Never-Earlier-Seen Art From the Canceled Final Fantasy, Fortress

A Peek Behind the Curtain

A Peek Behind the Curtain

In 2009, Swedish developer Grinning closed in doors. Months later, quondam employees revealed through online art portfolios and Linked In profiles that the company had been working on a Final Fantasy XII spin-off, codenamed Fortress.

The following gallery includes never-before-released artwork, sketches, and gameplay design documents from the canceled project.

Costume designs for Queen Ashe. Her headpiece was designed to expect like that of her father, Rex Raminas, who was killed in the commencement of Last Fantasy XII. In addition to her royal garb, Ashe would habiliment a more functional accommodate for combat, including armor designed to invoke the outfit of Rasler, Ashe's husband who was also killed in Terminal Fantasy XII.

Designs for armor and a more casual, everyday suit for master character Basch. The armor on the left is shut to the Judge armor used in Final Fantasy XII and Revenant Wings, while the outfit on the correct more closely mirrors the wearable Basch wore in Final Fantasy XII.

A sketch of what soldiers would look like while mounted on Chocobos.

Sketches of what group combat would wait like in Fortress. The bottom sketch shows an option for lighting effects.

3D concept fine art of an inner courtyard within the fortress. The structure was primarily designed after Western-style castles, and featured no elaborate ornamentation. The merely large structures, such as gates and landing docks, were designed primarily for function and less for aesthetic purposes.

3D concept art of battlements within the fortress. In add-on to looking ancient and dark, designers wanted the construction to feel aboriginal. The design of wide open courtyards, like the spaces shown here, were influenced by designs used past Square Enix in Final Fantasy XII. For example, 1 signal of reference was the castle and urban center streets shown in the game's opening cutscene.

3D concept art of bridges and stairs in the inner parts of the fortress.

3D concept art of battlements within the fortress, including a look at the frozen body of water and mountains across. The fortress gate would point north, with all other environments placed in the lower slopes or high snowy peaks to the south.

3D concept art of the outer courtyard of the fortress.

3D concept art of the upper level of the fortress, with a look at the courtyard beneath and body of water beyond. In this high expanse of the fortress, there would be a modest memorial garden in which players could acquire more than most the structure's history.

3D concept fine art looking out over the fortress' inner and outer courtyards.

3D concept art of the gate to the inner part of the fortress.

3D concept art of an inner courtyard entrance in the fortress.

3D concept art of battlements and hallways within the fortress.

3D concept art of an inner chamber within the fortress.

3D concept fine art of an aerial view of the total fortress. According to design documents, the overall look of the fortress was to be "night and very serious" in nature and experience inaccessible on outset glance.

3D concept art of an aerial view of the fortress and the sea from the edifice'due south highest level.

3D concept fine art of the fortress equally viewed from the sea.

3D concept art of the fortress as viewed from the cliffs surrounding the structure.

Concept fine art of an encampment outside the fortress on the land side. Here players would be able to interact with troops, accept foraging quests, and then on.

A detailed look at possible crumbling for Basch, including more haggard and graying pilus, wrinkles and worry lines.

Concept fine art of the villain Loemund in his final boss form, a giant electric squid, facing off against Basch.

Concept art of the fortress under attack from enemy forces. In this pic, enemy troops are using siege weaponry and seem to be standing on the frozen bounding main.

Some other piece of concept art looking at the fortress in color. Here, the bounding main is nonetheless liquid and at that place is no attack. The floating core can be seen in the upper right corner, while each level of the fortress is visible.

Art depicting a moment in the story when the sea levels rises and waves crash confronting the fortress, flooded the start courtyard and slamming against the inner wall.

Colour artwork of a boss fight featuring massive centipede-similar creatures coming over the top of the fortress wall.

A expect at the day/night bike for Fortress. The meridian artwork shows the fortress at dark, while the eye shows sunrise/dusk and the terminal motion-picture show shows the structure in total daylight.

