At E3 2012, Capcom offered a glimpse of the three different scenarios we’ll be playing in Resident Evil 6. Players could enjoy a co-op between Leon Kennedy and newcomer Helena Harper in classic survival-horror style in a Tall Oaks full of zombies, face a boss battle with Jake Muller (son of longtime series baddie Albert Wesker) and Sherry Birkin (aka the little girl from RE2), or battle across the rooftops of China with Chris Redfield and his partner Piers Nivans. But the company also revealed a new feature behind closed doors: the Crossover system, an evolution of the dual-threaded Scenario mechanic from Resident Evil 2, this time not only intersecting the story of different characters but also bringing their gameplay together in four-player co-op situations.

To demonstrate Crossover, Capcom’s developers played a scene where Leon and Helena meet with Jake and Sherry in China. En route via airplane, the US agents are attacked by a B.O.W. (that’s Bio-Organic Weapon for the uninitiated) and crash. Wesker’s son and his young partner are already on the ground when they cross paths with the crash survivors, and the four of them are then attacked by a huge creature known as Ustanak. Each of the four characters is controlled by an online player, and they must cooperate to take down the beast, which can hold and punish a character with his claw and hold another one at the same time in a cage on his back.

Eventually, the pairs get separated and switched, and players are stuck with a different partner – Leon is thrown with Sherry to one side of a wall, and Jake has to cooperate with Helena on the other side as the battle with Ustanak rages on.

Producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi tells us that the Crossover system brings together random pairs of friends who are simultaneously getting to the same section where different scenarios crosses in the storyline. Sounds like an unusual concept for online co-op matches, so we took the opportunity to get more details from Hirabayashi-san about this new feature of Resident Evil 6, which is coming out for PS3 this October.

PlayStation.Blog: So Crossover randomly pairs players around the world playing at the same part of the game and at the same time? So we can’t just invite friends to get through a specific crossover section?
Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, Producer, Resident Evil 6: Yes, that’s exactly how it works….The concept of this feature is to have people joining you in real time and seamlessly, so whenever you happen to be at a point where you get to China as Leon, for example, somebody else in the world who’s playing roughly at the same time and they’re also about to get at that point or they’re already there as Jake, he or she will join you. So the idea is more to have a surprise about who’s going to play with you. If want to play with your friends, we recommend, first and foremost, playing with them within the storyline on the co-op, so you’ll be Jake and your friend is Sherry, or you’ll be Leon and your friend is Helena.

Of course, if want to play with friends there’s a setting for it, so whenever you come to a chapter or a story section where there’s going to be a crossover, you get a little prompt before that section asking if you want live players joining your game at this point. If you feel like playing on your own or you don’t want to play with a guy you don’t know, you can go with the AI and it’ll be you and three other AI-controlled characters. You can also choose between letting anyone come in or only friends. Of course, because you’re playing in the storyline, it means you’re not going to have a lobby as in a deathmatch, you’re going to get in touch with your friend and tell him to play the same section at the same time with the specific characters, and both will have to set the online co-op to “friends only.”

We see the concept of this feature as not necessarily being “get your friend on the other side of the crossover”, but “get your friend at the same side as you”.

PSB: What about a chapter selection feature after you finish certain sections? This could help if players really want to set up crossover play with friends.
YH: Yes, you have chapters and, if you pick a specific one and tell your friend to play at the same one, you can increase the chances of getting your friend in there. So let’s say both of you only have each other as their only PSN friend and the setting is to play with friends only, then it’s a 100% chance you’ll be playing with each other [laughs].

But let’s say we both are popular and have 100 PSN friends each, and we both choose to play with friends only; there’s still a chance we’re going to play together, but the idea of the design is meant to this kind of scenario. You can manufacture a situation to play with a specific person, but we don’t see it as the main idea behind the Crossover concept. If players want to play with friends, they can do it in Resident Evil 5-style: two friends playing a scenario in co-op.

PSB: In order to see every side of the story, we’ll have to play multiple times, each one with a different character, right?
YH: Yes, there’s three separate storylines with two characters in them each. You could see every aspects of it yourself, but you’ll also have the chance to join someone else who’s already seen the other side of the storyline, maybe before you’ve seen it or maybe after you’ve seen it.

