Prospective Previews: Jump Festa’s Final Fantasy XIII Preview

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.

Despite claiming twice already that the Japanese surge of FFXIII info was over, details from this year’s Jump Festa quickly emerged online.

Unfortunately, as the newest trailer was shown behind closed doors, there won’t be any new video footage that I can share. If it’s any consolation, someone did manage to record the audio from both trailers (a lengthy seven minute trailer and a shorter summarising of the same trailer), which you can download from these two links, provided by Kagari from NeoGAF.

http://kagari.zerox20.net/GAF/no_1.wav

http://kagari.zerox20.net/GAF/no_2.wav

The links may take some time to load, so you might be better off just right clicking and saving the files.

So what can you make out with just the audio? A lot of screaming for one, including what I believe to be the Wilhelm Scream in the no_2 link. You can also hear the main theme on more than one occasion. Obviously, this is no substitute for the lack of footage, which not only showed a seamless transition from field to battle, but was apparently so impressive it had the entire Japanese audience cheering wildly.

There are write-ups from people who were lucky enough to witness the footage firsthand, so rather than steal their detailed posts, I’ll just link you to them.

I wouldn’t make this post without a few pictures for you to look at, though. The Jump scans have been released, showcasing a few screens from the trailer, and offering a clear look at how the battle sequences look. I’ll be commenting on the notable features of each scan, which you can view in larger detail by clicking on them.

So it seems that “Sera” may not be the name for the Pigtailed Girl, and may in fact either be an alias she uses, or the name used to classify her race (of which she is reportedly the last of. I’m getting shades of FFVI’s Esper girl Terra, which is a positive sign in my book). Either way, it looks like her official name (assuming that Jump’s romanization is accurate) is Oerba Dia Vanille. It’s a handful of a name no matter how you say it, so I hope they stick with calling her Sera (much like how FFIX’s Garnet keeps the alias “Dagger”, although in this case I’ll take the alias over the real name).

Also shown is a fully armored guy that looks very similar to FFXII’s Judge Bergan. Hopefully he’ll get more exposure than the brief screen-time each of the Judges got (Drace, the only female Judge in the game, gets exactly two scenes, rounding up around six minutes of total screen-time). There’s some sci-fi looking monsters as well, reminding me of the Gnosis from Xenosaga.

Just some new shots of Lightning. In the trailer, there’s a part where she decks out Snow for losing Sera (or “The” Sera, whatever), and showcases further sweet maneuvers during the battle screens. Doe she legitimately want to protect Sera, or is she only doing it out of her duty to the crystals?

Here you can get a brief look at how the field looks along with the battle sequences. As promised, you’ll be able to see enemies on the screen before engaging them, but rather than switching to a separate screen for battling, the camera just adjusts a bit while you fight on the spot. It’s said to be very similar to Chrono Trigger’s enemy encounters, which is a very, very good thing. The command window now opens up multiple tabs instead of just overlapping when you switch to Magic or Items, which is another nice touch. Gotta love streamlining.

Unfortunately, what is lacking in these new scans are the new characters shown during the Jump trailer, of which there are three in total. Some attendees were kind enough to offer sketches of their appearances, despite not having the best drawing skills out there. At least they outdo most of Deviantart.

The first character is said to be a young male character, looking like an easygoing male in the vein of FFX’s Tidus or FFXII’s Vaan. In this sketch he looks disturbingly similar to Chrono Trigger’s Lucca, but I did say that any resemblances to CT could only be a good thing, didn’t I.

Next there’s a guy with an afro, or a “half-afro” anyway. Not much I can say about him, so moving on.

And third, we’ve got…the third girl, shown below in much better detail from a 2ch member.

Looks like we’ve got our third girl in the group, described as giving off a Rikku vibe in personality. If that’s the case, then maybe this one is the token cute, young female party member instead of Sera (who is starting to sound more like the kind healer type character in the vein of FFIV’s Rosa and FFVII’s Aerith). She’s also mentioned to have the skimpiest outfit of the three, which raises an eyebrow from me considering that Sera is already comfortably dressed.

We’ve also got some shots of Lightning’s PlayArts figure, previously shown uncolored way back during E3’s first trailer. It’s coming along mostly well, but the face is looking a bit cheap and plastic. Hopefully it’ll get touched up before release, but considering how long these PlayArts take to come out, it darn well better be.

Also on the horizon is a replica of the infamous “Shiva-Bike”, in which these shots give us a much clearer look on how the two Summon siblings transform and fuse into a vehicle for Snow to ride across (both in cutscenes as well as in battle). You can clearly see where Snow is supposed to sit, and well…looks like the Fetish Fuel page on TV Tropes is going to need an update soon….

And finally, some shots of the upcoming Dissidia line from Trading Arts. I was never a fan of the Trading Arts brand of FF toys at first, as their figurines are much smaller than PlayArts, and look more cheaply made, as evidenced by how some of the famous FF heroines look like men in drag, as well as having misshapen bosoms floating in mid-air. They’ve improved substantially with their SD lineup, however, so I’m quite interested in this Dissidia line, although I’ll continue to hope that Warrior of Light and Garland get the fully poseable PA treatment.

Also, it seems that Cloud and Sephiroth are getting yet another pair of highly overpriced statues. How about giving some of the other characters more due? That Advent Children look for Tifa is going to waste, you know.

And to make sure I don’t make a Musical Musings page that brings up Final Fantasy yet again, here is the song “Cosmos” from the Dissidia soundtrack, of which I’ve really taken a liking to.

You can also grab the mp3 here.

And that should finally, finally cover all FF posts.

At least until next year.

Musical Musing: Chrono Trigger

In addition to Character Corner, I’m also adding another category to my blog: Music!

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a big RPG fan, so it’s only natural that I would have a fondness for the rich and varied music that these games can produce. After all, before 3D polygons, full motion videos, or even voice acting, it was the soundtrack that usually created the illusion of playing a video game like an interactive movie.

So during these posts, I’ll share some of my favorite videogame melodies, mostly in the form of Youtube clips. I’ll even throw a link to the songs in mp3 format, if available.

But don’t expect this blog to be a resource to download soundtracks, because that isn’t happening. Searching for music is the easiest thing anyone can do on the internet, and a google search can instantly turn up some well known sites. I’ll only be sharing individual songs, but keep checking and you might find an arrangement of a favorite song that you might not have been aware of.

Today, I’ll be sharing the two orchestral arrangements found in the pre-order CD for Chrono Trigger DS.

Download the mp3s here and here.

Chrono Trigger DS is available in stores now. If you’ve played the game before, you’ve likely already bought it. If you haven’t, and are skeptical from all the fanboy claims how it’s one of the best RPGs ever (along with a handful of other highly lauded titles), I’ll tell you straight up: It deserves the praise it gets.

What, you want reasons why? What do I look like, a reviewer?

I hope you answered “yes”, but you’re only getting three reasons regardless.

1. It created gameplay elements that current RPGs have yet to fully emulate (such as avoidable encounters and diverse party members).

2. There’s no part of the game that feels like a tacked-on sidequest or filler to artificially increase the length; each area flows together seamlessly.

3. It has one of the coolest “extra” characters ever. Yes, that guy.

And that’s not mentioning the time travel, the tech combo system, the protagonist who lacks a voice but not a personality, the wonderful soundtrack, the fact that you can take on the final boss any time, the multiple endings, etc etc just go buy it already.