Last night Square Enix held the first day of their Private Party for 2008. Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and Parasite Eve fans were treated to some amazing trailers and details concerning their favourite titles. Following are the complete details for day one we picked up for each game shown at DKΣ3713.

Square Enix Private Party - Packed as always.

Final Fantasy XIII
Since the surprise announcement of the title going to the Xbox 360, details have been rather sparse for the title. Although no new details were announced a new trailer was shown at the event.

“The trailer started out with a large flyover of a savannah-like setting by one of the multicolored ships. The aircraft glided over a pack of running animals and gigantic beasts walking through a river. As the ship gained elevation and soared towards a cliff, the camera zoomed in quickly to focus in on a character standing on a cliff. No, it wasn’t Lightning, the main character of the title, but the girl with pigtails and reddish brown hair. The trailer moved away from her and refocused on the aircraft, which had been joined in formation by a number of ships to fly through a number of circular halos -– halos that allowed them to dock within a massive floating battleship that cruised through the skies.

The trailer then quickly changed to a quick sequence of what appeared to be summoned creatures, many of which we’ve seen in previous trailers. It appeared to focus primarily upon a character playing a harp (which could be the Siren summon), a fiery demonic character (which would have to be Ifrit) and the small, cutesy-looking sprite that appeared out of a disc that the girl with pigtails held (could that possibly be Carbuncle or another summon?).* With their appearance, the trailer turned from a peaceful scene to a more combative tone, highlighting a gigantic battle with ships going to war, firing weapons and deploying transports loaded with troops. While Lightning finally made her appearance within the trailer, the footage, including her battle sequences, were repurposed footage that’s been shown before. However, there were a few new elements as well, such as one scene that highlighted that one of the warring sides had captured something in a floating container and were transporting it to a ship in what appeared to be some kind of ceremony.

While the game moved away from the scene before any details were shown as to what was inside the container or who the people were, we did see new in-game engine elements that looked phenomenal. While the end of the trailer highlighted that it will come out in 2009 for the PS3 (with no mention of the 360 version), we were also informed by a later segment of the trailer montage that a demo of the game will be coming out with the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete Blu-Ray, which will be released in March of 2009.” - IGN

*Standing next to the Girl with pigtails was apparently a man with a similar appearance to Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII. Another link to Final Fantasy VII.

Included at the event was some artwork in relation to Final Fantasy XIII.

Shiva Artwork

The environment of Final Fantasy XIII’s world

Irfit Artwork

Carbuncle Artwork

Final Fantasy Versus XIII
Square showed off a brand new Versus XIII trailer that highlighted a large number of new characters, settings and even battles that look phenomenal.

Also at the Private Party was Versus XIII clothing. Apparently Square Enix have teamed up with “ROEN” to bring fans the clothing of their favourite characters. Looks like cosplay will be that much easier.

“The trailer started out with a quote stating that this game is “a fantasy based on reality.“ While we don’t know what exactly the reality of the setting happens to be, the camera focused on a car that was speeding through a tunnel, and eventually showed the main character reclining in the back seat looking extremely bored as he was driven through the passageway. The next shot was a phrase that popped up, stating that “the real figure is still hidden in the sleep.” Again, we weren’t entirely sure who this real figure is, if it’s the main character, who’s the young king that’s trying to defend his kingdom, or how they relate to the reality or fantasy of the game, but we were shown a sequence of the main character walking down stairs as a large group of armed soldiers opened fire upon him. This, and the deflection of the bullets with a crystalline shield, wasn’t new, as we saw this at E3 two years ago. However, what was somewhat new was the addition of a mysterious woman that the main character appeared to come upon suddenly.

The amount of time that was provided to this sequence was quickly cut short, as the trailer went through a fast montage of various scenes, including the battle between the main character and how he destroyed the troops that fired on him, appearing to dislocate one soldier’s arms with a sword and impaling others with another weapon. It also focused in on a group of men sitting in an elaborately decorated great hall, many of whom wore suits (akin to those of the Turks from Final Fantasy VII) and deferred their attention to one man that sat at the head of the table. With the scene taking the appearance of a boardroom meeting, it was quite apparent that the “chairman of the board” was rather displeased at events and it seemed like heads would roll.