Let’s say you start as Leon. At some point you cross over with Jake, and then, once your crossover is done, you’re back to Leon, and then start another crossover with Chris. Then you decide “Okay, I’ve seen enough of Leon’s story” and start with Chris from the start, and you see his missions and then he crosses over with Jake separately, and later on he gets to the Leon crossover – you’ve already seen it from the Leon side, and now you see it from Chris’ side.

PSB: So in terms of replayability, how much content will the game offer?
YH: If you play all three storylines all the way through, you’ll see everything you can see from every side in terms of story, and you’ll obviously have the chance, depending on the settings of the lobby, to have people joining you in these crossover intersections. It’s quite a lot of volume: we estimate that each one of these storylines is probably around 70% to 80% of the volume of the whole game in Resident Evil 5. So with three separate storylines, there’s plenty to play here.

PSB: We noticed you were switching between a lot of guns and equipment in real time. Does Resident Evil 6 do away with the inventory management?
YH: It’s just a demo for the E3, but yes, as you’ve seen, with the weapons and items, it’s all in real time. That’s not to say that you’re going to have plenty of bullets for a hundred different weapons. It’s still survival horror, you need to have those limits in order for the game to work. You’ll have to manage your resources in terms of having guns and ammo, but you won’t be popping in and out of a menu like you’ve seen before. It’s much more fluid.

PSB: This section you demoed is more action based, but you said the game is still a survival horror. How are you balancing the pace of the game in that sense? Will we have scenes more based on tension and fear like in the earlier Resident Evil titles?
YH: First of all, we’ve tuned this demo to show how the Crossover works, to show an enemy so strong that it needs four players coordinating to take it down. So you have lots of action, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be all like that during the whole game. Also, we’ve set it so people don’t keep dying in the middle of the demo, so it has plenty of guns and plenty of ammo. That’s not how it’s going to be when you come across the Ustanak in the final game – you’ll still have Resident Evil-style situations where you have a shotgun with only two shells in it and you have to make sure you make it counts. Those elements will come into play in the real flow of the game when you get to this point, and we think that’s what survival horror is all about. “Can I live through this situation with the resources I have at hand?” You should feel like that, like you’re playing a Resident Evil game.

Last week at the PlayStation’s E3 Press Conference, one of the highlights of the night was Quantic Dream’s David Cage stepping into the stage finally reveal his team’s next masterpiece. BEYOND: Two Souls for the PS3 impressed the crowd with its extremely detailed graphics and convincing performances of motion actors, including Hollywood talent Ellen Page. By now, you must have seem the debut trailer dozens of times and may have even checked David Cage himself coming to our stage live at E3, but unfortunately the game was not available on the show floor for the general audience to try. Luckily for us, we were able to witness the power of this interactive psychological action-thriller in a private session where Producer Ray Khalastchi from SCEE’s XDev Studio walked us through a 20-plus-minute demo running on a PS3 – in case we had any doubts that the game was high-tech smoke and mirrors.

The demo consisted of five areas connected by a gripping narrative, all of which showed off the game’s new graphics technology in all its glory, including the startlingly lifelike performances of actors achieved through full performance capture. Of course, many details of the story are being kept secret, but we managed to pull some tidbits from Khalastchi. “At this point in the game, Jodie is about 23 years old and has been on the run for two or three weeks from the authorities,” he explains, setting the tone for the demo we’re about to see.

On the Train

Inside a train, Jodie Holmes is trying to get some sleep, wrapped in a hoodie to avoid attracting unwanted attention. We’re soon in control of Aiden, the ethereal entity she’s tied to – and you can immediately notice that spiritual connection, which is represented by a blue light thread linking the two. In first person (you never get to see Aiden’s appearance), you can wander the place with Sixaxis movements. Taking advantage of the fact you’re invisible to the other passengers, you can startle them by interacting with objects indicated by an orange glow. You can even cross the walls of the train to look at the heavy rain out there, but you can’t stray too far from Jodie – your view starts to blur and eventually go black and white. Aiden is bound to Jodie. “[Your view as Aiden] will also change based on what situation Jodie is in,” Khalastchi explains. “If she’s scared or in danger, it will impact your view.”

The train eventually stops at a station full of cops. You can go outside and try to listen to their conversation to find out what is happening, or you can just go wherever you want to – by the way, the police lights on a rainy night give an idea of the visual tricks the team at Quantic Dream is wringing out of the PS3. Anyway, it’s interesting to notice how you don’t “trigger” events with your presence, everything just happens in real time. People will carry on their conversation or whatever they are doing whether you are there or not, so you have to pick carefully what you’ll be doing.

