Versus XIII Leaks could hint to Verum Rex

[SS501]

Holy shit... I don't know how I can possibly thank you for an infodump like that.

For now I'm only interested in Roberto Ferrari's ventposting. But that stuff takes effort to dig up, so I'll just ask you to take a breather, rest and only come back when you're in better shape. You could use a break, really. =( ♥

Most of his posts have been sadly deleted after he got into trouble with SE (he gave an official interview later apologizing to SE). All that's left is his google translated posts in various forums
You can find some of it here https://novacrystallis.com/2016/12/artist-roberto-ferrari-speaks-designs-final-fantasy-xv/
This isn't even half of what he revealed on his facebook sadly. I think i still have a screenshot of his post on my computer where he said that he had an argument with Yusuke Naora and left to join Nomura.

This one is the most interesting one from those that were saved

I wasn’t part of the 2010 group from XIII that “would have scratched their bellies” (and then turned into the XV one), I came into May 2010. I know I was called in when a (female) designer resigned since she wasn’t able to get any kind of approval from the art director. Then from 2010 till the end of 2011 I worked on the designs I got assigned with, without any big issues. That’s why when the team got resized from 200 workers to around 20 in 2012 (right before the arrival of Tabata and the Type-0 team), I was still there and worked with the newcomers till 2013. Then I left because I followed mister Nomura.

Although google translate did a bad job i still remember what he said. In the first part he says he wasn't part of the team before 2010, which was the team that were not actually working on the game due to the team working on FFXIII (which was confirmed by Nomura in 2008 in famitsu). He then says that he joined in May 2010 and that everything was going well until late 2011. This aligns perfectly with the info we have on the development of Versus XIII. They started pre-production in 2010 after the release of FFXIII, entered full development in September of 2011. Then the team getting resized from 200 to 20 people refers to the team going to work on A Realm Reborn. Wada in his business report also stated that "Multiple HD titles were either delayed extensively or canceled because of the effort to rebuild XIV". There was also a leak in 2012 by a trusted insider at neogaf who said that every member of the VsXIII team was moved to XIV recently but his post has been deleted since then presumably because he got into trouble with SE and only the thread remains (i actually asked him about it on his personal twitter and he deleted my comments. Note: this leak has nothing to do with Kotaku's rumor about Versus XIII Getting canceled in 2012), he is still a trusted insider to this day.

I'll take a break now.

 

[Idreamaboutcats]

Haaah…I feel some slight vindication in all this, but that’s not important right now and I don’t want to embarrass others on a video game forum of all places.

Reading all that, I suppose it’s just as well that FNC had to die. It was everything FF wasn’t before (scattered story, unnecessary sex appeal, etc.). People complaining Kairi having bad writing? Lightning didn’t even develop or stagnate. Her characterization was DoA and not even a VA veteran like Sakamoto could’ve saved her. The studio collaborating with Prada and LV (which are tacky zeitgeist brands that don’t even deserve to be called luxury, imo) to sell an overpriced shirt and purse, jeez. The death knell for FNC was the implementation of jiggle physics. Seriously, what even? Meanwhile, you can compare Tomb Raider which used to have topless Lara in the old games but is now a widely acclaimed success.

Sorry, rant over.

I have to agree that while Nomura is bad at writing girls, at least he had some work ethic.

We all know this, Crystal Tools was a disaster and died with FNC, and should stay dead.

Okay, now rant over for real.

Where to go from here…

I’ll think of something. Gimme a while; I just needed to let that rant out.

 

[The Dead Skin]

Strangely enough, the XIII trilogy makes for some of my favorite FF games. I have a lot of love for the cast, the battle system got better with every game, the soundtracks are Hamauzu/Suzuki at their apex... to me, at least. Lightning is still top 5 FF protags for me.

There's a reason I call Lightning Returns "the secret origins of VII Remake": those games share a lot of key staff, and have essentially the same battle system.

 

[SS501]

Here's the few screenshots i had saved (thank god because this info would have been lost forever otherwise, i don't even know why i took screenshots back then).

Here someone asks him if Nomura designed Ravus. He says no, Mihara Nobuyoshi designed Ravus, he left the versus xiii team to go work on XIV in 2012 (who would have thought, heh..)


Here he says that he left the team because he wanted to continue working alongside Nomura instead of working with Yusuke Naora's (XV art director) group, cause he had "misunderstandings with him". I can imagine what misunderstandings he had if i put 2 and 2 together. Tabata and his team were slowly taking over the project and changing more and more stuff (he complained that in 2013 the team was changing the story constantly) and in another post of his he complains that his designs have been revised (like Clarus Amicitia and his daughter, who also had a different name back then as he says), or had their names changed and some of his best character designs were completely cut from the game due to story reasons (presumably one of them being the son of Iedolas which was shown in early trailers directed by Nomura, named Safeiroth).


Seems like i have some more saved but i'll post at a later time. Now i really FOR REALZ need a break. Kisses guys.

 

[Idreamaboutcats]

Most of his posts have been sadly deleted after he got into trouble with SE (he gave an official interview later apologizing to SE). All that's left is his google translated posts in various forums
You can find some of it here https://novacrystallis.com/2016/12/artist-roberto-ferrari-speaks-designs-final-fantasy-xv/
This isn't even half of what he revealed on his facebook sadly. I think i still have a screenshot of his post on my computer where he said that he had an argument with Yusuke Naora and left to join Nomura.

