While Final Fantasy XIII is most assuredly a current generation game from all we've seen development on it started before the PS3 (or the 360) were around. In two new books that Square Enix has published they're showing off a lot of the early work on the game and that work was all done on the PS2 with assets from previous Final Fantasy games.
You can check out the screens and artwork below. I know the cartoonish look on some of the characters is simply because it was easier to do while they were designing the kinks of the gameplay, but it does look pretty sweet. I think Zelda proved that a major shift in art style for a game series welcomes nothing but anger and derision no matter how good the game is, but this different look does make you wonder how different FF could be. It's cool to get a peek at how long this game has actually been in development and what the early plans were.
Final Fantasy XIII’s Early Beginnings [Gamesugar]
LAUNCH GALLERY (16 IMAGES)
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Contest:
7:00 PM on 01.30.2010
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I really wish we could get PSX, "Summer of Adventure" era Square back. They were much better when they were a developer that wasn't afraid to have fun and take risks; rather than a scaredy-cat anime soap-opera sweatshop.
If not,give us X-3. Just to see the internet explode in rage >:)
Always wanted to see a prequel with Auron in his younger days, but he did get that awesome cameo in KH2. He was the only FF character that ever directly joined your party in that series.
Unless you want to count the Omnislash slight in Chain of Memories, then Cloud helps out.
It was the first foray into realistic graphics. Plus that very first trailer hinted at something with a sort of epic middle-earth feel. I think people just felt cheated at the time.
Agreed. Those screens actually look pretty badass. Now what I'd really like to see would be the resources for when FF7 was still being made for the SNES.
I'm always up for something to spice things up. Some of my favorite entries in game series come from the odd ducks. Zelda II doesn't get the love it deserves. Metal Gear Acid 2 was a blast, what with its radioactive colors, Rambo-esque brawling and blatant fanservice. (The original Acid changed the gameplay, but as far as art direction and story go, it's traditional MGS fare. ) And Megaman X Command Mission was a solid RPG in its own right.
So far, the best cell shaded graphics I've seen on any platform is ironically on the cell-powered PS3. And I can't actually believe openly mentioning this in public internets, but Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm had some of the best graphics I've ever seen, the cell was amazing. You should totally YouTube that!
But Final Fantasy should stay as it is. And to you who all say that looks more awesome than current FF13 are all stupid, sort of. Not saying it wouldn't be better, but judging simply from cell vs 'realistic' look? come on.
>_>
<_<
What?
because for them GAIMZ NEED 2 L00K REALIZTIK N HD 2 B EPIC OMG
But final fantasy has a niche aesthetic amongst games, and it's somewhat unnecessary to change it. If you're going to change how the game plays radically and the graphics style completely, might as well call it something else.
If FF15 had HD graphics with a style similar to Wind Waker, I'd import it at the first chance I got, then buy about three copies of it when it arrives in the UK.
How are we stupid? It's been 10+ years. A radical art shift could help refresh things a bit. No one here is saying FFXIII looks bad. Just more of the same. A franchise like FF can do and be whatever it wants. It'd be nice to see them take advantage of that and take some risk.
I'm not really offended or bothered but to call us "stupid"? C'mon.
You can add a nice does of surreal and dreamlike qualities from the style.
Valkria Cronicles makes it look like watercolor. And they are using the watercolor for Final Fantasy: The 4 Warriors of Light on the DS.
A lot of people don't understand that graphics can have a visual style beyond photorealism. The goal is photorealism only if you're an unimaginative tech-whores, not those with broader artistic tastes.
Every style out there has a function and purpose to it, nothing becomes obsolete just because technology improves. Why else would we still have RPGs running on random encounter and dice rolls or 2D platformers.
Its not just for nostalgia, its commonplace. Those things are stylistic elements and they have merit to them.
Sorry, bad mood.
But a graphical style like cell shading does not change the gameplay. I can understand that it would feel refreshing with something new graphically, but by looking at some magazine scans by a PS2 powered FF13 with Cell-shading, saying "that game is better than current FF13", is just "stupid".
To look at it from another view: there isn't that many good games with the same presentation as FF either, so I have to rely on that fix once every 5 years. I like high-budget cutscenes, cheesy storyline, and 'realistic' graphics, and few does that as good as FF, so changing that up would most likely disturb my inner peace. Or something.
And also: internet is super serious.
This post made very little sense I think
On topic, as much as I'd love to see something like this, Square has too much money resting on the FF franchise. As long as these trends continue to stay the same, Square will always go the safe route for the main FF's artstyle. They seem to reserve quirky or unique artstyles for games like TWEWY where they're intentionally doing something different.
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