Noctis voice to be revealed at Square’s 1st Production Department Premier

In the latest issue of Dengeki, Nomura unveiled some new details on the “Square Enix 1st Production Department Premier”, an event focussing on all Square Enix titles in their 1st production department group.

Nomura says that this event is kind of like a premium video event for their fans. We’ll be hearing Noctis voice for the first time ever and we’ll see a lot of new footage of Versus. The footage won’t be completely up-to-date, as the footage dates from before the game got a significant graphical boost.

This event was known as the Fabula Nova Crystallis but shifted name and date recently. It was delayed to the 18th of January, one week later than the original event was planned. It seems Square got word on their numerous leaks in Jump and Famitsu/Dengeki because the delay is due to the magazine publishing schedules, according to Nomura.

Besides Versus XIII, the PDP event will also feature new video content of Final Fantasy Agito XIII,Kingdom Hearts 3DS, Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep: Final Mix, Final Fantasy Dissidia Duodecim and others. Square Enix has also hinted at several new titles to be revealed at this event.

Finally, the official website for this PDP event got an update revealing that Square Enix will stream contents of this conference on niconico, a popular Japanese video website similar to YouTube.

Official Website – Source (Scrawlfx) – Images are Versus/Agito posters shown at Jump Festa. Notice the official spelling for Peristylium, unlike Perishtilium used in many translations.

Wanted: Final Fantasy Versus XIII Planners

While rumored the development of Versus XIII started 2005, and even after the FFXIII team joined forces, Square Enix is still looking for people to expand their Final Fantasy Versus XIII development team. Revealed today on their Japanese Jobs site, Square Enix is looking for battle planners and level design planners for Final Fantasy Versus XIII, which makes us wonder how far along the development really is.

Interested and living near Shinjuku? Head over here (Japanese) and try to break into the game industry (and make sure to take your camera along for us)!

Final Fantasy Versus XIII is an upcoming Action RPG developed by Square Enix which went though a harsh development process as the team was involved in numerous other projects. Square Enix is set to reveal more information on both Versus and Agito at their Fabula Nova Crystallis conference early next year.

 

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Final Fantasy Versus is described as a “3D Action RPG”. Battle planners require experience with PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360

Fabula Nova Crystallis TGS Trailer

Update: working video (combination of the Versus/Agito clips)

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I don’t think a description is needed, enjoy!

[Videos are “no longer available due to a copyright claim by Square Enix Co., Ltd.”]

Versus XIII/Agito XIII Trailer Report (Updated)

The  Gamespot Otaku saw the combined Versus/Agito trailer and wrote down their detailed impressions. The trailer shown at TGS isn’t available yet and contains only a little amount of new footage. The trailer, however, reveals that their will be a special Fabula Nova Crystallis press conference on January 11, 2011 which will feature all Fabula Nova Crystallis games (Fabula Nova Crystallis will consist of more than 3 games, so the announcement of the fourth title seems likely to happen on that day)

This weekend TGS will be open for everyone and therefore there’s a higher chance the short trailer might get leaked (considering the booth isn’t as heavily guarded as Jump Festa 2010 🙂

Final Fantasy Agito XIII – PlayStation Portable – Online Action RPG

“It does appear that the cast in the game are a bunch of students, as we saw a young girl school girl in a noticeably short skirt wielding a giant hammer. The gameplay appears to be action oriented, with a targeting system similar to Crisis Core. Even if we could understand Japanese, the trailer was over so fast that all we could make out was that there will be some giant mechanical foes as well as chocobos to ride on.At the end of the series of painfully short trailers, which included images for Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Square Enix revealed that a Fabula Nova Crystallis conference will be held January 11, 2011, so we can assume all the information is being saved until then.“

Final Fantasy Versus XIII – Playstation 3 – Action RPG

“The Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailer was part of a series of incredibly brief trailers that showed images from Final Fantasy XIII as well as Final Fantasy Agito XIII. We saw the main character, a young man with short black hair wander through several completely deserted areas. First it was a barren landscape, then it switched to a deteriorated roadway, and eventually we see him in the city, where it was just him fighting a giant behemoth. The quick fight scene showed him jumping and slashing furiously at the beast. Any hint of color or life in the trailer was limited to the spurts of red blood, coming from the behemoth, which stood out against the mostly dark and grey environment. There was nothing else on screen that would give us any clues as to how this game is set up other than it looks to be a 3D action game.“

* Header image by Semokan from DeviantArt *

Twitter updates on FF Versus/Agito XIII (Updated 24/24)

Update (08/31/2010): We get even more Twitter teasing:

By the way, the Agito PV is very short but it looks really good. Please see it by all means possible! Get a glimpse of Agito’s battlefield settings. @Tabata

As for Agito event-scene, the real-time part is already considerably done. Moreover, the great attention and level of impressiveness to what we’ve already shown, the developers were like “The expression at which Agito aims is impossible on the PSP” To everyone’s happiness it’s coming on the PSP. @Tabata

