I count myself among the drooling masses at this point, though more from the gameplay angle. I’m a tattooed and true FF fan, but I felt pretty let down by numbers XI and XII. So far XIII is looking to return to a play style I’m more familiar with, allowing me to focus on enjoying the story instead of constantly bitching about coloured arching lines travelling between the characters and their enemies.

Shonen Jump: New Final Fantasy XIII Scans [Final Fantasy-XIII.net]

A pair of Square-Enix representatives was in New York to show the company’s holiday lineup and tease some of 2010’s. That tease included a playthrough by them — no touching, journalist — of the E3 build of Final Fantasy XIII. That’s the build our Luke Plunkett would have seen more of had a PlayStation 3 firmware upgrade not ruined things.

Perhaps I could glean no new facts from a June build of a game that will be released in Japan next month. But I could at least form a more informed judgment.

Allow me to provide my Final Fantasy main-game playing resume for context: Never played I-III, started and liked IV on the Game Boy Advance, didn’t play V-IX, played all but the final boss of X, none of XI and about a third of XII. You wouldn’t call me a super-fan.

But I liked XII a lot. I enjoyed the switch from turn-based battles to real-time combat. Even more than that I liked the Gambit System in XII which allowed me to assign tasks to party members, so they would automatically heal or fight in certain ways at certain moments. That system, I felt, surmounted some of the tedium in turn-based role-playing games.

XIII is turn-based, using a battle system similar to IV in that attacks are made available during combat as a meter fills to enable them (translation: you can’t spam attack buttons, but also don’t have to wait to take a turn). But the new game has no Gambit system. Hence my concern that this game wouldn’t be for me. I was concerned that some classic RPG tedium would be back.

The demo that I was shown had the male lead character, Snow, running through part of a city, encountering a few guards and culminating with a boss battle against a phoenix-type creature. I was learning a lot along the way, as the Square-Enix rep played: That I can only control one character in battles, based on whichever one the designers deems best for that moment; that the story is long and intricate, involving a band of lead characters who have branded with the task of destroying their hometown.

I watched a few of the game’s turn-based battles and was impressed with their swiftness. A return to turn-based combat apparently does not mean a return to a slower pace of play. Not only are enemies visible on-screen as you run through the world, but transitions into battle sequences are snap-of-fingers quick.

The Gambit System may not be back, but I was introduced to the Paradigm System, which seems like it could be shorthand for it. The system allows the player to set basic behaviour preferences for their party members. You can set one to medic, for example, though it wasn’t clear to me whether that would be as useful as setting a XII character to automatically heal themselves any time their health drops below 30 per cent of maximum. I’m optimistic about this but need to see more.

I’d read about XIII’s Gestalt mode, though I had misunderstood it to believe it was a purely real-time combat system. XIII allows players to summon epic characters, as is Final Fantasy series tradition. The Gestalt mode lets the player transform the summoned character into a vehicle. Button prompts appear, letting the player manually select from vehicle-based attacks. From what the Square-Enix rep playing the game told me, you’re not freely doing these completely free-form. You’re executing one at a time, somewhat strategically.

Overall, the battle system didn’t seem like the regression I thought it would be and presents an interesting cocktail of concepts. I’m less worried about it.

I was curious about other aspects of XIII that have frustrated me in other role-playing games I’ve played, but little more information was available. Take saving, for example. I was shown a save point, which looked like the standard location-based saving system. No word on whether this game will allow for on-the-fly saving. I couldn’t learn anything more about the game’s inventory system either. In the past I’ve found them a bit messy and overwhelming, but it seems that we’ll have to wait until the XIII’s release in Japan in December.

I didn’t see a whole lot of Final Fantasy XIII, but I did see enough to think better of the game than I had before watching it played. My disappointment that it is so different from XII has all but dissipated. I’m ready to accept it on its merits, if only we can learn more about it.

There are major aspects of the game system that remain a mystery. We”ll find out more next month. The game will be out in North America, Europe and Australia on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on March 9, 2010.

September!

No, wait!

Ah yes, here it is… March 9. Yep, we’re getting a Square Enix RPG at the same time as the US. In fact, we’re getting it a few hours before the US. Amazing.

Ubisoft, the Australian distributor for Square Enix, announced today the game would ship on both PS3 and Xbox 360 in Australia and New Zealand on – yes – March 9.

That is March 9, 2010, just in case you’re wondering.

While earlier developments had led to a degree of pessimism on the part of European fans (well deserved considering Square Enix’s previous localisation efforts), this morning it was revealed that the game will be out in Europe on the same day it’s out in North America.

March 9.

Which, when you think about the way the world spins, means Europe gets a Final Fantasy game before the US. Crazy.

Kotaku AU Note: We’ll confirm this date with Square Enix’s Australian distributor as soon as possible.

Drone Confusion: Last week, right here in Notebook Dump, I posted about Mass Effect 2’s helper drones, having held that information out of an earlier preview until I had gotten some details in my notebook confirmed. Turns out that the confirmation I got from BioWare and EA wasn’t quite on the money. Thankfully, one of the game’s top designers dropped me a line to clear things up. So Dumpers, head on back to last week’s updated entry to find out the proper details on the ME2 drones.

