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For the first time ever, real-time footage of Final Fantasy Versus XIII was shown publicly. Granted, it was only a ten second clip, but it's still better than nothing!
This information comes courtesy of 1UP.
In related news, the first information for Final Fantasy Agito XIII also comes to us from 1UP. Agito XIII is a PSP and Mobile gaming title that sounds like it will look and play much like Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core.
Fortunately, there's hope, as the 10 seconds of new footage in the latest cut of the trailer apparently consists of in-game, real-time footage -- which means they actually have a game engine now. The scene in question is extremely brief, and consists simply of the game's sullen main character in a natty black suit (whose real-world counterpart is on display at the event) walking up a grand stairway onto an observation platform looking out over a nighttime cityscape, strongly reminiscent of the Tokyo Skyview in Roppongi. (The trailer does say it's a fantasy based on the real world, after all.) At the top of the stairs is a blond woman who turns to face him and smiles enigmatically.
It's not much, but that sequence definitely has a different look to it than the rest of the trailer -- the main character seems slightly lankier and less detailed than elsewhere, and the woman's hair falls about her face in a way that isn't quite consistent with the hair of female characters in previous scenes. It's a subtle difference, but as many times as I've seen this trailer now, it's definitely noticeable. But after watching some of the documentary sequences on display around the show floor, I realized that this sequence doesn't depict a drop in the quality of Square's CG output -- it represents a real-time cut-scene whose visual quality vastly exceeds any video before. What would be slightly disappointing as a prerendered sequence is utterly astounding as live 3D footage, assuming they haven't faked it.
Not that there's necessarily any reason to fake it -- Square's graphical output, at least with the Final Fantasy series, tends to fall into three tiers: prerendered CG, real-time cut-scenes, and gameplay sequences. Typically the real-time cut-scenes are a step above the game portions, since they omit factors like enemy AI and game mechanics, but well below the quality of the CG. With Versus, the developers appear to have brought the in-engine story sequences nearly up to par with the prerendered visuals. Most likely the actual gameplay won't be too far behind.
Don't forget that a new trailer for Versus XIII will be included with the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete release in March of 2009. Advent Children Complete is a director's cut version and will only be released on Blu-ray.It's not much, but that sequence definitely has a different look to it than the rest of the trailer -- the main character seems slightly lankier and less detailed than elsewhere, and the woman's hair falls about her face in a way that isn't quite consistent with the hair of female characters in previous scenes. It's a subtle difference, but as many times as I've seen this trailer now, it's definitely noticeable. But after watching some of the documentary sequences on display around the show floor, I realized that this sequence doesn't depict a drop in the quality of Square's CG output -- it represents a real-time cut-scene whose visual quality vastly exceeds any video before. What would be slightly disappointing as a prerendered sequence is utterly astounding as live 3D footage, assuming they haven't faked it.
Not that there's necessarily any reason to fake it -- Square's graphical output, at least with the Final Fantasy series, tends to fall into three tiers: prerendered CG, real-time cut-scenes, and gameplay sequences. Typically the real-time cut-scenes are a step above the game portions, since they omit factors like enemy AI and game mechanics, but well below the quality of the CG. With Versus, the developers appear to have brought the in-engine story sequences nearly up to par with the prerendered visuals. Most likely the actual gameplay won't be too far behind.
This information comes courtesy of 1UP.
In related news, the first information for Final Fantasy Agito XIII also comes to us from 1UP. Agito XIII is a PSP and Mobile gaming title that sounds like it will look and play much like Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core.