Back in E3 2006, Square-Enix drove the press and Final Fantasy fans wild with it's announcement with it's newest, and biggest ambitious project yet: Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII. A collaboration of three games (some rumors suggested the existence of a forth title), each different games sharing the name "Final Fantasy XIII" derivatively, each with different stories that centers around the mythology of crystals. The three titles are developed by three different development teams, each sharing many of Square-Enix's notable employees like Final Fantasy character developer, Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children director Tetsuya Nomura, who is present on all three projects as main character designer.
The first title under the FNC:FFXII project is the flagship title, Final Fantasy XIII, directed by Motomu Toriyama (Final Fantasy X-2), announced as a PlayStation 3 exclusive but later decided mid-production to be ported to the X-Box 360. The second title is Final Fantasy Agito XIII, a title originally planned as a game for mobile phones, but later switched to the PlayStation Portable early in development, a decision probably made in response to the lackluster of previous Square-Enix mobile titles outside Japan. And the last title announced is Final Fantasy Versus XIII, a title that places Tetsuya Nomura back at the helm as main character designer and creative director for a game since Kingdom Hearts II.
Development for all three games were started relatively around the same time, although when progress with Final Fantasy XIII was facing what they stated issues with the HD console development (although some theories speculate the fear of Versus XIII's hype overshadowing Final Fantasy XIII, hence hampering it's success), Square-Enix placed Versus XIII on hold to help the production of Final Fantasy XIII further along. Five years later since E3 2006, Final Fantasy XIII finally was released in Japan in December 2009, worldwide in the spring of this year. The game received generous sales in both Japan and worldwide, being the fastest selling title in the series, and was met with generally positive reviews with most game journalists. For the record, I found the game utterly disappointing, for reasons I wish not to elaborate for this blog.
With Final Fantasy XIII done and out of the way, it seemed only natural that Versus XIII and Agito XIII would gain more spotlight and be on the top of Square-Enix's priority list. Quite frankly, the case seems rather converse. Square-Enix seems content to hold Versus XIII and Agito XIII on the backburner, while instead placing the spotlight on games like Final Fantasy XIV, Square-Enix's second MMO following Final Fantasy XI; 3rd Birthday, a PSP addition to the Parasite Eve franchise; and Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, a prequel set in events prior to the first Kingdom Hearts game. Additional announcement regarding Versus XIII has been scarce at best, with updates being vague as to the game's development, although director Tetsuya Nomura has insisted that the game is making some progress, releasing new screenshots of the game to Japanese game magazine Famistu months ago. Although it has been announced that Versus XIII would be making an appearance at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show 2010 after a no-show at E3 this year, FNC:FFXIII co-producer Yoshinori Kitase stressed that the possibility of a 2011 release was not likely, suggesting that 2012 may seem more probable.
With all due respect to the folks at Square-Enix, this farce is getting really old, really fast. Constantly teasing about the possibilities of a Final Fantasy VII remake is one thing. And to be honest, at this point, I am growing more assured that if that day never comes, I would remain ever content. But this lack of a sensible focus is bullshit. If Square-Enix had been able to retain it's status as a pristine developer it build itself today as it did from the original PlayStation era and further back, and limited their collective creativity to one to the max three games at a time -- Square has every right to pull a Blizzard or Valve, in which they can take all the time in the world they need and be able to deliver excellent games. It can be said that the company, however, has lost much of it's edge. While many of Square's dream team have remained with the company, the departure of franchise creator Sakaguchi seemed to taken somewhat on a toll to Square.
Final Fantasy XII, it's first game without Sakaguchi involved, has been received with mixed reviews among fans, at the very least maintained an a decent amount of flare that could be seen in previous titles even with it's change of gameplay suited for more Western-style of RPG. The FFV II compilation, as a whole, was mostly a cheap milking ploy to bank in more from the FF VII legacy (even though I admit to have enjoyed much of Advent Children, and Crisis Core but to a much smaller degree). Now it seems Square has gotten a little too crazy with Kingdom Hearts, providing more filler games than actual sequels. In all seriousness, what more could fans seriously want more so than a Kingdom Hearts 3? I can almost guarantee that fans would be more eager to dig their wallets to pay for that than being handed a portable game that offers little relevance to the main story. And at the rate Versus XIII is taking, it'll be 2019 before Kingdom Hearts 3 will be released, and by then, the fanbase would be too burned out waiting to care anymore for it (or one would hope).
Even now, Versus XIII has remained one of my most anticipated games to date, and my most anticipate title of the whole Fabula Nova Cystallis compilation. Judging from what has been presented in early teasers and trailers, and the minuscule morsels of info provided by Nomura, Versus XIII has the potential to be the best Final Fantasy in a long time. And, as a fan of Square since Final Fantasy VII, this could very well be their last chance to hold on to whatever last hope I have for the company, as much as I hate to think about it. Square needs to learn to focus and direct it's energy more effectively, if it hopes to live up to their legacy as one of the top developers in the gaming industry.
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