A lot of people were holding out for some exciting news during Final Fantasy’s 25 Anniversary event in Japan yesterday; perhaps some information on Final Fantasy Versus XIII or a Final Fantasy VII remake.

What they got instead was an elaborate 12-minute demonstration of Tokimeki Final Fantasy: Suzaku Magic Institution Peristylium ~ Oh no! I’m in Love With the Crystal’s Divine Guardian ~, an otome dating game set in the world of Final Fantasy Type-0.

Final Fantasy Type-0 director Hajime Tabata began by explaining to the eager crowd that they weren’t getting what they came for: “I knew that since our fans would be here, I had to prepare something special just for this event. But, for a variety of reasons, we’re unable to announce a new title. So instead, please allow me to show you this fake project I’ve been working on. I hope we can have some fun with it.”

The game has players take control of Khalia Chival XXVI (descendant of Khalia Chival VI), a ditsy young Agito candidate and the first ever female student at a magic academy filled with hot guys.

In planning his fake Final Fantasy dating sim, Hajime wanted to utilize the series’ trademark Active Time Battle (ATB) system and apply it to the otome (dating simu marketed towards female audience) genre. This is done by adding a variety of new “AT” systems, such as “Active Time Talk,” “Active Time Lesson,” and, most important of all, “Active Time Kiss.”

Like many otome games, players follow a daily schedule in which they attend lecture, speak with fellow students and make date plans for the weekend. The goal is to fall in love with one of the characters from Final Fantasy Type-0…and maybe, you know, save the world and stuff too.

The best part is the game is being developed for the smartphone (The World Ends with You, anyone?) using Luminous Studio, Square Enix’s impressive new game engine capable of far more than static 2D graphics.

Throughout the presentation, Hajime and other staff make it a point to reiterate that the game is indeed fake, though the crowd seemed to take to the idea pretty well. They even got some of the Type-0 voice actors on board to do some impromptu dialogue recitals.

We’re glad Hajime and the others at Square Enix are able to have a bit of fun in between creating all those Final Fantasy XIII sequels, but given the effort they put into this prank, we think we’d rather have them go all the way.

Source: YouTube, My Game News Flash