The big Final Fantasy XIII demo is all set to hit Japan next week. But just ahead of that, Famitsu has come through with a huge update on the game via an interview with director Motomu Toriyama.
There's a whole lot of new information in the interview, but let's start off with some details on the demo. The demo is split into two parts. The first part puts you in control of Lightning, who's joined in battle by Sazh. In the second half, you take control of Snow, who's joined in battle by the Nora crew. Vanille appears in the second half as well.
As previously detailed, the demo encompasses the first hour of the game. A group of people are on a train on route to their expulsion from Cocoon after being accused of having taken influence from Pulse. Lightning arrives on the scene just as the group has started to revolt. Meanwhile, on a separate train, Snow and crew are among the to-be-purged and have started a revolt of their own.
Here's some of what you won't experience in the demo. Although Lightning and Sazh start off together, you won't learn about their relationship until a reflection scene that takes place after the events of the demo. Also, while the demo lets you play from the perspective of just Lightning and Snow, the final version will also have sequences that take place from Vanille's perspective. As you advance with one character, the game will switch to another character and you'll experience what that character has been up to. Apparently, such scenes run in parallel with one-another like one of those "Meanwhile..." transitions in a movie.
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Lightning and Snow will take center stage in the demo.
Most of the demo takes place in an area of Cocoon called "Hanged Edge" (please note that our roman form for this name could be incorrect). This area is on the border of Cocoon and has taken the most influence from Pulse when compared to other areas of Cocoon. It's a dark area, but this is apparently not indicative of the full FF world, which Toriyama describes as being bright and like a futuristic city.
The end of the demo will feature a look at a new character who appears in prison clothing. Toriyama hinted that she's an important character, but did not get into specifics.
The magazine expressed surprise with some of Sazh's motions from the demo (yes, the Famitsu editors were able to sample the demo ahead of everyone else -- see below for what they thought). Apparently, Sazh reacts with surprise from the kickback of his weapons. It turns out that he's not particularly used to battle, and ends up making a lot of unnecessary movements on the battle field.
Sazh's Chocobo may end up appearing along side Sazh during battle. This is something that Toriyama has, in past interviews, suggested might happen, and here he said that the development team is actively looking into it. One problem, however, is that the Chocobo's fur uses a "rich" rendering technique, which makes putting it into the battle system difficult.
On the note of Chocobos, there will be standard Chocobos in the game as well, Toriyama confirmed. However, they won't be used as a means for transportation.
Moving on to the battle system in general, the interview cleared up a lot of the areas that have been a mystery until now. First up, Toriyama explained that the FFXIII battle system is based around the concept of fusing strategy and action -- that is to say, adding the flash and speed of action to command-based battles.
The demo will give only a sampling of the game's strategic component via the ability to stock up commands. Another area of the strategy, which won't appear in the demo, comes from your allies. During battle, you control just one character. Your allies are controlled by AI. However, they react to the moves your character makes. The strategy here comes from figuring out how to connect with your allies and better draw out their abilities. The demo will offer a basic glimpse at this, with allies going in for follow-up attacks when you send an enemy into the air. The final version will give you better control over such things. Specifically, it seems that you'll be able to switch off freely between the characters.
We'll see just about 30% of the final battle system in the demo, explained Toriyama. The game's "Evolved ATB" system (the name for this system is currently under consideration) will show itself in only its base form. There won't be summons in the demo, although they'll be in the final. Additionally, the demo will limit you to just three move stocks, while the final version of the game will have your possible move stock increase as your character develops. The final version will also have changes to the game's menus to make it easier to input commands once you have a lot of commands at your disposal.
Toriyama also revealed something particularly surprising about the battle system. At the end of each battle, your character's HP will be totally recovered! The game is being tuned so that individual battles are tough and you won't win unless you think.
Continuing with the new revelations, Toriyama shared details on the game's chain and break systems, both of which have been only partially detailed in past updates. The goal of these two systems, said Toriyama, was to recreate some of the motions, such as launching enemies up into the air, that were seen in the 2006 E3 FFXIII trailer.
As previously revealed, as you attack enemies, you build up a gauge in the upper right of the screen. This gauge depletes with time. Perform successive attacks before the gauge reaches zero, and you'll have chained your attacks together, resulting in added damage for your blows. The gauge fills up differently depending on the type of attack, with fire magic attacks being particularly generous.
When you chain attacks, you also build up a "Bonus" percentage. When this reaches a certain percentage, your enemies will flash red and reach a Break state. The percentage required for this state depends on the enemy. The chain gauge becomes a timer gauge during Break time, indicating how much time you have left in the Break.
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Looks like the developers are trying to replicate the flashy combat from the early trailer.
An enemy in a Break state takes on greater damage with every blow, but more importantly also opens itself up to some of those E3 trailer-style attacks. In the demo, this amounts to simply being able to launch your foe up into the air, signaling your allies to let loose with follow-up attacks. The final version of the game will include more options for such break moves.
As a side note, you're not alone in your ability to launch foes into the air. Enemies can do the same to you. In the demo, the Behemoth enemy will launch you up.
Once you've cleared battle, you're presented with a result screen which gives you a one to five star rating indicating your performance. To get a high rating, you need to fight efficiently and finish the battle quickly.
This star ranking system will be in the demo. A couple of points about the results screen won't make it out until the final, though. The game will have support for Trophies and other PS3 features, Toriyama revealed without getting into specifics. He also briefly mentioned that mysterious "TP Bonus" icon that has been shown in screenshots of the result screens. It has something to do with summon magic, but that's as far as he'd say.
Toriyama was even more vague about the game's character growth system. FFXIII will feature a new character development system, similar to how FFX featured the Sphere system and FFXII the License Board system.
One thing to note about character growth, however, is that you won't be able to make just anyone use magic. As part of the story, only the L'cie characters can use magic. Also, magic won't appear in the game until a bit into your adventure, although the demo has been put together to give you access from the start.
Toriyama also offered up a preview of what happens prior to battle as you move about on the fields of play. As indicated by past trailers, FFXIII's enemies are visible prior to battle. The enemies have fields of vision, and when they see you, they will attack. In the demo, all enemies in the area will proceed to join in on the attack, although in the final version, the enemies will react to you individually.
When encountering enemies, the associated effects are colored differently depending on if the enemy has spotted you or not spotted you. When you haven't been spotted prior to an encounter, you end up with a greater time gauge.
For the tech heads, the interview also shared a few technical details. The game will output at 720p and 30 frames per second. There are a few slowdown issues with the demo during battle, but these will be cleared out in the final. Also, for those with SD televisions, the development staff is taking care to make sure the game will be readable by all.
Finally, some good news for those concerned about a massive wait for the final version of the game. According to Toriyama, the major areas of the game are nearly done, and now it's just a matter of connecting everything together. The work of the designers is, for the most part, finished.
This hopefully means a 2009 release is still on track for Japan with an international release not too long after that.
But first, that demo! Two Famitsu editors were given a chance to sample the demo in advance. Their play time lasted one hour and twenty minutes or so. They praised the speediness of the game and the near zero load times. The background music is "cool," said one editor, who also made note of the detail in the backgrounds which allows you to see characters fighting enemies far in the distance as you move about the fields of play. It would be a loss to not experience the demo, said another editor.
We'll be sure and do that next week and let you know what we think.
