New installment in FFXIII series out in 2013 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3; features open-world gameplay and tweaks to Paradigm system.
Square Enix announced a new entry in the Final Fantasy XIII series during today's Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary presentation in the Shibuya Hikarie building in Tokyo, Japan.
The role-playing game is called Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII and will be the final entry in the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy. The game takes place within the world of Novus Partus, which contains four large islands, and the game will chronicle the last 13 days of the game's universe.
Players control Lightning as she finds a way to save the world from extinction. Players can customize Lightning's attire, including her armor and weapons, but there is no information on whether she can equip weapons other than shields and swords of various sizes. The game will still retain the Paradigm Shift combat system, except that players can move Lightning around the battlefield and swap weapons instantaneously.
Final Fantasy XIII producer Yoshinori Kitase and director Motomu Toriyama also announced a Twitter and Facebook account for the game. Players can give their feedback and thoughts on past titles so that the design team may implement them during the game's development.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII will be out in 2013 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The first batch of art from the game can be seen below.
Born and raised from a jungle-laden village in Sarawak, Malaysia, Jonathan Toyad has been playing games since the early 90s. He favors fighting games, RPGs, and rhythm titles above every other genre, and occasionally spaces out like Pavlov's dog to video game music on his iPod.
i hope this game includes whatever they were missing in the first 2 game of the series, which includes a non-linear gameplay. Other than that, i cant wait. Oh and those who are complaining about how bad this series is..Go screw yourself. You gotta admit the story may be sketchy for some of you guys but the battle system is fun and challenging.
The series of XIII is probably my second favorite Final Fantasy next to IX.
It's sad that it is looked down upon because it is different then others, most of those who judge never even finished it.
Another FFXIII game? Fk it... I'm getting it, LOL. Decent JRPG's are rare these days. Is FFXIII my favourite of them all? No... But I still liked them a lot. I miss turn based games.
If this is going to be an open-world game I will be f*cking ecstatic. The awful combat in Skyrim is what prevents me from getting it. Which is rotten for me because I love open world games.
I don't mind the Paradigm system at all. I like it actually. It really just automates a lot of the tedium from the "regular" turn based mechanics. I could do another game with the Paradigm system FOR SURE.
I think this is a great idea, but Lightning shouldn't be the only character that's original. What ever happened to the city that everyone now lived in once Cocoon fell? Did they all just..die? The downloadable content for Final Fantasy XIII-2 showed that Serah was dead for sure, but it never really said if Caius died at all so whatever happened to him? I'm just a little confused on how they'd just make a whole new storyline without telling us what happened to all the characters in Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2.
I was hoping for more characters to play in the next sequel but as long as we can play as Lightning again I am pretty happy.
you can actually control the whole party now because lightning is the only one in the party...
3 Like Can't wait! Haters have dipped to an all-time low by now, and I'm wondering how long it will be until they organize a riot of Buster Sword-wielding Cloud cosplayers and charge through the front doors of Square Enix.
Come on, guys. I'm an oldschooler, but there seem to be a very small number of oldschool fans that still hang on to their intelligence and maturity.
2 Like They are trying to push Cloud and the gang from Final Fantasy VII out of our minds....
Because they are scared as hell to try and remake FFVII... That seems to be one of the most requested games. Mostly Old school gamers though. The newer fans don't have the same memories as us... Lol... I for one will not forgive or forget thier resent crap until they have remade it. And if the remake sucks I'm done... I was a diehard fan of Square... And at 1st Square/Enix was trying to do a good job, but for the last few years all I feel SE has done is shat out games and then dumped them ontop over me.
@ChrisX2012 I'd say a FFVII HD remake is probably the most requested game of ALL TIME. And Square just has no clue how much money they'd make. Maybe the game is all done, sitting in a vault, ready to release if they ever approach bankruptcy. It just defies logic.
The problem is with a remake of VII that if they mess up ONE thing that was in the original, can you imagine what those people who grovel at a remake of it would do? It would probably destroy them.