Concept fine art of the desert environment virtually the fortress. This piece shows the archway to a tomb built into a rocky cliffside. In this environment, players would be able to explore and chase for resource to accept back to the fortress. The thought with Fortress was to let the world transform around the player in order to offering varied environments, rather than picking the player up and transporting them to more than and more new areas.

Concept fine art of a centipede enemy. These enemies would gyre upwardly into balls and be flung over the sides of the fortress using catapults. In one case inside, they would uncurl and attack.

Concept fine art of enemy soldiers with helmets designed to resembled sea creatures, such every bit squid and angler fish. Enemy soldiers were designed to look "brutish" and "archaic," according to design documents. Their weapons would exist primarily made of wood--driftwood--and iron.

An enemy tentatively called "manymen" that chants as information technology attacks. When attacked, manymen's limbs would split off to grade more bodies, resulting in a smattering of smaller enemies rather than one bigger 1. Within the body of a manymen, fire burned.

A layout of story capacity and where their events would occur inside the fortress.

Concept art of the archway to a forest in the mountains, with a chocobo waiting outside.

The depths of a forest with wooden walkways lit past crystals leading over a lake to a massive tree in the middle.

Concept fine art of Basch standing before a tower of enemies frozen into water ice.

Concept fine art of a pathway between frozen glaciers. The terminate of this icy sheet is likely up against the edge of the fortress, where Basch rushes out onto the ice to meet Loemund in battle.

Some other look at the spaces between the frozen glaciers.

The full map of the Fortress game world.

A mock screenshot of what appears to be Laegd--the demigod aiding Basch and his army--meeting enemy soldiers on the battlements of the fortress. Hither y'all can come across enemies climbing and falling off ladders and other siege weapons in the groundwork.

More concept art of the desert environment in Fortress, consummate with the wooden ruins of a minor town.

Concept art of murky plains with a Stonehedge-like rock structure in the foreground. This would be some other environment in which players could hunt for materials to utilise in the fortress. A effigy--likely Basch--stands in a swampy puddle in the bottom correct.

Another await at the wetland plains, with Basch standing on a small hill.

Designs for the sea dragon boss fight.

Coloring concepts for the fortress battlements in three different conditions conditions: sun, rain, and snow.

Colour testing for combat on the fortress battlements in three dissimilar lightning schemes.

A design of the face of a war Chocobo. The thought with Fortress' creatures was to take beloved Final Fantasy monsters and brand them gritty, or "dirtier." Basch and his soldiers would ride these Chocobos into battle.

Colored concept art of the fortress' inner wall. According to pattern documents, stairs were placed on the outside of these structures rather than inside to keep players engaged visually, and to make information technology simpler to navigate in and out of the unlike layers of the fortress.

A detailed sketch of the inner workings of the fortress gates. The actor graphic symbol would open up and close these gates by activating pulley mechanisms on either side.

Concept art of another environment, a foggy tundra with large rock structures scattered throughout. Co-ordinate to documents, this was referred to as the "rock forest."

Colored sketches showing the detail on the fortress walls and part of the outer courtyard.

Some other concept fine art for the rock wood, this time in a grassy environment.

A gameplay diagram for how players could have downward and avoid attacks from larger enemies, specifically trolls.

Gameplay diagrams of what would result from players shield-bashing enemies. The meridian illustration shows the player graphic symbol shield-bashing three enemies at once, while the bottom illustrates what happens when the actor graphic symbol bashes an enemy holding an explosive.

Another await at the creepy "manymen" enemy. This illustration shows how the manymen would interruption off into smaller manymen.

Another look at one of the game'due south large boss fights against a massive Malboro. In this consequence, players would have to run up onto his caput and drop bombs into holes in his skull in order to defeat him.

A closer looking at the coloring on the fortress walls. The ornamentation was designed to invoke the bounding main and ships, since the fortress stands against the bounding main.

Gameplay design of a big enemy appearing from out of the ground.

Gameplay design of the flooring crumbling and enemies falling into it.

Gameplay design of the effects of the player grapheme executing a air current spell.