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FF13 Dengeki Interview Summary

March 31, 2009

Japanese gaming magazine Dengeki had a chance to sit down with Yoshinori Kitase, Producer of FF13 and Motomu Toriyama, the director. In the interview the two reveal lots of interesting new information about the game. We’ve translated and compiled all the best bits of the interview here in an easy to read format! Enjoy.


On the Advent Children: Complete Demo

  • The demo should be played with the understanding that this is FF13 as it was in 2008. The game has move forwards much since then, and the developers are now in the 'Final Stretch' of many aspects of development.

  • The demo uses around 50% of the PS3's power - the final version will use close to or the full 100%.

  • The demo only shows around 50% of the aspects of the battle system that will be implemented in the final game.

  • The story included in the demo is a very small and superficial part, but should provide a good show of what players can expect.

  • The demo uses an old version of the FF victory fanfare, but the final game will have an all-new arrangement.

  • The battle theme used in the demo is the final battle theme.

  • The demo is balanced to be easier. The final game will have harder battles in the area the demo shows and it will be easier to get a game over.

  • The demo is a part of the start of the game during a situation called 'Purge'. Most of the scenes from the latest trailer are from the demo.

  • Character victory poses are yet to be decided.




On the Game's Technology

  • There have been debates about if the game will use a single or dual layer BluRay disc, but space is not an issue.

  • The memory available on the PS3 has proved a struggle to work with.

  • The biggest change from the previous game was the graphics.

  • Textures are exciting - talk of 'Chocobo's plumage' and the texture of Vanille's skirt as both being impressive and surprising to Kitase.
  • The game features real time lighting aspects that took a lot of work and effort to get correct.

  • Scenes that previously would've been rendered in CGI have been done in real-time in FF13, but the game still has many CG sequences.

  • In battle, magical attacks will leave behind signs they've been cast, like plumes of smoke after fire and ice on the ground after blizzard.

  • Kitase believes it's difficult to tell the CGI and real time stuff apart.




The Battle System

  • In terms of speed, the battle system is based off the Final Fantasy X system.

  • The game's battle system is not seamless like FF12, but the transition in and out of battle is so rapid that it has a similar feel to the seamless system.

  • 'Chains' are multiple attacks strung together. The more attacks that you can chain together, the more damage you can do. Some combinations of attacks and magic are going to be more effective than others.

  • Chaining a devastating amount of attacks will result in a 'Break'. A broken enemy will take more damage and can be lifted or thrown off the ground.

  • Monsters all have individual weight values, so a large beast is more difficult to break and lift than a small low level monster.

  • Mixing Chains, Breaks and Lifts will all be important, especially in boss battles.

  • Players will receive a rating out of stars at the end of battles based on their performance

  • The camera can be moved around freely in battle and some automatic camera angle changes happen when certain actions are performed too, making for a dynamic camera.





Plot & Characters

  • Lightning's design was difficult to perfect, as she is a swordsman so had to look threatening but also had to look like a woman and not too muscular.

  • With Sakamoto Maya voicing her, femininity has been bought out in Lightning that doesn't show in her 'look'.

  • Snow was originally more childish, shouting often. They abandoned the immature aspect of the character and gave him a more 'big brother' role in the party.

  • Vanille shouldn't be written off as this game's 'bubbly girl'. She is positive and upbeat but she has weight to her character. Fukui Yakari was chosen for the voice acting role because of the different sides of her character.

  • Sazh's design and image came quite easily. He too is a bit of comic relief and is a positive character, but he has demons of his own to face later on. The voice actor, Ehara Masashi, was free to adlib while recording.