Final fantasy 13 Q and A

[saprano]

Here's the basic information we know about the U.S. release of FFXIII (for both PS3 and Xbox 360): It'll ship after the PS3-exclusive release in Japan, and Square Enix is attempting to minimize the window between the Japanese release and the North American (and subsequently, European) release. The Xbox 360 version is being ported by a different team than the core FFXIII PS3 team, and since the agreement with Microsoft has just been established, porting has, as of this moment, not yet begun.

1UP: With the gap between the Japanese and North American versions of FFXIII, will you use that extra time to create additional material for the North American versions -- which usually ends up back in Japan as an "International Edition"?

Yoshinori Kitase: Until now, the Japanese versions of Final Fantasy would release in Japan, and then six months later, the North American version would be released, and then another three to six months later, the European versions would ship -- so there was usually a gap of almost a year by the time every territory got their version of the latest Final Fantasy. That's why we'd include new features or elements. But with FFXIII, we're aiming to decrease that gap and lessen the window, so there are no particular additions planned for the U.S. version.

1UP: Because of the difference in the storage media -- Blu-ray versus DVD -- will there be any compromises made to the Xbox 360 version in terms of the FMV quality or audio quality? Will you need to use different compression techniques?

YK: At this point, nothing's really been decided; that will be a process that takes place in the future, but for the difference between the hardware, we'll work on trying to find ways to compress the prerendered movies and voice that take up a lot of data in ways that don't affect the final product. As for the in-game visuals, we're going to look for ways to ensure that the quality remains the same between the two versions.



1UP: Final Fantasy XII was a big stylistic change in many ways, both in the way you played the game and the way the battles took place. Having been involved in the series before and after FFXII, how would you describe the changes you're making to FFXIII -- not only in relation to FFXII, but also to past games in the series you've worked on? Are you simply going back to an active-time battle system, or will FFXIII be an even bigger departure than what you've worked on before?

YK: For Final Fantasy X, there were no monsters on the field, but you'd randomly encounter them and be transported to the battle scene. The battle scene was stationary and the characters didn't move too much, but in FFXII, the characters moved around the field, and there were monsters on the field, but it was a seamless, MMO-style method of combat. For FFXIII, the active-time battle system is back, but it's actually going to be an enhanced version. I wasn't directly involved in creating the battle system for the previously mentioned titles, but, of course, I've played and studied them, and the team has as well. So we've taken the best of both FFX and FFXII and created something entirely new and evolved it. Something we can disclose at this point, however, is that there will be monsters on the field, but it will be a little different than how it was handled in FFXII.

1UP: What can you tell us about the world of FFXIII? Clues in the trailers seem to suggest that you'll be traveling through parallel words -- can you elaborate on that?

YK: I don't know if this will directly answer your question, but perhaps you're referring to the keywords that appear in the trailer: "Cocoon" and "Pulse." The XIII series is all based -- Versus as well -- on Fabula Nova, the mythology of the Crystal. While I can't disclose too much, "Pulse" is a keyword that arises from the Crystal mythology. For example, with Greek myths or any kind of myths, there might be a real-life bridge or street named after the myth. Pulse is named after a region within FFXIII, and it's pulled from the myth in the way we pull key points from real-world mythology.




1UP: Since you've worked on the series since the Super Famicom days, how would you say the series has changed, if at all -- thematically, or otherwise -- since franchise creator Hironobu Sakaguchi left Square Enix? Do you think there's been any effect on the series, or do you think the dev teams have carried the torch since his departure?

YK: There's nothing specific that I felt I had to protect to maintain the Final Fantasy image or theme, but, of course, even though the staff involved in FFXIII weren't directly involved with XII, they have -- as I mentioned earlier -- played and studied the game. In that sense, all the teams that work on the newest Final Fantasy games are always looking at the previous versions, and while there may not be a direct connection, they're all linked. And in the grand scheme of things, Final Fantasy XIII is probably very different and new than anything anyone has seen before, but people on the team have played FFXII, so there's an unseen connection or thread in the series.

