Tetsuya Nomura has said that the story and characters for Versus XIII will not be what you expect, and that seems to have already been proven true.
After reading early reports of Noctis, seeing his character design, watching the trailers and reading scans, it appeared that Noctis would be a slightly shy, introverted, quiet character who is noble and good hearted.
While we do know scarce little about Versus XIII, a few things have been confirmed. Noctis is a Prince in his Kingdom and is about to receive the throne, Stella is an embassador from Tenebrae. They meet at a treaty signing, and this sequence was shown in the most recent trailer. Both of these characters seem to have been granted powers by the light, which is said to come from the Godess of Death to those with near death experiences.
After translating the most recent trailer, something unexpected really stood out, that being Noctis' wit and wordplay. It was reminiscent to an extent of Balthier, who had some very well written lines.
S:Lord Noctis... You can see the light...
S:Right?
S: Was that what you were looking at from downstairs?
N:... Pretty much. When did you start seeing it?
S:When I was a child.
N:A near death experience I presume?
S:Yes... you too?
N:It was pretty horrible...
S:The Goddess Etro shall open the gate welcoming the the souls of the dead.
S:When that occurs, a bright light shall shine down through the skies from the land of the dead.
S:That is the legend.
S:It's a Tenebrae legend.
N:We've got the same legend here.
S: Did the light give you power?
N:No. I don't need anything like that. I'm fine how I am.
S:I know, right?
S:No matter what kind of power it is, if it's at the cost of somebody's life...
S:It would give me nightmares.
N:Same. It's a ridiculous bedtime story... You shouldn't talk to other people about the light.
S:How come?
N:Being different from others can cause a lot of trouble...
N: Don't you think?
S:But if it's just a bedtime story, what do you think the light really is?
N:It's just something that's there.
N:Isn't that good enough?
N:Um...
S:Stella.
N:Stella... I should be going.
S:Thank you for your time, Prince Noctis.
N:Just Noct is fine.
S:... I have to go too.
S:I feel like I've received something from the light tonight.
S:... I got a chance to speak with you.
N:Well now you'll have nightmares.
S:You're mean one aren't you, Prince Noctis.
N:Noct.
S:I'll call you that the next time we meet.
S:You should come to Tenebrae some time. I'll show you around.
N:That sounds interesting. I'll think about it.
?:Who are you?
N: ... I was about to ask the same thing. (OR That's my line)
Firstly his wordplay, Noctis links back her comment about receiving something tonight to a statment she made a couple minutes earlier in conversation. Stella gets the reference, and jokingly calls him mean, she herself appreciating his wit. And then there's Noctis' final line, a voice calls out to him from what would appear to be the land of the dead, and Noctis isn't offput or disturbed, instead replying with an interesting line.
That type of dialogue isn't what would be expected from a character who has been described as shy. However Noctis' body language tells a different story in that scene. He's obviously agitated by something, whether it is his shyness coming through as he's alone with someone he doesn't know, whether he is anxious about something that hasn't been revealed to the player, or perhaps he is offput by the presence of the third being in the room (the voice in the light) from the start, especially as Stella doesn't seem to notice it.
Secondly, either both Stella and Noctis are completely ignorant of the powers they have been granted (which would appear to be the most likely scenario) or they both have not received them yet, which is odd, as they've been able to see the light since childhood. Perhaps their powers lay dormant until something activates them? Maybe there must be some type of need before they awaken?
Finally on to Stella, she was suprising in that she is not most similar to Aerith as is the common conception, but instead is more like Rinoa. She definitely isn't shy, she walks straight up to Noctis similar to how Rinoa approached Squall in the ballroom. When Stella walks she holds her hands clasped behind her back like Rinoa, and like Rinoa she jumps when she gets excited and agrees with Noctis. There is a moment in the conversation, just before she goes to leave the first time, where she lingers, not wanting to go, then afterwards she calls Noctis mean, just like Rinoa to Squall. I'm not trying to say she is based on Rinoa, but there are too many similarities (especially for a couple of minutes of footage) not to notice.
Noctis' character seems far more appealing after subbing this trailer, he looks like he could be much more than another of Square's introverted males. Hopefully the whole of Versus is as hard to pin down, if so it should make for a fantastic title.
http://www.ff-xiii.net/index.php?page=news&p=more&numb=373
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Noctis seems more like a playboy'ish character......a bit like balthier in some ways to
Do we have a beast hidden inside this outwardly seemingly shy person?
(Former) Lead Moderator
