Final Fantasy XIII

Also known as: FF XIII,FF13,FF13,FF13

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Final Fantasy XIII - impressions

Another show, another trailer... we learn a little more about the PS3's RPG star

Words: Christian Nutt, GamesRadar US

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"Men, or mayhap gods?" That was one of the questions posed in the new version of the Final Fantasy XIII trailer shown off at Tokyo game show. What does it mean? It's the random sort of question that lends more mood than meaning to what followed it... not surprising, considering the game itself is still pretty much a total mystery even now.

We say "version" of the trailer, because it was only slightly expanded from the original one debuted five months ago at the E3 show. While we didn't learn anything new about the kick-ass female character or the soldiers she fights - or anything much comprehensible about the gameplay - but we did get a better look at the world of Final Fantasy XIII.

As explained back then, it's the most technologically advanced yet seen in Final Fantasy. Many of the larger enemies in the trailer were a blend of machinery and monster - for example, a flying creature chased the train where the action takes place; on its back it had jets like a plane, burning with blue energy. We're not quite sure whether we saw it right, but at one point it seemed like cars morphed into a dragon-like creature - though it may have just appeared among them. Either way, the foes in this game blend the Final Fantasy monsters you've seen before with high-tech touches. It's bizarre - and new.

Even less of the new trailer looked like real gameplay than the prior E3 trailer; in fact, the only bits that seemed to be really controllable gameplay were those we'd already seen. Though the fight against the soldiers was expanded from what we saw before most of it seemed to be CG - including one really cool bit where the soldiers were sucked into a pulsating ball of sickly green energy.

Our main conclusions from this trailer: Final Fantasy XIII remains cool as hell, and we're not going to be playing it anytime soon. Be sure to check out the rest of the new screenshots by hitting the images tab up above. It's worth it.