Eventually, two cops board the train and it’s immediately obvious that they are looking for Jodie. You have to warn her somehow, and you do so by interacting with the bottle near her to wake her up. Noticing the girl tries to avoid them, the officers realize it’s Jodie, and a chase scene ensues. You’re now in direct control of Jodie trying to make your way through the corridors. This direct control of the action sequence is something Khalastchi emphasizes, contrasting with Heavy Rain, where you would simply follow command prompts in action scenes. Not that you don’t have the usual on-screen commands to follow, and here they can also determine the outcome of a scene. “If I was to be caught, I would be arrested and I would be put in one of these rooms. I would have to find a way outside the train”, explains Ray. “You cannot get a ‘Game Over’ screen, the game always moves forward.”

Cornered inside a toilet, Jodie comes up with a plan: open the latch to the rooftop. But she’s not strong enough, so it’s up to Aiden to crack it open. On the rooftop, we’re again controlling Jodie directly, and we’re once more overwhelmed by the scene before our eyes: Jodie moves carefully through the wet floor, her clothes soaked by the pouring rain, swinging with the strong wind, the lights of signposts occasionally remembering you of how fast the train is moving, and Ellen Page’s expression of anxiety giving an unsettling sense of danger.

The girl tries to get around the police officers who are also climbing to the rooftop, but is surrounded by three of them. A brutal fight follows, but despite getting hit by some blows, Jodie seems to know how to get rid of them. “For this part we had a martial artists group that came to do the choreography and motion capture session”, adds Khalastchi. “Then we took that data and applied to the characters in the scene.”

Noticing the cops are still coming at her, Jodie jumps out of the train and, upon successful command inputs, Aiden protects her with an ethereal shield so she can land safely.

At the Forest

“Are you telling why she’s so skilled?”, we ask. Khalastchi just smiles and shakes his head negatively, probably happy to leave us with this piercing question. Jodie is now in a forest area, rising from the ground with an expression that mixes relief and fatigue. But soon after she begins moving away from there, a helicopter lights the area and searchlights comes in her direction. Furious with their tenacity, the girl curses and darts into the forest.

While dogs bay in the background, Jodie tries to overcome trunks and branches – again, under a combination of direct control plus Quick Time Events. “If you fail repeatedly”, I insist, “can Jodie die?” It’s something that kept hammering my mind, because in Heavy Rain you would sometimes have to live with the tragic (and permanent) consequences of your actions. “No, she can’t die”, assures Ray. “But the story still continues in the context of all that happens. She can get arrested or get knocked down and wake up later.”

Jodie builds some distance between her and the cops, but still can hear them not very far from her. With direct control over her, you begin running in every different direction in search of a way out, and it soon becomes a desperate hunt for an exit. “Jodie is lost. You are lost. You don’t know where to go, so you’re trying to find your way around. We really wanted to make you feel like you’re lost.” Yeah, it definitely works.

The dogs catch up with her and a battle between Jodie and nature takes place. “Did you guys motion capture dogs too?”, I jokingly ask, trying to alleviate me from the tension caused by the ferocious scene. “Actually, yes,” answers Khalastchi with that confident smile of someone who means it.

After getting rid of the dogs, Jodie manages to climb a rock wall and hide from the cops bellow. Then, while they are pointing their lanterns around in search of her, comes my favorite scene: the camera closes in on Jodie’s face and you can clearly see the benefits of marrying the latest in motion capture and graphics technology with an Oscar nominee of the caliber of Ellen Page, as you can see the expression of fear in her excited eyes, while raindrops stream down her bruised skin, her hair plastered around her still panting face. “Are her bruises dynamic?”, I ask after seeing how she gets injured after so many brushes with danger. “Yes. For example, when I jumped out of the train before, if I failed to shield her properly, she would be in a much worse state.” Poor Jodie.

At the Barricade

Jodie escapes the guards and is now by the side of a road, where there’s a barricade. Controlling Aiden again, you check the situation: there are three cops, two cars and a motorbike. The producer explains the meaning of the colored auras surrounding every people: white is neutral, orange means the person can be possessed and red indicates someone who can be choked. And it’s all contextual.

