Final Fantasy Versus XIII: The Final Fantasy game we never got.

[@kermitwithamustache3885]

It's amazing how people still talk about the concepts of a cancelled game even after 15 years. Versus truly was something special

[@KING-ZEAL]

VERSUS shall live again. An Oath to Return has been made. Forever faithful.

[@OmegaKatanaXIII]

It is amazing indeed that’s how impactful those trailers are despite being almost two decades old people still yearn and desire the og versus xiii versions of the cast.

[@milesbbop9563]

They never talk about how it was the original kingdom hearts team that now no longer exists.

[@Eldrowen]

Was gonna be the best game of all times

[@BamaCJ334]

I will NEVER get tired of the topic of Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Square ruined what was supposed to be a masterpiece. It could’ve been legendary. I also find it hilarious that Noctis and Stella had more chemistry in one scene from a trailer than Noctis and Luna did in the entire fucking game

[@michaelmorningstar7933]

Right on, man! Square Enix was HORRIBLY mismanaged during the late 2000s and early 2010s. Freaking CEO Yoichi Wada and upper management greenlighted sequels to Final Fantasy XIII (despite being the most polarizing entry in the franchise - especially in the West) instead of acknowledging the problems FFXIII suffered from and moving on to creating new entries and the disaster that was Final Fantasy XIV 1.0 that its flopping costing the company over $100 million in damage. These two decisions just put further blows to the Final Fantasy series already shaking reputation at the time. Final Fantasy Versus XIII was a victim caught in the mismanaged hell that surely did not deserve to be in. Hopefully, Nomura can take whatever concepts he can from it into Kingdom Hearts IV or, highly likely, a possible Verum Rex game (which I can see the latter being a PG-13 or PG version of Versus XIII's dark and mature plot).

[@OmegaKatanaXIII]

@@michaelmorningstar7933 and they still felt the damage during that era it wasn’t until recently they started to change their development habits.

[@milesbbop9563]

They ruined KH by taking them away from developing it.

[@SereneRalts]

michaelmorningstar7933 i would rather it be its own game where Nomura can have complete freedom to explore this concept

[@Chry-s9c]

True i prefered iris that luna when i played ff15 🤣🤣

[@lolbackmountain]

Versus XIII and Silent Hills are the greatest loss in gaming ever 😢

[@OmegaKatanaXIII]

Don’t forget mega man legends 3 that one STUNGS!

[@milesbbop9563]

@@OmegaKatanaXIII Yeah but they had to have fans carry the game development. Designs and costs. It was kind of odd now thinking about it. I don't think it stood a chance.

[@SlRNIGHTINGALE]

@@OmegaKatanaXIII To this day that one hurts the most

[@thegreenxflash]

They really sold the PS3's on this dream though

[@LapisArsene]

The trailers for Versus XIII have really stuck to fans to this day. It is unfortunate what happened with it. Nomura being pulled everywhere, then you had the engine Crystal Tools. Versus XIII is the only cancelled video game in history to have this much of a following and for THIS long. Honestly, feel at some point it will come back. It took FF7 like a decade to return.. and FFX fans are still waiting on X-3 (and wanting X-0 lol). I mean Noctis is definitely still a popular/profitable character, what better way for SE to reuse him in more games than surprise people with Versus? As awesome as Verum Rex really is, if it gets a game, its not going to be what Versus teased us. Its just going to be XV all over again, but the Disney edition. Like XV, it will just feel and "look" like Versus remnants.

[@OmegaKatanaXIII]

I’m surprised and glad ff vsxiii is still getting traction despite being scrapped normally a game like vsxiii woulda been forgotten and accepted being a lost game but nope.

[@madambutterfly1997]

The Final Fantasy game that nomura is trying to revive in the form of Kingdom Hearts 4

[@f.prince6642]

Agreed Kh4 is the key 👀

[@madambutterfly1997]

@f.prince6642 I still mourn Versus XIII. the concept of Noctis as a l'cie still haunts me, and the only way I can get that fix is by looking up fanfiction of FF versus XIII unfortunately there's not a whole lot

[@madambutterfly1997]

@@f.prince6642 pun intended

[@xkey_blade9558]

I think KH4 will not be the Key. He already told he wanted originally make a Game named Verum Rex before KH4 and then he couldn’t do that because he didn’t wanted to let wait the KH Fans

[@madambutterfly1997]

@@xkey_blade9558 Nomura says a lot of things...

[@LVL5esper]

FFXV was the biggest F-up Tabata could have avoided. No one knew the story of Versus, it was NOT difficult to trick us yet he Failed spectacularly. He justed needed to do a few things. Complete the Insomnia Invasion. Players wanted to play this not watch some random movie about a random dude and a random Luna who isnt even the Luna in the game. Altissia, the Leviathan battle, Players wanted to battle through the city before reaching Leviathan. We got like 2 seconds of battling atop of a single building before becoming Super Saiyan Blue. Noctis's Various Weapons Armory Disposal should have received special movesets in the base game and not worked on and added in later for DLC. With these 3 things done, anything else in the game could have been yolo'd and fans would be a lot more happy at least.

[@OmegaKatanaXIII]

Final Fantasy versus XIII was supposed to be the game that was supposed to make history but apparently square enix chose a man who only did portable games didn’t had experience with big aaa console titles gave us the rushed ffxv.

[@therandomencounter]

100% agree on this!

[@FagatronUchiha]

I just want to point out that is also at fault for having Nomura work too many games that he didn’t have time for versus 13

[@thatoneblackdude3333]

​@@FagatronUchihathis ! They put to much on nomura there was no way he was going to get the game out while working on so much shit at the same time , higher ups set up this game to fail .

