Final Fantasy Versus XIII - A Release Date?

[Night Fury]

This could be the news that fans of Final Fantasy have been waiting almost five years for... An insider source from Square-Enix has given us a potential release date for Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Hold onto your hats kids, it's coming pretty soon if this leak is anything to go by.

The source has spoken about the game to GameFAQs and has said that Versus XIII has been "plagued by internal politics strife but is on track for a late fourth quarter 2013 or early 2014."

The source then went on to comment about the financial situation of the game, pegging it as a "gutted project" which too much money and time has been put into.

“Regarding an official announcement, nothing is planned just yet but we are already ramping up partnerships with distributors/retailers.”

It has also been revealed that the action element from the combat system has been removed, and they will be reverting back to an Active Time Battle system most like the one used in Final Fantasy XII.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII was first unveiled in 2006 as part of the Fabula Nova Crystalis series. (Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy Type-0 and Final Fantasy XIII Versus)
I remember first seeing the trailers (see below) and images from this game back when I was still at school. My friend and I were filled with excitement and we couldn't stop talking about it! I'm now about to graduate Univeristy and I'm still waiting... But patience is a virtue right?

The game focuses on a character named Noctis who is part of a dynasty ruling a vast city state that have part of the last remaining crystal in the world. The Director and artistic mastermind behind the game, Tetsuya Nomura has said that this game will be the most seamless Final Fantasy in the series.

The Versus XIII world is said to very bleak with a real world, global crisis happening. It is going to have a very serious and realistic tone about it, being more mature than any of the previous games.

Whilst this news is very good for the fans, it is unsurprising that many of them may be skeptical about it. The game has been in production for years, with nothing truly concrete ever being released. That said, the PlayStation 4 is just around the corner, and Square-Enix are going to need a big game to continue their recent success with Tomb Raider and Sleeping Dogs. You never know, it really could be coming soon...

[Night Fury]

Test.

[Elpizo]

Taking this with an enormous grain of salt, of course, until we get confirmation from SE themselves (which'll probably be never).

Still, IF there's any merrit to this rumour, then I'm rightly disappointed by this bit:

It has also been revealed that the action element from the combat system has been removed, and they will be reverting back to an Active Time Battle system most like the one used in Final Fantasy XII.

Don't get me wrong, I liked XII's combat system, but Versus has been pegged as an action RPG since day one. Can't imagine it being any good to change the entire combat system around into a classic turn-based one. I mean, surely environments and dungeons were all designed with action-based combat in mind, not turb-based.

Still, this feeds the suspicions of fans and critics all around the globe that Versus will be the flop of the century. It's certainly starting to look that way.

[Night Fury]

Totally agree! This game has been in production so long I'm wondering just how good it will be, and I'm also taking that 'release' info with a whole truckload of salt. But still, if they're going to release it at any time, to coincide with the PS4 would be the wisest I think.

[Loony BoB]

They removed the action element? Well... balls.

[Jinx]

Aren't ATB and FFXII's battle system very different?

I'm super excited about this bit of news!

[Night Fury]

No, I think FFXII has a form of ATB, just very updated and changed over. You still have to wait for your attack gauges to fill up and stuff, I think they mean it will be quite... free roam as it was in XII, where there is no 'break' before a battle, you just dive straight in after encountering enemies on screen.

I think, anyway.

[Jinx]

I hope so! That was a really great system.

[Formalhaut]

As much as I did really like XII's battle system, the whole "internal politics" bit seems abit stark.

Just hope they've all kissed and made up. If the source is correct, obviously.

[Mirage]

So who is this source?

Anyway, FF12 used active dimension battle, not active time battle!

[Aulayna]

I'll believe this when I'm playing it. I have money at the ready Square Enix, your move.

[Wolf Kanno]

It will be interesting to see if this rumor pans out but considering the long development time and some of the overly ambitious almost Peter Molyneux style ideas that Tetsuya Nomura was spouting in the game's early development, I can see the project getting gutted for the sake of being released before the next console cycle. It probably should have happened sooner, but this is all just a rumor so no reason to take any of this to heart.

[DMKA]

Sounds like yet another BS rumor to me.

I'd actually be cool with an FFXII style system again, but I honestly can't see Nomura letting that happen. He was pretty hellbent on making a dark gritty mature game with the Kingdom Hearts battle system.

If this does turn out to be true (it won't) I'll be overjoyed anyway. I've wanted to play this game for so very long now.

[Wolf Kanno]

So who is this source?

Anyway, FF12 used active dimension battle, not active time battle!

Lol, it turns out to be some person on the GameFaqs board claiming to be an "Insider at SE".

[Bolivar]

I, for one, would be glad if this, or whatever Final Fantasy Square announces at E3, dropped any aspirations of being an action RPG. I don't enjoy playing Mass Effect and other games that forsake deep gameplay in order to appeal to broader audiences. An FFXII-inspired system would be amazing, that was Square's last original masterpiece to me.