Khalastchi goes to the officer by the bike and possesses him, gaining direct control over him. Our guide them makes the possessed guard mess with one of the cars to distract the other two. I noticed from a previous play session that he made something different to pass through this area. “Yes, in this very instance, you have two options”, explains Khalastchi. “After possessing the guard, I can enter the car and drive it back and forth, or I can get the shotgun in the back of the car and keep shooting to the air. Either way, the other cops get distracted and give Jodie the opportunity to go around and get the bike.”

“Even in the small sections, we’d like to give you a little bit of choice. It may have no difference in the outcome, but if you choose what to do, it feels more like it’s your story.”

On the Bike

“Here we are in control of the bike, whereas in Heavy Rain it would have been like ‘hit R2 and watch her drive away’.” And again, the PS3 hardware easily handles the kind of lighting and effects on the screen as Jodie drives the bike at a rainy night. And we’re curious as to how they’re balancing between giving you control and telling you an authorial story. “We’re still trying to give you as much control as possible while still keeping it cinematic, keeping control tightly and, you know, keeping story intact.”

Being chased by a helicopter, Jodie is trapped when she reaches a bridge guarded by a S.W.A.T. squad. With Aiden’s help, she breaks through the blockade and reaches a nearby town.

At the Town

The chase comes to its climax at the front of a theater. “In this final part of the demo, it’s almost a sandbox of Aiden gameplay. There are lots of different things you can do,” explains Khalastchi. And he’s not kidding: while Jodie is cornered behind a car, you control Aiden and search for people to possess or choke, or explore various environmental interactions. You can control a sniper and kill his teammates, take over another soldier on the ground and command him to shoot nearby officers and himself, throw a grenade with yet another officer and cause a massive explosion, flip cars and… blow the fire hydrant? “Some things you can do are not useful.” Reminds me of drinking milk in Heavy Rain…But then, it’s all in the name of interactivity.

As time goes on, the S.W.A.T. team is closing in on Jodie, which means they get in range of some hazards and in Aiden’s range as well. You can make a clock tower crumble upon some soldiers, which highlighted a curious detail in the game: you can actually see their spirits coming out of their bodies and rising into the air.

After helping Jodie get inside the theater, you can possess the helicopter pilot and cause the ultimate destruction, which leads to the closing scene of the debut trailer: Jodie walks to the S.W.A.T. leader and menacingly yells: “Tell them to leave me effin’ alone, because next time… I’ll kill everyone”. And, walking away, she calls Aiden and says “I think they got the message”.

By the end of the demo, we were totally blown away by the graphical and narrative qualities of BEYOND: Two Souls, and also looking forward to going hands-on with the game at a later date. There are still plenty of details we don’t know (PS Move support? “It’s something we’re looking into,” says Khalastchi), but it’s exciting to see how Quantic Dream is ahead of the technological race. After this brief demonstration, we can’t wait to find out what lies beyond.

When it was first launched back in 2010, Final Fantasy XIV for PC was criticized by players and the media, and eventually the planned PS3 version was postponed. Since then, Square Enix decided to reshuffle the leading developers of the game, with Naoki Yoshida now acting as Director and Producer. His challenge is to helm the 2.0 version of Final Fantasy XIV, which is a re-imagination of the original release. It will mark a new beginning for the game when (update: the beta) gets launched this winter, coinciding with the release of the anticipated PS3 version.

The game was not ready to be demoed publicly at E3 this year, but we got a chance to see a brief live demo behind closed doors of the game still running on a PC. It featured lush visuals, with a richly detailed character running through a forest area with dense vegetation and impressive lighting effects passing through foliage. It was something we definitely aren’t used to see in an MMORPG. “Right now it’s optimized for PC. We’re about 50% into the development of the PS3 version, but it’s pretty much how it’s going to look on the console as well,” explains Yoshida. “It uses the same new graphics engine we built just for this game. This summer we’ll have an opportunity to show the PS3 version.”

In the meantime, he briefed us on what to expect from the new version of the game. “We believe that Final Fantasy XIV 2.0 can be considered the next real Final Fantasy game in the series,” he adds. This re-release is based on three pillars that have also been the aspects the series is known for: high quality gameplay, great storyline and beautiful graphics. “And on top of that, there´s our MMORPG community, which will consist of both PC players and also the PS3 players all over the world.” Which means the game will be cross-platform, like FFXI before it on PS2 and PC.

