Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
FF XIII Producer Says Crystal Tools May Have Been A Mistake
In a recent Q&A, Final Fantasy XIII producer Yoshinori Kitase admitted that creating a brand new engine for the game might not have been the most effective choice.
When asked if the team – knowing what they know now – would make the same decision to build an all-new engine for Final Fantasy XIII, Kitase responded: "I think that instead of developing something completely new, we would try our hand at improving upon existing technology. Tools and engines improve through a process of trial and error and countless revisions, and that’s what really makes them more efficient."
The challenges of simultaneously making an engine and developing a game likely contributed to the long wait between Final Fantasy XIII's announcement and its release, so it's possible we might have seen the game sooner if the team had decided to use existing technology. However, that's easy to say in hindsight; to see if Square Enix's decision to use the in-house Crystal Tools engine was ultimately worthwhile, we'll just have to wait until more titles are released using the technology.
On that point, Kitase also had an interesting tidbit to reveal. When asked whether Final Fantasy XIII, Versus XIII, and Agito XIII comprise the entirety of the Fabula Nova Crystalis project, Kitase simply replied, "Please look forward to future announcements." It's not exactly concrete, but it's enough to fuel some speculation about what's on the horizon for the series.
Click here to read the full responses from Kitase and Final Fantasy XIII director Motomu Toriyama. You can also find the feature in the April issue of the magazine, which features Portal 2 on the cover. For more Final Fantasy XIII-related content, be sure check out our launch hub.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
