Final Fantasy games have always been known for their amazing amount of content and the hours of gameplay that come packed on the disc (or cartridge, back in the day). It appears that Final Fantasy XIII went on a ‘diet’ during development, and you’re not going to believe how much content was cut from the final product.
According to an interview with Isamu Kamikokuryou, Art Director for Final Fantasy XIII, enough content was removed from FF XIII to create an entirely new game. Some of the deleted content he mentioned was a base for Team Nora inside an item shop, a full area outside of Lighting’s house that was similar to a park, and a zoo at the Nautilus amusement park.
The most interesting tidbit revealed is exactly why the content was removed from the game. Isamu stated that it was to help with the volume and overall game balance, but at one point, all the deleted content was up and running on the PlayStation 3.
This certainly adds fuel to the conspiracy theory that Square Enix had to restrict development of FF XIII once they announced it was also hitting the 360 at E3 2008. Then again, the removed content could come our way in the form of DLC, so you never know. What do you think, Final Fantasy fans? Did Square Enix hold back FF XIII’s full potential to make the 360 version, or did the deleted content never really matter in the end? We would love to hear to what you think in the comments below.
Final Fantasy XIII hits America and Europe on March 9th.
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