Square leaks interesting Final Fantasy XIII tidbits

Jeux-France has done it again, this time sourcing information on Final Fantasy XIII from an interview with Tetsuya Nomura in Japanese gaming mag Gemaga. Nomura let slip a few interesting details about the game, one being that the combat aspect of the game is being handled by Toshiro Tsuchida of Front Mission fame. In addition to this, Tsuchida-san also worked on Final Fantasy X.

Also, the chap in the picture above goes by the name "Mr. 33 cm," apparently in accordance with the size of his shoes. According to Nomura, he's of the wild-yet-heroic variety and sports a humourous style of fighting (drunken Kung-fu, maybe?).

Moving on, Gemaga managed to squeeze some information regarding Final Fantasy Versus XIII out of Nomura as well. Here's where it gets interesting.

Apparently, Versus XIII will feature a blend of various combat types, borrowing elements from Kingdom Hearts as well as Dirge of Cereberus. The player's point-of-view will change depending upon the weapon they have equipped, meaning equipping a gun will shift your viewpoint to a first-person perspective, while equipping a sword would probably switch to a third-person view. The presence of an airship in the game has also been confirmed.

It doesn't just stop here, though. Nomura goes on to talk a little about Kingdom Hearts 3, saying that it is impossible for him to concentrate on two games at once. He plans to complete development of Versus XIII first, so he can incorporate elements of the game in KH3. Also, it seems Versus will be the last Final Fantasy that Nomura-san will be directing, as he wishes to concentrate on the Kingdom Hearts franchise in the future.

I have to say, I love the idea of the point-of-view and combat actually changing depending on what weapon you use. It's awesome to see that Square is willing to take a few risks with the game and try out something new.

[Via Final Fantasy Republic]