Final Fantasy XIII - Yoshitaka Amano's Confirmation

[yoshaw]

All your bases are belong to us!!! :lol:

http://xs77.xs.to/pics/06160/FFXIII_answer.jpg :drool:

Picture Text:
JV: Un mot sur vos projets en ce moment?
YA: J'ai participe dernierement au film d'animation LA Planete Des Vents qui n'est pas encore sorti sur les ecrans. Sinon, je travaille actuellement sur Final Fantasy XIII et j'ai bien d'autres projects.

Picture Text Translation:
JV: A word on your projects in this moment?
YA: I dernierement have participle with cartoon film the Planet Of the Winds which did not leave yet on the screens. If not, I currently work on Final Fantasy XIII and I have others well projects.

Le magazine Japan Vibes a eu la chance de rencontrer le peintre et dessinateur Yoshitaka Amano, concepteur visuel de la série Final Fantasy de Square Enix, qui était de passage à Paris le mois dernier à l'occasion du Carrefour de l'Animation. Alors que Final Fantasy XII sur PlayStation 2 est sorti il y a quelques temps au Japon, le célèbre créateur japonais confirme dans une interview accordée au magazine français qu'il travaille en ce moment même sur Final Fantasy XIII sans donner plus de détails, 'J'ai participé dernièrement au film d'animation La planète des vents qui n'est pas encore sorti sur les écrans. Sinon, je travaille actuellement sur Final Fantasy XIII et j'ai bien d'autres projets.' déclare Yoshitaka Amano.

Merci à jpopfan pour l'info.

(Source : Japan Vibes)

Translation:

The magazine Japan Vibes was likely to meet the painter and draughtsman Yoshitaka Amano, originator visual of the series Final Fantasy de Square Enix, which was of passage in Paris last month at the time of the Crossroads of Animation. Whereas Final Fantasy XII on PlayStation 2 left a few times ago in Japan, the famous Japanese creator confirms in an interview granted to the French magazine which it works in this moment even on Final Fantasy XIII without giving more details, ' I lately took part in cartoon film the planet of the winds which did not leave yet on the screens. If not, I currently work on Final Fantasy XIII and I have many other projects.' Declare Yoshitaka Amano.

http://www.jeux-france.com/news15424_yoshitaka-amano-travaille-sur-ffxiii.html

http://xs77.xs.to/pics/06160/FFXIII_answer2.jpg.xs.jpg (http://xs.to/xs.php?h=xs77&d=06160&f=FFXIII_answer2.jpg)

:thumbl: Muhahahaha rep!

[cliffbo]

yoshaw find nice rep will do

[VG Aficionado]

Now we just need a "PS3 exclusive" confirmation and it's a major victory for Sony in Japan... and worldwide.

Two more weeks to find out, hopefully.

[TEEDA]

Hope Nomura will work on FFXIII as well.

[yoshaw]

Hope Nomura will work on FFXIII as well.

I'd bet he's in the Director's chair for this one! (or maybe not since ideally he should be on the Remake project :drunks:)

[Handycrap101]

I hope Squeenix stick with the new FF XII formula. I played the demo and I loved it. I also read alot of impressions and watched some vids aswell and I have to say that this FF might be one of the best if not the best. There is just somthing about the fighting system and the fresh new feel that gets me excited about it.

And rep is given where it is deserved yoshaw.

[Hylian-Advocate]

Man.....this series is great and all...... but after so many iterations I don’t know how many more I could play without a bit of déjà vu.

good news, though, I guess... even though it was expected. I hope that sometime square will do to FF what Capcom did to RE4.

[Raijin]

Man.....this series is great and all...... but after so many iterations I don’t know how many more I could play without a bit of déjà vu.

good news, though, I guess... even though it was expected. I hope that sometime square will do to FF what Capcom did to RE4.

In that case wait for FFXII... Mayeb you will like it! ;)

[LiquidEagle]

No offense, but doesn't Zelda have a little sense of deja vu? Even the sound effects are almost straight samples from 8-bit iterations...

Anyhoo, this is great news, but it was bound to happen sooner or later, right? FFXII certainly looks amazing, and I loved playing with it at E3 in 2004 (I haven't played the demo yet :( ), I'm really excited for that game, and FFXIII should be absolutely ridiculous :-D

[yoshaw]

And rep is given where it is deserved yoshaw.

Thanks to you and everyone else I see in my Userpanel :)

In that case wait for FFXII... Mayeb you will like it! ;)

He'll definitely like it! FFXII is a farcry from the battlesystem of other FF's from the days of yore.

Hylian, checkout the demo of FFXII if you can. I was swept off my feet by the changes. It's like a whole new dimension of Final Fantasy with FFXII. Although I admit that it didn't really click with me the very first instant I lost an easy battle. I figured there must be more to it than I can percieve at the given moment and I was right in thinking that. The Famitsu review clearly said that the process of automating the AI character attack schemes gives the game a fresh outlook. And that's exactly what I'm waiting for FFXII to give us the RE4 like change.

[chrismt]

No confirmation is needed, this series will continue until video games or Square-Enix ceases to exist.










No confirmation is needed, this series will continue until video games or Square-Enix ceases to exist.

QFT

[Data Drain]

Am I the only one not wanting Tetsuya Nomura to be involved with Final Fantasy XIII?

The games [and movie] he directed..really haven't been that great. And look at the success of Final Fantasy XII. Which relied on a completely new development team.

[Junox50]

I believe the PS3 version will be great. It's too bad I havent been able to get into a game like FF since the last two games I played on SNES.