Yoshida-san is quick to emphasize how the legacy is going to be a driving force for this episode: “We’ll have some Final Fantasy staples as well, like chocobos, moogles and summons. But what is a little bit different is that these summons are like demigods in this world, so they´re really powerful, and it’ll take cooperation of all the players to fight these battles.”

Of course, bringing an MMORPG to a console system means tackling some big challenges. “It is a thing that didn’t have been done a lot in the past, and we have to make sure that we design an user interface and control scheme specially for these players”, explains Yoshida. “And we’ll also be adding in-game tutorials and quests that will help players that might not be comfortable with MMOs, and when they play the game, they will feel like they’re playing a console game that just happens to be online.”

Things are looking promising for the second coming of Final Fantasy XIV, and PlayStation fans will finally have the chance to explore the lush visuals of Eorzea in this deeply-revised version of the title. Below, Yoshida-san goes deeper in some details of his project. And we can’t wait to gather some friends and ride some chocobos around those wonderful vistas.

PlayStation.Blog: Besides the new control scheme and new user interface, does the PS3 version have any new exclusive features compared to the PC version?
Naoki Yoshida, Producer and Director: Because PS3 players and PC players will all be on the same servers, we can’t give either group something special, because everyone is playing together.

But we know that a lot of players have a PS3 and PCs as well, and depending on the mood, sometimes you want to sit down and play in front of your screen, whereas in other times you want to sit back on your couch, relax with controller in hand and play. We believe that we offer opportunities for players to enjoy both worlds.

PSB: Final Fantasy has a rich universe, evolving its mythos and its narrative from episode to episode. How do you translate this into a massive open world, into an MMO form, where players can dictate the story?
Yoshida-san: It is an open world in the sense that you can explore freely, but in this open world you have this very detailed story, which has a beginning and an ending. What is good is that, once that story ends, we can add new tales. That’s one of the greatest thing about an MMO: you expand a certain story or add new storylines via patches.

PSB: We know some friends that still plays Final Fantasy XI today, 10 years after it was first launched. Do you have a roadmap to keep supporting FFXIV long after its launch?
Yoshida-san: Yes, definitely.

PSB: Are you incorporating easter eggs for fans of the series?
Yoshida-san: Yes, we’re definitely planning on lots of references to past Final Fantasies. This is a game we believe is for the fans of the series, so we want to bring back a lot of nostalgic monsters and other things. For example, we’re planning the Crystal Tower, which is the last dungeon of Final Fantasy III. Basically we’re taking all the great things from the the first 13 episodes, squeezing it into the game and giving them some polish. For example, in FFIII you were limited by the technology of the time, and we’re going to re-render that using high quality graphics. So you’ll have the opportunity to re-visit these sections and see the difference between the lower quality graphics from the past and the high resolution visuals of FFXIV.

PSB: Being players of Final Fantasy XI as well, we know the game was really party-based, and that was a problem with some audiences. Can you also play solo on in Final Fantasy XIV?
Yoshida-san: Definitely, you’ll be able to play the content solo too – it won’t be as party-based as Final Fantasy XI. But, on the other hand, we believe that in this current generation there are a lot of people with time constraints, and it’s hard for them to spend time finding a party. So we’re going to make sure that, for party-based contents, we make it easier to recruit a party. With the Content Finder tool, you’re going to be able to decide “Okay, I want to do this today”, then simply press the button and you’ll be joined by other people with similar goals. So you’ll be able to decide if you’re making a party and, if you don’t have the time, just press the button on Content Finder and you’re automatically in a party.

PSB: With the game finally launching on PS3 soon, how are you planning to attract those potential new players? You know, the console audience is very different from the traditional PC gamer.
Yoshida: We know that a lot of console players never played an MMO and they may be scared by not knowing what to do, and we want to stress that it’s very similar to an offline Final Fantasy that always had great stories, made you cry, changed your life. There will be a beta for a limited time where people will be able to try it out. And an additional factor to bring in console games are graphics: something of this quality you can’t have in any MMO title.

PSB: Will there be a public beta for 2.0?
Yoshida-san: Yes.

This week, Final Fantasy XIII-2 for PS3 is hitting stores across Japan with critical praise, garnering perfect scores from respected gaming magazines Famitsu and Dengeki PlayStation. Granted, the original FFXIII is the best-selling PS3 title in Japan by a wide margin, but this direct sequel isn’t resting on the laurels of its predecessor. For starters, it will offer a dynamic narrative, addressing one of the main complaints about FFXIII – linearity. The new game also has a darker and more serious tone, in line with the conclusion of the previous game, putting the glitter and glam of FFX-2.