5 Like I'd rather they give Lulu her own game. She's a better woman than Lightning will ever be.
I'm going to have to rent XIII-2 a few times now. Beat XIII after so long. Mostly cause I hated the grinding in the redundant battle system. I'm like XIII-2 more but it's not much to go out of my way to get it. Now this... ... ... The characters are obnoxious. Lightning is way too over glorified. I'm just going to be pissed if this delays Versus XIII even more...
@lexanderax Well guess what this goddamn game already gldid delay it and it wont be making an appearance on tgs go to ff-versusxiii.net and read the article cuz this game is only 30% developed.
3 Like What is the obsession SE has with Lightning?! I just dont get it;funny enough, I am intrigued by this game-with her name IN the title,ugh!
1 Like @BloodyAura I don't understand it, either. I didn't find any of those characters in FF14 to be particularly interesting, but Lighting was especially stiff and difficult to appreciate. Why they feel she's the new "Cloud" is beyond me. In all honesty, it feels more like they're shoving her down our throats to MAKE us like her. Good luck with that.
1 Like @BloodyAura they cant just drop the game without an ending can they? ff13-3 was waiting to happen. N they wil surely move on after they complete the"trilogy". And maybe they r obsessed to prove people like u wrong. ff13-2 tried giving wat the gamers wanted, for example more open world gameplay and better customization. so SE is improving upon user feed backs. N it only shows SE cares abt the gamers. n ff13-3 is goin to be better i am sure of it.
@michelle128 @BloodyAura It will be the best in the "trilogy" for sure as long as they stick to the open world design. An open world FF is going to be so f*cking good. Anybody who doesn't care for this XIII series (and that's fine for whoever doesn't) can have fun waiting 5 years until FF XV, LOL.
2 Like @michelle128 Tried giving us what we want? Most gamers wanted shot of the pathetic battle system, lack of a story worth the name, and maybe even an addictive mini game or two (like 7, 8, 9 and 10).
What did we get? An almost identical battle system, a story in which they metaphorically spat on the faces of the gamers come the ending (that would have been like ending Final Fantasy 6 half way through the game), and probably the worst mini 'games' I have ever seen. Oh, and a boring pokémon-like section of long farming slogs and a system of combining them which they didn't seem to bring the ease of use into consideration in any conversations they had on the topic.
I hated XIII mainly because of the battle system and the story. I went into knowing they kept the travesty of a battle system, and sucking that up. Halfway through the game - by willing myself to ignore the plot holes, and simple ways they could have improved the story telling - I was intrigued by the story. And then, of course, came the discovery that it wasn't actually a story, just part of one.
Sequels work, obviously, very well in books, I'm not complaining about the idea of sequels. All good series, however, have a complete story per book as part of the overarching storyline. 13-2 didn't, and that's unforgivable from an RPG. They did the equivalent of ending Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at the Yule Ball (halfway through the book for those who don't understand the reference),
1 Like @michelle128 @BloodyAura No actually they dont care. Most fans actually want versus 13 instead to playing the same game over and over.again.
2 Like @shazz_rulez19 @michelle128 @BloodyAura
Poor boy. This is the problem with Versus fanboys. They believe Versus is going to be the "savior" of the series or whatever other crap they pull out of their ass, and romp around on FFXIII articles and forums and complain about it. Guess what? There are two different teams handling the development of the games! Astonished? Do your research and try again. "Most fans" is something fanboys use to try and prove their point. If "most fans" wanted Versus, they wouldn't make a sequel at all.
2 Like As one of the, probably few, people who enjoyed both FFXIII and FFXIII-2 I must say I'm excited for this. I'll keep an eye on ths for sure. :)
2 Like @Toplinkar There's actually a crapload of the fanbase that likes the FFXIII series, but it seems fanboys of the old FFs and Versus are hell-bent on making sure that we think we're the minority. (Polls prove it, YT likes over dislikes, pretty much any rating system shows more than 75% of the fanbase likes the XIII series)
It all boils down to change and that most of them aren't getting what they want, the only things they complain about are the things that are very different then the past games.
6 Like Who keeps buying this garbage? I mean somebody has to be or they wouldnt keep making it right? I'm just saying FF XIII wasnt very good.
