Not that it matters any longer because Final Fantasy XIII is an almost universally reviled game, its legacy being only to ruin what was once a premium brand for nearly two decades for a generation of fans and symbolize the decline of JRPGs and Japanese games in general, but the PC release of the title has revealed some pretty interesting stuff. Notably, some data that people have managed to dig up seems to hint at some areas in the game that were planned for inclusion but ultimately never made it in.
The area is called the Seventh Arc, and the (unused) in game text for it says “One of the military installations of which the legends of Gran Pulse speak. The Fifth Arc is clearly an arsenal ready to combat invaders; the Seventh, instead, has as its principal function to awaken the hidden power of the l’Cie.” There was also a boss planned for this area, Nemesis, and its text reads “Fal’Cie lord and master of the Seventh Arc. Its work consists of harassing the l’Cie in the middle of cruel tests and obligating them to surpass their own limits. Apparently it trains them to fight against someone, but it is not known who. Nemesis and its Arc already existed in the times before the construction of Cocoon.”
Of course, just the inclusion of this all in the final game wouldn’t have necessarily made it a better game or anything, but still, it’s fascinating to find stuff like this.