When FFXIII-2 reaches US stores on January 31st, making it the fastest localization cycle among numbered episodes of the franchise – it will also deliver an improved combat system, an area full of mini games, branched dialogue trees with NPCs, and even multiple endings based on your time-traveling journey. To learn more about how Square Enix plans to “exceed Final Fantasy XIII in every aspect,” we reached out to Motomu Toriyama, who is reprising his role as director for Final Fantasy XIII-2. Read on for more details about Serah’s quest to find out what happened to her sister Lightning.

PlayStation.Blog: Of course, the Final Fantasy series was always known for its rich storylines, but Final Fantasy XIII had an unusually heavy focus on a linear narrative. Does Final Fantasy XIII-2 offer more opportunities for players to stray from the main narrative path this time?

Motomu Toriyama, Director, Final Fantasy XIII-2: In Final Fantasy XIII, our concept was to be story-driven and so the game had a very linear development. In XIII-2, we changed the concept to being player-driven and so we’ve prepared story options based on the area and time period the player chooses with plenty of side quests. We have changed it so that the player can enjoy just the main story, or progress in the game while straying from the main narrative path.

PSB: Square Enix typically does not utilize play testing for its Final Fantasy titles during development, but FFXIII-2 is reportedly incorporating user feedback from focus groups into its development process. How has this improved the game? Did users pinpoint any particular issues you did not expect?

Toriyama-san: During the development stage, we conducted numerous play testing and focus group interviews in Japan, North America, and Europe. By incorporating user feedback before the game was complete, we were able to analyze the level of completion objectively, which in turn polished not only the UI but the gameplay elements as a whole. In terms of elements that the users found positive, the US audience enjoyed the Cinematic Action, which is one of the action elements, and the Japanese audience liked the Live Trigger, which gives choices in dialogue. It was a great experience for us, and it let us know what the different sensibilities are between users of the different countries.

PSB: Final Fantasy XIII-2 will feature time travel elements and multiple endings. Will it work in a similar way to Chrono Trigger? How many different endings will we have?

Toriyama-san: We have introduced a new system called “Historia Crux”, which is a portal menu that allows time travel. To best describe it, it’s as if you’re browsing videos on YouTube to get a preview of one part of the story, then the game progresses when you choose which time and area to go to next. It’s a system that’s geared towards busy adult users of this age. Plus, if you want to go back to work on a particular part of the game, you can always rewind the time of that area and try again as many times as you like. It’s designed to be an RPG style of the new generation, different from that of “Chrono Trigger.” We hope you enjoy your journey with this interface with which you can freely travel through history. In terms of how many different endings we will have, I recommend playing the game and checking it out on your own.

PSB: Considering the different phases of its development process, Final Fantasy XIII took more than five years to be concluded. Now, this sequel comes about two years after the original. What contributed to speed up the development process?

Toriyama-san: In the previous installment, we had to start with developing a new engine intended for a next-generation console from scratch, that’s why it took so much time. In this installment, the foundation engine is that of XIII, and so we were able to devote more time to development of the new game, which in turn shortened the development period. Of course, since we were able to use our time to build the game, we were able to make the game better than the previous installment.

PSB: Although there were plans for DLC in the original Final Fantasy XIII, these plans were eventually put on hold. Are you considering DLC for Final Fantasy XIII-2?

Toriyama-san: We were aiming for the previous installment to be in its ultimate form as a packaged software, so DLC in the form of later additions didn’t come to fruition. For this installment, we have designed and planned for content including DLC that would expand on the world of XIII-2 since the beginning of its development, and so I’m sure you will be able to continue playing the game long after its release. In terms of a lineup of specific DLC, please stand by for more information.

PSB: Are there any special treats reserved for those who are holding on to their Final Fantasy XIII save files? Can you share any details on how that will work?

Toriyama-san: If you have any save files from XIII, they will be recognized upon the start of XIII-2, and you can get extras. Some of the bonuses include adornments for monsters that can be used in-game, and a bonus that can be obtained from the title screen. You don’t necessarily have to have save data of the finished game; you can still get something even if you’ve only played a little.

PSB: The most prominent Moogle from the series, Mog, makes a return as a companion to main character Serah. Can we expect more references to the series’ recurring elements?

