quote

Tragedy by power wrought. This phrase accompanies the title of Square Enix's upcoming DS port of Valkyrie Profile, a game originally released on the PlayStation in 2000.

quote Gamespot - XIII Trailer

The teaser begins from above. We watch a multicolored bird travel along its flight path, while below, the landscape whizzes by. The scene looks almost prehistoric in nature, which is further enhanced by a bit of jungle atmosphere and the sight of a number of lizard-like creatures slowly meandering forward. And looking on, we see a character previously seen in Final Fantasy XIII trailers, a girl with her red hair tied in pigtails. She looks into the valley as the creatures lumber on.

The montage continues with other equally thrilling sights. Airships, a series staple, cross the sky. The ship we close in on, however, is one of the most gargantuan ones we've yet seen in a Final Fantasy game. It is highly detailed, its metallic design covered with gears and moving parts, and the mechanical monstrosity fills the entire screen as it flies ahead. We then move to a quieter moment, and a beautiful blue humanoid rises from the sea, strumming a harp. The soundtrack slows while we see the harp strings glisten and the various hues of blue and aquamarine shimmer on the screen.

And then another image, this time a familiar one: Bahamut, or a creature very similar, rising in his fiery glory, and possibly the most dramatic presentation yet for the mythical dragon. Again, we cut to another scene, this time featuring an enormous blue machine made of crystal. This tells us we're in the Cocoon, the city at the heart of Final Fantasy XIII, and the crystal being is the sentient entity that protects the city from harm. In the trailer, the crystal is under attack by scorpion-esque walkers shooting what look like wired anchors towards it as if to tear it down. And then we cut to a flurry of acrobatic moves involving Lightning, the game's beautiful, ruddy-haired female star. We also see a motorcycle zoom past on a pathway of ice.

The next shots close in on a legion of troops as they emerge from a castle-like structure, led by a shrouded woman who looked to be their young commander, or even a queen. This queen was obviously not content to rule with her feminine wiles, however; she was obviously a capable young woman, and her face was both youthful and intelligent. The teaser ended with a shot of the pigtailed girl lounging with a blond man in a cap and sporting a goatee—the same man we've glimpsed in prior trailers

quote Gamespot - Versus Trailer

As with last year's TGS trailer, this one begins with the words: “This is a fantasy based on reality.” Then, the camera locks on to a futuristic car zooming across a rural wasteland. We see a figure in leather reclining in the back seat, and we believe him to be Noctis, the known star of the game. Then, we see another quote, attributed to Shakespeare: “There is nothing neither good nor bad but thinking makes it so.” We then cut away to an entirely different scene. Here a woman in white speaks with the chairman we saw in previous trailers. They are in a boardroom and engage in a heated discussion; an enormous painting looms over them as they approach—and we cut away again to the speeding vehicle. The car crosses a bleak landscape, where fallen telephone poles litter the view.

A combat montage follows these scenes. There is a rush of acrobatic moves, spiked hair, and the rush of high speeds as the car zooms ahead. Then, the car stops, and Noctis and his friends emerge. They look into the horizon, and we can see that the road ahead is flooded. The next montage shows scenes we saw at last year's TGS, in which the boys get friendly, putting each other in headlocks and laughing as old friends do. A moment later, they gaze upon a tall building in the distance, which looks impressive but oddly lonely, considering the emptiness of the world we've seen to this point.

Then, we see a beautiful figure. It is Stella, the other known named character in Final Fantasy Versus XIII. She locks eyes with Noctis, and the two unsheathe their weapons and prepare to fight. But before the fireworks can begin, we return to the boardroom, where the suited man and his companion in white continue their conversation (all in Japanese, of course). In the background, fish swim back and forth in a towering aquarium, and the ripples of water cause the light to dance on the figures in the foreground.