E3 2006. Square Enix announces the future of its highly respected Final Fantasy series. This is to come in the form of a series of games that are tied to one another through the same mythos, titled "Fabula Nova Crystallis". This saga is to be composed by three individual games: Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy Agito XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII. The first trailers of all 3 games were revealed. FF XIII and Versus XIII were to be PS3 exclusives, whereas Agito XIII was to be released on mobile in Japan. Immediately, the trailer of Versus XIII caught the attention of both reporters and the public, due to it's realistic tone and new style of combat. Old-time FF character designer Tetsuya Nomura had taken the lead role in creating this game and through this he wanted to see the series "mature". After all, this was supposed to be the "dark side" of FF XIII.
The first and main part of the mythos, Final Fantasy XIII was released in 2009/10 with mixed reviews, mainly due to its severe linearity. However, during all that time, from the announcement trailer till the release of XIII, the public had gotten little till no information about either Versus XIII or Agito XIII from their respective development teams, apart from some updated trailer of the original like the one shown at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show. Reports came in saying that members of the Versus XIII team had been helping out with XIII, so when that was finally released people breathed a sigh of relief because they believed they were getting closer to the game they were actually interested in. However, that didn't appear to be the case. Behind closed doors, Nomura had already been discussing giving Versus XIII a mainline title as early as 2007.
After reappearing at a Square Enix press conference in early 2011 with new footage, fans felt at ease. At that conference it was made official that a XIII-2 was to be released and that Agito XIII had been renamed Final Fantasy Type-0 and transported from mobile devices to the Playstation Portable. Hajime Tabata had now been named director of that title. What was still unofficial was the name and status of Versus XIII. Versus skipped out on yet another E3, reducing fan anticipation and leading some to wonder if this game actually does exist or not. Meanwhile, later that year, Type-0 released exclusively in Japan to great reviews.
Nomura's vision of Versus XIII was too much for the Playstation to handle. All the way up to 2012 and he was still looking for a way to have as less as possible cut from the game, without making it unplayable in the process. Little did he know, at that time, Mark Cerny was going around pitching his idea of a next generation console to all major gaming firms. Square Enix didn't need much convincing, and neither did Nomura and his team! Although they struggled for a while with the idea of keeping it on both last and next gen, due to the fact that they knew a lot of people had purchased a PS3 mainly to play Versus XIII, it was eventually transferred because of the powerful DirectX 11 engine the new machines possess.
Meanwhile, people were beginning to doubt Square Enix. The quality of the games they had been releasing (XIII, XIII-2, XIV) was damaging their reputation and they didn't seem to care about their fans. Having only delivered Type-0, which had received good reviews, to Japan and not giving out a single peep of info about Versus, the web was starting to make up rumors. Like the one that Versus was "vaporware" or scrubbed, which was almost immediately turned down by then-CEO Yoichi Wada with a single tweet. However, Wada was not to remain at his position for much longer and took responsibility for the situation by handing in his resignation on March 26th, 2013. He was then replaced by Yosuke Matsuda who decided it was time to make the company more "vocal and connected to it's customers".
After the official unveiling and release of the new consoles, it was finally time for Versus to make its grand reappearance. This event occured at E3 2013, where after a long and impressive trailer, it was announced that Versus had been renamed and given mainline status: XV had been born! Also during a press conference at E3, it was made known by Square Enix that Hajime tabata and his team from Type-0 were brought in to help speed up development. However, despite the impressive trailer and the rename, people were sceptical. How long until they would hear anything about this again, or until Square Enix decided to break the radio silence?
Yet another year went by and XV had missed out on quite a few video game conventions, and the public began to grow impatient. Some articles claimed that even if it were to be released, it would never make up for all the waiting that the fans had been put through. Yet another E3 was approaching swiftly and XV was nowhere in Square Enix's lineup for the convention. However, during that particular E3, Square Enix began to show signs of moving towards new CEO Matsuda's way of doing things. They finally listened to the outcry from their fans who had been begging them to release Type-0 to the west and announced Type-0 HD for next gen consoles. Also it was announced that Tetsuya Nomura had been removed from the XV project and that now Hajime Tabata would be the sole director. To top it all off, they also announced that a demo of XV titled "Episode Duscae" would be made available to those who purchased Type-0 HD.
Once Tabata took the captain's seat, XV was mentioned a lot more occasionally on gaming news sites. Also, he began this live stream broadcast sessions called "Active Time Report" (ATR), during which he would show a couple of trailers and inform the public about the game's progress. Up until the release of Type-0 HD, it would for both games but since March 2015, it has been specifically for XV. During one of these ATR's, Tabata mentioned a few things that had been changed during the games' transition from Versus to XV, like the replacement of Stella Nox Fleuret with Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, or how some scenes were replaced. Hajime Tabata did things differently from Nomura and didn't just tell the people about how game is coming along, he actively used them as a means to improve it through questionnaires from those who played the "Episode Duscae" demo or by organizing get-togethers with FF fan clubs around the world.
