Final Fantasy XIII Had Lots of Deleted Content

We already knew about the Chocobo farm, but Nautilus Park apparently once had a zoo as well.

Final Fantasy XIII is a big game with a massive world to explore (cough -- once you get past all those linear paths -- cough). But it apparently could have been much bigger.

Square Enix specialty site FF Reunion has a short summary of a new interview with FFXIII art director Isamu Kamikokuryou. In the interview, Kamikokuryou discusses some of the content that was deleted from the game.

Apparently, the FFXIII design team created a number of areas that ended up not going into the final product. How much? Enough to create an additional game, according to Kamikokuryou.

Kamikokuryou shared a few locations with the magazine. Apparently, the design team created a full area surrounding Lightning's home. This area resembled a park. There was also a secret base for resistance group Nora inside a shop somewhere. Nautiuls Park, an amusement facility, at one point also included a zoo.

The content was already running on actual PS3 hardware, it seems, but was left out due to considerations for game volume and overall game balanace.

The FF Reunion site is itself not sure of the source of this interview, but I imagine it would be Famitsu, as the magazine has been running a series of interviews with FFXIII's designers since the game's release. Perhaps we can look forward to even more insights in coming issues.