Toriyama-san: We weren’t able to showcase the Moogle in XIII, and so in this installment we’ve made the Moogle much more prominent, like a mascot. The Chocobo will make its appearance throughout this installment as well, so if you’re a fan, I hope you look forward to it.

PSB: When will we finally be able to play Final Fantasy Versus XIII? You know, the game has been in development for eons. Do you have anything to share at this time? Anything!

Toriyama-san: First, please enjoy XIII-2 while you wait for additional information.

We’re truly living a fighting games renaissance. Ever since Street Fighter IV reignited the genre in 2009, we’ve been getting a number of interesting and diverse fight titles, ranging from the lush visuals of BlazBlue to the air combo extravaganza of Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. Along the way, we had The King of Fighters XII from SNK Playmore, touted as a “re-birth” of the traditional 3-on-3 series. And although it really gave new life to the franchise with gorgeous hi-def 2D sprite art and sleek animation, the game delivered little in terms of contents.

Two years later, SNK Playmore is hard at work to regain the crown with The King of Fighters XIII for PS3 courtesy of Atlus in the US. And based on the prospects, 13 seems to be the lucky number for KOF. The game was originally launched in Japanese arcades back in July 2010, being praised by fighting game connoisseurs for its vastly expanded roster (31 playable characters, including the return of fan favorite Mai Shiranui), revised fighting system (with faster gameplay and elements from previous titles in the series), and a multi-path Story Mode (with the conclusion of the Ash Crimson trilogy). For the home version, the team is adding even more fighters, stages and a variety of game modes – not to mention balance adjustments based on feedback from players of the arcade version.

Scheduled for November 22nd in the US, The King of Fighters XIII is aimed at longtime fans and fighting game enthusiasts in general. To lear more details about this return to form, we reached out to Producer Kei Yamamoto from SNK Playmore in Japan, who went in depth about gameplay, story, netcode, and future plans – yes, we begged for asked about KOF on PS Vita too. So read on to know what awaits you later in November and leave your favorite KOF memories in the comments!

PlayStation.Blog: Although it was great to see KOF finally entering the HD era while still sticking to its 2D roots with The King of Fighters XII, the game was criticized for its somewhat limited content. How does The King of Fighters XIII evolve from the previous game in that regard?
Kei Yamamoto, Producer for the home version of The King of Fighters XIII: KOF XII was most criticized for its lack of characters, despite it being a KOF title. So we went from 20 characters (22 in the console version) to 31 characters in the arcade version of KOF XIII, and we’re adding a few more to the console version.

We have also added different modes, such as Tutorial for beginners, Mission for experts, and Story for those who wish to learn more about what went on during KOF XIII. This game has evolved from its predecessor in every respect, so players can expect to enjoy it for a long, long time.

PSB: These hi-res 2D sprites look really beautiful in motion. How was the process to bring these graphics to life?
Yamamoto: What we did was first create 3D models of each character. We posed them, added lighting, and then outputted them as 2D frames. From there, we moved on to post-processing, where we added details such as hand-drawn (dot-pixel) illustration-like expressions and shadows. We think it’s a very unique process for creating 2D sprites.

PSB: What does the 13th installment of KOF brings to the table in terms of gameplay? What features will make KOF XIII stand out in the crowded fighting genre?
Yamamoto: There are two different meters in KOF XIII: the Power gauge and the Hyperdrive (HD) gauge. The Power gauge builds up when you hit or get hit, and when it’s completely filled, it becomes stocked. By using your stocks, you can unleash powerful attacks such as Desperation moves and guard cancels. This system is familiar to KOF fans.

For the new HD gauge, building meter uses the same process as the Power gauge, but you use it for a different purpose. The HD Gauge is used to Drive Cancel, which is canceling a Special move in the middle and following up with another, and it is also used to Super Cancel. A Super Cancel lets you execute a Desperation move in the middle of a Special move. Finally, the HD Gauge will allow you to activate Hyperdrive Mode, a mode that offers you a variety of tactical advantages that can allow you to quickly turn the tables of the match in your favor.

There are a great number of quality titles in the fighting game genre. Many different systems and features have been created thus far, and the genre keeps evolving. In the midst of all that, we can proudly say that KOF is unique for its 3-on-3 team battle system. This, combined with our other features, makes KOF the outstanding series that it is.

