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[Pooya]

E3 Demo Walkthrough
Watch these videos, these include pretty much everything from E3.
- Showfloor Demo (Noel and Serah in Bresha Ruins, finding a way to defeat Atlas)
Video:
Directfeed footage by Gamespot (You can hear new "rap" music in these videos)
http://e3.gamespot.com/video/6318726/
http://e3.gamespot.com/video/6318727/
http://e3.gamespot.com/video/6318732/

youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGkPFiTSvl0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CMkdXp42pc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjVMW1BwPAU


Gamespot's stage demo with commentary (Direct feed video)
http://e3.gamespot.com/video/6318720/

Impressions:
Gamespot

- Private Demo (Lightning fighting Chaos Bahamut, Intro scene of the game)
Video:
Offscreen footage by famitsu:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82UWu0anRjA
http://www.famitsu.com/news/201106/09044894.html

Impressions:
Siliconera
http://www.siliconera.com/2011/06/0...final-fantasy-xiii-2-and-shes-super-powerful/

^^^^^^^Watch those Videos above^^^^^^^ before asking questions, that's all you need


For more information continue here:

- Staff

• Producer: Yoshinori Kitase
• Director: Motomu Toriyama
• Art director: Isamu Kamikokuryo
• Battle Director: Yusuke Matsui [1]
• Composers: Masashi Hamauzu and Others [2]
• Character Designer: Tetsuya Nomura, Sub-character and Costume Designer: Yusuke Naora

Official Site:
http://web.square-enix.co.jp/fabula/ff13-2/
http://www.finalfantasy13-2game.com/
Download music sample


For PS3, Xbox 360
release Date: December 2011 (JP), Early 2012 (NA/EU)

The game is currently %70 complete [3]


- Plot

Set 5 years after [4] Lightning and the others saved Cocoon, some survivors have decided to start over by rebuilding on Gran Pulse. Lightning, however, is nowhere to be found and thought dead by many, but Serah believes otherwise. When her town is suddenly overrun by monsters, a mysterious man named Noel appears to save her. Together, the two set off to find Lightning...

Noel Kreiss
*click for HiRes*


"A young man wielding two unique blades who appears before Serah.

Melee is this fighter's combat style of choice. His dual-wielding method demonstrates an expert technique, which includes combining his swords into one new weapon.

Although straightforward and cheerful, no one knows much about his past, or how he stumbled across Serah in her time of distress."



Serah Farron

Serah is back, she's now a party member.

Mog
The Moogle, also Serah's transforming weapon (Bow in cutscenes only and Sword in battles), it holds the mog clock.


New Bodhum

"A town constructed on a shore of Gran Pulse by NORA members and former residents of Bodhum. Surrounded by nature, it seems an idyllic place to live - the occasional monster encounter excepted."

- Gameplay Details
Square-Enix members preview

• While still a deeply story-driven game, FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 has a higher emphasis on giving the player choices to make throughout the game. More branching paths, more hidden secrets, more exploration.
• Level design sees you returning to unlocked environments to access hidden areas as the game progresses.
  
  Example of a map in the game:
  
  
  
  
  
• A self-contained story set after the events of FINAL FANTASY XIII. XIII-2’s story will be darker and more mysterious.
• All-new playable characters (Serah and Noel), plus the return of fan favourites from FINAL FANTASY XIII.
• The return of the much loved Moogle. A treasure hunter at heart, he will seek out hidden chests.
• Recruit monsters who will aid you in battle, each with unique abilities.

Your objectives won’t always be straight forward. Sometimes you will be given a choice of which direction to go to reach your goal or of which order to perform certain tasks in. The E3 demonstration includes the choice to fight a large golem (we’re talking massive - like 20 storeys) or to investigate a mysterious device which has appeared out of nowhere. Investigating the device will lower the golem’s defences, making him much easier to kill, but if you fancy the challenge you can go straight into battle.

