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There are stacks of blockbuster games in development for the PS3 – just think of GTA IV, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, GT5, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, RE5, DMC4, MGS 4, the list goes on and on and on. However, if we’re talking epics, Final Fantasy XIII stands like a colossus over the rest of the field. To say we’re looking forward to it is like saying that it was quite difficult to defeat Sephiroth in FF7. So, what do we have to look forward to from this SE classic-in-the-making?

Interestingly, although SE recently licensed the Unreal Engine 3 (used in games like Rainbow Six Vegas, John Woo’s Stranglehold and Turok), FFXIII has been developed using Square’s own proprietary White Engine. Certainly from the footage released so far, it seems to have been a wise move. FFXIII looks like no other PS3 game we’ve seen – only Virtua Fighter 5 and GT HD have come close to its next-gen-ness to date. Of course, looks aren’t everything, but FF XIII also appears to have a sound and promising gameplay mechanic, based on the groundbreaking nature of this year’s PS2 swansong, the real-time wonder that was Final Fantasy XII.

We sat down with the game’s director, Motomu Toriyama, for a chat about progress of FFXIII and found him to be in fine voice.

OPS: There Are so Many fans out there… see page 2

Special Box: Fighting Solo? – Only a few battle scenes have been shown to the press so far, but Toriyama-san did recently confirm to Japanese magazine Weekly Famitsu that traditional team-based battle would occur in FFXIII. However, there will be many occasions when Lightning goes into battle without any backup. Presumably, other character will also playable in battle without assistance from party members. Exploration also seems to be split between solo and group base adventure.