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Interview with the FFXIII-2 Development Team: I need your questions!

"Are there any plans to include a New Game + or Theater Mode (ala Luca in FFX) in FFXIII-2?"

They were sorely missing in FFXIII... but with the way the beginning of that game was set-up (the entire battle system isn't even functional until a few hours in :/) I don't know how a New Game + would have worked anyway...
 
With western tastes seeming to turn against JRPGs and Japanese designs aesthetics in general are they worried that Final Fantasy's bubble of international success could burst?
 
Magnus said:
Also, @Kagari: I didn't realize you worked in gaming journalism...? Or a field that puts you in a position to interview dev teams like this. For those of us that don't know, could you tell us more about what you do?
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I'm an editor for RPGSite.net . First time going to E3 this year, so I'm definitely excited.
 
- After experimenting with alternate outfits for characters in recent games like 3rd Birthday and Dissidia, Do you have any plans for that in this game?

- Do you have any plans for online connectivity features for this games? (not multiplayer)
 
Durante said:
Will there be Jpop?

Now seriously, the main thing I want to know is if there will be a similar change in style (from linear to more open) as there was going from X to X-2.
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Seda said:
Which Final Fantasy (or Square Enix game in general) does Final Fantasy XIII-2 draw the most similarities to?

To be more specific, is it more like FFX-2 or FFXIII or whatever.
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These questions have already been answered:

Unlike Final Fantasy X-2, which had a more cheerful and humorous feel than Final Fantasy X, the overall tone of the story of Final Fantasy XIII-2 will be darker and more mysterious than the original.
Director Motomu Toriyama said that considering Vanille and Fang are gone and the world is in a state where Cocoon had fallen, there's no way for the new story to be totally peaceful. Yoshinori Kitase, the producer, has said the story will have the serious feel of a true numbered entry in the Final Fantasy series.
 
vectorman06 said:
Here is my question:

Will FF13-2 be "user-friendly" for newcomers who haven't played FF13?
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As will you have to play 13-1 first to get the story or gameplay?

It will probably be user friendly for the combat, but I doubt they have much of a recap for the plot.
 
TheJollyCorner said:
"Are there any plans to include a New Game + or Theater Mode (ala Luca in FFX) in FFXIII-2?"

They were sorely missing in FFXIII... but with the way the beginning of that game was set-up (the entire battle system isn't even functional until a few hours in :/) I don't know how a New Game + would have worked anyway...
Click to expand...

The first couple of chapters play out as normal.

Then
- All stats (HP/Attack/Magic) are reset but abilities/accessory slots/extra ATB bars are kept.
- All crystarium levels are available as soon as it is unlocked.
- Weapons and accessories are kept (maybe reset the weapons back to level 1, but not down a tier).

That's how would have done it.
 
Will I be able dress up lighting in different costumes ala ffx-2..;0~~

Magnus said:
Also, @Kagari: I didn't realize you worked in gaming journalism...? Or a field that puts you in a position to interview dev teams like this. For those of us that don't know, could you tell us more about what you do?
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Kag is probably vying for londa's position..;>
 
swordfishtrombones said:
You mean: "Will they have a 10-minute cut scene that summarizes the story of FF13?" I'd buy the game just for that...
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I don't think you could adequately explain what happened in just the ending within a 10-minute timespan. My head hurts just thinking about it.

Kagari said:
I'm an editor for RPGSite.net . First time going to E3 this year, so I'm definitely excited.
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Awesome, have fun!
 
Magnus said:
I don't think you could adequately explain what happened in just the ending within a 10-minute timespan. My head hurts just thinking about it.
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Yes, I was partially being serious... how much of the story of FF13 will they re-use? Just the setting (or even assets)?
 
Is XIII-2 development again taking resources from VersusXIII team which is why we aren't seeing VersusXIII at all?
 
swordfishtrombones said:
Yes, I was partially being serious... how much of the story of FF13 will they re-use? Just the setting (or even assets)?
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It is a direct sequel and deals with the aftermath of the 1st story. I bet someone that plays this will be might confused if they haven't played the first.
 