Live triggers (plot choices)

Some battles may include interactive “cinematic action” sequences, which require you to press specific buttons at specific moments. On succesful button inputs, rewards are given, depending on the situation. For example, hitting buttons correctly in the first golem battle in the E3 demo results in your party members receiving temporary stat buffs, making the rest of the battle that little bit easier.

Another new addition is the recruitment of monsters. They will join your party and each species of creature will have a unique ability. You will be able to switch them in and out on the fly by changing the party’s Paradigm. Yep, the Paradigm Shift system makes a return, with some improvements and refinements. We’re not going into much detail on all the enhancements yet, but we thought you’d like to know that they exist.

• Mog Clock: new encounter mechanic, when monsters appear, a circle appears around the party and clock starts, if you engage while in the green zone you start the battle with bonuses like haste, in yellow zone you don't get any bonuses and in red zone enemy will have the advantage.
  
• You can save anywhere. [4]
• Crystarium returns but no new details yet [5]
• Optima Change changed to Paradigm Shift for Japan
• There will be real shops, you can talk and interact with NPCs, all voiced.
• Score in the battle reuslts screen is now changed to gil, you can earn gil in battles.

Gameinformer
Some parts from the Game Informer, if you watch the gameplay videos or read the previews here, there isn't much new in GI.

• They assure additional quests are available throughout the game.
  
• "Noel is more than just a fresh face in XIII-2, he's also an entry point for new players.
• Having lived as a strong, self-sufficient hunter on Pulse his entire life, Noel is unaware of the happenings on Cocoon"
  
• "FFXIII-2 has mobs that materialize in the enviroment, incorporating the element of surprise found in older FF. When a Foe emerges, a cricle appears around the party, this remains visible as long as the enemy is in range."
  
• Defeating foes in combat wins the player the crystals that can be used to summon monsters in combat. Each has it's own unique role. expect around 200 ally monsters in the game.
  
• Lightning VS Bahamut video in the OP is introduction scene of the game, more details about this will be revealed at TGS.
  
• "at one point in the demo I heard Noel and Serah mention that Lightning maybe in a place called Valhalla" followed by editor's speculations.
  
• NPC interaction, helping with the quest, examples:
  
• One man assured us that Atlas is not a deadly fal'cie. (Atlas is the boss in the e3 demo)
  
• Alyssa (the girl in the trailer) claims to know a way to control it.
  
• maps are branched, several ways leading to various locations.

Thanks Kagari

DLC
DLC was planned from the beginning of development, will expand the story.
How many unknown.

Quotes from Kitase and Toriyama via Eurogamer:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-06-08-final-fantasy-xiii-2-preview

"We achieved big sales as expected but we received mixed reviews from gamers,"
"The good points included the game system, which was popular, so we're intending to take it into XIII-2. On the other hand, the game progression was quite linear - that was the main criticism we received.

"All the aspects that didn't go down as well as they should have done we took very seriously and we came up with improvements, or replacements or additional features. Every single issue has been tackled."

"You actually have much more choice," he explained. "You can choose what you want to say to NPCs or whatever. It's not just that you make a choice and have to deal with the consequences, it's more than that. It's supposed to make you think about puzzles or unsolved situations, together with the NPCs in the games."

"With XIII the main concept was for it to be story-driven," explained director Motomu Toriyma. "As opposed to that, with XIII-2 the concept is player-driven. So with every single aspect of the game the player has to have some kind of access or they've got to be able to interact with the game in some way or another.
"When it comes to cut-scenes, cinematic action allows each player to take part in the decisions or create different ways [of playing the game] depending on what you want to do."

Whether it will be enough to right the series' recent wrongs remains to be seen, but at the very least it should deserve a second look from those left cold by its predecessor's populist, linear twist on the franchise's decades-old formula. Toriyama for one certainly believes the brand is back on track.