7 Like Lightning is type of character that hasn't aged well at all, it was cool in the 90s but now it's shallow
this whole let's make a "female version of cloud" is really superficial and annoying
1 Like @Dragdar She's more well-rounded and likable than Cloud at any rate. Cloud is an empty shell devoid of life after Aerith's death. Even before then I barely blinked when his speech bubble appeared.
@Dragdar first of all, the characters arent the problem at all. And it wasnt "cool" in the "sexist" 90s with all its male protagonists. You can argue tomb raider's lara croft was a female protagonist of the 90s! But like game during that time she was just a sex symbol. Female protagonist is a positive step forward for any game this gen. SO its definitely not the characters.. its the gameplay " people r looking for less liner gameplay and customization, which imporved signifinantly in ff13-2" so you cant say they arent doing a anything to improve coz they have taken feedbacks form players wel. we askd for less liner gameplay n we got that in ff13-2. se are tackling the short comings wel. they r definitely listenin to the gamers! n i look forward to it.! you can cry over spilt milk or you can do wat se did. i say se is learning and that is a very very good thing!
@michelle128 @Dragdar Why do women have to make everything into a battle of the sexes? with the constant "sexist this" and "sexist that", its getting pretty pathetic, really. And yeah, lightning was a crappy character, because she had no soul (along with pretty much all the characters in ffxiii). I understand the whole intended "tough girl" act.. the problem is it becomes more than an act and she goes the whole game without showing any real emotion at all. It makes her look drab, bland and uninteresting. But then that was the theme for both xiii and xii. Its sad that square has moved away from the things that made final fantasy the brand that is is, the brilliant stories and great characters, sacrificing them for a half-assed combat system revamp.
4 Like I'd have to disagree with you there. The things people are looking for the most from the FF series are an amazing and compelling story with interesting, dynamic characters that draw you in and make you root for their cause, which for a lot of players was really lacking in FFXIII. The only character of the group that I actually liked was Sazh (personality and voice acting, not combat) so yes, the characters are a big part of the problem, just not in the way that Dragdar said. Gameplay and customization are an extremely close second and third though.
@horizonwriter nicely put dude!! I mean in ff10 sin was tidus own father! that was tough to swallow.. U r RITE!!! mayb its just hope making me cling on to ff!
1 Like While I don't particularly care for XIII or XIII-2, I am actually really happy that XIII has it's fanbase. I feel that if SE made a FF game that just bombed out completely (their recent MMORPG doesn't count) it might be the last one that we'll ever see and that's definitely not what I want. I just want them to do better.
I didn't find the story confusing. I thought it was quite easy to follow actually. I just wasn't drawn in by it. I recently realized what one of the main detractors was for me. In XIII we don't really get to know the enemy very well or form an overwhelming desire to bring them down. In past FF games the enemy's story played out in great detail along side the protaganist's. I was one of the ones that thought VII was overrated but still good, but one thing I really liked was how well you got to know all the important employees of Shinra by the end and how great it felt to finally bring them down, especially Hojo. They were such a vile corporation that Sephorith was turned into a sympathetic villain when the dust settled. You had a similar setting in XII with a huge entity attempting to assert it's power and influence over the world and many members available to hate (the Empire with house Solidor and it's judges). Kefka's rise to godhood in VI was extremely captivating (the guy is the FF version of the Joker... sick) and I enjoyed playing against the manipulative workings of Kuja in IX and Golbez in IV. Somehow though, Barthandelus in XIII just didn't do it for me. I simply didn't care about their struggle against him (it?). Was he evil? Sure, but nothing spectacular IMHO, and certainly nothing that inspired me to rally behind the troops.
I truly do hope this next sequel gives you the ending that you'd like and deserve. As for those of us who don't care for FF XIII, we just hope that it really is the nail in the coffin for this storyline.
