bad news (http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/09/nomura-offers-updates-on-upcoming-square-enix-projects/)...

According to this article it looks like Versus and Agito are a long ways off from seeing released. Hell apparently SE has some unannounced games that will be coming out before either of these two. So who wants to takes bets this game will either be jumped to the the next Sony console or at least released within the next decade? :D

[Flying Arrow]

SE sure do spend a lot of time these days apologizing for/justifying their :bou::bou::bou::bou:tiness.

[black orb]

>>> Good news, atleast they are not rushing up like they did with FF13, they must have realized this new Versus game was going to be about as crappy as FF13 and now they are remaking everything..:luca:

[ShinGundam]

Not Surprised at all, SE current line up is way crowded thanks to FF14, Tactics ogre, The 3rd birthday, Recoded and FME


Now here's some bad news (http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/09/nomura-offers-updates-on-upcoming-square-enix-projects/)...

According to this article it looks like Versus and Agito are a long ways off from seeing released. Hell apparently SE has some unannounced games that will be coming out before either of these two. So who wants to takes bets this game will either be jumped to the the next Sony console or at least released within the next decade? :D
I am sure it is Dissidia 2