"The core message we have about making XIII-2 is this game should be able to appeal and be enjoyed by those who bought XIII and enjoyed it, those who didn't buy the game and those who bought the game and gave it up because it wasn't good enough for them. It should have universal appeal to all Final Fantasy players.
"We're poised to make a really dramatic comeback with Final Fantasy XIII-2," he adds, confidently.

Controls:
same as before except:
O/B = Jump in Field View.
R1/RB = Activate Mog in Field View.
[]/X = Feral Link (monsters special ability in battles)


Other Videos
E3 Full Trailer:
YouTube
download by GamerSyde


Offscreen Videos:
Gamersyde 2m+ good quality
http://www.gamersyde.com/news_e3_final_fantasy_xii_2_gameplay-11291_en.html

Gametrailers developer walkthrough of the showfloor demo
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2011-final-fantasy/715412
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2011-final-fantasy/715419
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2011-final-fantasy/715417
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2011-final-fantasy/715415


-Screenshots

-Booth pics:
http://bit.ly/l3XCF5
http://bit.ly/m4GI0N


offscreen shots by 4gamer
http://www.4gamer.net/games/127/G012733/20110608075/


Interviews

Dengeki added June 14
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2011/06/14/ffxiii_2_bits_from_dengeki/

Noel, the new guy who saw his debut in the E3 demo and trailers last week, appears to have a more prominent role than FFXIII main character Lightning. Toriyama says that rather than the game having dual heroes in Noel and Lightning, in terms of time spent under your control, you advance through the story mostly with Noel and FFXIII heroine Serah.

Snow, another primary character from FFXIII, will be appearing in XIII-2. Toriyama notes that he's not the type to be worried about the relationship between Noel and Serah.

You might have read something about the game having multiple endings. The game will also have an interactive conversation system called Live Trigger. Each time you play, the possible selections during dialogue will change. Toriyama says that this system is in place more for enjoying conversation rather than for the branching story.

you can have one monster join your party, which can consist of three members (in addition to the Moogle). Your party will also sometimes have a guest character.

Famitsu interview on andriasang
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2011/06/09/ffxiii_2_team_interview/

Regarding the line in the trailer about Lightning's death

Kitase said that he can't talk about this mysterious line about FFXIII's main character Lightning. He suggested that fans read the Episode i novella and imagine from there. Toriyama said that Lightning is the story's backbone, and dead or alive she'll appear in the game and you'll take control of her.

On why there are monsters in your battle party

One of the changes observed in the battle system is that monsters can now be part of your party. This is to allow for more strategic roll gameplay, said Toriyama. Each monster has specific rolls, and by grouping monsters together in different ways, players can create a more personalized experience. Kitase said that the the Paradigm Shift system gives the game the image of battling while switching your decks in a card game.

On the response from overseas press

Toriyama said players appear to be happy that gameplay areas from the original have changed. Kitase noted that in the current version, they're showing off the explorative elements and greater feeling of freedom. However, there are a lot of other elements that they currently cannot speak about.

On repeat play

Toriyama said that the game will have more yarikomi elements (I keep forgetting how to translate that damn word -- it's all the extra crap you can do in a game beyond the main quest). You'll be able to play the game multiple times. Famitsu asked if this means there will be a New Game + style feature, where you restart the game with your character fully buffed up from the previous playthrough. Toriyama responded that they hope to offer a different form of repeat play from this.

On multiple endings

FFXIII-2 will have multiple endings, a first for the series said Toriyama. Famitsu.com's interviewer was extremely shocked by this statement. One of the reasons for including a multi ending system, explained Toriyama, is that when it comes to the world view and serious story development, FFXIII-2 is similar to FFXIII, so they felt that they should show new elements in the gameplay area. He contrasted the changes to the switch from FFX to FFX-2, where the world view and battle system changed considerably.

