UPDATE: Final Fantasy Versus XIII Becomes FF15

[John Funk]

UPDATE: Final Fantasy Versus XIII Becomes FF15

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Square-Enix will reveal the rebranded title at E3.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII is the JRPG fans' version of Half Life 2: Episode 3. First announced alongside the rest of the "Fabula Nova Crystallis" collection in 2006, FFv13 has been infamously languishing in development hell since then. But a possibly-leaked video suggests that we'll finally see some more about the game at this year's E3 - just not as we know it.

The video you see here to the right supposedly comes from a Square-Enix "pre-E3" event. The footage is hardly awe-inspiring or even that revealing, because it seems to be just the very end of a longer trailer. Still, it features a man who is almost certainly Final Fantasy Versus XIII protagonist Noctis, and at the end a brand-new logo: Final Fantasy XV.

If this is the real deal - and again this must be taken with massive helpings of salt - it has some interesting ramifications. Perhaps Square-Enix's executives were tired of Versus XIII's project lead Tetsuya Nomura wasting time. Perhaps they didn't think that a "spinoff" title would garner as much attention (and cash) as one in the main numbered series, and that it couldn't justify the long development cycle. Or, maybe they just felt that it would be an embarrassment for Versus XIII to come out more than two years after the "real" XIII.

We can only speculate, really, and I'm sure there will be plenty of that in the comments.

Also interesting is that, judging by this trailer, Versus XIII (sorry, FF15) won't be PS3-exclusive as originally promised - but not in the way we're most commonly used to seeing. At the end of the trailer, we see logos for the PS3 and the Wii U, but no Xbox 360 in sight. Then again, it's possible that this is a regional thing - Final Fantasy XIII didn't come out on the Xbox 360 in Japan, either.

Again, even the presence of a video doesn't make this anything more than just a rumor, so don't go preaching this as gospel just yet. We'll find out more next week at E3.

Source: MCV UK [http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/final-fantasy-versus-xiii-renamed-final-fantasy-xv/097017]

UPDATE: Square Enix has confirmed that this is a fake [https://twitter.com/Bunnyspatial/status/208626027226869762]. Ah well. Maybe we'll still see Versus XIII at E3 after all.

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[Gizmo1990]

I was a massive FF fanboy. FF6-10 are among my favorite games (9 being my favorite). 10-2 put a dent in my fanboy armor but I told myself that it was not in the main series (plus I liked the bonus happy ending so I let it slide). Then FF 12 came out and that was just Retern of the Jedi without jedi but still I had faith in the series. Then I played 13. There are no words to properly describe how much I hate 13. I have no faith left. I will check the reviews when it comes out but the series is basicaly dead to me at this point.

 

[TheLastSamurai14]

I can see it being good from a marketing standpoint, seeing as how XIII was mostly a flop here in the west, but how in the world would this work in terms of the story? The trailers constantly mention major plot elements that were exclusive to the XIII universe, such as l'Cie and Etro's gate.

Then again, FF Type-0 (renamed from Agito XIII) managed to pull it off pretty well, so this could still work out well.

 

[Lvl 64 Klutz]

Ugh. I remember a time when there were actually surprises *at* E3, and not just a cascade of announcements falling flaccidly out of the internet rumor mill over the two or three weeks leading up to the event.

I can see it being good from a marketing standpoint, seeing as how XIII was mostly a flop here in the west, but how in the world would this work in terms of the story? The trailers constantly mention major plot elements that were exclusive to the XIII universe, such as l'Cie and Etro's gate.

Then again, FF Type-0 (renamed from Agito XIII) managed to pull it off pretty well, so this could still work out well.

It seems to me that, discounting XIV, the plan is to make a more connected multiverse between current and future Final Fantasy games. Something I'm all for.

 

[Andronicus]

I thought the whole Fabula Nova Crystallis idea was a bit vague to begin with (essentially, the entire reasoning behind grouping them together was "there are crystals"), so it wouldn't surprise me if they decided to separate the games. Separating them given the difference in time between releases would make sense too.

At any rate, I'm interested in seeing what the game looks like after all this time, more so than I am concerned about which roman numerals they decide to throw in the title. While XIII shook my faith in the brand, I daresay I will continue to observe major future FF releases with interest.

While we're on the topic, I went back and played through FFXIII again recently, and found I enjoyed it much more than I did the first time. I think it's better if you go in expecting to play Final Fantasy XIII, rather than expecting to play another Final Fantasy game, if that makes sense.

 

[TheLastSamurai14]

I can see it being good from a marketing standpoint, seeing as how XIII was mostly a flop here in the west, but how in the world would this work in terms of the story? The trailers constantly mention major plot elements that were exclusive to the XIII universe, such as l'Cie and Etro's gate.

Then again, FF Type-0 (renamed from Agito XIII) managed to pull it off pretty well, so this could still work out well.

It seems to me that, discounting XIV, the plan is to make a more connected multiverse between current and future Final Fantasy games. Something I'm all for.

