ALL ABOUT: VERSUS XIII
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3 2006 may be remembered for a lot of things, but one of the biggest standouts was the announcement of Final Fantasy Versus XIII for PlayStation 3. Although fairly short and only CG the first trailer, released later, offered quite a bit of insight into this modern fantasy from the people behind Kingdom Hearts and FFVII: Advent Children.
As a “new vision” of FF, Versus XIII aims to focus on the cast’s humanity while distinguishing it from other entries in the series. Because of this, the main character is vital.
Noctis Lucis Caelum is the prince and remaining heir to the throne of the only kingdom which still controls a crystal. While in reality a shy person, Noctis tries to Unlike FFXIII proper, Versus XIII is an action RPG in hide this by acting cool when the situation calls for it. the same vein as Kingdom Hearts. Although it shares Director Nomura says he’ll be a character unusual for a place under the Fabula Nova Crystallis umbrella of FF – one that he’s wanted to try for a long time. Noctis titles, it’s a completely original concept set in its own is said to have a strong, distinctive personality despite world with a unique take on the mythology that’s being a young man who acts tough on the exterior in already been a part of FFXIII, XIII-2 and Type-0. order to protect his kingdom. It’s because of this that It’ll feature a world map with massive fields and he sometimes reacts unnecessarily and overestimates other locations which will allow greater exploration. his own abilities. It’s not open world, but is said to be closer to past FF, including the ability to drive vehicles and pilot airships. These classic concepts are being married with new ones such as seamless environments, day and night cycles and even the ability to take screenshots with an in-game smartphone. The pace and presentation of the battle system is to be similar to KH coupled with additional mechanics including elements of third person shooting. Of course, traditional magic, summons and various weapon changing abilities all have a role to play. While the majority of the story remains under wraps, the underlying theme ties back to a classic FF staple – crystals. In Versus XIII, crystals represent great power in the realms of politics, military might, and a country’s economic welfare. The story takes place in a world similar to reality - one of technological advances such as cars, skyscrapers, and cell phones. They’re so advanced over surrounding kingdoms that they’ve isolated themselves from the rest of the world and remain protected by an ancient line of kings.
Based on the information we have, Versus appears to revolve around Stella as much as Noctis.
The likely heroine of the story is blonde Stella Nox Fleuret. Although not much is currently known about her, she dominates screen-time in most of the game’s trailers and appears to share some sort of connection to Noctis.
Accompanying Noctis through his trials and tribulations are three young men: Ignis, Gladiolus and Prompto. They will serve as both companions and secondary party members in the game, and have also In the past, the surrounding nations too kept watch appeared in the short battle footage released. over their own crystals, but lost them over time due to the hardships of war. Peace was agreed upon between According to the original press release, Versus XIII the various nations, but it wasn’t meant to last… wasn’t envisioned as a spin-off, but ‘another FFXIII’ or rather, a counterpart to both XIII and Agito XIII, the Versus XIII will present a darker, more emotional latter of which was later renamed to Type-0. story, which aims to demonstrate how painful burdens heroes carry can be. It will also touch on the Helmed by FFVII and Kingdom Hearts staff importance of brief moments of happiness in a world including writer Kazushige Nojima and composer filled with both greed and despair. These are elements Yoko Shimomura, it’s clear that Nomura got a good that aren’t typically found in FF, and are at least in part deal. Little did he know that it would take most of a influenced by Shakespeare’s Hamlet. console generation for this plan to bear fruit. 124