Now, if only they could announce a new Chrono game for PS3, then I'll be really happy. :)

[LiquidEagle]

They aren't completely new...it was a lot of the same team that worked on Vagrant Story, a sorta unknown and very underrated Square RPG for PSOne (you may have heard of it, and welcome to the board btw :-D). I haven't played all the way through Vagrant Story but I've played enough to know that it's an incredible game, and that gives me a good indication of the calibre game we can expect with FFXII.

[Gegenki]

very nice news. I hope square continues the playstation now, everyone else later if you are lucky trend. It makes me buy the playstation and its my main swinging point in the playstation exclusive games arguement :birthday:

all this stuff about the ps3 coming out in french right now sorta makes me wish i didnt drop french for just german. I don't remember a shred of my 2 excrutiating years of french

[Data Drain]

Oh, yeah. I've heard of that..

I don't think the Final Fantasy XII team has ever worked on another Final Fantasy, though. [ Not including the newly added directors, etc. After the original director left the game. ]

[TEEDA]

well FFXII team has few FFVII members and FF tactics members. + vagrant Story members for th battle system.

I hope FFVII , FFVIII and FFX and Tetsuya Nomura as the Charac design will be on the project too.

[Raijin]

Am I the only one not wanting Tetsuya Nomura to be involved with Final Fantasy XIII?

The games [and movie] he directed..really haven't been that great. And look at the success of Final Fantasy XII. Which relied on a completely new development team.

It seems KHII is terrific. However I really cant stand anymore its character design, especially after the horrendous FFX. Yuck...

[cliffbo]

well i just watched Advent children! using internet vernacular OMFG, understanding it I'll use more internet vernacular WTF. IMO awesome

[Fats]

^It is indeed pretty awesome! :)

[cliffbo]

I believe the PS3 version will be great. It's too bad I havent been able to get into a game like FF since the last two games I played on SNES.

Now, if only they could announce a new Chrono game for PS3, then I'll be really happy. :)

take a look at FF12 here (episode 8) and start saving for the best yet. note the crowds in the city!

http://uk.media.games.ign.com/articles/693/693580/vids_1.html

[EvilTaru]

Oh, yeah. I've heard of that..

I don't think the Final Fantasy XII team has ever worked on another Final Fantasy, though. [ Not including the newly added directors, etc. After the original director left the game. ]

Matsuno didn't leave the game, considering the fact that Matsuno at the time he got ill was Producer, Director, Original Concept, plot, scenario, he was working his ass off, he took medical leave because he was ill (considering David Jaffe seemed like he was going to have a nervous breakdown when he had ONE job, Matsuno had FIVE), when he was away Kawazu took over as producer (and had nothing to do with development), Ito and Minagawa took over direction, but Matsuno did return to the project as supervisor overseeing Ito and Minagawa.

[EvilTaru]

Am I the only one not wanting Tetsuya Nomura to be involved with Final Fantasy XIII?

The games [and movie] he directed..really haven't been that great. And look at the success of Final Fantasy XII. Which relied on a completely new development team.

It's not a new team though, this is the same team (except for Jun Akiyama who worked on FFVII) that got 40/40 from Famitsu with Vagrant Story, the ONLY Square-Enix team that has EVER gotten TWO 40/40 scores from Famitsu (Vagrant Story and FFXII), perhaps the best team within Square-Enix by far. Nomura works with the Kitase team for the most part, they make commercially more successful games, but quality-wise the Matsuno team is better.

[EvilTaru]

They aren't completely new...it was a lot of the same team that worked on Vagrant Story, a sorta unknown and very underrated Square RPG for PSOne (you may have heard of it, and welcome to the board btw :-D). I haven't played all the way through Vagrant Story but I've played enough to know that it's an incredible game, and that gives me a good indication of the calibre game we can expect with FFXII.

You should finish it someday, I guess, because it's got an awesome ending. ~_~

[Sephiroth_VII]

Ok, here's a better translation for you. +rep to Yoshaw anyway!!!

JV: A word about your other projects at the moment?
YA: I took part recently in the animated film, The Planet of the Winds which has not yet screened. Other than that, I am currently working on Final Fantasy XIII and I have many other projects.

[LaLiLuLeLo]

well i just watched Advent children! using internet vernacular OMFG, understanding it I'll use more internet vernacular WTF. IMO awesome

Hopefully the dvd and umd release has a warning on the box.
"Warning: This movie contains scenes that might appear totally sweet."

[Sephiroth_VII]

What about: Please do not watch this movie, if you're allergic to 1337-ness.
Yeah, it's that good!!! Thank God for creating Bittorrent...

[Data Drain]

Wow. Am I the only one that thought the movie was average?

They substituted a good story, for fighting scenes. All the dialogue in the movie did was just bring you to the next fight scene. And then, boom. It's over. Music was good, fighting was good, story sucked..

[LaLiLuLeLo]

fighting was AWESOME.
yeah story wasn't sucky, just not up to par with a 50 hour game. It gets better each time I watch it, I catch things I didn't the first time and it makes more and more sense with the game, and other things.