[@FagatronUchiha]

@@thatoneblackdude3333 fr fr

[@jonahsahn]

Don't speak ill of Tabata and his effort. He took a pile of doo doo and made SOMETHING out of it, when his predecessor was changing his mind every other day, at one point thinking he wanted the game to be a musical? because he saw Les Miserable. Like... stick the plan, whatever that is.

[@flygonkerel781]

ALWAYS GOOD TO SEE VERSUS 13 TALKED ABOUT!!!!!

[@OmegaKatanaXIII]

Same here I love it when vsxiii gets talked about.

[@YoungLion449]

They probably have this incomplete product stuffed in an archive somewhere at square

[@OmegaKatanaXIII]

Sorry for the late reply I bet they have a beta or an alpha in a server somewhere in there storage or r&d department. I’m surprised that vsxiii wasn’t talked about by employees of square enix despite being scrapped and yes Nomura never forgotten him but uses yozora as a nobody or placement for noctis.

[@zenar30]

Man, I'm ready to sign for another petition to see this game released. A game with such an atmosphere, inspired from Shakespeare, a real tragedy. I remember some "leaks" in 2016 and 2019 saying Versus 15 could happen and that it could be teased in Kingdom Hearts 3. Well, it was in some way right as Re Mind DLC of KH3 makes think about FF13vs, and trailer of KH4 as well. I really hope it's true but Nomura said Verum rex is different from Versus, except if his statement is poker trick. We should sign a petition and share this to Ff community, KH community or in gaming community to get Square Enix's attention.

[@shadkuroi]

8:49 The combos would also work with 1 Buttom, but as kingdom hearts! where the hits change depending on the situation, and then the weapons come in, they would be switch situationally too, which is why the change was so quick and fluid and well animated. the spells would also be mid combo-able. and you would have different physical combos whether you are on the ground or in the air, all like Kingdom Hearts. VS13 was made by the same team as KH1 and 2. Which leads us to why Nomura took so long. this same team, "Tokyo Team" at that time was the best in sqx, and was "stolen" by SQX to help with other projects (FF13,13-2,13LR &14) bcause that, they were unable to continue production of VS. as they did not have available team. thats why Nomura went to do others KH's, while he could not make Versus, and after that do KH3, with the same team. So it was not because they used Nomura a lot, its bcause they used TOKYO a lot. to resolve any problem with other projects, preventing them from working in VS with Nomura & Co.

[@Phyllion-]

Just want to point out that the Tokyo team wasn't "stolen" by SE to make FF13, they just returned to FF after leaving FF 12 in Matsuno's hands to make KH 1 and 2 following FF10's release. Even now they still exist under a new name and are the people behind the FF7 remakes. Which is why they feel like an odd blend between FF13 and KH 1&2's gameplay. But yes, if they didn't push FF13 to become a trilogy then Versus13 would have probably been fine. On a side note, 14 is completely unrelated to that team. The people behind FF11 made the first version and then Yoshida and a number of his people from the DQ mmo joined to reboot it.

[@shadkuroi]

@@Phyllion- I used the term Stolen because they were always prevented from finishing VS, to help with another project. the Versus team was not the entire Tokyo Team but a small portion of them. (cause vs was a spinoff) so VS didn't stop other mailine FF from being made. 14 was made by the team of 11,but Few people know but FF14 really had help from the Tokyo team with manpower. After the game "failed" to meet expectations, it was remade with the help of Phantasy Star Online team from SEGA as they had experience in MMO's and with the Tokyo Team too. mainly in programming if I'm not mistaken. The Tokyo team was the best team at Squex at this time so whenever other teams with big FF projects had problems they used them (the guys of Tokyo team that was with Nomura at the time) to help. This caused the departure of the president at the time, who was heavily criticized for bad management, and mentioned by the next president who came up with a policy for teams to no longer help each other, which soon proved to be even worse and problematic. making him give up on this idea.

[@johnnada6855]

The major mistake Tabata took with FF 15 was totally the direction and the change of style... i know why he did it., he really did the smartest things to achieve the goals square-enix put him, and the huge issue that was the luminous engine, but still, the concept that nomura left through all those trailers shows a far better game, even with the nomura style, and the gameplay concept shows something pretty simple, in the line of crisis core, kingdom hearts or type 0 but also way more tight, in the end, the meat and potatoes of versus 13 was in the style, the world, the characters and those leftovers make 15 great, but besides the style, the straight forward nature of the concept is what gives the image of a way more "safe route" game but also more tight, 15 was very experimental but also a total mess

[@blizziboitv]

I wouldn’t be upset if they went back and worked on this game again. Almost as an alternative universe.

[@Mnemoniforma9.00]

If there were any desire to research travel to alternate timelines, it would in pursuit of this.

[@OmegaKatanaXIII]

Alternative timelines speaking of which imagine one where this game was released along with megaman legends 3.

[@Mnemoniforma9.00]

@@OmegaKatanaXIII Or that Golden Sun Dark Dawn cooked its story properly and got its cliffhanger resolved.

[@ThePerspectionist]

I spent 10 of the best years of my life being excited for Versus XIII / FFXV. Tabata threw Nomura’s vision in the trash and then left the company. They don’t even credit his name anywhere in Crisis Core Reunion as director. That says something.

[@OmegaKatanaXIII]

Square enix was pissed at tabata and tabata and the ceo at the time didn’t part well in good terms.

[@dytgyfgyffuh243]

Final fantasy versus xiii was probably going to be the best game made by tetsuya nomura if they didn't change it man i with that tetsuya would one day tells the true story of Final fantasy versus xiii

[@therandomencounter]

I would love to find out! Maybe when he retires from Square Enix we will learn!

