While Final Fantasy XIII is a huge game as it is, it was once bigger. A new interview with the game’s art director Isamu Kamikokuryou, he touches on content that was deleted from the game.
It’s normal for any game development team to create a few areas that don’t make the final cut of the project. However, with Final Fantasy XIII, there was enough deleted content to form a whole other game.
Some of these areas deleted include: a full area surrounding Lightning’s home that looked like a park, a secret base for resistance group Nora inside a shop, and a zoo for Nautiuls Park.
Apparently, while the content was already up and running on PS3, they decided to nix the areas due to considerations for game volume and overall balance.
Final Fantasy XIII Had Lots of Deleted Content [Andriasang]