[Z]

not to burst anyone's bubble, but there isn't anything new here at all. we know not only a FF 13 is in the works, but at least two other 'FF' name baring games as well.

the scan does nothing as well since it has pics of previous FF games. two of the three pics are from very old ones too.

wait till the first pic coems out to dance in fire. in the meantime, drench yourself in gas and get the lighter ready.

about Advent Children: this is a movie dedicated to FF7 fans (and CGI fans ;) ). those who do not know FF7 will have absolutely no idea what is going on. those are the ones that will say it had no story, too confusing, etc. this is like a long ending sequence for the game. everything has been told, you struggled throw all of it. now, you see what happened after you thought it all ended.

this is like OVA anime that are meant to be extra episodes or movies for the existing series. you'd be missing alot from only watching the OVA. this is the same.
for those who want to understand everything in the movie/game there is a 147 Word document pages explaining everything. I had it, but lost everything when I formated my laptob and forgot to back that one up. I am sure you can google it. it was made as a documentary of some sort after the movie. very deep stuff. :)

[LiquidEagle]

Matsuno didn't leave the game, considering the fact that Matsuno at the time he got ill was Producer, Director, Original Concept, plot, scenario, he was working his ass off, he took medical leave because he was ill (considering David Jaffe seemed like he was going to have a nervous breakdown when he had ONE job, Matsuno had FIVE), when he was away Kawazu took over as producer (and had nothing to do with development), Ito and Minagawa took over direction, but Matsuno did return to the project as supervisor overseeing Ito and Minagawa.

Taru, I think he was referring to Sakaguchi leaving the series as its mainstay director, not Matsuno bowing out. Also, you detail Matsuno as having 5 jobs while Mr. Jaffe only had 1, but I'm sure Jaffe's Creative Director position encompassed Director/Original Concept (minus art)/plot, and scenario. Hideo Kojima also had some illness related to getting MGS2 done in time and up to par, and needless to say he does A LOT of work on his games. I looked up Matsuno's story today on Wikipedia since I remember hearing awhile ago about him losing some mental stability (which isn't really true), and I wanted to read up on him, and it basically told me everything you said here. His team was behind two of Famitsu's (and they grade TOUGH from what I hear, and by comparison I believe FFX got a 36/40) 40/40, and they only have 7 of those in their entire history. Aside from possibly Kojima or Miyamoto, I don't think any other designer could hold that claim.

You definitely know your "YAZZ" (lol, wikipedia says that's his nickname :-p) though, and I'm glad you imparted your knowledge on us. Needless to say, we have an extremely good game to look forward to with FFXII, and when FFXIII is shown, I hope Matsuno is involved in some level, and Nomura can stick to the FFVII remake since both are in high demand and we can't have one game hogging all the good Squenix directors :laugh:

[Voidler]

I'd bet he's in the Director's chair for this one! (or maybe not since ideally he should be on the Remake project :drunks:)Please god no

[LiquidEagle]

No to the remake or no to Nomura directing?

[Voidler]

No to the remake or no to Nomura directing?No to Nomura being involved with FFXIII at all

[LiquidEagle]

:laugh: Some of y'all are pretty rough on the guy considering he directed 2 very memorable games (Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2), and designed some of the most definitive characters in gaming history :-p

[CreativeWriter]

All I can say is SE, for FFXIII, please make a main character who doesn't look 13. Who are they appealing to with a character who looks like that? Women, maybe, who want a non-threatening lead, but even preteen guys want to play with and identify with a strong character, one who doesn't look like Peter Pan, tilted nose and everything. I understand the whole "start weak, end strong idea" (think young to old Link in OoT), but it's really hard to stare at whatshisname for any length of time without getting angry. Just look at the reaction to Auron in FFX... we love badasses... It's okay you want to make an androgenous spikey-blond haired boy protagonist (see every RPG ever), but let's give him a proper nose and chin and some shoulders would be nice, and let's not dress him in a vest with no sleaves, showing off his wimpy arms. I don't want a character who reminds me how weak my arms are.

Anyway, FFXIII sounds good to me, though I'm not especially excited about FFXII. I'm 90 hrs into DQVIII and loving the turn-based battle system (Will this Rhapthorne guy EVER just die?). I've just gotten Radiata Stories to go through next, too, so I'm okay on PS2 RPGs for the moment. I wasn't especially excited by the XII demo, either. I'm sure I'll buy XII, but bring on XIII. I'm ready for PS3 RPGs!

[Voidler]

:laugh: Some of y'all are pretty rough on the guy considering he directed 2 very memorable games (Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2), and designed some of the most definitive characters in gaming history :-pYet they could've been so much more. Every original character in the game is terrible. The stories are convoluted and plain bad overall and there are some TERRIBLE gameplay decisions. Overall, he's solid, but he should not be interfering with a top tier series like Final Fantasy

[Voidler]

All I can say is SE, for FFXIII, please make a main character who doesn't look 13. Who are they appealing to with a character who looks like that? Women, maybe, who want a non-threatening lead, but even preteen guys want to play with and identify with a strong character, one who doesn't look like Peter Pan, tilted nose and everything. I understand the whole "start weak, end strong idea" (think young to old Link in OoT), but it's really hard to stare at whatshisname for any length of time without getting angry. Just look at the reaction to Auron in FFX... we love badasses... It's okay you want to make an androgenous spikey-blond haired boy protagonist (see every RPG ever), but let's give him a proper nose and chin and some shoulders would be nice, and let's not dress him in a vest with no sleaves, showing off his wimpy arms. I don't want a character who reminds me how weak my arms are.

Anyway, FFXIII sounds good to me, though I'm not especially excited about FFXII. I'm 90 hrs into DQVIII and loving the turn-based battle system (Will this Rhapthorne guy EVER just die?). I've just gotten Radiata Stories to go through next, too, so I'm okay on PS2 RPGs for the moment. I wasn't especially excited by the XII demo, either. I'm sure I'll buy XII, but bring on XIII. I'm ready for PS3 RPGs!Japanese heroes have ALWAYS been ambiguous, that's who they're appealing to. I think it's kind of the idea of the average person becoming a hero, rather than just having some big macho guy as the hero.

