Save Cocoon! Final Fantasy XIII Excitement

Firstly I want to say a huge thanks for all your encouraging words - and for anyone who is following me already!  Hopefully you won't be disappointed with your decision!! :oDDDD

I have been a huge fan of Final Fantasy for years - I can still remember falling in love with Aeries and Tifa in FFVII.  I have clocked up over 100 hours on Final Fantasy XII [don't flame! I know you can complete it faster then that - I just love to explore and become fully involved in the world], and if I ever were to meet a perfect woman I think it would be Yuna (FFX, FFX-2).  So when recently I spotted a preview of Final Fantasy XIII on the interweb - I couldn't help but grin (Especially since I was watching it at work...shhhh - don't tell my boss!).

Since seeing the preview I have done a bit of research into the game itself - what the general storyline will be...that kind of thing.  If you don't want to know - don't read on, but I am going to briefly summerise what I have so far found out...this is your spoiler alert



It seems that Final Fantasy XIII is split into two worlds, a floating mechanical world (Space Colony) called Cocoon, and a place outside of this area called Pulse.  Anyone who comes into contact with Pulse, a dangerous place which the people of Cocoon are afraid of, are believed to be part of a plot to invade Cocoon.  These people are banished from Cocoon by it's holy government and army.

In Cocoon, people are protected by "crystals", these crystals can make machines, and living creatures, and even created Cocoon itself.  The crystals allow them to live a peaceful life.  Pulse is a dangerous place where inhabitants live in fear of Monster attacks.

The crystals have chosen our protagonist (Lightning) to bring an end to the world.



End of Story Line Spoiler

So what are my views after watching the video preview?

The opening shot is simple, yet beautiful – a huge dome rising up from a lake, with fireworks lighting up the inside. Trademark FF choral music is playing in the background, and a quote...simple, yet spoken so softly, with such meaning, depth and pain:


“When I couldn't see a future and I was afraid, when the future was clear, and it hurt to see; I just close my eyes and lose myself in happier days”

And then a kiss – the choral music gets louder, two beautiful people (M and F) on what can be described as a floating motorcycle, kiss, and in the background fireworks fly...

This is when straight away I knew – not thought, but knew the next 6 minutes of my life will not be wasted!

The battle system, well from what I can see looks closer to final fantasy XII then any of the other games. There are something called “Paradigm Shifts”...this already excites me, new stuff in the battle system always does! Plus I couldn't help but laugh when one of the characters did what I would assume to be some kind of “fire” magika – but the animation on it harked back to classic street fighter powerballs! Oh AND there's some dude with a 'fro who TOTALLY fights using a car, with flaming exhausts...at least that's what it looks like!!  The monsters look great, similar but different in style to the XII monsters, but there's some really awesome looking things in the world to get your swords stuck into!

The CGI scenes as usual look stunning.  They are typically detailed, with every strand of hair waving in the wind.  All of the characters look amazing.  One of the women who I'm assuming is "evil" looks amazing - like a mixture between a dominatrix and a secretary!  But as usual it's just the awesome amount of detail that is put in that I cannot believe.  Every strand of hair, every bead on a necklace, bracelets...the lasersightings on tens of guns as they all aim while the guys shouts down all the guys pointing them at him.  And the airbattles, I just can't put into words!

I have tried not to overexcite myself in the buildup to Final Fantasy XIII being released.  I am currently taking the last year of my legal studies, and am assuming the release date is in March.  I truely believe that buying a PS3 (or Xbox 360) right before my finals would be a terrible...TERRIBLE idea, especially with the release of this game on the horizon.  So unfortunately I'm going to have to wait until the summer before I can get all this gear.  Looking at the video preview as well has made me decide that the only way to play this game will be to play it in HD (which'll mean buying a HD TV to go with all the rest of it!).  After seeing this preview though, I can't help but feel the jangling of excitement in my tummy!

Hope that this has been of some use to someone - somewhere...If you're interested in the video preview it can be found on The Times website:

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article6861608.ece

It's definately worth having a looksie - however it could be UK only (I don't know) - so if anyone is reading this across the pond you may need to YouTube it!

Excited?  Yes I am!! :o)

Ciao for now!

Muchos Lovos
G33KUK