Things were finally running a lot more smoothly for XV and the development team. The people had begun to understand that such a tremendous project demands time, and were willing to be patient, and in return, Tabata was aknowledging their thirst for information. The game skipped out on another E3 in 2015 (possibly so it wouldn't steal the thunder from FF VII's Remake announcent), but Tabata put the marketing campaign into high gear with that year's Gamescom in 2015. However , the lack of information left the public a little underwhelmed due to the severe advertising from Tabata's part, so later on at PAX prime he gave out a little more, like that the game was going to be released in 2016. When asked about airships and if they were to be implemented into the game, Tabata had mentioned in the past that his team had no experience in the field and did not know the mechanics. However, at PAX, it was announced that the team behind "Just Cause 3" AVALANCHE would be assisting Square Enix in this matter. Also, it was officially announced that XV would no longer play part to the "Fabula Nova Crystallis" mythos.
After that and until January 2016, Tabata and his team went quiet so that they could focus on finally completing the game's development. Late November 2015 it was announced that the pre-beta had been done and that the game was fully playable from start to finish. All that needed to be done was the de-bugging and the transfer to consoles. Tabata re-appeared for one last ATR in late January where he showed a new form of the battle system, which was very close to what fans had seen in that very first Versus XIII long ago. He also announced the grand venue at which the release date of the game was to be announced: the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, on March 30th.
And what an event it was! It felt like a big "thank you" letter to all the ones that had been waiting in anticipation for 10 years for this masterpiece. Presented by Tim Gettys and Greg Miller, opened by Hironobu Sakaguchi, what was announced at this event, in short, was: an anime adaptation, a CGI movie starring Sean Bean, Aaron Paul and Lena Headey, a theme song by Florence And The Machine, a series of incredible new trailers, a(nother) demo, a free-2-play app that is also a mini-game within XV, a collaboration with Audi to release a one-of-a-kind R8 car based on the one the main character drives around in, new Play Arts Kai figures, a deluxe edition for the game, an ultimate collector's edition for the game and finally... the release date!
This game was meant to be a masterpiece, ever since it was conceived by the brilliant mind of Tetsuya Nomura. However, the fact that so many people have come together to make it happen and have expanded it to an even bigger project, makes it even better. Nomura may have had a different vision about Versus XIII and this might not be the game he intended to create. Tabata felt it more proper to be open and include others in his work. But what we are lucky enough to be getting is the final product of the collaboration of these brilliant minds and so many more behind them that most of them will remain unknown.
Now the light of the crystal shines ever brighter...
The first and main part of the mythos, Final Fantasy XIII was released in 2009/10 with mixed reviews, mainly due to its severe linearity. However, during all that time, from the announcement trailer till the release of XIII, the public had gotten little till no information about either Versus XIII or Agito XIII from their respective development teams, apart from some updated trailer of the original like the one shown at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show. Reports came in saying that members of the Versus XIII team had been helping out with XIII, so when that was finally released people breathed a sigh of relief because they believed they were getting closer to the game they were actually interested in. However, that didn't appear to be the case. Behind closed doors, Nomura had already been discussing giving Versus XIII a mainline title as early as 2007.
After reappearing at a Square Enix press conference in early 2011 with new footage, fans felt at ease. At that conference it was made official that a XIII-2 was to be released and that Agito XIII had been renamed Final Fantasy Type-0 and transported from mobile devices to the Playstation Portable. Hajime Tabata had now been named director of that title. What was still unofficial was the name and status of Versus XIII. Versus skipped out on yet another E3, reducing fan anticipation and leading some to wonder if this game actually does exist or not. Meanwhile, later that year, Type-0 released exclusively in Japan to great reviews.
Nomura's vision of Versus XIII was too much for the Playstation to handle. All the way up to 2012 and he was still looking for a way to have as less as possible cut from the game, without making it unplayable in the process. Little did he know, at that time, Mark Cerny was going around pitching his idea of a next generation console to all major gaming firms. Square Enix didn't need much convincing, and neither did Nomura and his team! Although they struggled for a while with the idea of keeping it on both last and next gen, due to the fact that they knew a lot of people had purchased a PS3 mainly to play Versus XIII, it was eventually transferred because of the powerful DirectX 11 engine the new machines possess.
