One myth,
countless stories
FINAL FANTASY XIII
The New Tale of the Crystal
Like the light that shines through the Crystal,
the universe shines with multi-colored content.
- —Official site description
Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy (ファブラ ノヴァ クリスタリス, Fabura Nova Kurisutarisu) is the collective name of a series of games made under the Final Fantasy XIII label by Japanese console developer Square Enix. Made in the same vein as the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII and the Ivalice Alliance collections, Fabula Nova Crystallis, which means "the new tale of the crystal," in Latin, is nevertheless based on various worlds and different characters, but each game will be "ultimately based on and expand upon a common mythos."
The connection between the Fabula Nova Crystallis games could be partly compared to the one that exists between games like Final Fantasy I, Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy V - different universes but roughly the same crystal mythos. Officially, they have been characterised as "different titles based on variations of the FINAL FANTASY XIII universe". The figure shown in the Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy logo is one of the gods of the crystal mythos, but when asked by Famitsu[1], Yoshinori Kitase wouldn't say which god it is.
Games[]
The games within Fabula Nova Crystallis are:
- Final Fantasy XIII
- Final Fantasy XIII-2
- Final Fantasy Type-0
- Final Fantasy Versus XIII
Apart from Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2, which are made by the same team, each of the other games are being made by a different team of developers within Square Enix Product Development Division 1.
According to Square Enix, the Fabula Nova Crystallis is not solely restricted to these games, and other new developments are already underway and will be announced in time. The trademark Final Fantasy Haeresis XIII was registered in the United States on May 1, 2006; however there have been no announcements of any plans to make a game of that title, and the trademark was subsequently abandoned on April 25, 2011.
Web novelization[]
Although not directly part of Fabula Nova Crystallis, a web novel, later made into a CD Drama, titled Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero -Promise- is also part of the Final Fantasy XIII expanded universe.
Novella[]
Final Fantasy XIII -Episode i- is a novella that was released with Final Fantasy XIII International Ultimate Hits in Japan, and acts as a sequel to Final Fantasy XIII, covering direct events following the game's ending. However, similar to the Episode Zero, it is unknown whether it is officially included in the Fabula Nova Crystallis compliation.
Etymology[]
Square Enix's page states that Fabula Nova Crystallis translates to "the new tale of the crystals." However, this is not quite accurate--the Latin word for crystal is "crystallus -i," which is second declension. Fabula Nova Crystallorum would mean "the new tale of the crystals." As it stands, the title more closely indicates "the new tale to/by/with the crystals," as crystallis is a dative or ablative plural.
Another possibility is that 'crystallis' is in fact singular, in which case it could be genitive, with the meaning, 'of the crystal'. Often in Latin literature are the plural and singular forms of words used interchangeably to rhetorical effect - one example of this is in the story of Scylla in Book 7 of Ovid's Metamorphoses.
Trivia[]
- The series was originally called Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy XIII, but the name was shortened to just Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy during the "Square Enix 1st Production Department Premiere" event on January 18, 2011. The "XIII" numeric was dropped because what was originally named Final Fantasy Agito XIII was renamed Final Fantasy Type-0.
- Orphan makes an indirect reference to the series title with the line, "From shattered shards, a new crystal legend will arise."
- The thirteenth Analect, obtained by defeating Vercingetorix in Mission 64, is called "Fabula Nova Crystallis".
- In addition, there is a piece of music on the fourth disk of the Final Fantasy XIII: Original Soundtrack called "Fabula Nova Crystallis".