On Multiple Bahamuts

An E3 trailer showed Lightning in a battle scene where she was riding her Odin summon and fighting against a Bahamut, Chaos Bahamut. Famitsu.com noted that Fang's summon is also Bahamut. Are these two Bahamuts different? Yes, responded Toriyama. The Chaos Bahamut is a slightly different existence from a summon.

On Serah's Summons

Serah does not have summons during battle, said Toriyama, but in its place she can have monsters join her party.

On the demo's location

Toriyama wouldn't identify the location of the demo area, but he did say that it's an important area in the game's story.

On the poster image in Famtisu's article

The poster image in Famitsu.com's article (shown below), which shows Serah and Lightning, was created by art director Isamu Kamikokuryou as part of a request for something different from FFXIII, owing to FFXIII-2 having a darker and more mysterious world. The theme Kamikokuryou used for the image is "surrealism." The image shown in the article will be a symbolic image for FFXIII-2, said Toriyama.

interview and screens from the demo by famitsu
http://www.famitsu.com/news/201106/09044894.html

rpgsite interview:

http://ps3.rpgsite.net/articles/282-final-fantasy-xiii2-developer-interview

Our full interview:

Kitase: We actually didn’t take any inspiration from any western RPGs. Not cautiously anyway. On the other hand, the Paradigm Shift system from Final Fantasy XIII was quite popular but most people liked it so we actually carried it over to make it a different version—not completely the same. Two examples, in XIII-2, you can actually recruit monsters and make them work for you, and there are more than 150 types of monsters there for you to capture, and they can help you. They progress the same as characters do in any RPG. Second, you’ve got one called Cinematic Action, so like in a big battle against a boss character the Cinematic Action element is put in so it’s more dynamic. And in every single way we want to make sure the player has some kind of interaction with the gameplay.

Kitase: I think that XIII was criticized by other people we think because it was meant to be story-driven. But it was so much so, that people thought it was quite linear, which people didn’t like. So before we started making XIII-2, we decided that we were determined to take all the negative comments seriously, and rectify every single one of them fairly and properly. So this new game is more player driven, than story driven, so that the player will have very active involvement. There’s a lot more things you can do and explore, like towns and other things, and also you can choose what you want to say to a NPC.

Toriyama: Like Kitase said earlier, we did take it seriously that there was a huge criticism over no towns—we know people didn’t like it and so we took that and have towns in the new one. And you can explore the town and you can talk to all the people, and that will lead to other situations. Shops, as well now in XIII-2 you can find certain characters you can talk to and they can sell things to you and you can make purchases. I think if we created towns in the same way as we did for Final Fantasy VII-IX, it would be quite boring, and so it is very difficult. So with that we put an AI in every single person living in the town so they can do their own things. They may sit down and chat, or they may talk to their family members, or somebody they want to talk to, so they do their own actions. In that sense, it’s a quite different type of town you would find in a Final Fantasy [game].

RPGSite: Will Final Fantasy XIII-2 be using a chapter based system, as far as story progression goes, because that was in Final Fantasy XIII, people thought that system made it too linear… will XIII-2 similar in that sense?
Toriyama: There isn’t an awful lot I can tell you on this subject, but we have changed that structure, because obviously people didn’t like it—there is a new one. For details on that, we’ll have to wait until TGS, but one thing I can tell you is that for the first time in the Final Fantasy series, XIII-2 will have multiple endings.

Kitase: We decided to carry it over into the new game for of course the reason you just mentioned. Because it’s a sequel, it just seems, you know, the right thing to do, so we stuck to the same system. Also, it was quite popular in XIII, so we thought it was the best battle system to incorporate it into this game as well.
Having said that, it’s not just that we’re implementing the same battle system, but actually like I told you a bit earlier, you can capture and recruit over 150 different types of monsters, so that is a great addition and also more acutely strategic gameplay you can enjoy It compared to XIII.