This one is the most interesting one from those that were saved


Although google translate did a bad job i still remember what he said. In the first part he says he wasn't part of the team before 2010, which was the team that were not actually working on the game due to the team working on FFXIII (which was confirmed by Nomura in 2008 in famitsu). He then says that he joined in May 2010 and that everything was going well until late 2011. This aligns perfectly with the info we have on the development of Versus XIII. They started pre-production in 2010 after the release of FFXIII, entered full development in September of 2011. Then the team getting resized from 200 to 20 people refers to the team going to work on A Realm Reborn. Wada in his business report also stated that "Multiple HD titles were either delayed extensively or canceled because of the effort to rebuild XIV". There was also a leak in 2012 by a trusted insider at neogaf who said that every member of the VsXIII team was moved to XIV recently but his post has been deleted since then presumably because he got into trouble with SE and only the thread remains (i actually asked him about it on his personal twitter and he deleted my comments. Note: this leak has nothing to do with Kotaku's rumor about Versus XIII Getting canceled in 2012), he is still a trusted insider to this day.

I'll take a break now.

While it was all a very informative read that paints a clearer picture, sadly it’s not like anything can be done now to make all the mistakes of that time right.

Take a break, you need it.

Meanwhile, it might be best not to show this to other Final Fantasy message boards or the Final Fantasy subreddit just yet. There’s a lot of XV fanboys there that would just fume and burn this all to hell. Have you thought of compiling what you have and archiving it in some hard drive or a remote corner of the internet? It won’t do much good here except vague guesswork on what Nomura could do with Yozora, and attract some annoying redditors and bashers while at it.

Strangely enough, the XIII trilogy makes for some of my favorite FF games. I have a lot of love for the cast, the battle system got better with every game, the soundtracks are Hamauzu/Suzuki at their apex... to me, at least. Lightning is still top 5 FF protags for me.

There's a reason I call Lightning Returns "the secret origins of VII Remake": those games share a lot of key staff, and have essentially the same battle system.

Maybe…I did like some of it…but I’m also annoyed at most aspects of it…I don’t know what to properly feel about XIII tbh. The whole fiasco was just…so ehhhhhh it was…meh…

Edit: Fuck! I just remembered a creepy little weirdo from Twitter who was such a Nomura fanboy he made everything all about Versus, even pretending to understand Scala script and tying it back to Nomura’s supposed grand scheme to rework Versus, impersonated at being an SE staff which he obvi isn’t, and to top it all off, is a Trumpist. Thank god he’s banned now. I got curious and googled him and god damn he’s back on twitter on an alt and making a fool of himself. Wonder how he reacted to Biden winning…

 

[The Dead Skin]

Edit: Fuck! I just remembered a creepy little weirdo from Twitter

Oh right. Zeal.
Honestly, don't even dunk on him—just block, report for spam if needed, move on. He's more annoying than dangerous.

 

[Alpha Baymax]

This topic has turned into a treasure trove for Versus XIII content.

We all know this, Crystal Tools was a disaster and died with FNC, and should stay dead.

Incorrect, Final Fantasy XVI is using it.

Seems like i have some more saved but i'll post at a later time. Now i really FOR REALZ need a break. Kisses guys.

Please make a dedicated thread to the truth about Versus XIII. Take your time with it because I know it's going to be a good read.

 

[Idreamaboutcats]

Incorrect, Final Fantasy XVI is using it.

Link me a credible article or interview to that please, and I’ll recant my words.

Not that I’m baiting you or anything, I just don’t take hearsay in without an ounce of proof.

Please make a dedicated thread to the truth about Versus XIII. Take your time with it because I know it's going to be a good read.

For once we’re actually in agreement. Making a dedicated thread is a good idea.

 

[SS501]

I seriously doubt that XVI is using Crystal Tools.
Not even XIV is using crystal tools anymore. For XIV 2.0 they created a Luminous "sibling" engine as Yoshida called it due to its similarities in structure to Luminous. So they're either using an updated version of that engine or Unreal or anything but Crystal Tools. Nobody in the company likes that engine. Also crystal tools was later heavily customized to suit XIII's and its sequels needs, it pretty much became a FFXIII only engine.

Edit: I went and did some research out of curiosity and this is what i found
So they either upgraded and heavily customized XIV's engine or made a new one using XIV's engine as a base.

 

[GreyouTT]

My takeaway from all this is that Tabata is projecting every time he talks about Nomura.

 

[Idreamaboutcats]

My takeaway from all this is that Tabata is projecting every time he talks about Nomura.

Or compensating…

small weenie jabs aside, Luminous Studio isn’t exactly revolutionary cutting-edge either. My copy of XV had bugs in it, including missing NPC’s, clipping walls, falling off floors, etc. I got so frustrated I finished the damn game just so I can get it over with, didn’t download any of the DLC’s, and used the disc as a frisbee for my late dog then trashed it after spring cleaning.

I still don’t hate XV though, at least not story-wise. It was…mediocrely adequate. I did buy the book because meh…I also watched the movie which was…ehhhh…well…good enough for killing time.

Edit: Discs make great frisbees btw, if you know how to throw properly at least.

 

[SuperSaiyanSora]

Haha to be honest i was always in love with the concept of Versus XIII and i have spend a ton of my free personal time to research the project, its lore and story, its development history and its differences with FFXV. I've been on this wild ride since 2006.

I'd love for Verum Rex to reuse as many concepts as possible, just so my soul can find peace after all these years. Sadly i don't think it will be possible if Verum Rex is to be done inside the KH universe and with Disney breathing down their necks. Fingers crossed Nomura will find a way, but his latest interviews regarding the matter don't inspire confidence, as he keeps insisting that Verum Rex and Versus XIII are entirely different.

It's possible that many of the Versus XIII concepts can be repurposed into Kingdom Hearts, but they'd probably have to be changed, unless there's some sort of loophole that allows Nomura to do what he wants with it.

Honestly, I would be super interested in a T-rated Kingdom Hearts game, but I doubt Disney would ever allow it.