There is less than a month to go until the next fully-fledged Final Fantasy release and we've already had an extensive hands-on with the final English version - across multiple save points through the game - as well as a chat with Square Enix itself.
Naturally, there were bags of information that we couldn't fit into the course of our preview, which Level Up is more than happy to share. How do weapon upgrades work? What classes will be available? Will chocobos and the victory fanfare be making a return? Read on to find out (It might be worth going through the preview before reading, since there a few references to places and events discussed there)...
Characters and Story
- The main six party members are called Lightning, Snow, Vanille, Sazh, Hope and Fang. Other characters will also come and go.
- Dialogue boxes with NPCs are replaced with a ticker at the bottom of the screen that automatically appears when you approach the character. Party member conversations during these moments will appear in yellow text.
- A first for Final Fantasy is that the story is divided into chapters. There will be 13 in total.
- Loading screens fill you in on the recent story events. A full primer of story and character details is located within the party menu.
- Interestingly, each chapter can have multiple names according to who you are controlling. Chapter 6, which was around nine hours in the game, was titled 'Chain Of Events'. It saw Lightning and Hope sneak into Cacoon's capital of commerce. It was later titled 'Father And Son' when focusing on Sazh and Vanille.
- Chapter 7, which saw many of the party team up to fight the army using summons, was titled 'Here Comes the Calvary'. When it focuses on Lightning and Hope, it's titled 'No Way to Live'.
- The chapter with the wide open beast-filled area was in Chapter 11, titled 'A Man's Hope Is His Castle'. The area itself is called The Archyite Steppe.
- Other areas in the game include the Sunleth Waterscape, a rocky barren environment with orbs that can change the weather (thus changing the monsters within), and Natalus, an amusement area that most resembles a town.
- When exploring the field, party members will also be on screen. However, unlike say FFVII where they rigidly follow you, they can lead the way according to what's going on in the story.
- Chocobos are back, and they are used to explore hidden areas of the environment. They can leap up ledges and cross water, for example.
Battle system
- The traditional Victory Fanfare is absent from the game.
- Each battle is given a five-star rating and a score. Each battle has a target time to finish under and a multiplier is added as an initiative bonus before you enter the battle. It also lists your points dealt per second, while the score doesn't actually mean anything, from what we were told.
- Before battle you can deploy a shroud in the field. Fortisol gives the party Bravery, Faith and Haste for the next battle. Aegisol adds Protect, Vigilante, Shell and Veil. Ethersol restores the party's TP (used for skills) and Deceptisol allows you to wander past enemies without being detected.
- If you are spotted on the field by an enemy, your mini-map will flash.
- You can use items (such as potions, phoenix downs) and they won't use up any of the ATB bar.
- The ATB bar is broken up into two slots at the start of the game and increases as the game progresses. A total of five of these slots are story-related (including the original two) and the sixth is collected through obtaining that character's ultimate weapon.
- Multiple attacks build up a combo gauge in the corner, which starts at 100% and increases. The faster you attack, the higher the number, and the more damage can be inflicted. This is usually set at 120%, or is masked according to the enemy faced.
- Summons make a return, and like FFX, they replace the party and come with a suite of attacks. They can also transform into a Gestalt mode, which features limit break-style button presses. Shiva and Ifrit are confirmed.
- Ruin, and the multi-targeting Ruinaga, are non-elemental magic attacks.
- The mark system, which featured prominently in the Archyite Steppe, is ranked according to how many missions you complete. It should also be added that enemies within this area are of varying level, allowing you to come back and fight different groups you couldn't defeat previously.
- Tapping R1 (or RB) displays monster information, such as health, weaknesses, rare drops and so on. Obviously some of these details are masked until you equip the right item, or use a specific spell.
- Paradigm (the automated party setups) include: Entourage, Aggression, Solidarity, Hero's Charge, Ruthless and Relentless Assault. Solidarity, for example, has one Medic, a Sentinel defender and an attacking Commando.
- Classes include: Commando (offensive), Ravager (combo specialist), Sentinel (defensive), Saboteur (offensive status specialist), Synergist (defensive status specialist) and Medic (healer).
Ability and Upgrade systems
- Party members can equip weapons and accessories. No armour here.
- Shops are located within Save Points. Each one has a unique skin and opening jingle, and more are added as the game progresses. Shop names include Creature Comforts and Lenora's Garage.
- From within these shops you can upgrade weapons. Spoils from battle wins and the environment can be combined with weapons to raise their level. Each weapon has strength, magic and ATB charge rate stats.
- Once you change Paradigm in battle, it'll change the class of each party member. While the stats remain the same, the attacks and skills available to you are restricted to that chosen class. This is way it's very important to have a good range of Paradigms ready to go.
- The main character progression system is the Crystarium System, which is very much like the Sphere Grid from FFX.
- With CP points, earned from battle, you can increase stats for each individual character. (HP+100, Strength +1, and so on.) This is also where you unlock new spells.
- However unlike the Sphere Grid, each character has their own map with different abilities. While all party members can learn all classes and their abilities, they can only specialise in three or so classes. The grid is mapped out according to these classes, enabling them to get certain spells sooner, or earn higher strength or HP than other characters.
- Also, each of these grids have a unique formation and shape according to the character. Lightning has a scattered grid, Fang has a diamond, Hope has random lines, Sazh smooth lines, Snow straight lines and Vanille's grid is in a dome shape.
- And if any of the above sounds confusing, the game is a slow burn when it comes to the battle and ability systems – two hours into the game and you still only have two ATB slots and two party members to deal with.
Technical Aspects
- While the PS3 version will arrive on a single Blu-ray disc, the 360 edition will come on three DVDs and only require two swaps during the game.
- As mentioned in the preview, the PS3 version did look slightly crisper than the 360 one. Again, there were different preview stations for each version, and the cables used and television setups could have made a huge difference on visual quality. With this in mind, the versions were very similar to one another in terms of framerate and loading time.
- The majority of the Trophies and Achievements in the game are a secret, since they are likely to be linked to story events. However, we did spot some: one has you master all classes, deal out 100,000 damage in one attack, take down an Adamant in the 'loneworld wilds', fully develop all characters, hold every weapon and accessory and scan 100 enemies.
- Downloadable Content is up in the air right now. While Square Enix told us that plans are still unknown, the North American version mentions DLC on the back of the box. The European version, however, does not. Your guess is as good as ours.
Source: Digital Spy