[@recordkeepertype0662]

Now, Nomura is making his ReVengeance with Kingdom Hearts 3 and 4

[@TravaillesDuChanson]

Very interesting video and a topic that the community still really cares about despite what SE may think. They didn't even finish the last 3 dlcs for FF XV and in some ways it's like an unfinished game in little way. Versus XIII had a lot more people interested, while XV was an interesting game, it really fell short in a lot of ways. Would Versus XIII have been better? We'll never know... I would think if they really wanted to surprise the community they could still do Versus XIII as a alternate universe parallel to XV as a way to tie all the loose ends in XV. I think the remake trilogy is their cash cow, but this has a great potential to do something similar. Great video again, and you're a cute content creator ;)

[@Drawerofstuff00]

I liked 15 but I have dismissed it as an "Alternate Universe" that is completely unrelated to Versus. Meanwhile I am looking forward to a potential "Verum Rex" in some way shape or form. In my opinion there are two ways it can become real: 1. Verum Rex as a relatively short Standalone Game split into 3 acts/chapters. 2. Verum Rex serving as the opening chapters to Kingdom Hearts IV. ***I am also very excited for Reynatis, a "Heartslike" game by Furyu directed by Takumi Isobe. He has stated that KH and Final Fantasy are a major influence to the game's setting and story.

[@eugenioasanchezperez1406]

How ironic that now Kingdom Hearts is turning out to be the Final Fantasy Versus 13 we all wanted, and that seems to be a waaaaaaay better idea than what everyone thought, cant wait to see how it turns

[@jagermeisterhots]

KH3 was terrible.

[@OmegaKatanaXIII]

Kh 3 was a dispointing mess but the verum Rex segment was cool.

[@TrvisXXIII]

This might be completely unrelated, but Noctis from this design eerily resembles Adam Lambert in the “whataya want from me” music video lol especially in the limo scene, you’ll see what I mean if you take a look

[@hinatashoyo2999]

Years ago, I watched the trailer for Final Fantasy Versus with my dear old friend. We were incredibly excited for the game; every aspect seemed captivating. We made a pact to purchase it and experience it together upon its release. However, after many long years of anticipation, my friend tragically succumbed to cancer before he could witness the fate of this masterpiece. I can only imagine his disappointment at seeing how the game was mishandled. Brother, I hope to join you in heaven soon, where we can finally play Final Fantasy Versus together. Until then, wait for me.

[@therandomencounter]

I'm sorry to hear that. May he rest in peace.

[@journeytrials]

Sad 😔!! But your right you’ll see each other again! And will be able to play the full version of Ff versus 13! I believe that!!

[@yomioni-7965]

I don’t blame Tabata, I don’t blame Nomura, I blame square for not letting the developers realise there visions.

[@AtticusRh0des]

Some fun info from a famitsu issue, Arena in the original build of versus was actually Lightning which is why in 15 she mimics lightnings motions and even has part of her hair structure, Arden was originally a darker version of Snow. Some of the other 13 characters were supposed to appear whye Vanille and Fang were to be in Type-0 Serah was supposed to be in both and was the original, yes the original Luna Freya before she was changed into Stella.

[@KonEl17]

Bro i want my Stella lol she was gonna be such a dope character far above Lunafreya.

[@JJMomoida]

To be quite honest, I always look at takes people have on VersusXIII with skepticism because people just sound SO sure that the game would have been amazing had it gone in the direction it was going. This... was never a guarantee. Did the game *look* more interesting before they made the changes? Sure, but would it have been better than what we got? That's hard to say.

[@therandomencounter]

Fair take. We never really know if something is good till we have it and played it.

[@VideoGamesAndTheWorld]

This is a game I had such high hopes for. I really wanted to play this game so bad, and after so many delays, it got cancelled. Final Fantasy XV wasn't really bad. But it wasn't great either.

[@kingdomkeycrafter]

I’m willing to bet that the loss of this game made Nomura-San jaded and his work throughout the years. It’s one of my greatest fears as a writer

[@akiinmoonlight79]

The masterpiece that never was ... ❤

[@RICOBTB28]

I wish I had a friend that was as invested into FF15 and V13 as I am 😭😭 still upset we didn’t get V13 and then they didn’t even give us the new dawn dlc like can u believe that 🤦🏾‍♂️

[@isaacddestroy3674]

Take more time to develop your scripts and do those extra takes to get your words out smoothly and in a more succinct manner. This is a very interesting topic, but it’s fair to say you’re undermining your intelligence and Final Fantasy knowledge when you contradict yourself or second guess, or struggle for words. Preparation I think would really elevate your channel :)

[@therandomencounter]

Appreciate the feedback! Thanks for watching!

[@catgirlmomo]

I will never forget this loss 😔

[@athinadrk2882]

Indeed... versus 13 is the most wishfully FF we never got it unfortunately 👍🎮👍

[@KunaX3]

SE should remaster the trilogy and let Nomura make this game.

[@therandomencounter]

I wouldn't mind that!

[@dk9024]

On the Shakespeare inspiration: anyone ever noticed how the pacing of the trailers was oddly similar to Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet (that 1996 movie with young Leo diCaprio and Claire Danes)?

[@Jennifahh]

Yesssss. Even some scenarios looked the same. Like when Romeo killed tylbat those stairs and statues kinda looked similar

[@therandomencounter]

Wow I did not notice this! Now I’m going to have to rewatch the movie! Thanks for watching!

[@themanwithamachinegun3141]

Playing the FFXIII trilogy I felt even more frustrated about VersusXIII, I wonder what could have been if the worlds of Noctis and Lightining and Ace had crossed paths in a coherent story where all the characters knew each other and fought together, I imagine if fabula nova crystallis in its original form would culminate in a game bringing together all the characters that were created for this universe.

[@shanebluesky7452]

Somnus and vsXIII a match made in heaven. But we got FFXV an incomplete version of vsXIII. The brothers bond was❤❤❤

[@moondoor9031]

I still can't get over that Noctis vs Stella trailer... they both would be forced to fight each other and Stella had similar powers like Noctis. The epic fight we will never see. -shame-

[@jasonhernandez730]

He was also working on FF14 Online at the time which is crazy to see him being pulled from all sides for Final Fantasy games and Kingdom Hearts.

