Final Fantasy Versus XIII Dies?

We should of seen it coming really. An innovative, interesting and evocative Square-Enix title? It may have been too good to be true after all.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII was first displayed by Square-Enix six whole years ago. It seemed to boast a darker aesthetic to the generally saccharin Final Fantasy XIII, first rooting itself in a quasi-realistic city and then splashing the crazy all over it. It smacked of Final Fantasy VII’s CG re-imagining, with a grounded context and introverted protagonist. Noctis, the floppy-haired leather-clad prince, seemed to fit the mould of angst that Cloud, Squall and, to a lesser extent, Lightning left behind. Much like these other leads, he was going to be accompanied by an eclectic bag of lovable clichés, including the mysterious love interest Stella. Not only this, but we were also going to be treated to a fully open-world and a Kingdom Hearts-esque real-time battle system.

Unfortunately, after a couple of CGI trailers and a brief gameplay leak, everything went more or less silent, and Noctis fell into the shadow of the inexplicably recommissioned Final Fantasy XIII.

Kotaku has been following the game closely and has heard from a selection of different sources that indeed Versus XIII ceases to be. One source claimed that all resources had been folded into another game. Given that the Final Fantasy XIII Project has been confirmed for Tokyo Game Show, one can’t help but draw the frightening conclusion that Square-Enix may have sacrificed Versus for another instalment of Lightning’s saga.

Kotaku contacted Square-Enix directly, garnering this response:

What we could be seeing is a coherent destruction of the Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy, the planned amalgamative mini-series, originally composed of Final Fantasy XIII, Versus XIII and Agito XIII. The latter of these has recently become Final Fantasy Type-0, abandoning XIII‘s insignia altogether. This, combined with the no Versus XIII, leaves XIII itself to be the core title – a decision likely made after its success in Japan.

Kotaku were eager to make clear that the death of Final Fantasy Versus XIII is not an official reveal, Square-Enix are yet to move on the matter. What they cite, however, is some rather compelling evidence that the die-hard fans, like myself, have been repressing. Once Final Fantasy XIII-2 hit shelves, it was made abundantly clear that this was now their focus.

For myself, and many others, Final Fantasy Versus XIII seemed to remedy the sickly sweetness of its sibling and stood as a testament to Square-Enix’s remaining ounce of sanity. As it seems to fall by the wayside, I’m left wondering whether Square-Enix at large will be soon to follow.

Sources: Kotaku