FOX’d: The Fox News network made some news on Kotaku due to how they covered the terrorism level of Modern Warfare 2 (the most troubling thing for me was that they didn’t even talk about that topic for most of the segment). Later in the week, I showed up on MSNBC to talk about the same stuff. But did you know I made it to Fox today, as well? I was on their online show, with a less sceptical crew. We talked Mario as well. I’d share a link if I could find one. I was on the 11/13 episode of Gadgets and Games. It streamed live here but doesn’t seem to have hit the archives yet.

What Reggie’s Playing: I interviewed Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime today and will have a lot more from that interview soon. One minor detail not worth a post of its own but fun enough to share is his mention of which game he’ll be dislodging from his DS once the new Zelda is released: Scribblenauts.

A Few Discs: I met with Square-Enix people today to check out their holiday and early 2010 line-up. It was interesting to be with their US PR reps just minutes after the release-date announcement trailer went live. One rep was happily refreshing GameTrailers, marvelling at the rise in traffic on the clip. Given the excitement about the date, which promises both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 releases of the game on March 9, 2010 in North America and Europe, I asked a question I see our readers asking frequently: How many discs will the 360 version require? The Square reps recalled that this was mentioned in a developer interview earlier this year and said that the goal is 3-4 discs. While we will know a lot more about Final Fantasy XIII once it is released in Japan in December, it seems that details about the 360 version — which isn’t coming out in Japan — may take longer to become clear.

I feel bad that I’ve got so much stuff in my notebook that I haven’t shared, but most of it is full-post-worthy. Be sure to be back next week! I’ll be back on the site this weekend, hopefully, with a report from Nintendo’s re-creation of the Mushroom Kingdom at the Nintendo World Store in New York City.

Oh, and that silly shot at the top of this post was taken Monday evening at a Modern Warfare 2 New York public demo event. A company set up a green screen and promised people the chance to be added into a Modern Warfare 2 screenshot. I was expecting something a little more Forrest Gump. But it’s funny anyway, yes?

Under the rule of the Sanctum, the sky city of Cocoon knew a long and prosperous peace, but the Fal’Cie from the “lowerworld” of Pulse awaken from their slumber and curse humans, turning them into the I’Cie, the magic-wielding servants of the fal-Cie.

Those branded with the mark of a I’Cie have to fulfil their Focus or “face a fate harsher than death itself”.

“After 13 days of fates intertwined, the battle begins,” according to the press release.

“We know that our fans have been eagerly awaiting the next installation of the franchise – FINAL FANTASY XIII will exceed all expectations,” said John Yamamoto, president and chief executive officer of Square Enix, Inc. “Coming simultaneously to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 for the first time, FINAL FANTASY XIII will be available to all players who are looking for the most immersive gaming experience of 2010.”

As I mentioned when I posted the Final Fantasy XIII video earlier today, Leona Lewis will be providing the theme song for the latest Final Fantasy. “My Hands”, which hits stores in her second album on November 17, was chosen because the developers said they felt it fit the game’s “powerful themes and strong female protagonist”.

The game, which hits in Japan on December 17, will feature a a new “ultimate active time battle system” that allows players to execute numerous commands in a single turn with a multi-slot ATB gauge. Player will be able to choose between inputting individual commands in each slot for consecutive attacks, or expending multiple slots at once to activate more damaging attacks.

The game also adds a new game mechanics called Paradigms, that allow you to assign one of six gameplay roles, like Commando or Medic, to your characters.

A new summon system introduced Gestalt Mode, which allows players and their transformed Eidolons to fight as one through simple button commands.

Are you ready for Final Fantasy XIII? You’ve got four months to prepare… unless you’re importing it.

Final Fantasy XIII hits the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on March 9, 2010, introducing both sets of platform owners to the sky city of Cocoon.

The game, which hits in Japan on December 17, will include a new battle system, a “dramatic story” focused on the emotions of the character and will feature a Leona Lewis single as the game’s opening theme.

Also, holy crap, are you looking at this video? Because it’s spectacular. The video also gives us a better look at the game’s Paradigm system.

You may want to watch this video full-screen, just click on that button in the bottom right corner.

Since we’re expecting an announcement from Square Enix on the FFXIII front this Friday anyway — and expecting a North American release date — that’s not a surprise. What would be a surprise is if Home is the only place to see this video. That’s not Square Enix’s style.

After all, the announcement of Final Fantasy XIII’s presence in Home is wedged between details on Fullmetal Alchemist episode screenings and a sneak peek of Steven Seagal’s Lawman reality show, also taking up screen real estate in Sony’s virtual hang space.

But if you find yourself in one of Home’s 10-screen theatres this Friday, don’t be surprised if Lightning strikes.

This Week in PlayStation Home: Assassin’s Creed, Final Fantasy XIII, Fullmetal Alchemist and A&E’s Lawman [PlayStation.blog]

Speaking with GI.biz, Wada said, “We’ve completed the master of the Japanese version, and for the US and European versions we’re just adding the final touches.

“The last stage of development has gone very smoothly this time.”

Excellent news! Then again, this game has been in development for nearly four years already… “final touches” could be a relative term in Square Enix lingo.

Square Enix hoping for “long platform cycle” [GI.biz]