[@Ushi_archive]

The needa release this istg they’d make sm money

[@luiscunha5505]

There's also the fact that versus XIII wouldn't make it to the chinese market due to the whole death cult thing. This is speculation on my part but Nomura probably didn't like this since Pooh made it to KH3 just for the sake of it and Pooh isn't allowed in China. Again, this is speculation on my part.

[@Jay_Walker92]

Versus XIII is now called Kingdom Hearts IV.

[@Acesinz]

I really miss this game please bring it back

[@Bogustice]

I bought 15 like 2 years ago and still can't bring myself to play it. The disappointment in what we was supposed to get opposed to what we got won't allow me to

[@therandomencounter]

I still think it's worth playing. While the disappointment will still be there, it's still a decent game.

[@Bogustice]

@therandomencounter I think I will but it's just so hard to for me. My fav and first final fantasy was 7 and the tone of versus seemed to be on par with that. But when I seen 15 it just ruined expectations. 😕

[@jaybee4288]

Huh? It’s a completely different tone to 7. And you’re bashing a game you didn’t even play yet, that’s stupid. With all the DLC 15 is fine. Play it or don’t but crying about scrapped developmental content is silly, almost every game changes from its initial concept.

[@Bogustice]

@jaybee4288 pay attention doof.I said the tone of versus 13 seemed to be more on par with 7 (my favorite game) not that boy band game your tryin to defend

[@kadajshin]

The only ff we ALL WANTED and never got. This is so sad

[@noavsnow7134]

Great video really appreciate someone making a versus xiii video, talking about Noctis's character he was actually supposed to be an anti hero doing good and bad acts hence the quote by William Shakespeare ''There is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so'' I think Noctis's character was supposed to portray that quote or even the whole world of versus xiii portraying that quote with people being selfish or giving into their dark side but who's to say their acts are even bad could just a perception that things are bad or good when they are actually just in the grey area.Talking about gameplay it seemed so much better then xv with in versus xiii you could ride on behemoths,mecs and airships also having destructible environments,normal summons probably similar to ff7R summon system and magic where actually Noctis could teleport his weapons near the enemy and magic like fire or wind would spurt out of the weapon you could see it in the 2013 gameplay trailer which is much more creative then getting a stupid grenade of magic like in xv,gameplay akin to kingdom hearts with a heavy focus on speed also loved in the 2013 trailer how they used Noctis's warp ability like to use his sword to glide on hallway roofs and latch onto things that made the gameplay more dynamic you see that in the 2013 versus xiii change to xv trailer sadly that would be the last Nomura would work on the game before it got completely rebooted with Tabata.Sqaure enix made the worst choice kicking off Nomura from this project it would've rivaled ff7 in my eyes, last thing with the Noctis's red eyes and story beats from he game according to Nomura when Noctis's eyes turn red it has to do with his emotions getting stirred up in battle that's why it probably would've made him even more powerful when that happens also Noctis and Stella fighting each other has to do with either Etro the goddess of death or Ardyn forcing them to fight, you can see a wing symbol on the symbols behind Noctis and Stella which maybe points to Etro forcing them to fight.Noctis and Stella both have the power to foresee death seeing the light which is such a cool concept and how it could've been utilized .Regis states he's going down in history as the last king I think he's speaking to his brother who is shown in the 2013 trailer in the pictures of all the characters I think Nomura was inspired by the story of Hamlet by William Shakespeare where hamlet's uncle kills the king and takes his throne and hamlet is out for revenge same with Noctis with his uncle betraying Lucis and killing king Regis and helping Niflheim attain Lucis's crystal.Sorry if this comment was so long just wanted to point some things out to you,I really enjoyed this video and anyone talking about final fantasy versus xiii/xv Nomura's version also I don't think verum rex will be versus xiii because Nomura said they are two different works and kingdom hearts will not go M rated like versus xiii/xv Nomura's version was supposed too, hope one day we get a reboot/remake of xv with versus xiii story and gameplay with Nomura and his team leading the project would be a dream of mine for that to happen anyways tho this was a great video.

[@therandomencounter]

Appreciate the extra info! I remember following this years ago and was sad when they announced the change from Nomurw to Tabata especially when he announced the one button press and hold combat. Hopefully BB Nomura gets another chance on making an original Final Fantasy!

[@t-ryan3978]

Actually I like FFXV. But after this video I’m gonna cry

[@FF18Cloud]