After 3rd is completed we’ll shift things up a bit and 3rd team will join us to complete Agito. So time and wait are still necessary. There’s an unpublished title in front of Agito that Tetsu talks about so much. Wait for information and announcement in a while! @Tabata

As for both Agito and 3rd, Visual Works (VW) produces the High-End CG part. Each title footage and demonstrations are shown in monitors and everywhere. When I go to the VW Studio floor I just want to stay there and enjoy the moment, it’s a treasurable space. @Tabata

On that note, Versus. That scene in the PV. I think it will make you shake. @Tabata

Update (08/26/2010): Tetsuya Nomura shared some more details on Final Fantasy Versus/Agito XIII and their TGS “trailer”

Well, we’re in the midst of our domestic event and doing TGS preparations now. I was in the edit studio yesterday. All PVs have not yet been completed and are in edit stages as of now. Details will come next month even though there’re alot of questions regarding TGS. @Nomura

Basically, there will be specific revelations for Public View. The length of information disclosure will be different in each magazine and media. The following titles to open to the public are Re: Coded and 3rd. And little information about FABULA, on a short trailer Versus and Agito put together at this time. @Nomura

The scale of the trailers are short though, there will be a space to show off FABULA and the trailers will be about 1 minute long. We will show footage of those 3 screenshots we release sometime ago at E3 time and move on to new realtime footage of Versus. @Nomura

The footage alone is new to the public, doesn’t have the command menus, which were removed. On the other hand, Agito footage is like a brand new debut of a more product-like version. Sorry for not being able to show little and nothing more, that’s because the release date for both titles are still undecided. @Nomura

Thanks to Oji from ff-xiii.net!

Original post:

An increasing amount of video game directors, like Fumito Ueda (The Last Guardian) are beginning to use Twitter. We would love seeing Tetsuya Nomura on there too but he recently said no to his own Twitter account. Instead he uses the promotional account for PSP Third-Person Shooter The 3rd Birthday to update us on his projects, and yes, that includes Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy Agito XIII. Yesterday Twitter got really excited when he revealed more about Versus’s worldmap and voice casting, quoted from NovaCrystallis translations:

“Versus has had many difficulties, and past methods of production have been completely inapplicable, but these are the difficulties of birth, so we are working hard. We have a lot to announce, but because we’re going in order, I can’t say too much yet. There have been many questions regarding fields. It’s not a completely open world. It’s like the 2D FF games in HD.”

“That is to say, in terms of looks, it’s not a top-down view, it’s like the screenshots that have been released. You’ll move through the world from that view. Agito and Versus have different production styles and progress states, but they’re both presently undergoing voice casting. 3rd’s recording will end shortly. Next up is Agito.”

And it doesn’t look like we’ll see Versus XIII or Agito XIII before Tokyo Game Show next month:

“..President [In comment to Wada’s own postings]. I have several unannounced titles being worked on. These will release before Agito and Versus. Some have their voice work completed already. They will be announced in Japan. Just like E3 [2010], Agito and Versus will not be at GamesCom. The 3rd Birthday and Kingdom Hearts will be there.”

This news might come as a shock to people who thought these games were already in an advanced stage of development. Considering how Final Fantasy XIII’s voice acting took over a year to record and motion capture, it doesn’t look like Versus is near anytime soon. Nevertheless we’ll get some new footage at TGS next month (September 16th to 19th), along with the other projects Nomura mentioned, perhaps? Tokyo Game Show is promising to be huge, with Nintendo 3DS announcements, the last bits of FFXIV information and a possible Final Fantasy XV announcement so stay tuned on The 13th Crystal and follow both the 3rd Birthday and us on Twitter!

Versus XIII, Scenario and Character Design Completed

After nearly half a decade, Final Fantasy Versus XIII’s scenario and character have been finalized.

According to Dengeki PlayStation magazine, the game’s scenario is fully complete. We’re guessing that means the story and script are fully written and finished.

Character designs are also finished. Nomura promises that Versus XIII’s character designs are definitive and will be revealed in due time. All their clothing has been completed, as well, which as we know are designed by Japanese clothing manufacturer Roen.

Source

New Versus and Agito details and scans (updated 2x)

Final Fantasy Versus XIII still lives and is in development somewhere in a crammed development studio in Square Enix’s bootcamp in Shibuya. After 14 months of waiting many people were eagerly awaiting Versus at E3 2010. Unfortunately those people were disappointed but in a surprising move Square Enix decided to send a new batch of screenshots and information to Japan’s largest gaming magazines: Famitsu and Dengeki.

