Crystal Tools Without A Craftsman: Examining the Development of Final Fantasy XIII
Behind the scenes on the dawn of Lightning's saga.
12.01.17 - 8:11 PM

Final Fantasy XIII was a monumental achievement in gaming. Its graphics and visuals were unparalleled, and still remain among the best ever seen on PlayStation 3. Its music was often masterful, and never before did Square Enix have the hardware to render Nomura-styled hair with nearly so much fidelity.

Equally monumental were the amounts of hype and expectation behind the title, and a development process so disjointed and flawed that, after three generations of consoles that saw three Final Fantasy titles, FFXIII managed to be the only single-player mainline title in the series across the entire PS3 life cycle. Well, and its sequels, but that's another discussion. Today, Peter looks behind the scenes of one of the most contentious titles that Square Enix would ever release (at least, until 2016). Peter, you can take it from here.