I would just prefer the option to create my own character when it comes to it though

[CreativeWriter]

Japanese heroes have ALWAYS been ambiguous, that's who they're appealing to. I think it's kind of the idea of the average person becoming a hero, rather than just having some big macho guy as the hero.

I would just prefer the option to create my own character when it comes to it though

So I guess the real question is what's wrong with the Japanese... I'm kidding of course. We wouldn't have PS3 without them... or sushi. I love sushi. Your idea of creating a character is brilliant. Why haven't Tiger Woods-like character creation systems come to Japanese-style RPGs? Is it all the cut-scenes? Maybe if PS3 is powerful enough to move away from pre-rendered cut scenes (though I have a hard time imagining SE would do that) we'll have a more appealing male lead. I think I was a bit shocked by the "wimpiness" of FFXII's Vaan: http://www.square-haven.com/rotw/images/vaan.jpg Quick, is that Brooke Shields in the 80s? http://www.topcelebritypages.com/pcim/18266_small.jpg

At least the main characters in X and DQVIII looked like real human beings. http://www.plif.net/fileserv/wallpaper/FFX%20Tidus.jpg
http://www.konsolifin.net/ylli/upload/uutiset/ps2/1117089013_dqviii_1.jpg Whatshisname in XII seriously looks like Peter Pan.

[GUNDAMSEED]

i love this guy works, but he's never had a system where his work can come to life . I can't wait to see how his art is going to look on ps3.

[Voidler]

So I guess the real question is what's wrong with the Japanese... I'm kidding of course. We wouldn't have PS3 without them... or sushi. I love sushi. Your idea of creating a character is brilliant. Why haven't Tiger Woods-like character creation systems come to Japanese-style RPGs? Is it all the cut-scenes? Maybe if PS3 is powerful enough to move away from pre-rendered cut scenes (though I have a hard time imagining SE would do that) we'll have a more appealing male lead. I think I was a bit shocked by the "wimpiness" of FFXII's Vaan: http://www.square-haven.com/rotw/images/vaan.jpg Quick, is that Brooke Shields in the 80s? http://www.topcelebritypages.com/pcim/18266_small.jpg

At least the main characters in X and DQVIII looked like real human beings. http://www.plif.net/fileserv/wallpaper/FFX%20Tidus.jpg
http://www.konsolifin.net/ylli/upload/uutiset/ps2/1117089013_dqviii_1.jpg Whatshisname in XII seriously looks like Peter Pan.I'm guessing it's probably FMV's. It seems though that next gen the graphics will probably be good enough that they might aswell do away with FMV and use ingame graphics purely for the cutscenes. Then you could have create-a-character options

[yoshaw]

All I can say is SE, for FFXIII, please make a main character who doesn't look 13. Who are they appealing to with a character who looks like that? Women, maybe, who want a non-threatening lead, but even preteen guys want to play with and identify with a strong character

Ever heard of Vampire Hunter D? That's Amano's badass character ala Dante of DMC. Hopefully, it'll be in the same vain as that in FFXIII. Do some research on that anime or character. If you already haven't that is.

http://www.projectbag.com/vhd/pics/bloodlust/d/d08.jpg

http://data1.blog.de/blog/a/actarus192/img/d02.jpg

[Z]

did someone say Vampire Hunter D? *makes a Scotish-Techno dance*
just add Blood Lust next to it and I'll speak Chinese with that dance!

I LOVE that movie! damn perfect!
*need to hold in the anime monster inside* ....*breath in. breath out*

hooo...haaa..you don't want to unlesh my anime side here. trust me on that one.

now, the pic in the scan that looks like D is one of the previous FF characters. he was in the FF Anthology for PS1. I don't remember if he was from FF 4, 5 or 6 though. but I did see him as art concepts and in the CG intro of the remakes.

sorry, got to say something about D:
the two D movies are based on a novel series. the writer has written 4 novels in that universe. the first movie was in the 80's. the second in the 90's. damn them! make anime movies for the last two novels sometime this century! I want my D fix now!!

[kaphwan]

Few people know how awesome Vampire Hunter D is. Damn the non-anime people.

I liked how in FFX the main character/protagonist isn't really the one saving the world.

Do that again!

I could never get used to making my own character. Unless I could pick from a few different voice types.

Would they be able to record 'all' of the dialogue by the main character a few different times to cater for all tastes? For instance, every English Translation of the Hero Main Character Boy sounds like a flaming girl. Blu-Ray will find use in this regard.

As well... how do we name a character and still have that name read in voice acting? Huh?

[Killing Moon]

Wow, like we didn’t know this was going to happen. I appreciate the news, but isn’t this just a bit blatantly obvious by now? FF XIII, on and on and on…duh.

It’d be nice if Square was as versatile as they were back in the PSOne days. This FF/Kingdom Hearts-everything BS is redundant as hell and it’s not like they’re broke anymore.

[LaLiLuLeLo]

Yeah it's not really a surprise.

Yeah Bloodlust is definitely one of my favorite animes.

It'd be sweet to see them apply Amano's art style to the games, the power is certainly there, rather than just going for realism. Take an artsy approach to the visuals. It'd be AMAZERING.

I really liked his painting concepts he did for FFIX, but then the actual style in the game was like, 'man that's weak'. I know why they did it, but his character designs were better than the art direction they used in the game, to me.

