TGS07: Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailer impressions
Know of the old adage: save the best for last? Square Enix did just that with its incredible Final Fantasy Versus XIII presentation. In spite of being comprised of completely non-interactive and most likely pre-rendered footage, the Versus trailer absolutely stunned the audience due to its incredible sense of style. The trailer begins, telling viewers that "this is a fantasy based in reality." What could that mean?
The footage begins with a car driving by, segueing to a familiar scene of the mysterious male protagonist deflecting bullets from an opposing military force. Quickly, the trailer flashes to a girl in a school outfit that seems to be awaiting someone. Latin text is interspersed throughout, fitting to the beat of both the visuals and music. Already, there's a strong sense of style and intrigue.
A meticulously designed cathedral is the next scene in the trailer, and we see a mysterious hooded individual eerily similar to a character in Advent Children. All the while, snippets of the lead killing the opposing soldiers in a surprisingly gory way. We were shocked to see blood spurt out of the villains -- could this be the first M-rated Final Fantasy game?
Other scenes show a friend to our mysterious unnamed lead character traveling through a desert highway, only to find the highway covered in what looks to be a newly created river. Here, we get to see the duality of fantasy and reality at play: there's a clear sense of emotion conveyed through the facial animation system, and the characters do feel quite human, in spite of the clearly fantastic events that surround them. At the end of the trailer, we finally see the male and female characters meet, glad at first. But then, as red and blue auras surround them both, a sad look of despair creeps in. We'd have to guess that these two, friends at first, are destined to be mortal enemies. A familiar, but nonetheless intriguing concept.
With its stylish character designs, fantastic environmental art, a strong sense of dramatic direction, and incredibly visceral action makes Versus a game rich with potential. To evoke such a powerful response from the audience from a completely non-playable presentation means that Square Enix can have a winner on its hands: let's hope that, unlike Dirge of Cerberus, the game can deliver on such an ambitious promise.
