FF Versus XIII will have airships, overworld, stupid name

Teased for years with very little actual information, Final Fantasy Versus XIII has up until now been entirelyovershadowed by its sister game, FFXIII. With the latter finally released, Square is ready to drip feed more tidbits about this PS3-exclusive side story starring an entirely new cast.

Above: Versus XIII centers on Noctis Lucis Caelum, which is Emo-Latin for "Light of the Night Sigh"

During aTwitter interviewyesterday, director Tetsuya Nomura answered a series of questions from fans, breaking the seal on a game that's had next to zero exposure since 2006. We now know that Versus XIII will have an overworld and airship, two things absent in Final Fantasy XIII, which have since become some of the game's most contentious talking points. Combine this with what we know of the story (kingdoms fighting over crystals) and it's starting to sound like the game unrelenting JRPG fans wanted all along, albeit with a stupid, stupid name that'll hopefully be changed during E3 2010.

Above: Back to... basics?

But don't let these nuggets fool you - Versus XIII's mix of classic tropes, Kingdom Hearts-style battles and a drab, real-worldy setting could make it just as unique and divisive as its predecessor. And don't forget that it's only one other part of Fabula Nova Crystallis, an ongoing compilation of sorta-related works. The third, Agito FFXIII, is PSP-only and is just as much of an unknown as Versus.

You can check some translated bits of the interviewhere.

Team Lightning comes correct with a breakneck, all-out fight for survival

Alright, internet - let's settle this debate once and for all