Split-Screen :: The Game-Geek’s Daily Read

by Ravi Sinha

Trailers for action RPGs Final Fantasy XIII and Final Versus XIII (the former to enjoy a multi-platform life) were recently released, despite being from Square-Enix’s 4-month old event, DKS3713. Both series flex their trademarks: photorealistic fantasy visuals and explicit coolness. FFXIII‘s gathering of steam-mage elements, prevalent in Final Fantasy VII but easily three times in scale here, conflict almost directly with Versus XIII‘s noir ambience and Elizabethan architecture.

Undoubtedly, the bigger piece of the Fabula Nova Crystallis puzzle has been FF Versus XIII. But of the various FF yarns spun, the least likely guess for Versus’ inspiration would have been in the works of William Shakespeare.

At the end of the DKS3713 trailer is the line, “There is nothing either good or bad, but only thinking makes it so.” This is a quote from Shakespeare’s famous play, Hamlet, about Prince Hamlet of Denmark whom exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius for the murder of his father. Square-Enix has admitted to the similarities, but aside from the direct quote, what else links FF Versus XIII to Hamlet?

Company representatives stated that FF Versus XIII is to be the darkest Final Fantasy game yet. That’s perfectly in tone with Hamlet’s themes of madness, treachery, revenge, and melancholy – for which the play was adjudged one of the most influential tragedies in the English language.

In Hamlet, a long-standing feud exists between Denmark, the protagonist’s kingdom, and Norway. In Versus, Noctis Lucis Caelum is the last heir to his kingdom where the last crystal in the world is also kept. Against the increasing modernization of other kingdoms, Lucis’s nation battles with another for possession of the crystal.

Fortinbras, despite meaning “strong armed” in French, has a reputation for being associated with light (no thanks to Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams). Lucis is seen fighting a man dressed in a white robe, who seems to utilize spells of light. This could be the opposing Prince in Versus, but most likely, as in the play when Fortinbras brings hope of peace to the Danish, their meeting in a secluded location indicates he may not be the enemy he seems to be.

The heroine of Versus, Stella Nox Fleuret, also seems at odds with Lucis; like Ophelia, the daughter of Polonius (Claudius’ advisor), was with Hamlet. Though courted by him, Ophelia was asked by Claudius to spy on Hamlet. His love and eventual conflict with her corresponds to the relationship between Stella and Lucis. So much so, that Stella’s allegiances are still unclear.

In Hamlet, Ophelia remarked how Hamlet walked into her room and simply stared at her without speaking a word. In Versus, Lucis is shy and timid when talking to Stella – and tries his best to hide it.

Lucis’ relationship with other characters bears resemblance to the characters in Hamlet. In the trailer, an old bearded man in a business suit is seated at a meeting and his eyes are just like Lucis. The chance of their being related is one speculation; that he plays the part of Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle, is a more automatic one. Lucis’ three companions also correspond to Hamlet having two school friends (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern) and one true friend (Horatio). The former two have orders to spy on Hamlet, who feigns madness to hide his revenge plot. Who the spies of the Versus quartet are, is unknown, but it is apt to mention how the two spying friends were killed in Hamlet.

More than anything, Hamlet dies at the end of the play. Will Lucis suffer the same fate? Hamlet and Ophelia never fought each other with magical runes and multiple weapons, so there’s a fair chance that Tetsuya Nomura, director of the project, has contributed his own share of tweaks. As it stands, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, confirmed only for the Playstation 3, is looking to be an epic, surpassing all Final Fantasy games before it. It seems only right that its story should draw upon a classic like Hamlet.