Motomu Toriyama, one of the main visionaries behind Final Fantasy XIII, has revealed to the Japanese press that Final Fantasy Haeresis XIII is very much alive, and has been for many years. In fact, the trademark expiration was just to put people off the scent.
When speaking to Japanese publication Famitsu, who had the first glimpse of the game, Toriyama said "I'm very happy to finally reveal this game after keeping it secret for so long. It's a core part of Square Enix's continued growth strategy and will further the Fabula Nova Crystallis franchise like nothing you've seen before. That's why we had to let the trademark expire, so people would stop nosing around."
Indeed, the title is going to be very experimental. Lightning will return as the main character yet again, but the game will now be a third-person shooter, with an upgrade system that will allow Lightning to augment her body.
"When we looked at the poor sales of Final Fantasy XIII-2 in the West, we couldn't help but be confused," continued Toriyama. "We addressed all the feedback and made a game that had everything they wanted, but they still didn't want it."
Well, I said I got some interesting nuggets from my conversation with Yoshinori Kitase, but I bet you never thought you guys would be hearing anything about Final Fantasy XV, right?
Well, I was speaking to him about how main series titles have slightly longer development cycles now, and he explained why exactly that is.
Wow, what a week it's been. I was in Germany last week for GamesCom 2010 and I managed to schedule up an appointment to see The 3rd Birthday - Square Enix's next iteration into the Parasite Eve franchise.
I was extremely surprised when I walked into the room and I saw Yoshinori Kitase sitting there with a smile beaming across his face. For those who don't know who he is, well, shame on you! He's probably one of the most influential people at Square Enix and has worked on pretty much every single big game they've made for over a decade.
I saw Kitase-san last year, at an event for Dissidia: Final Fantasy, but this time it was completely unexpected. However, while I had him all to myself I made sure to ask him plenty of questions. You'll see the fruits of my labour coming out in the next few days...
Continue reading more to find out about my experience with the great man.
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