Thought experiment, considering the weird wacko history of what people say about tetsuya nomura, despite obviously not knowing the guy to really know what he thinks outside his work If his ideas for FFVersus-13 actually did happen, would it really have been a good game? Like, we already all know working on the game was a mess, it took over 10 years and had the whole duke nukem treatment, but considering how THAT was and that all we saw were vertical slice trailers akin to what we've seen today with "the day before" Would it actually have been good? Not counting the music, too, i too kinda fall into that whole belief that if the soundtrack's good, that the people who worked on the game really did care about this... Like, ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ Like, remove the rose-tinted glasses, could nomura really know what he was going to get with this game? Or would the game have ended up like Tabata's type-zero anyways? The thing I dont stick to much when it comes to these games, is how the project is managed, who worked on it, and did those personalities gel. Like, at the end of the day, THIS version of versus-13 was unsubstantial and someone else had to come in to take the reigns to release the game. Is it really square's fault they wanted to get *A* game released? To the same vein, yeah, it isnt like square is a shining beacon of games development that they arent infallible, it could be an eidos situation all over again, too much control over their artists to really do anything (like with deus ex (though thats deeper than just square, they too had clear project management issues with human revolution) and hitman) I dunno, like... I dont really hold too much on FF15 besides that "eh, it exists, and devs got paid at least" Like, end of the day, it was DEFINITELY square's fault it got this bad, marketing the game too early, not being able to have a good team together capable of getting the game done INITIALLY to whatever standard people wanted, and the game ultimately feeling half baked But do i think its worth going crazy about what the game could have been? No, since, those were all just marketing *promises*. In my view, the product only counts if it gets made. Did Tabata's FF15 come out or Nomura's versus-13 come out? We can cry and moan and wish nomura's version was out or something but, at the end of the day, it wasnt like that project knew what it was outside of random character bios and vertical slice trailers. Like, maybe with refocus, it could have happened, but sadly video games arent JUST art. This isnt undertale or cave story where its *one or two people* making the game that they could make the game for however long they want to. And thats the whole crux of the situation, a game isnt made on the back of *one guy* ... We put these directors on a pedestal that the game is just from them, but it factually isnt and couldnt be. Like how Yoko Taro is there, he has a yosuke saito, he had a takahisa taura, like how FF16 wasnt a yoshi-p game (the guy wasnt even the director) and even if it was, dozens of studios and hundreds of people worked on that game. Games arent just the amalgamation of the key figure responsible for the game made but the discussion between Everyone On the project, investors all the way down to the lowly QA and even lower to the guy or gal who's job it is to tag every rock in a scene As a rock (you can probably automate this, but someone still has to either A. make the script or B. Run the script if thats the case) Upper management ultimately decides what is made but how people get to that, from ideation to execution, things change and opinions and ideas change as a result, thats just how development works. I dont want to out a guy like Nomura, an otherwise regular guy, on the same level of Peter Molyneux ... Since, at least between the two, Nomura has a longer time at the top of the industry than Molyneux has, but also because a guy like peter molyneux just keeps talking, talking SO MUCH that theres a peter molydeux account that spoofs the guy and we have game jams made off that... I think people only talk about FFVersus-13 because ff15 was otherwise half-baked on its release that it opened itself up for that kind of discussion ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ But yeah, i dunno, this is just a rant, like, personally, if FF15 was as meh as folks put it, would FFVersus-13 really be as much better that square-enix, the company that then had this guy be the director of 3 GIANT games after the release of FF15 (kingsom hearts 3, final fantasy 7 remake, and now as a creative director on final fantasy 7 rebirth) Like, ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ i dunno, ff15, since FFVersus 13 doesnt exist, is probably the best anyone coild have hoped for out of that game anyways.

[@FF18Cloud]

Tl;Dr Nomura wasn't the only person working on the game at the time, the game was in the oven for 10+ years, and if nomura's vision led to the further craziness of this schedule, ask yourself, honestly, why can you not include Nomura in that blame? It sounds like an overall failure, top-to-bottom, that led the game on the path the way it did

[@FagatronUchiha]

⁠@@FF18Cloud he was already working on other games at that time as far as I remember so I assumed he was hella stressed

[@zenar30]

The biggest problem in all of this mess is the timing. The engine not ready to develop the game at that time. Company which priorities FF13 and FF14 and type-0 which led to a drastic diminution of develop team. Switching with hardware frome ps3 to ps4. Putting earlier marketing and teasers while non significant progress. Apparently, the develop team did progress around 2012 on initial versus 13. And then, the company which forced to scrap all stuff of FNC and Etro's mythology because of Chinese market. Also the company Square Enix which changed its policy with the president. I'd like to say, "yeah, we should blame Nomura" but come on, there are many circumstances here which can "excuse" Nomura. I don't blame Tabata too as he had to deal with what he could too, it wasn't his game anyway. I guess, all this communication after 2013/2014 to say, versus 13 wasn't even an idea or stuff, was only to blame the former director. The problem here is that Square Enix is a company with STANDARTS. And they sold FF15 with so much cut content, so different from what we were dreaming of, and an unfinished game. The game lacks of some DLC. That's a shame for the company, a really big shame. And furthermore, this game was supposed to be so amazing. Square Enix had everything to win with this game because it could a masterpiece, if from the start they put enough investment in time and timing. Also, a guy well known from Square Enix who worked previous Final Fantasy said that there's arrogance in this company. Maybe it's linked to all this mess as well.

[@shicyn]

Dropping truth. V13 was never a thing, so it can't disappoint. It's all FF.

[@FagatronUchiha]

@@shicyn it was tho, there’s game footage

[@sonicyvan7492]

amazing bro, good job, great video

[@therandomencounter]

Thank you! Thanks for watching!

[@HarpDevCo]

damn now I wish this is what I got. I remember playing XV back in elementry and loving it. this would have been 100x better

[@sopadesopita]

i couldn’t even finish 15 … bought it day one and really wanted to like it... it will probably be the only final fantasy that i won’t finish.

[@liltiachan9694]

I always thought versus 13 was a prequel to final fantasy 15 but too bad that didnt happen Instead we got a lower version of versus 13 (also scraped a lot of things and the whole story is still one giant unfinish mess )

[@TheHonoredOne1111]

They should just remake 15 from the ground up

[@NemesisSP]