[venomv]

As well... how do we name a character and still have that name read in voice acting? Huh?

Did you notice that in FFX they never accually said the name Tidus, because you can name him, I don't think they are doing the same thing in FFXII, but it is easy if you write the dialogue well.

[LiquidEagle]

Wow, so much hate for the slightly effeminate male leads. Well they're not all "slightly," but you get the idea, :laugh:

That's how they like their heroes though, and I think there's a lot of good aspects to that. Male leads with aspects of a female are better suited for emotional parts (see: love stories), plus as a fighter it makes them look much more on the agile side than just a brute. In an RPG where we often need to see the softer side of our character, it's a lot easier when they're more like a female and less like a stone, y'know? I'm not saying they're taking the easy road by making a character they don't have to work hard at to place emotional value on, but I can't imagine a character looking like our American heroes (Tom Cruise/young Clint Eastwood/Hugh Jackman type) really filling the shoes that people like Tidus have. The closest I think Square might have gotten to making a hero American gamers could identify with was Squall from FFVIII, and look at how many people absolutely hated how bland the guy was in terms of emotion, y'know?

[venomv]

Squall was the best part of FFVIII, but that might have been cause he acts like me. I really don't mind any of the main hero's though, even hey are feminen at times. I would rather have speed then strenth in just about any game.

[Killing Moon]

Wow, so much hate for the slightly effeminate male leads. Well they're not all "slightly," but you get the idea, :laugh:

That's how they like their heroes though, and I think there's a lot of good aspects to that. Male leads with aspects of a female are better suited for emotional parts (see: love stories), plus as a fighter it makes them look much more on the agile side than just a brute. In an RPG where we often need to see the softer side of our character, it's a lot easier when they're more like a female and less like a stone, y'know? I'm not saying they're taking the easy road by making a character they don't have to work hard at to place emotional value on, but I can't imagine a character looking like our American heroes (Tom Cruise/young Clint Eastwood/Hugh Jackman type) really filling the shoes that people like Tidus have. The closest I think Square might have gotten to making a hero American gamers could identify with was Squall from FFVIII, and look at how many people absolutely hated how bland the guy was in terms of emotion, y'know?

In THAT particular respect, you’re right.

But does every friggin’ Square RPG HAVE to resemble a cheesy Shojo anime all the time? It’s really tiresome after the umpteenth time already and this has been happening redundantly since FFVII. If this is what’s going to keep happening, then they need to go back to where they were in the PSOne era: make RPGs for the mainstream fans (FF, Kingdom Hearts) and other designs for more hardcore fans who don’t give two shites about soap operas all the time (ala Vagrant Story, for example).

Anyone hear what I’m sayin’? Enough is F’ing enough, man.

[Infernal]

I personally always wanted the main character to be like Sephiroth, hes just WAY cooler than the main characters they give you.
I'm 90 hrs into DQVIII and loving the turn-based battle system (Will this Rhapthorne guy EVER just die?).
Did I miss something in DQVIII? Everyone else is like 100 hours into the game and still like halfway through while I completely finished it in 70 hours including the monster arena, every sidequest I could find, and probably 15-20 hours of that was spent looking for treasure chests everywhere, what do you people do for all this time!

[LiquidEagle]

In THAT particular respect, you’re right.

But does every friggin’ Square RPG HAVE to resemble a cheesy Shojo anime all the time? It’s really tiresome after the umpteenth time already and this has been happening redundantly since FFVII. If this is what’s going to keep happening, then they need to go back to where they were in the PSOne era: make RPGs for the mainstream fans (FF, Kingdom Hearts) and other designs for more hardcore fans who don’t give two shites about soap operas all the time (ala Vagrant Story, for example).

Anyone hear what I’m sayin’? Enough is F’ing enough, man.

It's been happening since FFVII, which was then the game's graphics got detailed enough to show the main character's actions, plus FFVI starred a female anyways :-p. I'm tempted to say that that style of hero is every bit as much a part of FF as being 3D is, and I think we would have seen similar hero designs had the older FF games been graphically able of showing what the caracters looked like. If we're talking about appearance, I still think that Ashley Riot looks somewhat effeminate (his name doesn't even need mentioning), plus other games like Chrono Cross had a good amount of feminininity (did I spell that right? it's a doozy to say :laugh:) I think Akira Toriyama hit a great median with Chrono's design for SNES though. Just get him back with Squenix & Nintendo to work on a new Chrono game so he can stop wasting his time on that Blue Dragon game (I don't care if it's Mistwalker, it hasn't interested me thus far considering who's involved) :-p

[GTShotoKen]

did someone say Vampire Hunter D? *makes a Scotish-Techno dance*
just add Blood Lust next to it and I'll speak Chinese with that dance!

I LOVE that movie! damn perfect!
*need to hold in the anime monster inside* ....*breath in. breath out*

hooo...haaa..you don't want to unlesh my anime side here. trust me on that one.

now, the pic in the scan that looks like D is one of the previous FF characters. he was in the FF Anthology for PS1. I don't remember if he was from FF 4, 5 or 6 though. but I did see him as art concepts and in the CG intro of the remakes.

sorry, got to say something about D:
the two D movies are based on a novel series. the writer has written 4 novels in that universe. the first movie was in the 80's. the second in the 90's. damn them! make anime movies for the last two novels sometime this century! I want my D fix now!!

BloodLust was probably my favorite of the two.

Well anyways, I am most anixous to see what kind of battle system that will be worked out in the next iteration of Final Fantasy.

