Squeenix lurve: latest FFXIII and FFXIII Versus updates

After all the pretty pictures, we just can’t seem to get enough of the upcoming installments to the Final Fantasy series, FF XIII and FF XIII Versus, for the PS3. And now, we find out that Famitsu has apparently scored an interview with “the key personnel behind the Fabula Nova Crystallis” which should answer at least some questions about this eye-catching new title.

According to the Japanese gaming magazine, a couple of things that we saw in the trailers are confirmed, so let us discuss them for you one by one.

Check out the latest details after the Jump!

After all the pretty pictures, we just can’t seem to get enough of the upcoming installments to the Final Fantasy series, FF XIII and FF XIII Versus, for the PS3. And now, we find out that Famitsu has apparently scored an interview with “the key personnel behind the Fabula Nova Crystallis” which should answer at least some questions about this eye-catching new title.

According to the Japanese gaming magazine, a couple of things that we saw in the trailers are confirmed, so let us discuss them for you one by one.

The World
The world is split into two areas. Cocoon, a space colony protected by crystals which can create machines and living creatures, and Pulse, which would be all areas outside of Cocoon which the citizens of the space colony fear. In fact, the citizens of Cocoon fear the Pulse so much, that they are instantly suspicious of anyone coming from it and would immediately take measures to banish them. If one can recall the trailer,  a group of people were shown inside a train. These people were apparently from Pulse, and were being quarantined.

The Hero and Heroine
According to Motome Toriyama, yes, the gorgeous, gunblade-wielding female that we have been seeing in the trailer is indeed named Lightning. However, this isn’t her REAL name and even the heroine herself is trying to find out her true identity. She has good reason, too, considering that she has been labeled as a threat to humanity. Toriyama notes that “we should look forward to finding out the reason for this as part of the storyline.”

And so we shall.

As for the other half of the story which comes in the form of a blonde-haired guy, his name is still not revealed, though we do find out some interesting details about his ride.

The Tech
In the trailer, we see the blonde dude come in a motorcycle to rescue lightning. The interview with Famitsu reveals that the bike is no other than Shiva. No, it’s not a bike named Shiva, like the airship in FFXII, but rather, the bike is THE Shiva. You know, water-based summon, Diamond Dust and all that? In this Final Fantasy, however, “Shiva takes the form of a sister pair, and both sisters are made up of bike parts, complete with a wheel behind the head.”

Oooh.

The Crystals
In this game, the crystals aren’t just sparkly, little things that you can use as save points anymore. In fact, in Versus, crystals can only be found in the main character’s country and are considered a valuable resource. If one is to recall the trailer, then we can catch the radio broadcast on the hero’s bike which reports that “two countries have come to a treaty about peaceful use of crystals”.

What’s with the eyes?
Prior to all this, the only thing that we knew about the male lead was that his eyes glowed red whenever he fought. However, it has been pointed out that when darting from place to place, his hair color changes as well. Director Tetsuya Nomura notes that this is a main feature, and though not yet confirmed, we may see a whole range of eye and hair colors for this character.

Battle System
After Square Enix has just finished introducing a new type of battle system in Final Fantasy XII, it seems that we may be looking at yet another innovation once FFXIII comes along. Though Nomura offered a few hints about what the new system may be, he points out that in the trailer, the character gets to select his weapon from an arsenal as he/she charges into a whole mass of enemy soldiers. Various weapons allow for various attack types and can even function as shields. There are also hints that these weapons will be customizable.

Timeframe until we see more of this game
Even though we’ve only seen rendered cutscenes so far, Nomura notes that we should be able to see the game running on PS3 hardware “some time this year”.