Kitase:it’s not like X to X-2 were it was a completely different thing. XIII to XIII-2 is an actual sequel. When it comes to music, in XIII Masashi Hamauzu did the music and he was quite popular which had an orchestral feel to it and that will actually be maintained as well, but with new elements.
Obviously we want to make adjustments, because, like you say, if we stick the same kind of music all the way through, it might sound a bit out of place, or be a bit strange. We made it so every thing has an appropriate tune.


Toriyama: We mentioned the multi endings earlier, so it’s in relation to that so we can’t tell you very much about it. For people who have already cleared the game once, from the second playthrough on there are replay values attached to it. It’s a lot like New Game+, it’s the same system, so there are items and features than can entice you to keep playing. As far as side missions, there are more side missions a bit like in Red Dead Redemption. So it’s not just the hunts, it’s the other types of missions as well. One of the criticisms we received about Final Fantasy XIII was there was not enough mini games, and people want to see more of them, so that’s some of the things we added as well.

[...]

Kitase: Firstly, how to collect monsters. At first you have to defeat the monster, and when you meet certain conditions, at some certain rate obviously, it will enter you party and start working for you. You can mix them like if you play a card game and make a deck—it’s a bit like that. When it comes to the Cinematic Actions, there are two types: first is the one you saw in the demo against Atlas. When you take on a really big boss, when a certain level of damage has been inflicted on the boss, then it happens. Another thing with the Cinematic Action is, with some of the monsters you can collect, capture and make work for you, some of them can trigger those Actions.
[...]

Other News:
Toriyama is interested in Bioware storytelling
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/...antasy-xiii-2-will-have-multiple-endings.aspx

Kitase: mainline FF games will remain on consoles, not going to handhelds
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-06-08-final-fantasy-xv-wont-be-on-vita-3ds

Kitase talks about DLC and Wii U with NowGamer
http://www.nowgamer.com/news/6132/square-enix-talks-final-fantasy-xiii-2

 

[alphaNoid]

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

 

[RPGCrazied]

Oh my.

Looking like Noel and Serah are the only party members, and you recruit monsters to fight on your side? I hate that. Leave pokeman out of my RPG!

 

[Rahxephon91]

Looks good, but I think I'm going to dislike it if the party members are filled by monsters. Hate that shit.

 

[- J - D -]

No thank you very very much.

 

[jediyoshi]

YouTube!

god bless gamespot and their 720p streams.

 

[AlphaDragoon]

Noel already looks infinitely more boss-like than Lightning. Good job, SE.

Since it's based on XIII though it will undoubtedly suck. But if Noel and Serah are the only playable characters for most of the game, at least half the cast won't be crappy, right?

 

[truly101]

looks like what you'd expect. So I'm guessing Lightning and Noah switch places in time, she goes to pre destruction Pulse, he goes to present day.

 

[luxarific]

Snowwwww, where are youuuuuu

 

[DrPirate]

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

This. Yep

 

[bangbang i'm a timpani]

so basically its a dating sim where the girl does the baby test with a variety of monsters instead of those tiny dogs or whatever

 

[hteng]

this reminds me of the digimon RPG waaay back then

 

[Rahxephon91]

Since it's based on XIII though it will undoubtedly be good.

Fixed.

 

[Satch]

Fixed.

You've made yourself a target!

 

[suzu]

Ehhhhh. I hope we're not stuck with just Noel and Serah for the majority of the game... but it looks like it's going to be that way.

 

[Hellsing321]

Where are my sexy ladies playing dressup and blaring J-pop?

 

[Beats]

Will this be a Tales of Symphonia 2?

(For the monster catching anyway...)

edit: Game looks less linear also judging by the mini maps that were shown. I didn't really mind it in XIII but hopefully there's more to do than just fight in this one.

 

[BlazingDarkness]

Amazing graphics

Looks more fun than XIII


More variety

Day one.

 

[base shagohod]

I actually said "what is this shit" out loud at the QTE stuff. so tired of QTE's.