One facet of the trailer that we weren’t expecting was introduction of three new characters, who all interact with the young king much like a group of close friends or brothers would. We watched as the young king gets put in a headlock by a young blond man with a gun that looks like a cross between a sawed off shotgun and a grenade launcher. In turn, this guy is put into a headlock by a man with a scar across his left eye. The fourth man, who wears glasses, simply looked on and shook his head in disapproval. It’s apparent that these men have some connection, and the trailer highlighted a few scenes that showed the four of them travelling in the king’s car as well as walking away from an outcropping after noticing that a highway was washed out and they couldn’t proceed along the road anymore.

Similarly, we weren’t expecting that we would be shown someone that would stand up to the king, but we were shown two figures like that. The first was a hooded man who projected a large ring of swords around him as soon as the main character approached. The other was the mysterious woman mentioned previously, who fired up her magical abilities that flashed red as the young king’s flashed blue. Both projected swords and appeared to clash with each other.

The trailer closed with a Shakespearean quote: “Nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” While no date was given, the trailer did emphatically state that it was only for the PS3. So don’t worry Final Fantasy fans, there’s still one FF title that isn’t going Microsoft’s way.”* - IGN

* Or is it?

Final Fantasy Agito XIII
One of the surprises of the private party was the inclusion of Final Fantasy Agito XIII, which was initially scheduled to be released as a mobile game, but is now coming to the PSP. While the title wasn’t given a specific release date, some elements of the story were shown in the trailer, as well as quick glimpses of gameplay.

“The trailer initially started out with one of those grainy film filters that seemed reminiscent of classic newsreel footage. It presented a flyover of a map that showed off different kingdoms, and highlighted one militaristic nation that due to the machinations and speeches of its leader, began invasions of its neighbors. Apparently, its march to war was unimpeded until it reached a lone island kingdom isolated from the rest of the continent, which appeared to be protected by a giant crystal. However, it does appear as though the crystal eventually shatters, leaving the kingdom unprotected and seemingly defenseless. That is, until a mysterious woman clad in a cloak emerged in front of the army, wielding both a whip like sword (reminiscent of SoulCalibur’s Ivy) and other blades.

While the trailer focused on quick flashes of gameplay interspersed with CG cutscenes, the trailer eventually ended with the cloaked woman planting a flag, which appeared to be the colors of the invaded island nation. This rallied many other cloaked figures to arise and take up arms against their attackers. Whoever this resistance group is, they all look rather dangerous, with their own specialization of different weapons. The trailer then ends. While we were left with many more questions than answers, this definitely put the title on our radar whenever it is released on PSPs.” - IGN

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete
With 30 minutes worth of added scenes plus remastered visuals, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete is on any Square Enix fans wish list. Included comes a disc with Final Fantasy XIII, Versus XIII and Agito XIII demos. The edited film will be released around March 2009.

Dissidia: Final Fantasy
Apparently according to Japanese blogs Kefka, Exdeath and Golbez will be playable.
Square Enix has announced that a new potion based on Dissidia Final Fantasy will be sold across Japan.

Dissidia Potion

Parasite Eve 3 (The 3rd Birthday)
Has been announced to be released on the PSP in 2009.

Kingdom Hearts: Coded/Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
Both planned to be released in Japan during Winter, 2008. The 14th member of the Organization has been revealed. Her name is Shion (or Xion) and looks like Kairi.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
Will be released during 2009.

We will keep up updated if anything pops up on the last day. So far by the looks of things 2009 will be a big year for Square Enix. Those lucky enough to attend their Private Party will recieve a goody bag packed with items.

Maybe Square Enix will explain this on the last day, we are due another surprise:

Source(s): IGN, Famitsu

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