Final Fantasy XIII demo could be two hours long

by Griffin McElroy { Aug 16th 2008 at 2:30PM }

A recent issue of Famitsu revealed a startling fact about the upcoming demo for Final Fantasy XIII -- the playable preview will apparently last longer than the film that it is packaged with, Final Fantasy: Advent Children Complete. For those of you keeping score at home -- the original Advent had a runtime of 101 minutes. Assuming this length will only increase with the director's cut of the film means Square-Enix's eagerly anticipated demo could last longer than two hours.

To put that in perspective, here are a few things that the demo (which the same Famitsu article revealed will cover the very beginning of XIII) will likely last longer than: an expeditious playthrough of Portal, the Anglo-Zanzibar War, an international soccer match (barring any lengthy penalties), and the celebrity status of Lou Bega. (Who? Exactly.)

[Via PS3F]

Tags: advent-children, advent-children-complete, demo, ffxiii, final-fantasy-xiii, square-enix

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

why not the LS2LS7? @ Aug 16th 2008 2:41PM

Are we seriously talking about a playable preview 9 months before it comes out? The game is 2 years or more away from coming out in English.

Sora @ Aug 16th 2008 3:32PM

But it's f**king Final Fantasy!

syrik zero @ Aug 16th 2008 2:44PM

That was great hahaha

J.Goodwin @ Aug 16th 2008 2:46PM

So, um, at only two hours, are you ever going to get a chance to actually play the game, or is it just the opening cinema?

Vault @ Aug 16th 2008 2:53PM

This is Final Fantasy we're talking about, not Metal Gear Solid.

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Aug 16th 2008 3:22PM

But it is a jrpg. And those games are notorious for having long ass cutscenes.

Vegnagun bwf @ Aug 16th 2008 3:55PM

Final Fantasy never has ridiculously long cut scenes, especially not in the beginning of the game.

eugene @ Aug 16th 2008 8:59PM

2 hours could just be how long you need to chain a combo to kill a monster... or it could be how long the summoning animation will take.

Peacefuloutrage @ Aug 17th 2008 9:10AM

There is an assumption that there will be another 30 minutes of animation. This isn't a regular animated movie, it's CG. It can take weeks just to get a few minutes of video. I would assume storyboards, interviews, and maybe early placeholder animation, but not another 30 mins of high quality work.

That said, hopefully the people who play the demo will be satisfied. With the huge wait, I wouldn't want to be SE with all of the expectations they have set for this game.

SuperGayParade @ Aug 16th 2008 2:51PM

it lasts zero hours for XBFanboys

Dr. Stabbingworth @ Aug 16th 2008 3:44PM

sour grapes?

Sora @ Aug 16th 2008 3:45PM

He had 3 hearts, who the hell downvoted him?

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Aug 16th 2008 3:49PM

The last thing we need is to start a flamewar. So I'd say someone thought the comment was uncalled for.

SuperGayParade @ Aug 16th 2008 4:14PM

well vegita I thought your comment was uncalled for!

9999!

Bryan @ Aug 17th 2008 11:16AM

can we get the demo now if we buy finalfantasy advent children? or when is it coming out?

colin @ Aug 16th 2008 2:56PM

1...2...3,4,5

jackbauer @ Aug 16th 2008 3:47PM

be right back, I'm going to the liquor store.

Psaakyrn @ Aug 16th 2008 10:04PM

Once I caught a fish alive...

Tim The Enchanter @ Aug 18th 2008 11:05AM

Shortened chorus: "I'll have a little bit of everything, please."

j.howlett @ Aug 16th 2008 2:58PM

i want the chance to play the demo but i really want my own bluray of advent children. is it coming to north america?

J.Goodwin @ Aug 16th 2008 3:05PM

The Bluray should play in a US Bluray player. US and Japan are in the same copyright region this time around.

propanol @ Aug 16th 2008 3:02PM

Has to be something worthwhile to make up for the quality of the movie they're bundling it with.

Jim Halpert DM @ Aug 16th 2008 3:04PM

Mambo # 5 ?