Will it be completely real-time(ala Kingdom Hearts), or will it be like FFXII?

Only time will tell I guess.

I sure hope those graphics will be pretty.

P.S- I wonder how large the scale of FFXIII's world will be? I hope it topes Oblivion.

[jaxmkii]

It seems KHII is terrific. However I really cant stand anymore its character design, especially after the horrendous FFX. Yuck... i would bang Lulu all day:lick:

[Z]

nay, Lulu is too cool to think of her that way. that goes for Pain as well. she could be Lulu's twin sister! Yuna is to retarted to get physically close to. the one that tops them all is Renoa. damn that chick is fine! the only other chick that looks better than her is Squall...damn, she turns out to be a freaking she-male! dman Jap perverts!

*goes back at putting Renoa at the top*

[cliffbo]

has everyone gone mad tonight!!! there not real fellas, now sit down and have a coffee.

[LiquidEagle]

:laugh: I got my biggest laugh when I thought Z was talking about The Pain from MGS3

[yoshaw]

You know what this might sound racist but it isn't. Because it's in the same vain as calling Japanese lead choices as feminine.

Why does the western public so much hate skinny guys with long hair? Is it because every other male in the US is like a 'walking tank on steroids'(very true though). I mean not to burst any bubbles but just hearing people groan over Japanese style of leads sickens me of the hypocrisy that is evident in the choice of the leads by US developers.

I am a skinny person and I don't carry 2 arms around me the size of chimneys. Why do I have to live with guys in the Unreal franchise that are like 60inches around the chest and 40 inches around the biceps? If Japanese devs are guilty of making their leads skinny and with long hair because their everyday real life male is also similar in look. What's the fudge is wrong with that? I am a male, skinny and grow hair on my scalp that if not cut could become lengthy. So does that make me fking like a female to all burly loving guys. To think like that is pure retarded IMO.

The west has to cope with the Japanese style of skinny leads because its their way of representing(more like associating) Japan's average male with their games. It's also true on a global bases. Not all men are walking tanks. Whereas in the west, it's the opposite. Men are indeed gymholics, like to grow chest the size of 34DD boobs while hiding it with a proportional bicep on either side of their newly grown tits. Somehow that's not whack but very cool to western people for obvious reasons similar to those of Japanese devs.[/rant]

Wanted to get that out of my system. Thanks for reading, don't get offended. Hope I haven't .... even though I know there's no helping but step on a nerve or two.

@ Killing moon. Dude, what umptienth time? FFVII, FFVIII, FFX and then FFXII were the games that utilized the Japanese style of the lead character as a skinny guy. Sheesh. That's 4 games bro. It's not like they made you look at sleek male figures in-game since FF1.

Man, I don't care if people hate on skinny leads. I like them because I can associate myself easily with them rather than a tank with chimnies for arms and legs. I think a positive balance of west and east was maintained by Hideo Kojima very well. Solid snake's character is neither skinny nor too bulky as in MGS2 and 3 (though MGS4 overdid the muscles representation I think).

Don't take this as an offense please. I just hate it when people associate gaming with their subjective region and want everything to look like how they associate with their surroundings. I personally, want both. I don't hate hate the Unreal characters, neither do I hate the FF leads. I like anything that can provide me a good attachment to a character ending in me remembering him for years to come. So far, only Japanese leads have been able to succeed in doing so with relative ease. Looking forward to some heavy muscular dude to change that perception sometime soon(hopefully).

[whiteknight]

Speaking of a female lead, a strong female lead (opposite of Yuna) in FFXIII would be interesting IMO. At least it would shake the "Square-Enix formula" up a bit.

[VG Aficionado]

Man, I don't care if people hate on skinny leads. I like them because I can associate myself easily with them rather than a tank with chimnies for arms and legs. I think a positive balance of west and east was maintained by Hideo Kojima very well. Solid snake's character is neither skinny nor too bulky as in MGS2 and 3 (though MGS4 overdid the muscles representation I think).Seems many people think that's some kind of flaw, but we MGS fans know that feature, along with Snake's new suit, cannot be coincidental.

[LaLiLuLeLo]

Now now, don't assimilate this into another mgs thread VG. hahaha.
------------------

I don't mind the japanese male designs. I look at it from the perspective of, is it a good character design or not. And I most usually end up saying 'yeah I think so.' I liked tidus' character cuz he wasn't the same old, 'Meh, some animal died, I don't care about the world,' emo kid from FF7 and 8 (don't get me wrong, I love Cloud, this was a nice change of pace). A sunny, bright character for the lead isn't a bad thing. Hell it's nice to have a lead who isn't either (a)apathetic or (b)manic depressive. And as far as the physical appearance, get over it. Gamers need to stop living who they want to be through fictitious characters in a game. Play that game and that story with those characters, and just be part of that universe. It's like people have to live out their masculinity/sexual frustration through a beefcake hero archetype, cuz they're not manly enough themselves for real(?) I mean, is that what it is?

Yoshaw, you're kind of off the mark. The problem isn't that american guys are all buff and have to relate to the physical appearance of video game heroes, more often the case is we're scrawny or overweight and have to live our 'manliness' through buff video game heroes. That's my theory anyway. Much like the west's pecularly strong hatred for Raiden. I mean, damn, let it go. Same thing can be applied to guys not playing 'kiddie' platformers and things like that. They feel immasculated when they play it (they've probably never scored, or they just had a weak relationship with their mom).

