In an interview over at the Official Playstation Blog, the Final Fantasy XIII’s producer, Yoshinori Kitase, and director, Motomu Toriyama answered some of the public’s most common questions. You can head on over to the blog for the full interview but I’ve picked out the key points made.
The game has roughly 50 to 60 hours of gameplay for the main story, with around 10 hours being cutscenes, but if you aim to complete all the side missions too then you’ll be playing for almost 120 hours. I expected the latest instalment to be around this length but one thing I didn’t expect was that there will be no installation. This is quite an achievement on Square’s part. Running a game so extensive and graphically pleasing with no install really shows how lazy some developers can be with other games. Bear in mind the 360 version will be on three discs. Aren’t we lucky?
For those of you unsure about the game, Square still haven’t decided whether or not there will be a demo. Home content is also being considered, with Japan set to receive a load including costumes and spaces but no word on Europe yet. DLC has been highly rumoured and with the back of the 360 box showing “game-content download” it is highly probably that we will see it. Let’s just hope it’s not exclusive to the Xbox.
Final Fantasy XIII is released in 28 days and I, for one, cannot wait.
Kamokazi-UK | 09/02/2010 08:34
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Eather someone has been looking at Naughty Dog’s code, or all that time spen on the new engine has paid off!!
eye8have9you3 | 09/02/2010 08:34
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Awesome, can’t wait!, is there any word on a special edition or anything yet here in the UK
SpikeyMikey23 | 09/02/2010 08:48
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25/26 days if shopto send em out early!!
AdmiringWorm | 09/02/2010 09:00
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UK already have the Collectors edition, as the rest of Europe have as well
deadairspace | 09/02/2010 08:40
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Wow, no installation – that is impressive, especially after the amount of time we waited when installing MGS4.
FluBBa | 09/02/2010 08:52
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(no HDD install) I guess that is one of the reasons why the game is so linear then…
YOURMUMANDME | 09/02/2010 11:35
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As opposed to …..?
Amphlett | 09/02/2010 09:39
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No installation and no swapping discs over? Impressed.
Swapping discs [chuckle], who swaps discs nowadays?
TheDeathAvenger | 09/02/2010 09:45
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The worst review i’ve seen of FFXIII is the PSM3 review, “Final Fantasy XIII’s grand ambition is also its downfall. The game feels bloated and repetitive – too much movie, not enough game”. With the game out in about 4 weeks time, I and many of you will find out just how we feel about it. Oh and yeah no game install is great, but not unexpected.
SpikeyMikey23 | 09/02/2010 10:03
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IS the magazine out yet, wouldnt mind a read of that
TheDeathAvenger | 09/02/2010 11:48
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I’ve got a subscription, so I think I get it earlier than you can get it in the shops. Try here.
Roynaldo | 09/02/2010 11:44
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i wonder if they played the full 60 hours. the beggining of FFs do usually start off with a few story explaining vids.
cc_star | 09/02/2010 11:50
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I’ve heard the final 20hrs are awesome, but the first 20hrs are a little weak… I wonder how many reviewers just play it for about 10-20 hrs and think that’ll do
Louise | 09/02/2010 09:58
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No game install?? I’m in shock XP
Tuffcub | 09/02/2010 10:01
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I’d rather have an install to cut down on load times.
Roynaldo | 09/02/2010 11:45
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same here, devs should have mandatory optional installs forced upon them.
cc_star | 09/02/2010 11:52
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But some devs don’t need installs or load times, look at Dead Space, Uncharted/2 Dante’s Inferno… the whole game is designed to be streamed into the PS3’s memory as and when its needed once the initial 5 secs is out the way, thats it for the whole game
installs and load times are both a sign of a development process that needs to be improved
Roynaldo | 09/02/2010 11:57
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Yeah, some games work well but others (FIFA,Killzone etc)send my PS3 fatboy into overdrive from time to time.
Less work= Less heat stress= slimmer chance of YLOD
AlterEgo76 | 09/02/2010 18:52
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10hrs of load-time
DrOf1337 | 09/02/2010 10:09
Tends to spoil major games.
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50-60 hours of main plot, 120 hours if you play the side quests? Hasn’t the lack of side quests been one of the game’s major criticisms? Something doesn’t add up here.
Call me cynical, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see absent side quests start to show up as DLC…
TheDeathAvenger | 09/02/2010 11:57
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According to PSM3, the first 30 or so hours of the game is in Cocoon, it’s not until after then that the game opens up and offers a load of side quests.
Person678 | 09/02/2010 10:18
BOOM! Headshot!
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Me want.
sesameseed | 09/02/2010 10:25
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Glad I’ve booked the week off now. Final Fantasy games need to be sipped like a fine wine rather than gulped like a can of Skol. One DLC thought is that the PS3 & 360 will have some different summons (think Yoda & Darth Vader for Soul Calibur), so wouldn’t be at all surprised if they pull that marketing move!
jtickner1 | 09/02/2010 10:29
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Final Fantasy games used to be like this. Now they’re just meh, like an American beer.
sesameseed | 09/02/2010 10:36
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OK, it’s fair to say FF XII was “corked”, but going to be optimistic that XIII will return to vintage form
DrOf1337 | 09/02/2010 10:38
Tends to spoil major games.
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I would agree and say FFX was the last great traditional FF game.
gordon_strange | 09/02/2010 15:20
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i too have complete faith in this one. i pre ordered on sunday at game, along with the official guide. they are also taking pre orders for ff14/vs, and surprisingly KOTOR pt 2
hunterstryfe | 09/02/2010 10:36
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i’m preordering it today lol
YOURMUMANDME | 09/02/2010 11:30
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Imagine how much DLC there might be ? I never even thought about it , we could be FFXIII-ing it until the cows come home (when is that BTW?) and maybe not even another FF…..?
BTW :- how awesome would a Triple Triad iPhone App be ? Does anyone know if Squeenixeidos have anything planned ?
spooferbarnabas | 09/02/2010 13:46
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Great! i can’t wait to see how good this is. In fact, this and also Roy’s article has made me go back to Final Fantasy 7&8 now they are downloadable.
RuiPaulo | 09/02/2010 19:05
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I’m lucky to be able to buy the Japanese version next month (during my Tokyo trip).