1 Like @horizonwriter @Dragdar I respect your opinion but that is just an opinion thts all. For me ff13 does have a good story. Takes time to get used to, but it is good. It was compelling, i wanted to know what happend to each one of the characters.. they didnt reli screw it in the story. Just a tad bit confusing i guess.. i had to keep goin to my journal. But it does draw me in. I spent 40hrs in the game n story was one of the reasons i playd. And for voice acting have you tried the ORIGINAL japanese with english sub? For example Vanille's british'ish australian'ish accent? that was annoyn. but in male dominated japan, anime and movies character like vanille and serah are far too comon. therefor games like this do well in japan bec they r used to stories and characters like that. ff13-2 was received far better in japan than the u.s. famatsu givin it top scores. What ff in my opnion is missin a great ending bec the story hasnt ended. and ff is known for their clamitic endings. after spending 40 hrs each in ff13(123) i hope the ending is good. i have to admit ff13 ending was ok, and ff13-2 left me with more questions but i am hoping it wil be great in ff13-3.
1 Like whats up with all the haters? they keep askn for a different game, games that are already available else where.. I mean if u dont like the game for what it is then go play some other game. Why complain about a game that you are not into? You obiously know what you want and it is not ff, so go play that game instead of complaining about what could have been or sould have been. It is what it is. ff has changed a lot but nobody is askin you to like it. U have the choice to play it or not. Why complain as if you have nothing else but ff to play.
3 Like Hmm, why complain? Might be tough to come up with a few reasons but let me take a crack it.
Fans of FF might complain because they've spent a lot of money on the series overall and have kept Square afloat all these years mainly off of this one line of games and feel let down by XIII, as if they were ignored. Could be that the complaints come from gamers who know that they actually DO want a FF game and this felt very off the mark. Maybe they complain because they wanted a better RPG, felt they didn't get one and hope that if their voices are loud enough SE won't make the same mistakes when it comes to FF XV. Or maybe they complain because they know that if they don't like this one it's going to be at least a 2 year wait (more likely 3-5) for the next numbered entry that may or may not be a really good FF game. Eh... or maybe we're all just a bunch of bitchy venters. :-P
@horizonwriter what am i sayin is, its your damn choice to spend that money! Nowadays u cn watch tons of review before buyin the game so y would u complain abt wastin your money. N yes ff standard arent the same as b4 but what i can see form ff13- ff13-2 they have taken criticism wel n improved upon it. y complain there? SE learining n we sud give them credit for that! do u think all the gamers politely askd for the changes NO! they complaind their ass off! i am jus sayn there r other ways to voice yr concerns! even when you can clearly see SE is tryin!
1 Like I didn't say that's how I look at things, just how some people react. I actually love most of the games in the series. Been playing them since the original FF hit the states in 1990. I just don't care for XIII or XIII-2, that's all. If it's something that you really like then good for you. You'll be happy with it while the rest of us will just have to wait and see if SE will redeem itself in our eyes with XV... that is if they can leave Lightning alone long enough to come up with ideas for it.
@horizonwriter yea nice atitude! People like u never get pleased! u look into nukncrany to find wats wrong with anything!
2 Like Wow. You've got to be one of the biggest, brainwashed corporate cheerleaders ever. You're basically saying anyone who doesn't share your "candy and rainbows" view on the XIII series isn't allowed to say word one about it. Who are you to tell someone else they can't complain about a product they purchased, and since when do game reviews reflect with 100% accuracy how someone at home will perceive a game? A review could say the game was amazing but it doesn't make it so. If you don't want to hear complaints then read the articles and stay away from the comment section. If you can't stay away then prepare to be aggrevated because nothing pleases everyone all the time. There will always be someone unhappy with something. If it was raining 20-dollar bills someone would complain that it should be pouring 100's instead.
