Way back in 2006, Square Enix and then-head developer Tetsuya Nomura debuted Final Fantasy Versus 13. The game languished in "development hell" for several years before Nomura was moved on to direct Kingdom Hearts 3, yet traces of Nomura's ideas from Versus 13 ultimately made their way into several other games in the Final Fantasy franchise and Kingdom Hearts. Almost fifteen years later, the intended spin-off title may still be impacting the development of the next mainline entry, Final Fantasy 16.
After the role of director for Versus 13 was moved from Nomura to Hajime Tabata, the game slowly, slowly evolved into what would become Final Fantasy 15 which was released back in 2016. The main character Noctis was one element of the original Versus 13 that made its way to FF15 but many of Nomura's narrative ideas and frameworks for Versus 13 were scrapped or heavily adapted for FF15, but those ideas still had a profound impact on FF15, Kingdom Hearts, and to a degree, even FF7 Remake. As a result, it seems more than likely that those ideas and concepts are still impacting the upcoming Final Fantasy 16.
Lasting Influence
When Versus 13 was originally announced, it was intended as a spin-off from Final Fantasy 13, as the name implies, as part of Square Enix's ambitious Fabula Nova Crystallis project. This project included new games like FF13 and Versus 13 as part of an expanded universe in a way similar to the ways that Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy 12, and Vagrant Story are all contained within the Ivalice universe. Square Enix also kicked off the project with an impressive tech demo of its new source engine that would later be implemented to provide the visuals for FF15 and FF7 Remake on the PS4.
The first trailer for Versus 13 showed a much darker tone than the brightly colored FF13, and early gameplay showcases featured real-time action which was new to the Final Fantasy franchise. While it's now history that Versus 13 ultimately metamorphized into FF15, many elements of the narrative planned by Nomura made their way into some of his other projects and Square Enix games at large like Kingdom Hearts 3 and FF7 Remake. Nomura was character developer on the original PS1 Final Fantasy 7, so it's fairly natural that his ideas would be incorporated into the Remake.
In Kingdom Hearts 3, the influence of Versus 13 was worn pretty much on the game's sleeves. The at-first-seemingly meta reference to Versus 13 took the form of a trailer for a video game that plays at the beginning of the Toy Story world. The toys hilariously confuse protagonist Sora for the main character of the game within a game, Yozora. While at first seeming not much more than a nod to Nomura's past work at first, that isn't quite so clear by the end of the ReMind DLC for KH3.
During the ReMind DLC, there is an almost shot-for-shot reproduction of a trailer for Versus 13. Yozora's resemblance to the original look of Noctis seems less and less coincidental. Many fans have interpreted the ambiguous secret ending video for Kingdom Hearts 3 as evidence that Nomura is seeking to bring in more elements of his canned Versus 13 into the Kingdom Hearts franchise. The video sees Sora and Riku transported to what seems like real-life Shibuya as Yozora overlooks from a balcony above.
While it goes without saying that the next game in a franchise would be influenced by its predecessors, it seems likely that Final Fantasy 16 is influenced by the success of specific games and the work of Nomura. Many elements of Nomura's vision that made their way from Versus 13 into KH3, FF15, and FF7 Remake seem to be finding their way into the next game.
Defying Fate (Final Fantasy 16)
Versus 13 and other works from the Fabula Nova Crystallis project like FF13 had a big focus on the ideas of defying fate and altering otherwise inevitable outcomes. This was accomplished via time travel in the sequels to FF13 and often involved "rifts" in reality being sealed or exploited. This popped up in a big way with the changes made to FF7 Remake: Cloud and the other members of Avalanche defeat the Whispers, ghastly specters dedicated to maintaining the original timeline. This was sometimes helpful to the group, case in point being the revival of Barrett at the hands of a Whisper. Ultimately, their defeat opens one of those rifts and the ending of FF7 Remake leaves the door open for massive changes to the story going forward.
The shift to real-time action for Final Fantasy was also pioneered in Versus 13. The Kingdom Hearts games also utilized a style similar, but this was a big shift for the mainline Final Fantasy games. This gameplay was adapted into FF15 and to a lesser degree FF7 Remake considering the action was more grounded and featured more strategic usage of abilities via menu in a more classic style. Final Fantasy 16's gameplay seems to be influenced very much by FF15 as the reveal gameplay shows lead protagonist Clive teleporting around the battlefield in a way that feels very Devil May Cry.
Both of these elements originally began by Versus 13 seem to be impacting the development of Final Fantasy 16 in a big way. While the real-time action is confirmed, fans are not yet aware of whether the game will feature some of the strategic elements present in Remake. However, the new trailer does hint at the themes of defying fate that were carried over from Versus 13. For example, crystals have long been a major narrative backbone to the Final Fantasy series, whether that be the power of the materia from FF7 or the warriors from Final Fantasy 3 being chosen by the sentient power of the Crystal of Light.
In FF16's debut trailer, it is stated that the influence of the crystals will be challenged. This defying of a force that has controlled the fate's of many Final Fantasy protagonists over the years is a big departure that seems to resonate with the ideas originally pioneered by Nomura in Versus 13.
There is still much fans don't know about the next Final Fantasy game, but big announcements for the Final Fantasy franchise are expected this year. The influence of Versus 13 has crept its way into many Square Enix projects, and it seems likely that Nomura's brainchild will still be impacting the future of the series with Final Fantasy 16. Of course, how much so remains to be seen, but it should perhaps be something fans keep an eye on whenever the game releases.
Final Fantasy 16 is in development for PS5.