Square Enix's 1st Production Department Premiere

Square Enix held its 1st Production Department Premiere event in Japan yesterday, revealing to fans new information relating to some of their biggest games currently in development. The "1st Production Department" in the title refers to the company's first production department, which is responsible for making the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts games. So, it goes without saying that the main focus of the event were those two RPG series.

The first trailer they showed at the event was for the PSP game Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep ~Final Mix~. It's basically the same game as Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep but with new contents added in, and it'll only be released in Japan. After that, it was the trailer for a new Kingdom Hearts game on the Nintendo 3DS, called Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (3D). Just as the title suggests, this game will be in 3D!

Next, it was Dissidia Duodecim: Final Fantasy for the PSP. The trailer they showed for this Dissidia sequel was probably the most exciting one compared to the game's previous trailers, showing a fair amount of gameplay including battle sequences featuring one of the newly revealed character, Yuna from Final Fantasy X. Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII will also be in the game. Dissidia Duodecim is due for release on the 3rd of March.

After a short clip introducing the mythology of the Fabula Nova Crystallis series, Square-Enix gave us the biggest surprise of the event - the announcement of Final Fantasy XIII's sequel, Final Fantasy XIII-2! Those who are familiar with FFXIII would immediately notice the differences between the first game and FFXIII-2 (pronounced thirteen-two) in terms of background setting and Lightning's attire but when asked about it, the director of both games, Toriyama Motomu simply said that all will be revealed at a later time. Fans won't have to wait for too long though because FFXIII-2 will be released in Japan on both PS3 and Xbox 360 within the next 11 months. [Edit: The NA website has launched with an English trailer announcing that the game is "Coming Next Winter".]

The trailer Final Fantasy XIII Agito was shown next. But at the end of the trailer, the title Final Fantasy Reishiki (零式): TYPE-0 appeared. Yes, the name of the game has changed. According to director Tabata Hajime, the game didn't really feel like it has anything to do with the Final Fantasy XIII universe so they dropped the "XIII" and put in a "0". Final Fantasy Reishiki: TYPE-0 will be treated like a first game in a new Final Fantasy series so fans can expect sequels. As a matter of fact, Square-Enix had registered three new trademarks recently: TYPE-1, TYPE-2 and TYPE-3. TYPE-0 is scheduled to come out in Japan on a 2-disc set for the PSP this summer.

Before they wrapped up the event, they had one last game to show. That game was Final Fantasy Versus XIII for the PS3. Fans who have been waiting to catch a glimpse of the game were finally rewarded with a 7-minute trailer, which was undoubtedly the event's best. From the trailer, we could hear what the protagonist Noctis sounds like for the very first time, and we could see the different gameplay elements that the game offers. Unlike FFXIII, Versus XIII will allow the players to explore its open world. Although the game still doesn't have a release date, it is expected to come out some time in 2012.

On a final note, Square-Enix has promised to put high quality version of all the trailers shown at the event up on each of the game's official Japanese website (links below) very soon.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep ~Final Mix~
Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance
Dissidia Duodecim: Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy Reishiki: TYPE-0
Final Fantasy XIII-2
Final Fantasy Versus XIII