I can see the logic in that. It would be a bit nicer to have a more concrete multiverse rather than just Gilgamesh and the Void (and Ivalice, to its extent) being the only real bonding elements between games.

 

[Hashbrick]

Maybe they finally understood that "Versus" is commonly used to describe the genre of fighters and don't want it being confused as one I know I was when they first came out with the title. I think FFXV will be a better title if true, it will give us something to hold on to instead of the FFXIII mark. Also if it indeed is going to go back to the roots of what makes final fantasy great than a fresh new start is defiantly needed.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Might be fake, but I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to change it to FFXV considering how badly FF XIII and its sequel dropped the ball on all accounts. Still, I don't have high hopes for vs XIII. The only way I'd be interested in the series again is if Matsuno was at the helm and considering his sour departure from Square I doubt he (or his old team in general) would be willing to do it. The series is pretty much a zombie at this point. Sad really.

 

[Arcadian Legend]

This is hardly the first time Square has done this. Final Fantasy IX originally began as a spinoff-title, before being bumped up to a proper numbered entry in the series. It's also the best game of the entire series. Funnily enough, it followed VIII, which was pretty much marmite to critics and gamers alike. Who knows, maybe Squenix can pull it off again...

Also interesting is that, judging by this trailer, Versus XIII (sorry, FF15) won't be PS3-exclusive as originally promised - but not in the way we're most commonly used to seeing. At the end of the trailer, we see logos for the PS3 and the Wii U, but no Xbox 360 in sight. Then again, it's possible that this is a regional thing - Final Fantasy XIII didn't come out on the Xbox 360 in Japan, either.

Not wanting to sound like I'm bashing the 360 or anything, but I'd wager it's to do with disc space. Both the PS3 and Wii U use proprietary discs that allow for much, much more data to be held than the regular DVDs used by the 360. The Wii U disc probably won't match Blu-Ray, but rumours say it can still hold 25GB of storage.

Considering that the 360 needed multiple discs just to be able to play Squenix's corridor simulator, it may well be that Versus XIII/XV's allegedly grander scope is simply too much for Squenix to try and squeeze onto regular DVDs.

Sounds plausible. That'd also be the first time a main numbered game was on a Ninty console since FFVI. Not counting the handheld ports/remakes.

 

[irishdude]

dont care what its called as long as it comes out because were not getting kingdom hearts 3 anytime soon and form the little gameplay that has been shown its a spiritual sequel to kingdom hearts

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Sounds plausible. That'd also be the first time a main numbered game was on a Ninty console since FFVI. Not counting the handheld ports/remakes.

Keep in mind this is JAPANESE footage; FFXIII for instance was a PS3 exclusive in Japan despite being multi-platform overseas. It's plausible that if this trumor is true XV would be going over to the 360 in North America and Europe

 

[Pyrian]

...Wait, what about XIV? Is that coming in between or something?

 

[TheLastSamurai14]

...Wait, what about XIV? Is that coming in between or something?

XIV's been out since last year. It's an MMO, like XI was.

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_XIV

 

[dragongit]

...Wait, what about XIV? Is that coming in between or something?

XIV's been out since last year. It's an MMO, like XI was.

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_XIV

It's funny, Just the other day I was looking through Final Fantasy stuff, and I came across Final Fantasy 14 and thought to myself "wait a minute... 14? wern't we on 13-2? when did this happen?" Then I went in to read about it and it all came back. The really REALLY horrible MMO, which apparently was so bad I literally had it removed from memory.

 

[TheLastSamurai14]

...Wait, what about XIV? Is that coming in between or something?

XIV's been out since last year. It's an MMO, like XI was.

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_XIV

It's funny, Just the other day I was looking through Final Fantasy stuff, and I came across Final Fantasy 14 and thought to myself "wait a minute... 14? wern't we on 13-2? when did this happen?" Then I went in to read about it and it all came back. The really REALLY horrible MMO, which apparently was so bad I literally had it removed from memory.

I'm glad it's a really bad MMO, to be honest. I eat the FF franchise up like candy, since it's my absolute favorite franchise. I've pretty much obligated myself to buy every FF game and have a whole collection, but I'll be deactivating my copy of XIV after the update for the very reason that it's the worst thing in recent memory to happen to the franchise. Worse than XIII[footnote]Keep in mind, I am one of the few people who liked XIII. I'm basing this statement off of the public opinion, though.[/footnote], worse than X-2. I played the unrefined version for a few days after it was released, and I certainly don't want to pay $15 a month for it to just sit on my shelf alongside masterpieces like V and IX.

EDIT: Also, keep in mind that direct sequels like XIII-2 and IV: The After Years don't necessarily come out before the next numbered entry in the series. XIII-2 was released a few months after XIV, X-2 was released a full year after XI, and The After Years was originally released a full 16 years after Final Fantasy IV. This doesn't even count games that are part of an ongoing project, like the Ivalice Alliance games or the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.