For the past few years there have been rumors of Final Fantasy getting an action oriented spin-off game, particularly a Final Fantasy VII action game. Yes, Dirge of Cerebus was released and was quite lackluster but still the rumors persisted that we may one day see a Final Fantasy game that once again ditches RPG mechanics for straight up action. Well today the lid has been blown on a cancelled Final Fantasy action game and I think we should all be glad it never met the light of day.
It turns out that recently closed developer Grin was working on a Final Fantasy action game set in the world of Final Fantasy XII. Yup, let that sink in for awhile. Grin, a developer with a somewhat shoddy track record, was working on a game set in the world of FFXII. Talk about an unlikely combination that no one would have ever guessed. This news is coming to light due to several resumes and art portfolios which list the game under the title "Fortress."
The project was shuttered when Square Enix stopped paying Grin to work on the game. Perhaps this happened shortly after S-E acquired Eidos and realized that the game wasn't needed or didn't fit their new direction anymore. This could also be a key factor in Grin closing as the studio no longer has the cash flow coming in that was needed to both pay the staff and settle other debts. Basically Grin was probably banking on various projects, with Fortress being the big one, and got burned big time. If anything Grin is a perfect example of how not to run a company.
Other than that there are no other details on Fortress. Perhaps we will learn more about the project through ex-employees spilling the goods or more leaked concept art. This may be a bit harsh but I think we should be somewhat glad that Fortress got canned. Grin certainly had some talented folks and a good base engine but the studio was poorly managed and their last few games reflected that. Maybe we'll be lucky and we'll see Fortress pop up at a later time in the hands of another developer as I'm sure there are a few folks out there who wouldn't mind playing a FFXII action game.
[Via NeoGAF]
Wow this is really interesting. I hope we'll find out soon more about the game and what it was about, even though it is probably best the game never got to see daylight. Just kind of curious to see what they were planning.