Square-Enix has announced plans for a “Final Fantasy XIII related announcement” on September 1, during the Final Fantasy 25th anniversary event in Shibuya.
The new announcement will be part of the “Final Fantasy XIII Lightning Saga: New Developments presentation” during the anniversary event. It is as of yet unclear if this announcement will be a new downloadable content pack or an all-new game in the Final Fantasy XIII timeline.
Final Fantasy XIII has a shaky development history since it was announced in 2006. Hoping to ride the success of media giant Final Fantasy VII, a set of games called the Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy project was announced. The project included two Playstation exclusive games, Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII, and a mobile card-based game called Final Fantasy XIII Agito. How these games would connect was hazy.
Things did not go so smoothly for Square-Enix’s ambitious project. Final Fantasy XIII was later made a multiplatform title, getting a simultaneous release in North America on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Agito later evolved into the PSP action RPG Final Fantasy Type-0 (which is still missing in action outside Japan). The fate of Final Fantasy Versus XIII is still a mystery. To complicate things Final Fantasy XIII was met with a lukewarm fan reception, thanks to its more linear game design.
One has to admire Square-Enix’s sheer determination. Even with the unenthusiastic fan reaction to Final Fantasy XIII and theoretical money sink that is Versus XIII, the Japanese developer went ahead with a direct sequel in Final Fantasy XIII-2, which was met with relative critical success.
Early news from an interview with Final Fantasy XIII producer, Yoshinori Kitase, in Famitsu magazine indicates that the project has “just begun” development and was light on details, still not committing to a title or platform. Likely these details will be fleshed out during the event on September 1.
About Cody Johnstone
A journalism graduate and part-time freelance writer, Cody has covered everything from political elections, to business to entertainment writing for community newspapers and has recently been putting his talents to work writing features and reviews for video game blogs. Some of his earliest memories include stomping Goombas in Super Mario Bros. which lead to his life-love love of Nintendo. His love affair with portable gaming started with the Game Boy Color and now spends entirely too much time ruining his eyes with the 3DS. Twitter: @CodyJohnstone