Part of the proliferation of misinformation with Versus XIII seems to have been caused by people taking things out of context or just not listening to what was said. And it doesn't help that Square Enix and Tabata had very good reasons to keep misinformation going so that they didn't have to take responsibility for their own actions. For instance, when Hajime Tabata said that Versus XIII was 25% done when it became XV, they often leave out that the version of Versus XIII that became XV wasn't started in 2006 and started development in earnest around 2009 once the Crystal Tools was done and so was XIII. Another thing they conveniently tend to leave out was that Versus really did suffer greatly from not just Nomura being made to make more games besides Kingdom Hearts like Dissidia, but also that he had to constantly see his team taken away to fix other games, like how most of his 200 man team for Versus was taken off to work on fixing XIV after Square Enix rushed that game out before it was ready and almost killed the brand. And that was why the Type-0 team was put in instead. People take this to mean it never left pre-production, but we can clearly see the Alpha build of the game with the 2011 trailer and we now have leaked storyboards by Roberto Ferrari that include a lot of the cut characters and many scenes with Stella that show she was a lot more active within the plot than Luna was. But to many people this somehow doesn't count because they don't want to admit they were spitting false facts. XV was 50% done when Tabata took over and he said that we should consider it a complete reset of the game, indicating his intent to transform it into something that it wasn't originally intended. But as one person said, he really didn't have to. No one fully knew the story of XV as Nomura envisioned and while they couldn't have gotten away without criticism for cutting the invasion, they absolutely could have avoided the controversy with Luna had they just not thought they needed to make a replacement heroine. The moment that she was unveiled was the moment everyone knew for sure this game wouldn't be the same and thus it would be under even further scrutiny. Square and Tabata really shot themselves in the foot with this and they didn't have to. They didn't have to be so blatant that XV was not Versus XIII and they could have avoided a lot of headaches had they done so. But that's when ego and bad decision making take over.

[@zooropa04]

15 lost me when Lunafreya was straight up told that her only reason for existence was to help Noctis. That's the worst kind of "man-writing-woman" trope.

[@noelbaterna4141]

Pleases me in a bittersweet way that this has not been forgotten to this day. I definitely still think about this on multiple occasions on what could have been. The next closest thing we could hope for is how Verum Rex will be implemented in KH4 as it’s the clearest callback to Versus. I’m just worried how lightened up the tone will be now that Disney has a hand in the pot -.-

[@KING-ZEAL]

Do you see....do you hear. Fans shall never stop talking about Versus. For Versus shall never die. We WILL see Versus live again, in its original form, before this world ends. So say we all. So says ZEAL.

[@Dr.SiegMostang]

Hopefully in the elusive future when they try to remake 15 i want them to do 1-keep nomura onboard 2-TAKE.THIER.TIME. 3-Massive overhaul to the entire game 4-keep what worked in 15 and change what did not( the magic system for one) 5-make the major characters more intrensic in the plot (what i mean is make a character like luna more in line with the story by making her more than just a lover bait! Oh and also IF you dont want stella back LET LUNA HAVE HER ABILITIES!!! That way when hopefully we play as her she can fight and NOT let herself get stabbed!) And finally 6- Take the ff16 route and make the game MORE mature by that i mean make the slogen "this is a fantasy based on reality" to the extream by making the game rated M+18 (with or without the "spicy" scenes is up for debate)

[@HarpDevCo]

I love ffxv it has a close place in my heart and I had no clue this was a thing

[@dk9024]

I remember bumping into the theory or info that half the reason XV basically didn't come out until every single interesting element of Versus XIII was removed was that the whole "fantasy based on reality" aspect (such as Noctis' and Stella's family being akin to mafia families or the whole Grim Reaper imagery) basically had to get butchered until the game met the standards to avoid not being released in China.

[@astrea555]

I was there waiting for it the whole time. I still didn't play FF15 because that's obviously not the game I wanted.

[@xkey_blade9558]

My Heard always hurts when I see FF15 the only FF in never replayed and I never will do. Nomura had so unlucky years and get blamed for stuff he have no control about it. Because of Square Enix i mean. They also kicked him that he can do FF7 Remake and KH3 and then both get Engine Swap Mid Development. And FF7 was at the beginning outsourced. He is I so unlucky guy because Square High Ups make bad Decision.

[@St4rTr3v1Ut10n]

I think enough time has passed to where we can say, Square was blowing smoke about this project the whole time. It was never going to be what you wished for, and whatever people wanted to hear about this project, they just said it. "Giant world map, seamless gameplay, Sixaxis support!" Nobody remembered that all of this was supposed to happen on a device that has 500MB of RAM. The PS3 was not the system for whatever game Vs13 was supposed to be. Then there's the issue with Tabata. Say whatever about his experience, but I think you put any director in that chair, and you would've gotten FFXV as it was. It was good, but not great. In an industry when games are announced and then canceled, it's amazing we even got what we did.

[@SeFu2006]

I played xv for a few days honestly it was the worst final fantasy I’ve ever played even with all the new combat stuff, it’s the story that ff is known for and ffxv just feels like a couple guys on vacation while their hometown is getting destroyed it all just feels so unnatural and weird. I like Noctis and his design and his hair, that’s basically it tho

[@jeremymetzger9000]

have you play 13 that is hands down the worst final fantasy there is. 13 is the reason 15 had all the changes as they pulled 15s team to help finish 13.

[@michaelhowell2809]

I still remeber being a kid watxhing that trailer. It was everything when it first came out. When 15 came out. I was sure it was foinf to be a banger. But sadly the reviews came and i never bought my ps4 Then the wait for mingdom hearts 3 began. I never been so disappointed for a full game. Hoping rebirth will take it all away lol

[@therandomencounter]

Did you play Remake already? I am really liking the direction of the remake trilogy!

[@Eldrowen]

The game that was gonna be the best of all times, bring versus back.

[@KamiKoroshi_]

I'm still pissed over this. Versus XIII still looks like it would've been the best FF game hands down. But then we got XV. Yeah, that's what we got.

[@DavidRYates-tk2tq]

4:38 gotta love how what looks like a shotgun is apparently firing full-auto like a rifle lmao

[@LifeUnlocker]

Maybe thats how their weapons are on their world lol

[@ryuli1]

you can always hope on mods. this is your most popular video. you should talk about the FFXIII E3 trailer vs the game we got there too.

[@therandomencounter]

That's a good idea!

[@copythatdude6738]

I'm also upset by it but hopefully, with KH4 he adds some type of element story of FF vs 13 in that game, what just bugs me is Disney, we all know that they don't like some type of dark stuff that has their IP in it

[@blugrave4345]

As I get older, i get more and more happy with XV. I think Nomura would have went really weird with it. I truly love the story we got.