With that said, Vaan looks like a girl. He is darn pretty. I'm still gonna play FF12 and likely will f***ing love it, but my unbiased reaction was, 'damn. he looks like a girl.' I'd draw the line at tidus. I love all kinds of characters so long as they're well developed. I mean, hey, auron was completely badass. Every character serves a purpose.

Maybe japan is going through their 'United States Circa 1980s' phase: The guy who looks the most like a bitch gets all the women.

[LiquidEagle]

Why does the western public so much hate skinny guys with long hair? Is it because every other male in the US is like a 'walking tank on steroids'(very true though). I mean not to burst any bubbles but just hearing people groan over Japanese style of leads sickens me of the hypocrisy that is evident in the choice of the leads by US developers.

I am a skinny person and I don't carry 2 arms around me the size of chimneys. Why do I have to live with guys in the Unreal franchise that are like 60inches around the chest and 40 inches around the biceps? If Japanese devs are guilty of making their leads skinny and with long hair because their everyday real life male is also similar in look. What's the fudge is wrong with that? I am a male, skinny and grow hair on my scalp that if not cut could become lengthy. So does that make me fking like a female to all burly loving guys. To think like that is pure retarded IMO.

The west has to cope with the Japanese style of skinny leads because its their way of representing(more like associating) Japan's average male with their games. It's also true on a global bases. Not all men are walking tanks. Whereas in the west, it's the opposite. Men are indeed gymholics, like to grow chest the size of 34DD boobs while hiding it with a proportional bicep on either side of their newly grown tits. Somehow that's not whack but very cool to western people for obvious reasons similar to those of Japanese devs.[/rant]

Wanted to get that out of my system. Thanks for reading, don't get offended. Hope I haven't .... even though I know there's no helping but step on a nerve or two.

@ Killing moon. Dude, what umptienth time? FFVII, FFVIII, FFX and then FFXII were the games that utilized the Japanese style of the lead character as a skinny guy. Sheesh. That's 4 games bro. It's not like they made you look at sleek male figures in-game since FF1.

Man, I don't care if people hate on skinny leads. I like them because I can associate myself easily with them rather than a tank with chimnies for arms and legs. I think a positive balance of west and east was maintained by Hideo Kojima very well. Solid snake's character is neither skinny nor too bulky as in MGS2 and 3 (though MGS4 overdid the muscles representation I think).

Don't take this as an offense please. I just hate it when people associate gaming with their subjective region and want everything to look like how they associate with their surroundings. I personally, want both. I don't hate hate the Unreal characters, neither do I hate the FF leads. I like anything that can provide me a good attachment to a character ending in me remembering him for years to come. So far, only Japanese leads have been able to succeed in doing so with relative ease. Looking forward to some heavy muscular dude to change that perception sometime soon(hopefully).

Well said, yoshaw -- now I have to ask where you're from though! Are you Japanese yourself?

It's true that Americans like their burly males but I see a lot more of the Sam Fisher-type male leads in our games and movies, just look at guys like Christian Bale (Batman Begins and Equilibrium) and Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible, and people like that. They're average-height (5'11"-ish) males with dark hair and usually a strong jaw (whatever that means), and not ridiculously muscular (though Christian Bale looks uber-buff in Equilibrium if I may say so). These Unreal Tournament guys are like the equivalent to Barrett in FF7 -- secondary characters. Most Americans definitely can't identify with these big muscular guys -- we have an obesity problem in America and we aren't exactly all gymaholics ;). We certainly idealize muscleheads in a way but we also know that there isn't much of a brain behind the brawn most of the time.

I think the big thing is that Japanese heroes often look like rock stars. Rock stars have always had a very feminine side to them (look no further than Robert Plant, guys). Long hair, skinny and tight clothing, and we think/thought they were awesome. I'm not condoning ass-less chaps, or people like David Lee Roth (:-p), but I think it's safe to say that Japanese characters are often designed to reflect rock stars since they're the top of the "cool" totem pole. Just look at Dante from DMC, and it even goes back as far as Megaman, whose Japanese name is Rockman because Rock & Roll was a big influence on the Mega Man designer. I can't remember his name for the life of me, I think it's Keiji Inafune. Correct me if I'm wrong :-p

Anyhoo, that's about all I have to say. I can see the merit of both types of heroes, and I think in the end we should all look at MGS2 as the perfect example of a effeminate male (Raiden) being shaped up to par (S3) with American male leads (Solid Snake) so there's really no difference :-p

[yoshaw]

I also believe the respective developers in both regions(US and Japan) were grown up while reading the art of manga and comics in their surroundings.

US devs of now age were young when comics were the 'IN' thing. They grew up reading X-men and whatever else was out there and we see that in some games. Sheesh, it looks like I hate Unreal but I don't. Still its the game that comes to mind the second to look at US comics of age yore.

While the Japanese devs are surrounded in a culture of manga that represents the likeness for both female and male crowd. Resulting in lead characters that are a mix of both genders. A leading character 'Izumi' in a very popular manga called 'Gantz' comes to mind. And 'Sephiroth' would be an ideal example for game related leads idealized from such Japanese mangas.

I think that pretty much is the gist behind today's US devs choosing tank sized characters to associate them with the comics loving generation that has grown now to be the adults of gaming.

And Japan's devs opting for characters lookalikes that are uber popular in on-going top selling manga's of Today's Japan hoping to reflect similar topselling figures in their franchises.