Raikage (GOLDEN Gun Of The Patriots) @ Aug 16th 2008 3:19PM

Perhaps Rockin' Robin?

juju187 @ Aug 16th 2008 5:00PM

still waiting on mambo #6

emirabal @ Aug 16th 2008 7:38PM

Damn you beat me to it, i was away from my comp

colin @ Aug 17th 2008 1:42AM

rockin robin ... that was one of the best episodes. the teasers have been great, can't wait for the new season.

Mr Khan @ Aug 16th 2008 3:41PM

"Anglo-Zanzibar War"

You win a lot of respect for mentioning a fairly modern war that i had never heard of, history buff that i am.

On topic: Doing this is probably Square's way of showing that they're still on top of new technology, by filling up Blu-Ray space, just as they filled the spacious CD's and DVD's past

HighFiveJesus @ Aug 16th 2008 3:59PM

if its true, its gonna be great for those blu ray sales of the movie release in japan. probably will see a notable rise in ps3s just to play the demo.

saito ps3 @ Aug 16th 2008 4:11PM

to all the xbox fans out there, this cant be on xbox live market, as development hasnt started for the 360 yet, and for those who think its not coming out in america, you are right, its japan only, but the demo is on a seperate ps3 disc, so that means that the game is not region locked, go to a good importing site like www.playasia,com to import this come march 2009

LaughingTarget @ Aug 16th 2008 4:15PM

Two hours for SquareEnix breaks out like this:

45 minutes gameplay
1 hour 15 minutes of movies

grex9101 @ Aug 16th 2008 4:27PM

thank you for your informative and ever-so factual post.

not.

Sheppy (of the Fidlious Clan of Wong) @ Aug 16th 2008 4:29PM

*checks Laughing targets play history*

Yep, never played one...

HighFiveJesus @ Aug 16th 2008 5:21PM

cg cutscenes are usually a really cool part to see as you are playing through the game. they are a fan favorite. and what the hell are you yapping about as far as their length goes? they were never longer than a few minutes, and they only are in the beginning, end, and a few times throughout the game.

Hyams @ Aug 16th 2008 5:10PM

The demo is PS3 exclusive.

Take THAT Microsoft.

Vault @ Aug 16th 2008 5:28PM

Please don't start a stupid flamewar over a DEMO. Please.

Snowblind @ Aug 16th 2008 5:41PM

A lot of fanboys here already..

And yes, a demo (which will likely be on the marketplace later anyway) hardly makes up for the loss of exclusivity.

Huey2k2 @ Aug 16th 2008 6:08PM

lol exclusive demo.

I'll just wait until the full game comes out and enjoy it then.

Hyams @ Aug 16th 2008 7:14PM

Guys, I'm joking.

Anyway, Snowblind, I doubt the demo will appear on either the XBL Marketplace or the PSN Store.

Final Fantasy games don't need demos to sell, but putting the demo in the blu-ray copy of Advent Children will signicantly boost the movie's sales.

Making the demo available anywhere outside the blu-ray movie will damage these sales, and meanwhile will not have any significant impact on the game's sales.

In other words, it makes no sense for Square Enix to make the demo available anywhere else.

philmcphail @ Aug 16th 2008 7:39PM

WOW

HighFiveJesus @ Aug 16th 2008 8:21PM

just like the ff12 demo was on dragon quest 8 to help move copies in america. 20 bucks didn't hurt either, and its also a good game. but they do realize final fantasy fans will buy a FF movie for a FF demo.

colinbell @ Aug 16th 2008 5:18PM

Its a bit funny how all games have the same retail price, when titles like MGS, FF, GTA and Mass Effect probably cost much more than the others.

FF would probably end up costing 50-60 million, maybe even more, which is 4-5 times the typical title. Maybe there is a case for pricing it a bit higher, say $80?
And I suspect the reason MS sold off Bioware is such epic games suffer from the Shenmue effect - you need to sell a huge number of copies to break even, Mass Effect probably made a loss with sales of around 2 million.