by Ravi Sinha
As gamers all around the world waited with bated breath, Square-Enix has finally released their big announcement. A Final Fantasy XIII demo will be officially released with FFVII: Advent Children Complete on Blu-ray in Japan. The chances of such a demo being ported state-side is very high but not as high as the disappointment that fans are about to feel. The “big FFVII-related announcement”? Read the above few lines again. Yes, that’s right, and now that the event is officially over, we would now like to say with full confidence what was said nearly a month ago: There is no Final Fantasy VII remake or sequel or anything remotely continuing the mythos present in epic saga. Nope, zip, nada.
Square-Enix kicked the hype machine into overdrive for this private party, and despite the disappointment, the remaining titles announced look pretty sizzling. Parasite Eve 3 aka The 3rd Birthday will also be coming to the PSP next year. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and 358/2 days were available for play, and according to those able to play the latter, such as 1up.com’s Jeff Haynes, Square-Enix will finally let you go head-up alongside friends in multi-player, with different players choosing different characters from Organization XIII. Final Fantasy XIII has been confirmed for release in 2009, but Xbox 360 fans will have to wait longer as Square-Enix has stated that development for the 360 version has not yet begun. Intriguingly, Final Fantasy Versus XIII gameplay footage was available to the audience, but as of yet, no impressions have been offered.
Many rumours floated about, some stating that DKS3713 translated to Remake 7. However, the anagram was merely a contraction of D — Dissidia, K — Kingdom Hearts, S — Sigma Harmonic, 3 — The 3rd Birthday, 7 — FFVII ACC and 13 — FF XIII and FF Versus XIII, all the franchises on display, thus forming DKS3713.
It never seemed possible that Square-Enix would ever seriously consider revisiting or remaking FFVII with the number of AAA-list releases planned. Though hope was kept alive, this event proves once and for all that hopes for a next-gen Final Fantasy VII will remain just that: hopes, and maybe a few currently shattered ones to boot.
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