After Square Enix benefited from going multiplatform with Final Fantasy XIII and making the game the fastest selling in the series Japan was bound to get an Xbox 360 release. The Xbox 360 version of the game will be released under Square Enix’s ‘Ultimate Hits’ banner and will go by the name of Final Fantasy XIII Ultimate Hits International.
The Japanese Xbox 360 version will come with the expected additional content which will make the game better than my Final Fantasy XIII Collectors Edition. The game will truly live up to its international title by using English voices, but players will be able to play the game with Japanese subtitles or various European languages. The Ultimate Hits edition will also include a brand new Easy Mode which will allow players to run through the game faster and enable a more user friendly battle system. I think the addition of an Easy Mode is a great move and well thought about feature that will allow many gamers including myself to move past some of the game boring bits.
The best bonus feature for Final Fantasy XIII Ultimate Hits International is the artwork booklet which is called Final Fantasy XIII Corridor Of Memory. It contains visual art from Japan and overseas and a newly written epilogue chapter. The epilogue chapter will be called Final Fantasy XIII Episode 1 and will help fans discover what happened to the Characters after the game. The collectors edition of the game contained an artwork booklet, but nothing like what this version is getting.
Final Fantasy XIII Ultimate Hits International will be getting a December 16th release, just a day before last years 2009 Japanese PS3 release. It will cost 4,980 yen, half the price of the Japanese PS3 version on launch. For those going to the Tokyo Games Show you will be able to play this brand new game with all its features and those of us that aren’t will just have to import it, even if it’s just for the Final Fantasy XIII Corridor Of Memory visual art booklet.
Although that game has included many new features I am sad to say that the Japanese theme song’s will not be used in the Ultimate Hits International version, “My Hand” by Leona Lewis will be used instead.
