According to interviews with the developers, the world of Final Fantasy Versus XIII that exists within the last city to control the Crystal, as well as it's culture, is directly equatable to ours. The world outside the city, on the other hand, is much more medieval, and outsiders wage an ongoing war against the city and its residents. Their goal? To take control of the Crystals, and thus control magic.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII has been described by the developers as the 'shadow' to Final Fantasy XIII's 'light'. In essence, Versus could not exist without XIII's story, even though it has been specifically stated that the two games do not take place in the same world or society, and even though both stories share the same creation mythology based around the Crystals. In fact, the trailer for the game opens with a line from Hamlet, Act II, Scene II: "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

The themes of the game have been stated to be "bonding", "friendship", and "sleep". Character designer and director Tetsuya Nomura has stated that Versus is perhaps the darkest, most tragic Final Fantasy ever, because it is simply the only way the story can be told.

Battle System

Nothing is known about the battle system for Final Fantasy Versus XIII at this time. The game is, however, an action RPG, and is being developed by the same team that worked on Kingdom Hearts.

Characters

Unnamed Male Character

The unnamed male character who appeared in the trailer for Versus at E3 2006 is a member of the royal house that rules the last city on the planet to have control of Crystals. Because the city controls the Crystals, it also controls magic, and has also recently com under attack by outsiders.

In reguards to his fighting style, he is a swordsman and a magic user, and when he wields his swords, his eyes glow red. He is also able to control his swords with magic, creating a barrier of blades and magic agound himself.

According to information from December 2006's Jump Festa, his name may be Storm.

Age	Weapon
Unknown	Sword/Magic
Height	Birthplace
Unknown	Unknown

Development Team

Tetsuya Nomura (Director, Character Design)
Takeshi Nozue (Movie Director)
Yoko Shimomura (Composer)
Shinji Hashimoto (Producer)