[@kaleodos]

With the release of Xiii ff was on a crisis. ppl only wanted a traditional ff and thats what ffxv became, its just used the versus lore for its plot and changed what it needed

[@israelruiz8706]

Ff15 lunafreya being a love interest felt forced because it was forced in game as well. It was an arranged marriage. The only semblance of them having any romantic feelings towards each other wasn't really showed. We just knew they were childhood friends that kept in touch through letters

[@Xemnasthewise]

Hey there! Random question but what type of monitor do you have?🤔

[@therandomencounter]

I have 2 Acer Nitro XF243Y. They are 1080p and 165Hz. Thanks for watching!

[@Nero-984]

I always wonder how the story of Versus XIII would be. The FFXV story is so disappointed

[@MrGonz801]

I've got a lot to say, but here goes. I'll be honest, I'd love an FFXV-R. I watched the movie, I watched the anime, I finished the game base game post update, because they added Main Story chapters post launch, and I finished the game in pocket edition, I played the free pixel art beat em up prequel and I played the comrades expansion and I've played all the DLC and after all of that I've got to say the main game is the worst experience of the bunch

[@MrGonz801]

In the Kingsglaive movie you see all the magic and spells that a Glaive or the Lucian King can achieve, but all Noctis knows how to do is teleport and His Entourage can't even do that even though they're running around proclaiming they're Glaives.

[@MrGonz801]

In Comrades you take control of a create-a-character who's a Glaive and you do learn all the spells and have access to every weapon variety that isn't available in the main game. Meaning, they went to the extent of creating the style of fighting used by Nyx and the other Glaives, made sure it was working correctly in engine, but actively chose to omit it from the main game, leaving Noct and his band of merry men with only the ability to use spell bombs and weapons that will sap your health if you prefer their play style over the regular weapons...

[@MrGonz801]

I guess the TLDR is I would love to see what the FF7R team could do with FFXV, because the foundation is there, but Tabata's team decided to build a dingy shack instead of a well built house.

[@brycetheoddball]

Bro this video is awesome but what is that gameplay footage from 14:25 I can never find it

[@therandomencounter]

That will be the Final Fantasy XV announcement trailer where they changed the name from Versus XIII. Thanks for watching!

[@Snow-c6e]

It's crazy when you think that we could have got three different universes and the final fantasy 13 world FF13 and FF13 Agito and FF13 Versus What a damn shame

[@kingoverseas9052]

My memories of this version are ruined because all I remember about it were players crying "Waaah Stella, we want Stella! Waah!"

[@claytonyounkin2093]

Comparing the MCU to kingdom hearts it’s a false comparison. People complain about the kingdom hearts plot because it’s convoluted af and entire games were made simply to retcon elements and fix plot holes

[@therandomencounter]

That's a fair point. There was definitely a lot of stuff that was retconned from Kingdom Hearts .

[@shepherdstar14]

There are plenty of films in the MCU that have retconned past plot holes as well such as the fake infinity gauntlet in Odin’s collection we all thought was real in the first Thor movie. Loki taking over Asgard being retconned to him just hiding posing as Odin in the next film, etc. when Kingdom Hearts retcons things I feel they don’t have to give much context for why they retcon these things.

[@toddolsen4604]

I like this topic. I have my own theory of what happened. But we have to mention all of the gameplay of VS13 none of it was ever running on any PS hardware. So I theorize that the fault lies in what eventually became the PS4. And it was not powerful enough to handle it. The timing fits. 1) VS13 in development for PS3 2) Shifts from Crytstal Tools to an experimental engine rumored to be called Ebony. Which couldnt run on PS3. 3) They create all the gameplay we saw in trailers, based on what they assumed the PS4 would be able to do. 4) PS4 dev kits arrive at Square Enix, and obseneties are shouted from the development team. 5) The PS4 is the weakest PlayStation ever to release for its time as compared to PC. (It ends up launching with hardware equivalent to a low end entry level PC) 6) Devs realize the PS4 can't run it. (It struggled with FF15) 7) Timing is against them and changes and shifts are made. 8) Nomura and his team gets moved to KH3 and in the middle of that FF7R development begins (after FF7R is moved back in house and the work by Cyber Connect2 is scrapped) 9) The Ebony engine gets down scaled to the Luminous Engine which can run on the PS4's limited hardware. 10) The team is organized and named Luminous Productions with Tabata taking over what they had from VS13. 11) The Insomnia gameplay just wasn't going to work on the PS4. And they decide to turn it all into a movie. 12) FFVS13 officially becomes FF15. It all rests with the PS4. They expcted it to have more power than it did. Probably along the lines of the PS4 Pro. Which arrived way too late

[@jaybee4288]

People glorify this. It looked good and interesting for sure but have to remember this was just alpha footage and the characters and story probably weren’t fleshed out at all. Basically it probably wouldn’t have been much better than we got, but because it never came out people assume it was the best FF ever. As for Nomura, while it’s not his fault if he was given too much, you can’t blame SE for pulling the plug, he didn’t look like he was going to get it finished anytime soon. Also I think criticisms of him are generally well founded because he misses for most people most of the time. I wish they’d kept him well away from the FF remake. Nomura has interesting concepts but generally his games rarely live up to the promise of the trailers.

[@KonEl17]

Nomura also known for his designs in FF7 to 10 i think.

[@kaizakira]

He also did monster designs in ff5 & 6. He also did designs for setzer and shadow in 6.

[@sromeroTv]

We have to rely on Kingdom Hearts to bring all of this to a reality for us

[@siclay]

well at lest we'll finally get versus xii in the name of kingdom hearts 4

[@kermitwithamustache3885]

7 days after this video is uploaded: Someone makes Verum Rex before they could make Verum Rex

[@therandomencounter]

I know right! I might make a video on it soon.

