Final Fantasy XIII FAQ and General Info Thread

[Psychotic]

FAQ and General Info Thread

When is FFXIII coming out in Australia or Europe or North America?

Release dates are right here:

December 17th, 2009
March 9th, 2010
March 9th, 2010
March 9th, 2010

What consoles is Final Fantasy XIII going to be released for?

I heard the Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy XIII caused the PlayStation 3 version to be compromised, is this true?

At the moment it's mostly just speculation and rumour. It does seem as though the Japanese voices have been removed, though. However, some articles have reported that there may be some extra features removed, but there is no concrete evidence one way or the other at the moment. Feel free to discuss the issue in our forum, though!


What's all this about other games? Versus XIII? Agito XIII? What the heck?

Yup, they, and Final Fantasy XIII, are part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis collection. Final Fantasy Versus XIII is a PlayStation 3 exclusive, and is apparently similar in gameplay to Kingdom Hearts. Meanwhile, Final Fantasy Agito XIII is a PSP exclusive, and is supposedly going to be like a multiplayer Crisis Core.

Is there going to be DLC for Final Fantasy XIII?

Yoshinori Kitase has this to say on the subject:

We are exploring the option of downloadable content, perhaps adding new areas, items or enemies, but these would not be expansions to the story, only the gameplay. The entire story of FF13 will be on the disc.

So yeah, FFXIII DLC seems likely.

Who are the main characters in Final Fantasy XIII?

This is a long one, so click here to expand!

A former Cocoon soldier, she took on the name Lightning after her parents died. Seeing as how her design is based on Cloud of FFVII, it's not surprising she'd take on another identity. Her Eidolon is Odin and her weapon is a Blaze Edge, a gun and sword hybrid which she is presumably borrowing from Squall.

Lightning

Snow

Leader of Team Nora, a group resisting against Cocoon. Think AVALANCHE but hopefully with a lower mortality rate. Snow is apparently a very large man and was nicknamed "Mr. 33cm" by the game's designers, a reference to his, ahem, shoe size. His Eidolon is Shiva and his weapon is that old FF staple, fists.

Presenting your standard perky and excitable young girl. Think Rikku or Penelo. Apparently she is the narrator for many of the game's events, so expect her to say something along the lines of "This is my story". Her weapon is, bizarrely, some sort of souped-up Fishing Rod (eat your heart out, Cait Sith) and her Eidolon is the brand new Hecatoncheir, a many-limbed earth elemental.

Vanille

Sazh

In theory, Sazh sounds like a total badass. Big ol' black man in the mould of Barret - he even has a young child, just like Mr. Wallace - who even keeps a baby chocobo in his afro. Then you find out he's "emotionally sensitive" so it sounds like we have another crybaby Tidus or Zell on our hands. He dual wields pistols, Lara Croft style, and his Eidolon is Brynhildr, a fire-elemental knight.

Roxas lookalike Hope is a 14-year old boy who is rather angry at Snow, as he blames him for his mother's death. Snow, however, promised his late mother that he'd look after the lad, so this will undoubtedly lead to some Odd Couple style shenanigans. His weapon is collapsible boomerangs (think Yuffie) and his Eidolon is good ol' Alexander.

Hope

Fang	Was originally scripted to be male, but of course, that would break the three-females design rule. Working for the Cocoon Sanctum under Cid. She wields a spear which can transform into a three-section staff, and her Eidolon is the mighty Bahamut.

Don't really have space to go into any in-depth information, but if you'd like to know more, check out the characters section on our fantastic frontsite.

What is the combat and battle system in Final Fantasy XIII?

What we're looking at is a fast-paced ATB system. You can also see enemies around you (like in FFXII) and engage them.

As far as summons (re-using the name Eidolons in this game) are concerned, each character has a unique Eidolon attached to them, who then replaces the other characters in the party in the battle. There is also something called Gestalt mode where the character can team up with the summon. For example, Lightning rides around on Odin's horse, Shiva turns into a motorcycle for Snow to ride, and Fang can fly about on Bahamut.

The equivalent of Limit Breaks or Overdrives or whatever you want to call them seems to be the "Break State". Basically if you nail the enemy with a really long combo without it being able to respond, you get to unleash extremely powerful attacks on said enemy. Pretty cool.

You'll be rated from 1 to 5 stars on how well you performed in the battle, and the game's difficulty scales to how good you actually are. You can't actually escape from battles anymore, but if you lose you can always choose to refight them.

Finally, there's something called Paradigm Shift which seems to me to be a fancy way of describing the ability to change characters' tactics (eg make them offensive, defensive, etc.) in battle. This is because you only actually control one character directly at any time.

What's the levelling up and abilities system like in Final Fantasy XIII?

This is the Crystarium System, which is pretty similar to FFX's Sphere Grid. After each battle you get Crystarium Points (CP) which you can spend on new abilities or attribute increases.

Upgrading weapons? What?
Basically you can find materials that can be used to upgrade your weapons. The more items you use on weapons, the more EXP they gain, and new EXP means new forms and abilities, sort of like your characters!

I heard there's no MP or Mana anymore?

Correctamundo. You also cannot use spells outside of battle.

What about the soundtrack?

It's being scored by Masashi Hamauzu, who worked on Final Fantasy X and Dirge of Cerebus. The main theme in the non-Japanese version is My Hands by Leona Lewis, which you can listen to here if you are so inclined.

What Achievements and Trophies does Final Fantasy XIII have?

I gotcha covered. Check it:

(SPOILER)

Bronze

Commando’s Seal
Mastered the Commando role.

Ravager’s Seal
Mastered the Ravager role.

Sentinel’s Seal
Mastered the Sentinel role.

Saboteur’s Seal
Mastered the Saboteur role.

Synergist’s Seal
Mastered the Synergist role.

Medic’s Seal
Mastered the Medic role.

Silver

Limit Breaker
Dealt 100,000+ damage with a single attack.

Adamant Will
Felled a heavyweight of the lowerworld wilds

Master’s Seal
Fully developed all characters.

Gold

Treasure Hunter
Held every weapon and accessory.

Loremaster
Discerned the full attributes of 100 enemies.

There are also 25 secret story trophies.
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I think I've covered everything here, but I am leaving this thread open in case anybody knows of anything they think should be added to this thread. Plus, feel free to ask your own questions here and we'll try to help you.

Also this thread will not turn into a 360 vs PS3 discussion or I will end all of you, so help me god! There's plenty of other threads to bring that into.

[LunarWeaver]

Good work, daddy-o. I didn't know that's how abilities worked. Falling behind on my info!

Edit: The paradigm shift thing pretty much implies this, but is it worth mentioning directly you only control one character in battle. Unless I'm missing it. Okay, truth is I only now read the end and feel the need to say something pertaining to the game. :moo:

[Psychotic]

Oh, good call. It's in there now.

[Baloki]

You know FFXIII plays better on the PS3 and you can cook a lean, mean steak on it too ;p?

[Cloud21]

what's this game about?