3 Like I actually liked FF XIII and XIII-2. This is better than another FPS game which the market is so full of right now.
i do not care what anybody thinks of ff13, i jus love it! ever sinz ffX" wen tidus kissed yuna n wen yuna hugd tidus at the end of the game" i jus love how ff makes me feel! i have never felt tht much love with any other game! thats what final fantasy r good at! n i feel tht way with ff13 and ff13-2, and all the ffs! i like mass effect 123,uncharted and halo bt i love ff for its romatic bits! it may not have the best gameplay bt it has the most loveable characters. it makes me feel like ive known them all my life. i love the idea of fighting for the ones u love! i mean mass effect, halo and uncharted does that too bt ff feels nostalgic! i fell tht bittersweet longing, like the feeling of being homesick.. very few games do tht. wen i finishd ffx wen i realizd tidus was jus a dream(kinda) n he jus floats away leavin eveyone behind.. i couldnt stop thinking abt tht game till ff10-2 came out. i actuly missd tidus n felt so bad for yuna.. n i do feel tht with ff13. may b bec m a girls n ff has strong girl protaganists.. or mayb bec i like lovey dovy stuff.. bt i love ff.. its makes me feel good. makes me want to do good things in life! ff u rock!! keep it up!!
@michelle128 obviously this poster does care otherwise he wouldn't be commenting on everyone elses opinions of the mediocre games that were 13 and 13-2
That was just outright painful to read... And if you think Tidus is a lovable character you're bar for lovable is set extremely low.
@horizonwriter first of all i don't need you to tell me what i can or cant love . Who the fuck are you judge me? You have a different taste its not my problem. I am not forcing u to like tidus.. i am half japanese and in japanese culture stories and character like that are widey loved.
@horizonwriter @lexanderax thanks! u r rite.! njoy your games! i didnt reli expect the ribbing thts y i felt hurt. first time commenting btw. jus made an account jus to post i love ff hehe tnx for a gr8 advice!
@michelle128 @lexanderax You're certainly not wrong. You have you're own opinion of it and you're welcome to it. Just don't get so pissed when others don't feel the same and if you're going to express some corny sentiment online then expect some ribbing and try to handle it a little better. FF XIII will stand for a loooooong time as the most polarizing FF of the bunch. It used to be VII, just not to this extreme. A lot of the old school fans thought VII was decent, maybe even good but lacking compared to IV, V, and VI while those new to the series thought it was amazing. Either way we didn't create any of these games, we just play them. No need to kill each other.
i kno it was corny! but i was jus sayin it but
wasnt directing towards anyone tho. jus self prefrence. sory if i ofended the ff fans. i jus thought it was good. may b i am wrong
@michelle128 @horizonwriter It's called ignoring and not having to reply to every damn person who messages you. You honestly come across as preachy and paid to like these games. I love Final Fantasy. The series has sucked in the past few years. 13 was poorly realized. It was visually gorgeous but honestly it had nothing besides that. Characters were copies of others minus the charm. Gameplay was fine for a few battles but wasn't good for a whole game. Story would work for an anime, Not a game. I'm more annoyed that they over glorify Lightning when she's not interesting at all. I even hated that she was basically the main character in Dissidia 012 when Warrior of Light was basically the leader. XIII shouldn't have even had a sequel. It just delayed Versus XIII even more.
1 Like @lexanderax @horizonwriter he started it
i was jus sayin i love ff n he started teling me reason to hate it
@horizonwriter @michelle128 You're shoving your opinions down our throats and when we voice our opinions, you bitch and then we go back and forth. You comment on EVERY person who disagrees with you instead of leaving well enough alone. Don't bother us when we have a different opinion if you want the same for yourself. Thank you and have a nice day.
Like I said, clearly you misunderstood what I was saying and no I wasn't talking about myself. The point went over your head so just drop it.
@horizonwriter "What you don't have is the freedom to walk through life unoffended by what someone says to you" so u r not offended? arent u talking abt yourself? u got offended i found sum1 like tidus lovable? or r u sayn i sud do something abt people offending me by disrespectin my opnion? u r mesin wid d wrong girl.!
You clearly misread what I said. I didn't say you offended me. I actually apologized for offending you but if you'd like to continue ranting be my guest.
@horizonwriter first of all it wasnt directed at u i was jus voicin my opnion. so i dont know y u can say i offended u, and U talk abt entitled to ones opnion and freedom of speech, and you judge me based on your own personal experiences and opnions n tel me my "bar for lovable is set extremely low". ? n it offends u i have an opnion abt wat a lovable character sud b? thats hypocritical. u dont have the rites to say say wats lovable to me or anybody elz.