At the time of writing no scans are available yet but they will be added to this post as soon as they are available. In the meantime you can catch up with some new Versus XIII information thanks to Andriasang:

– Final Fantasy Versus XIII will appear at TGS 10
– You can go anywhere on world map (excluding the mountain because it is an open field)
– Battles are completely seamless
– The town in trailers is modeled after the Shinjuku city
– Versus will be huge
– Destructible environments
– Cloud movement are done by physical calculations
– No loading (only when changing from big area to other big area)
– People couldn’t believe when they saw the destruction of a road in realtime
– Staff motivation is up high and they’re happy 
– Nomura: Even though the quality is high we aim for more detailed graphics
– Big revelations and the world unveiling of the game at TGS
– The Versus screenshots show a fight with a weaponized Behemoth in a city
– All the screenshots in the interview are captured from the game running in real time.
– Visual quality will still improve. Screenshots aren’t final.

Furthermore the scans also reveal some more information regarding Agito XIII

– FF Agito XIII will be “the best looking PSP title ever”
– There will be chocobo’s and airships
– Development is progressing well. – Visual quality will still improve. Screenshots aren’t final.

Update: HQ scans and more information added.

Andriasang also provided us with a little bit of new information on Final Fantasy Agito XIII from the latest Dengeki:

– Development is progressing well, although the 3rd Birthday takes priority
– Final Fantasy Agito will have a harsh portrayal of a war story. Tabata says that Agito is a Final Fantasy game with an image that differs from the one fans have.
– Kitase gives an example:
"There are parts where you see a soldier burned and falling over after being struck by fire. Initially, I warned them to not go too far in their expressions, but now I’m telling them to do whatever they want."
– While it has been said back in 2006, Tabata confirms again that Final Fantasy Agito XIII will have multiplayer elements.

And at last, enjoy these HQ scans showing gameplay screenshots of Final Fantasy Versus XIII for the first time ever.You can read the full translated interview at our source 

 

Pre-E3: New Kingdom Hearts title leaked, Versus still a fantasy that won’t see reality soon.

Some voice actors can’t wait to reveal what they’re working on even before the title gets announced. This is the case with Phil Snyder who confirmed on his site that he’s doing the voice of Jimmy Cricket in Kingdom Hearts… Recoded. Nomura’s Kingdom Hearts announcement for E3 2010?

On May 19th Phil took over as the voice of Jiminy Cricket for Disney Character Voices.  The first project was “Kingdom Hearts Recoded.” Kingdom Hearts is  an ongoing video game series produced in partnership with Japanese publisher Square Enix, who are best known for the Final Fantasy series.  Click on his name to view cut-scene footage containing the late Eddie Carroll’s work as Jiminy.

Nomura earlier revealed that a new Kingdom Hearts title will be announced at E3 in an interview with GameInformer. Unfortunately, the true figure of Final Fantasy Versus will be hidden in the sleep for a little longer.

Q: Are there any hints you can provide about these new games?
A: Hints would give away too much, and for Kingdom Hearts we’re contractually obligated to keep any information that has not been official released under wraps. However, I can say one of the two projects mentioned above came into existence because we wanted to do something for the North American fans, so we’ll be announcing it at E3.
Q: Final Fantasy Versus XIII is your current primary project. How is it coming along?
A: Development is progressing smoothly, but starting with E3 and through winter, there are a number of titles I am involved in that will be announced. And of course, the company as a whole has many upcoming projects, so we’ll take it one step at a time. We do have plans to officially showcase the title at a certain point.

Nomura will be at E3. Why? Only god knows!

Shinji -tweeting- Hashimoto revealed earlier today that Tetsuya Nomura will be making an appearance at E3. Does this mean he will bring Versus news with him? Will he come up at the end of Microsoft’s press conference to tap Don Mattrick on the shoulder? Will he announce Kingdom Hearts 3? Whatever it is, this tweet got us excited:

“Next week, after a long time, Director Nomura will go on a business trip to E3”

Original Tweet:

先週は、アジア、今日は、大阪。来週は、野村ディレクターと久しぶりにE3出張です。皆様、お楽しみに！

Earlier last week, Square Enix announced at the Chinese FFXIII launch party that the development of Final Fantasy Versus XIII is going well. An E3 appearance gets more probable now.

 

Final Fantasy Versus XIII on Xbox 360?

The last time we heard something about FF Versus XIII, and that was 3 months ago, was the possibility of not appearing at E3 because of a change in the world map system.

Today, at Square Enix’s annual investors meeting, Yochi Wada revealed that they are considering a multiplatform release for Versus. Quoted from Andriasang.com:

We’ll be looking into it internally until right before the formal announcement.

If they’re planning to do so, this ‘”formal announcement” will most likely take place at E3 (and we’ll be covering it all.)

A multiplatform release of FF Versus XIII seems possible considering the huge success that FFXIII had on both PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles. Earlier today Square Enix also announced that Final Fantasy XIII had sold 5.5 units worldwide (5 million units the first week after the NA/EU launch.)

Would you like to see a multiplatform release for Versus XIII? Let us know and follow us on Twitter for the latest updates in RPG and E3-land!