 

[WanderingWind]

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

Killed it in one. No thanks, SE. Try again with XV.

 

[Twilight Princess]

Fang? Where is fang?

 

[Shapingo]

Did Man-Fang kill Snow? Not that I'd care if he did.

 

[Grisby]

Serah should have been wearing that getup in FF13. The dude looks like a Kingdom Hearts reject.

I 'enjoyed' FF13 for the most part and will be playing this. So glad to see a freaking moogle for once.

Hopefully the story doesn't completely disappoint, :/

Spoiler

Sigh.

 

[Dark Schala]

QTEs? Oh wow.

Edit: I don't like Noel's voice much.

 

[Augemitbutter]

Oh my.

Looking like Noel and Serah are the only party members, and you recruit monsters to fight on your side? I hate that. Leave pokeman out of my RPG!

yea, i'm not a fan of that either.

 

[Hours Left]

I hope Noel isn't supposed to be the protagonist.

 

[Rahxephon91]

Did Man-Fang kill Snow? Not that I'd care if he did.

Fang? Where is fang?

Did you guys not actually play FFXIII?

 

[Vanille]

Loving the bowsword.

 

[DragonGirl]

Snowwwww, where are youuuuuu

That's what I want to know. Who's this Noah punk? Where's Snow?! Also, sure didn't take long for the haters to show up.

 

[Twilight Princess]

Did you guys not actually play FFXIII?

I know she's in the crystal. I want her to be playable damn it.

 

[sleepykyo]

Did you guys not actually play FFXIII?

I remember what happened to Fang, but what about Snow?

 

[hteng]

I remember what happened to Fang, but what about Snow?

snow knocked serah up and went missing

 

[BocoDragon]

Story looks like more empty-headed melodrama. :/ Par for the course.

I'll buy it because it's an edible, Final Fantasy-like substance... but I doubt this will be what I really want from the series...

 

[CrankyJay]

Bought for $20-$30. =)

 

[RPGCrazied]

Looks like you can talk to NPC's?

By the dots all over the map?

 

[Makoto]

Ali Hillis and Laura Bailey!

 

[iammeiam]

I like that at no point in the entire trailer does the minimap show a straight corridor. That has to be intentional.

I am saddened by the lack of Fang, but happy that it also means no Vanille.

But, yeah, WTF is up with Snow not appearing at all.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

That wasn't Titan?

Booooooooo! They just reused his character model and made it smaller.

 

[Hours Left]

Yeah, I'm really hoping it's not just Serah & Noel.

I need Snow, Fang & Vanille back. Along with Gadot and Lebreau being bumped up to permanent characters.

 

[H_Prestige]

Wow, what a piece of shit looking game. Nice work SE.

 

[AlphaDragoon]

Fixed.

No, I was right the first time.

 

[Mystic Theurge]

This looks good.

 

[Lissar]

Well, at least it shows some battle stuff with Lightning. I was beginning to wonder.

I'm pretty ambivalent towards Noel so far though :/ Given how much they're showing him as the lead, it seems like he's going to be the main character. Oh well.

 

[Dark Schala]

That wasn't Titan?

Booooooooo! They just reused his character model and made it smaller.

Ugh, really?

That's so lame. :/

 

[Shapingo]

Did you guys not actually play FFXIII?

What? re-read what I said.

I hope "Man-Fang" did kill Snow and takes Serah. Why did people hate Vanille and Hope when Snow was so much worse. At least they were good healers.

 

[Aeana]

Holy crap at the music. Hamauzuu!!

 

[Cmagus]

want now

 

[RPGCrazied]

I won't call foul just yet, not until after tomorrow's 15min demo and questions asked by Kagari.

I really want to know about the weapon system. Do we have to use monsters? I'll go tame a human solider if I have to.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Looking good right now. Next year can't come soon enough.

 

[ULTROS!]

The game looks like it has a lot of potential.

Hyped and day 1.