And this is kind of a side story, but I had a conversation with Sakaguchi a long time ago, and I asked him, "What makes a Final Fantasy game a Final Fantasy game? What keeps it consistent within the series?" And, jokingly, Sakaguchi said, "As long as the text boxes have the blue background and the white outline around the box, it's a Final Fantasy game." But now, as you can see from the trailer, the blue box and the white outline aren't in the game -- so that's a progression from the past, but it's still a continuation of the series.

I take it from the second answer that there going to dumb it down so it can match the 360 version.

I love the last sentence about Sakaguchi.....even though he's a another *******. real ps3 and FF fans should know why i say that.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3168776

[stockstar1138]

"As for the in-game visuals, we're going to look for ways to ensure that the quality remains the same between the two versions. "

They are going to not push the PS3 at all and just make a meh PS3 version to make sure it ports to the 360. Because they cannot max out the Japanese version and then try to port to the 360, because if the Japanese version looks better than the American by a bit, they gotta lot of explaining to do.

We will never get the game we could have. I really don't care though because I think Final Fantasy is ghey, but if this was my Metal Gear, I'd be pissed, so I sympathize with the FF fanboys.

[saprano]

I know, you can thank M$ for that.

[stockstar1138]

Originally Posted by saprano

I know, you can thank M$ for that.

I just hope that the strategy backfires and that more and more 3rd parties demand big, big bucks to make games for the xbox 360.

Sony and Nintendo both have the creative talent to survive off of 1st party exclusives, MS doesn't.

[FF750]

Originally Posted by stockstar1138

I just hope that the strategy backfires and that more and more 3rd parties demand big, big bucks to make games for the xbox 360.

Sony and Nintendo both have the creative talent to survive off of 1st party exclusives, MS doesn't.

And that's why the Playstation brand has become so strong. Microsoft is aping Sony in one way in that they're using their money to get franchises for the 360 that used to be on PS (same as how Sony got formerly Nintendo exclusives before) BUT unlike Sony they are not setting up a strong base of internal developer talent to support themselves long-term.

One of the key reasons people seem to forget for why Sony doesn't just throw money at third-parties to secure exclusives is because they are spending a lot more than M$ is on internal development.

Sony has been smart in building up its own talent rather than adopting an approach that's harder to sustain as simply paying external developers. That being said I wish Sony would acquire a big RPG developer to strengthen a relatively weak area in their developer portfolio. Level 5 would seem like a great developer to add especially seeing as how they already have experience with the PS3 making White Knight Chronicles.

[Marquoz]

Originally Posted by stockstar1138

"As for the in-game visuals, we're going to look for ways to ensure that the quality remains the same between the two versions. "

They are going to not push the PS3 at all and just make a meh PS3 version to make sure it ports to the 360. Because they cannot max out the Japanese version and then try to port to the 360, because if the Japanese version looks better than the American by a bit, they gotta lot of explaining to do.

We will never get the game we could have. I really don't care though because I think Final Fantasy is ghey, but if this was my Metal Gear, I'd be pissed, so I sympathize with the FF fanboys.

Look how good final fantasy 12 looked on the PS2. The 360 is more powerful then the PS2 was, so I think if they work hard at the compression and use multiple disks, then it can work to the best of both worlds. We've all played multiple disk games before from S-E, so I don't see how this would be any different. Who honestly cares if it's 5-6 DVDs, if it's the same quality as the PS3 version?

I think S-E needs to think more along the lines of how many disks can we put this on without having to sacrifice any quality with minimal compression techniques. Unfortunately without having hard drives on all the 360 systems, S-E can't put the commonly used graphics onto the HD and will instead have to waste space on every disk with repetitive information.

I still have faith in S-E that they won't dumb down the game, but will instead step up production and figure out how to optimize it for the PS3 and still manage to pull a rabbit out of the hat and run the 360 at it's greatest. How many times in the past have we all been wowed with what S-E has managed to do with hardware?

[jamclaur]

I don't think it will be dumbed down. They're not going to create an amazing PS3 game for Japan then give us a crap PS3 version. Just like they're not going to create a crap Japan version because of the xbox deal. No money is enough for that. It'd kill PS in Japan...

I think we'll get a good solid version and the xbox version will be dumbed down and multi disked.