English FFXIII is complete

Motomu Toriyama, the director of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIII, has confirmed that work has now finished on the non-Japanese version of the hyped RPG.

Final Fantasy XIII overseas version is finally completed – I am sorry for the long wait,” he stated on the game’s official website.

At present, members of the development team in Japan are on a New Year holiday while awaiting an approval for the master disc. The overseas version was developed simultaneously with the Japanese one as we wanted to ensure that it comes out as soon after the Japanese release date as possible.”

In addition, 1UP has published the first hands-on of the controversial Xbox 360 version – and the news looks good:

FFXIII runs just as smoothly on 360 as it does on PS3. I didn’t see a hint of slowdown or choppiness or screen tearing or any of the other visual hiccups that serve as hallmarks of a sloppy port. Admittedly, I didn’t see the two versions running side-by-side but I honestly saw no tangible difference from my time with the PS3 version.”

Final Fantasy XIII will be released in the UK on PS3 and Xbox 360 on March 9th.