[@jbc00per]

What's the game called? I saw the video the other day and completely forgot the name haha I came across this video looking for the game

[@kermitwithamustache3885]

@@jbc00per Reynactis

[@jonathandear4914]

@@jbc00per Reynatis

[@brandonmanuel2842]

They should not let the game go into development hell. It was fine just the way it was. I was disappointed with XV.

[@KonEl17]

Your take on KH story vs Marvel is flawed marvel are movies that you can watch in maybe 3 ways theater, dvd, or blu ray maybe costing you 15 to 30 bucks. Kh was on ps2, psp, gba advance, ds, and 3d bro thats hundreds of bucks if you dont already have all of them.

[@therandomencounter]

Fair point!

[@kingofkings89pl]

I like FF XV :) We all feel phantom pain from versus but FF XV was great, not that dark but cool to.

[@kingofkings89pl]

FF versus XIII was a dream of Nemura that was unable to fullfill at that time, but... How do you imagine real cities to be? It's take so much power from consoles & it can't be something that is not top on graphic standpoint. I think systems was not ready to, look at gameplay in the cities of versus XIII...it was, sorry but boring playground. Today cities are boring, just high buildings that are ugly & looks the same. To this to shine you need power of the future, like Playstation 6 to make people be interested in about the game in My opinion. And reality grounded game will don't have that much elements of fantasy in it. I mean, imagine chaos of monsters from FF universe, fantasy characters in reality world? Boring & don't fit at all. I know that Kingdom Hearts was have sometimes thst kind of feelings & truly didn't like that mix. So personally for me it's good that FF versus XIII turns out to be more fsmtady world based FF XV with all final fantasy touch. You have there a modern era technology but reshape it in fantasy style that is alot more interesting & give you that magic feeling in to this. About DLCs to FF XV I feel like Noctis DLC will be ok but truly we see alot of this character in the game & his evolving. Getting more is always good but if that was need it? I feel like movie or anime & game with all this DLCs was already so huge universe that was one of the biggest in story telling & expanding a universe of ths game. FF XIII is a king of expanding a universe with 3 gsmes going around same characters & same world creation. FF XV was near but more tone out. FF XVI is so huge but you can see it's stand alone world with a perfect fit of every information of Characters & world itself. Do we need more in it? Tidus DLC will truly complete this universe tell it there, btw it's a darker tone then FF versus XIII but eith fantasy touch & it feels phenomenal. I love what they doing now with FF VII trilogy. Amazing story of original expanded where it nees to be to re-tell the story if it in much rich & bigger way. If they will do the same with FF VIII & IX it sill be amazing but I feel like VIII & IX really was balanced so great about telling the story... It was leave it you a soace for imagination to paint rest of it in your head. It was cool way in Final Fantasy games was able to bring back in days. Today when I play on Final Fantasy VII remake or soon rebirth I don't feel.any space for imagination... I'm fallowing the world that is showed me to experience. It's cool & so much fun but don't expand you imagination in it. Anyway I'm not so much fun of FF versus XIII now, then I was think it's such a great idea & everything but now I feel they did great by cutting out everything worth it from this idea & suit it more in FF touch more then in Kingdom Hearts tone. About thia lady's of Noctis... I don't feel it was in case of story telling where to go there in FF versus XIII in perspective of a viewer. I mean, where is enigma & feeling of love there. Creator of it leave it a touch of a mistery in it but what then? In FF XV you have story of love & bounding. What you was looking for in case of chaotic stories of love etc, you got this in FF XVI but in more normalized forme to consume by a viewer. & what I think about cutting out thinks in FF XV game to make a FF XV movie was to make it more easy to create & I bet it will take so much time to shaoe that in to reality in game. We don't know everything that is going on behind the scenes in developing studios. How they make thinks for us, I bet then it was a bit of a hard think to shaoe everything in to the game for FF XV universe. Btw... I'm glad that FF Type 0 was separate game from FF XIII universe. It was not a bond with it, beside Cristals.

[@FeeIRG]

Eh, i love FFXV for alot of reasons and this this version would have been like a polar opposite of the game so maybe its just not for me

[@shanebluesky7452]

Nomura san shouldn't focus too much on kingdom hearts. 1. No matter what Disney has its right and u know how s***ty and greedy disney is there success in gaming is thanks to nomura san. 2. Nomura san needs some break. Bro's been working 24/7. But things are changing people pulled off ff7 rebirth while he was just guiding them and FFXVI is one helluva title sure they had some issues. But im sure a sequel will be welcomed.

[@lolroflinc]

I don’t get it. Noctis is the main character in ff15. But what is this?

[@therandomencounter]

Final Fantasy Versus XIII was what Final Fantasy XV was supposed to be before they took Nomura off the project. Many elements carried over such as Noctis while a bunch of stuff was cut out.

[@lolroflinc]

@@therandomencounter thanks mate :)

[@kenthoward]

Why cant they just continue to make this game and have it from a different universe

[@therandomencounter]

That would be nice! Here’s hoping Reynatis has the spirit of FFv13!

[@StellaSuperior]

#RestoreVersusXIII

[@kenneth27205]

the pain is real!!!

[@hiharovic7284]

I liked FF15 when I first played it, but over the years it really soured on me. I’d say it a a decent video game, but a kinda garbage Final Fantasy game if I don’t mince words. I do go back to the soundtrack from time to time tho.

[@timmyp6297]

This was so very obviously FF type 0

[@Fourtune1]

FF15 ended up being boring to me. I feel like it will be one of the least memorable stories.

[@shicyn]

"I think 13 showed it better" this will never be a valid statement as v13 doesnt exist.

[@KING-ZEAL]

A World of the VERSUS Epic. Long live thy line, and thy original tale divine, until the day VERSUS is born anew. This is what an oath looks like. An Oath to Return. Forever faithful. - Zeal