Meanwhile, people were beginning to doubt Square Enix. The quality of the games they had been releasing (XIII, XIII-2, XIV) was damaging their reputation and they didn't seem to care about their fans. Having only delivered Type-0, which had received good reviews, to Japan and not giving out a single peep of info about Versus, the web was starting to make up rumors. Like the one that Versus was "vaporware" or scrubbed, which was almost immediately turned down by then-CEO Yoichi Wada with a single tweet. However, Wada was not to remain at his position for much longer and took responsibility for the situation by handing in his resignation on March 26th, 2013. He was then replaced by Yosuke Matsuda who decided it was time to make the company more "vocal and connected to it's customers".
After the official unveiling and release of the new consoles, it was finally time for Versus to make its grand reappearance. This event occured at E3 2013, where after a long and impressive trailer, it was announced that Versus had been renamed and given mainline status: XV had been born! Also during a press conference at E3, it was made known by Square Enix that Hajime tabata and his team from Type-0 were brought in to help speed up development. However, despite the impressive trailer and the rename, people were sceptical. How long until they would hear anything about this again, or until Square Enix decided to break the radio silence?
Yet another year went by and XV had missed out on quite a few video game conventions, and the public began to grow impatient. Some articles claimed that even if it were to be released, it would never make up for all the waiting that the fans had been put through. Yet another E3 was approaching swiftly and XV was nowhere in Square Enix's lineup for the convention. However, during that particular E3, Square Enix began to show signs of moving towards new CEO Matsuda's way of doing things. They finally listened to the outcry from their fans who had been begging them to release Type-0 to the west and announced Type-0 HD for next gen consoles. Also it was announced that Tetsuya Nomura had been removed from the XV project and that now Hajime Tabata would be the sole director. To top it all off, they also announced that a demo of XV titled "Episode Duscae" would be made available to those who purchased Type-0 HD.
Once Tabata took the captain's seat, XV was mentioned a lot more occasionally on gaming news sites. Also, he began this live stream broadcast sessions called "Active Time Report" (ATR), during which he would show a couple of trailers and inform the public about the game's progress. Up until the release of Type-0 HD, it would for both games but since March 2015, it has been specifically for XV. During one of these ATR's, Tabata mentioned a few things that had been changed during the games' transition from Versus to XV, like the replacement of Stella Nox Fleuret with Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, or how some scenes were replaced. Hajime Tabata did things differently from Nomura and didn't just tell the people about how game is coming along, he actively used them as a means to improve it through questionnaires from those who played the "Episode Duscae" demo or by organizing get-togethers with FF fan clubs around the world.
Things were finally running a lot more smoothly for XV and the development team. The people had begun to understand that such a tremendous project demands time, and were willing to be patient, and in return, Tabata was aknowledging their thirst for information. The game skipped out on another E3 in 2015 (possibly so it wouldn't steal the thunder from FF VII's Remake announcent), but Tabata put the marketing campaign into high gear with that year's Gamescom in 2015. However , the lack of information left the public a little underwhelmed due to the severe advertising from Tabata's part, so later on at PAX prime he gave out a little more, like that the game was going to be released in 2016. When asked about airships and if they were to be implemented into the game, Tabata had mentioned in the past that his team had no experience in the field and did not know the mechanics. However, at PAX, it was announced that the team behind "Just Cause 3" AVALANCHE would be assisting Square Enix in this matter. Also, it was officially announced that XV would no longer play part to the "Fabula Nova Crystallis" mythos.
After that and until January 2016, Tabata and his team went quiet so that they could focus on finally completing the game's development. Late November 2015 it was announced that the pre-beta had been done and that the game was fully playable from start to finish. All that needed to be done was the de-bugging and the transfer to consoles. Tabata re-appeared for one last ATR in late January where he showed a new form of the battle system, which was very close to what fans had seen in that very first Versus XIII long ago. He also announced the grand venue at which the release date of the game was to be announced: the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, on March 30th.
And what an event it was! It felt like a big "thank you" letter to all the ones that had been waiting in anticipation for 10 years for this masterpiece. Presented by Tim Gettys and Greg Miller, opened by Hironobu Sakaguchi, what was announced at this event, in short, was: an anime adaptation, a CGI movie starring Sean Bean, Aaron Paul and Lena Headey, a theme song by Florence And The Machine, a series of incredible new trailers, a(nother) demo, a free-2-play app that is also a mini-game within XV, a collaboration with Audi to release a one-of-a-kind R8 car based on the one the main character drives around in, new Play Arts Kai figures, a deluxe edition for the game, an ultimate collector's edition for the game and finally... the release date!
This game was meant to be a masterpiece, ever since it was conceived by the brilliant mind of Tetsuya Nomura. However, the fact that so many people have come together to make it happen and have expanded it to an even bigger project, makes it even better. Nomura may have had a different vision about Versus XIII and this might not be the game he intended to create. Tabata felt it more proper to be open and include others in his work. But what we are lucky enough to be getting is the final product of the collaboration of these brilliant minds and so many more behind them that most of them will remain unknown.
Now the light of the crystal shines ever brighter...
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