PS: We're sooooo offtopic. So here's ontopic. > I love amano's artwork and I'm not going to sweat for a second of how he's going to design the lead of FFXIII. The guy is a genius and his work has been amazing all along. I'm expecting nothing short of more memorable characters once again. I mean just look back at the recent FF's. Japanese character designers are good at attaching a player with their chosen designs. For example, tell me this.

Don't you all easily picture Cloud, Squall and Tidus like in a second when you recall them in your mind? Anyways, FFXIII exclusive to PS3 will pwn the competition. Screw the haters :P and I'm not contributing anymore of the offtopic debate ;)

[n1n9tean]

I really hope it isn't THIS. (http://www.ps3informer.com/playstation-3/news/final-fantasy-mmorpg-in-development-for-ps3-004152.php)

[Junox50]

This guy sounds cool.

Junox likes female leads, so there. :)

[GTShotoKen]

Well said, yoshaw -- now I have to ask where you're from though! Are you Japanese yourself?

It's true that Americans like their burly males but I see a lot more of the Sam Fisher-type male leads in our games and movies, just look at guys like Christian Bale (Batman Begins and Equilibrium) and Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible, and people like that. They're average-height (5'11"-ish) males with dark hair and usually a strong jaw (whatever that means), and not ridiculously muscular (though Christian Bale looks uber-buff in Equilibrium if I may say so). These Unreal Tournament guys are like the equivalent to Barrett in FF7 -- secondary characters. Most Americans definitely can't identify with these big muscular guys -- we have an obesity problem in America and we aren't exactly all gymaholics ;). We certainly idealize muscleheads in a way but we also know that there isn't much of a brain behind the brawn most of the time.

I think the big thing is that Japanese heroes often look like rock stars. Rock stars have always had a very feminine side to them (look no further than Robert Plant, guys). Long hair, skinny and tight clothing, and we think/thought they were awesome. I'm not condoning ass-less chaps, or people like David Lee Roth (:-p), but I think it's safe to say that Japanese characters are often designed to reflect rock stars since they're the top of the "cool" totem pole. Just look at Dante from DMC, and it even goes back as far as Megaman, whose Japanese name is Rockman because Rock & Roll was a big influence on the Mega Man designer. I can't remember his name for the life of me, I think it's Keiji Inafune. Correct me if I'm wrong :-p

Anyhoo, that's about all I have to say. I can see the merit of both types of heroes, and I think in the end we should all look at MGS2 as the perfect example of a effeminate male (Raiden) being shaped up to par (S3) with American male leads (Solid Snake) so there's really no difference :-p


Wow Liquid, you pretty much wrapped that topic up.

[Z]

Gamers need to stop living who they want to be through fictitious characters in a game. Play that game and that story with those characters, and just be part of that universe.
you bring a very good point here. a game shouldn't be played how some people want, rather, they should be played as how the creator wanted his game to be played.
this is like watching two people arguing in a disney movie and you scream "shoot his head off!". well, you might want that, but certainly not the creators. this is just like saying "why not talke it out like civilized men" in a violent movie scene where two guys argue and one blows the other sucker's head off. that is just not what the movie/game is about. that isn't what was intended by the creators.
It's like people have to live out their masculinity/sexual frustration through a beefcake hero archetype, cuz they're not manly enough themselves for real(?) I mean, is that what it is?
a person like that seriously needs counseling.

[LiquidEagle]

I completely see what you're saying, Z, and that really fits in with games being a form of artistic expression of the creators who are trying to tell a story. Kojima, certainly one of the most artistic game creators I can think of overall (if not the most), has also conceded though that game development is still a service industry. You make a product for somebody's enjoyment and you humbly present that product to give somebody entertainment. It can't be all about what you want to say as an artist, so I hope people don't get the wrong idea sometimes and be selfish in regards to what they want to say as a high & mighty game designer.

[kaphwan]

No, to really shake up the Square-Enix formula.

Make the lead character a gay black guy.

Edit: With bad hair.

[LiquidEagle]

:lol:

Don't forget to give the Vietnam Vets their fair share of the diversity inclusion too.

[kaphwan]

Since Final Fantasies need to be in alternate realities... there can be flashbacks of the Unpopular War that he was part of. We'd have to establish the mood of the time... just like any other Final Fantasy.

And yes, I'm serious about this.

[LiquidEagle]

The "spit-upon Veteran" is actually an interesting character to play around with, and it's been pretty successful in movies. Just look at Walter in The Big Lebowski :laugh:

[kaphwan]

Yeah, but Final Fantasy always proves to be awesomer in real life.

So he gets special powers from his time in the warzone... kinda like Agent Orange Exposure but awesomer.

[LiquidEagle]

:laugh:

Well Solid Snake has Post-Traumatic (I can't think of the other term to describe that), that's about as close as we are to having something like that I think.

[overclocked]

I wonder if i have time to play FFXII(il need to buy that guide also VG).

Anyway regarding the lead-characters i think its the charm and the more i have seen some anime and manga i really like it. I think they did incorporate western influences in FFX.

One thing though is about lead-character being male or female. I think its pretty natural for a man to not come in the game/identifing/relate with the character if its of opposite sex. Silent hill 3 is a good example imo for me.

It maybe would be different in a FF game as you "play" with a whole team
but i think the male/female questions is rather big in that sense, atleast fir me.

[GTShotoKen]

No, to really shake up the Square-Enix formula.

Make the lead character a gay black guy.

Edit: With bad hair.

Your speakin to my heart man, except for the gay part (that's too big of a jump).http://users.pandora.be/eforum/emoticons4u/sad/014.gif

You could have a gay super villain that is even more evil than Sephiroth. Now that would be amazing.