With Microsoft’s acquisition of Final Fantasy XIII many FF fans whom appear to be emotionally attached to the marriage of Final Fantasy and the PlayStation are now turning to the other next gen title in the Fabula Nova Crystallis collection. We reported earlier that when asked if Final Fantasy Versus XIII would be a multi platform release Shinji Hashimoto’s response was a flat, closed ended, no. For those upset about XIII’s expansion to another console they can rest assured that they will have at least one numbered Final Fantasy exclusive for their system. This is, of course, provided Square Enix does not change their minds about their allegiance to Sony…again. Those subscribing to Sony should rejoice that the visibly better of the two, in these early stages, has remained an exclusive release. However this isn’t an opinion piece so I digress.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII is just as highly anticipated as XIII

At this point everybody has seen both the teaser and the trailer to Versus XIII. It was pretty disheartening to see a guard holding a shotgun that fired like a Call of Duty 4 heavy machine gun. That aside, the trailer set up an extremely sturdy platform for us all to get on top of and scream for more.

The trailer was also strikingly vivid. Two parts in particular appear to be extremely out of the ordinary for a Final Fantasy. The Prince breaks a guards neck with his legs moments before he impales another guard through the heart while falling out of the sky. The impalement is complete with sound effects and blood to add to the realism. By video gaming standards there isn’t much blood but by Final Fantasy standards it was available by the gallon.

The ESRB states that a game rated Teen “may contain violence” and “minimal blood”. Their requirements for a game rated Mature are “intense violence” and “blood and gore”. Only an infinitesimal amount of footage has been released. If the trailer is representative of the kind of violence the game may contain, Final Fantasy may make its first venture out of the Teen ESRB rating.

Strangely, the Versus XIII team is being headed by Tetsuya Nomura and the people who brought you Kindom Hearts, an E rated game.

Of course many readers may have already noticed this and discussed it at length. What makes this worth mentioning again is that if, in fact, Square is willing to make the leap to the M rating for one of it’s newest titles they may also be willing to remake Final Fantasy VII. With the capabilities of this generation’s consoles a remake could be brilliantly revamped, yet true to the original game. Remember the Final Fantasy Tech Demo for the PS3? Imagine that but a couple billion Japanese yen in development costs. More than eleven years since Final Fantasy VII’s original release in Japan, those who’ve played through it are now either of age to play a Mature title or very close.

This is far from definitive proof of a VII remake, in fact the word proof may not even apply. However, the demand is there and with a surprise FF VII related announcement around the corner there may just be a chance.

Yourstrulyinhd (Gerry)

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