PSB: The game was originally launched in arcades. How does releasing a game to the arcade crowd benefit the game’s balance? Are you making additional adjustments for the home version?
Yamamoto: The arcade release definitely affected the game balance of the console version. We received a lot of good input from KOF XIII arcade players. Some of those opinions and complaints were sent directly to us, while others were found on review sites and forums. All feedback is valuable to us – while we can’t implement everyone’s requests, we still tried to consider them when we were balancing the console version.

PSB: The previous title in the series had a short interval between the arcade and home versions. The King of Fighters XIII, meanwhile, comes more than a year after it was introduced in Japanese arcades. Did you use this extra time to create more content and exclusive features for the home version?
Yamamoto: We kept fixing what was needed to be fixed and adding content that fans wanted, and before we knew it, a year passed. We apologize for keeping our fans waiting, but there’s plenty of game content in return, so please look forward to it.

PSB: Online play is a crucial feature for fighting games nowadays. What improvements did you make over KOF XII in terms of netcode, matchmaking and online features?
Yamamoto: We received many comments from the players regarding the netcode. In order to improve the online performance, our netcode received a complete overhaul: we reexamined the threshold level, optimized the content of the transmitted data, and changed the way the game handled increased net traffic, among other things.

PSB: With the return of fan favorite Mai Shiranui and the original Iori Yagami available as a DLC character, The King of Fighters XIII seems like it’s full of fan service. Are you sticking to the hardcore fan base with this title or are you also thinking of ways to make it more accessible to a wider group of players?
Yamamoto: Not only is KOF a long running series, but the story of KOF XIII carries over from a previous installment, so the main target for this game has to be the series fans. But as we mentioned previously, we’ve added various modes to the game, such as Tutorial, so that fighting game beginners could also enjoy it. We hope that the series fans, other fighting game players, and people who have never played a fighting game before will all pick up this title and play it.

PSB: With this installment, the game returns to its tradition of having dozens and dozens of characters. We know every character from The King of Fighters XII make a comeback, but what were your directives when choosing additional fighters for this new chapter?
Yamamoto: There was no story progression in the last game; since this title is the conclusion of the Ash saga, many characters related to Ash’s story will make an appearance. In order to bring back what makes KOF KOF—we call it “KOF-ism”— in KOF XIII we added characters that embodied “KOF-ism.” We also made sure that the roster wasn’t filled with just the popular characters, so players could experience the deepness of the new game system.

PSB: The King of Fighters XIII finally brings a conclusion to the Ash Saga [check details for the tournament being held and individual team storyline in the Story section of the official website], picking the story where The King of Fighters XI left off. The series was always known for its complex storyline, so what can we expect for the end of this trilogy?
Yamamoto: The main character in the third story arc, Ash, being quite different from the two earlier protagonists, had people both loving and hating him. Pay close attention to him – that’s all we need to say. Why did he try to collect the Three Sacred Treasures? Why did he part ways with Elisabeth? We want you to find out for yourselves. And if you could relate to him after learning his reason for his actions, his way of life, that would make us happy.

PSB: PS Vita is turning into the ultimate portable machine for fighting games. What do you think of the hardware? Any chances we’ll see a KOF title for PS Vita in the future?
Yamamoto: The PlayStation Vita controls well, the titles being released are appealing, and user impressions are good, so I am very interested in it, not just as a developer but as a user as well. Personally, I’d love to work on a KOF title for PS Vita if the opportunity arises.

PSB: We still miss SVC Chaos and Capcom vs SNK titles. Do you think we can see a new crossover with characters from both companies again?
Yamamoto: Crossover games not only provide excitement to fans, but to us developers as well, so I’m hoping we could do it again someday. In order to make that a reality, we’ll continue to do our best and make KOF bigger and better.

PSB: So what’s next for SNK Playmore? You know, a lot of us are still waiting for a new Fatal Fury title. Maybe you could revive the Garou 2 project?
Yamamoto: There are Garou: Mark of the Wolves fans in our company as well, and making a sequel is very appealing to us. Not only MOW, but our other titles have many fans wishing for a sequel as well. There are even those who want a Neo Geo Battle Coliseum sequel.

As to what kind of game we’ll be making next, we’re in the concept stage right now. My goal is to lead a project that would meet the expectations of as many of our fans as possible.

The King of Fighters XIII hits PS3 November 22nd – there’s even a cool 4-CD soundtrack as a pre-order bonus. To keep updated about the title, keep an eye on the official website and follow Atlus on Twitter and Facebook.