As has been reported by various sites over the past several days, Final Fantasy XIII will likely be playable at this year's E3 expo--or rather, what's left of the event, as this May it's being scaled back significantly due to various issues, including the massive cost of such a large-scale show.
On top of the exciting possibility of a playable version of FFXIII, more information has been revealed about the game, and also about its sister project, Versus XIII. As we've reported before, the world of FFXIII is comprised of the "Cocoon World" where most of the population resides, and the World Below, a mysterious place below the clouds that the citizenry is frightened of. Apparently, XIII will be starting with a bang; XIII's director Motome Toriyama stated that the game begins with an invasion of the Cocoon World by the World Below, and also had this to say: "The intensity of the opening scene -- it's probably the most in the Final Fantasy series so far."
The Cocoon World is tightly monitored and fearful of outside influence--those who are believed to be a threat are quickly exiled. Tetsuya Nomura is still designing characters for XIII, implying that not all the important party members and other NPCs have been fully fleshed out as of this time. He also revealed that the recently unveiled blond male character, who had some sort of substantial role in the story, is rather large, with a shoe size of about 33 cm, or 13 inches. Not exactly the most thrilling bit of information, eh?
For Versus XIII, Nomura didn't have a lot to talk about. He did mention, however, that the battle system will make full use of the environment, leading to battles over a wide expanse, including areas of significantly differing heights. The main character will also be able to teleport to locations he throws his sword, and Nomura said to expect something Kingdom Hearts-esque. With the PS3's added power, Versus XIII may just put Kingdom Hearts II to shame.
[Source: PSU]
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