No, you're not telling me what to like in this case, even though you took it upon yourself to speak for an entire culture. I was referring to SE. Yes I can and do like a different type of lead character, but the problem is that there haven't been any other options from SE for lead characters to embrace in awhile. Sure, those steeped in Japanese culture get satisfaction but everyone else is left to choke on it... over and over again. Shoving the same two character types down everyone's throats as if we do all come from the exact same cultural background for several sequels is asking for some sort of backlash. And you're right. You're entitled to your opinion of lovable, just as I am. I just said that you must have a low bar for measuring it, not that you couldn't deem him as such. Remember, you have freedom of speech. What you don't have is the freedom to walk through life unoffended by what someone says to you. That's just reality. It's not always nice but it's what we've got. My goal wasn't to straight up infuriate though so if the comment was too harsh for you to handle then I apologize. Didn't mean to cause you extreme offense.
@horizonwriter how is it contradictory? arent eveyone born in a certain culture? depending on where people grow taste definetly differ. N m stil not tellin u wat to like if u prefer sum1 elz then be my guest. i didnt say japanese culture is the best n u sud adore it, i jus sed may b people dont like the same thing u do. u dont like tidus not my prob. no one is askin you to like him. wht gives u the rites to judge? wt i lovable or not,? do i have to get your permission to like sum1? isnt it an individual choice? who makes choces for u?
Seems contradictory. On one hand you're saying that you shouldn't be told what to love, and on the other you're saying that characters like Tidus exist because they're wildly popular in Japan and even though the FF line enjoys a world wide fanbase every other culture out there is just stuck with what Japan deems popular within it's own shores.
It wouldn't be so bad if there was more variety in lead characters. As it is, out of the past seven main numbered sequels, five of those starred either brooding asshats or irritating teens... or brooding teenaged asshats. There are more than two types of leads, SE. Thank goodness for the oasis of Zidane. Teenaged, yep. An irritating jerk, nope.
2 Like @michelle128 I"m glad you enjoyed FFXIII and liked the characters, many of us didn"t and were hoping that FFXIII-2 lacklustre sales would convine SE to move on from FFXIII to say I dunno FFVersus a game we are all infinitely more interested in
The fans of XIII outweigh the people who dislike it, if they just gave up on XIII the fans of it would be disappointed.
You also seem to be another who fails to understand that Lightning's series has NOTHING to do with Versus, it is a different team producing it so them making this and Advertising it isn't slowing down Versus at all. The creator is taking his time with Versus because he wants it to be the way he envisions it, I mean the guy spent a good few months to get the characters hair the way he wanted it.. the HAIR.
@Morokoo @michelle128 Yes it does affect the development of Versus, Why waste resources on a 3rd game when there was an almost 70% drop in sales, to the extent that SE Themselves stated they were disappointed with sales. Why not instead direct those resources to a game that that everyone wants is interested in and will sell more? FFXIII-2 seemed like a blatant souless cash grab and this thrid one even moreso.
Actually XIII has sold about 6.50mill and XIII-2 has sold 2.8million.
I never said you did, I said them making it or not making it won't affect Versus ANY differently.
If no one cared about it they wouldn't make another, if in all the XIII series has sold about 9.64million copies and people are still behind them then they are going to make the last one, if they are making money off of it they are going to finish it.
@Morokoo @michelle128 I never once said that the two games were linked, I just said no one gives a sh*t about FFXIII anymore, FFXIII sold 6 million and FFXIII-2 sold just under 2 million, I would infer from this that the people who like FFXIII-2 are in the minority.
The fact is they are wasting resources making a game no one cares about when its infinitely more sensible to divert those resources into making FFversus is baffling.
@musalala m interested in that too! but you can see from ff13 to ff13-2 they r leaning from their mistakes.i guess it comes down to self preference. its your decision buy the game or not. i like the game others opinion of the game doesnt matter
Upcoming sequel to Final Fantasy XIII-2 coming out for Xbox 360 and PS3.
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