Is the development of XIII-2, the re-development of XIV, and to an extent the development of Versus, taking away time from a proper XV, or will this be saved for next-gen?
 
They don't have to recap every last detail upfront or even all of it, just what's relevant to the plot going forward. It's not like you started FFXIII knowing
that Fang and Vanille were actually from Pulse and had been Ragnarok 500 years prior to the start of the game.
As long as the relevant backstory comes in where it's needed it shouldn't be a problem.

World and lore building's a pretty established aspect of RPGs anyway.
 
vectorman06 said:
Here is my question:

Will FF13-2 be "user-friendly" for newcomers who haven't played FF13?
Click to expand...
That's not really a good question. FF13 is the most user friendly/accessible FF ever made. All you do is press the action button and occasionally heal yourself for the first 5 hours.

Here's my question: " It seems that there are two divergent paths in Final Fantasy universe's future: One path that the developers and directors like to take and the other path that core fans and FF loyalists want S-E to take. The chasm between these two directions seems readily apparent between FF13 and FF13-2. How would S-E try to bridge this gap in the future installments? In other words, how would S-E try to create more Final Fantasies that are the vision of it's directors but at the same time not totally different and completely alien to the core base?"

Kinda wordy and clunky, but you get the gist. Feel free to modify it, narrow it down or make it more sharp.
 
I have a few questions which I think are interesting:

1. With Final Fantasy XIII, there were a lot of divided opinions about both the gameplay, and the story/characters. As a developer, when you receive varied feedback like this, how do you determine personally what points get directly addressed and which are ignored? Is there an example of a certain gameplay mechanic in FFXIII-2 which was directly influenced by such user feedback?

2. Final Fantasy has always been known for having vehicles and creatures which served as modes of transport. In recent years this focus has been largely put aside in most FF games. Will there be a return to this aspect of Final Fantasy in FFXIII-2, or are you happy to let the Type-0 team tackle it instead?

3. Toriyama has always been known to embrace a chapter-based system in his games. Such a narrative system often makes a game more linear than usual and gets in the way of free exploration. Is this still true for FFXIII-2, and if not, what made you change your mind?

4. One of the more famous comments by the FFXIII development staff is that "HD towns are too hard". This comment has been largely made fun of by most fans, because many other RPGs this generation have proven otherwise. Would you like to comment on any misunderstandings originating from the original comment made?

5. While FFXIII tapped on the mythos of Fabula Nova Crystallis to build the background story of the world, there were many things left unexplained. Tell us how FFXIII-2 plans to expand on the lore and make the world more compelling and interesting.
 
You could ask them about the elephant in the room: "Are there going to be any towns?"

But really, you could ask them if they have addressed the issues of linearity in XIII, which might be vague enough not to be condescending, but not so open as to allow them a response like Einbroch's above post.

Edit: Gee, this thread moved fast O_O

Actually, another good question would be if they have changed the pace of teaching the player the mechanics of the game (AKA "No 20+ hour tutorial").
 
=HERO= said:
You could ask them about the elephant in the room: "Are there going to be any towns?"

But really, you could ask them if they have addressed the issues of linearity in XIII, which might be vague enough not to be condescending, but not so open as to allow them a response like Einbroch's above post.
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Aren't towns and non-linearity semi-confirmed though? I thought that was the driving reason behind 13-2, especially when they talk about "responding to criticism".
 
I guess I'll toss in a couple:

1. The way the story was fractured for a good chunk of FFXIII left many people feeling very disconnected from the characters as you were constantly being jumbled into groups of two. Is this being addressed in FFXIII-X2 in any way?

2. How much of the game is going to involve corridors this time? Will there be more open exploration? While I can see the reason you went the route you did, it ultimately detracted from a large portion of the game and didn't make it feel very "Final Fantasy" compared to the games that came before it.
 
If they use another vocalized end credits theme, are they going to stick to one for all territories, or will they see a need to change it for the West as they did with XIII? My Hands didn't really fit the game at all.
 
Will it still be game over if my main character dies, but the other two are still alive?

There's a sale on the line regarding the answer to this question.
 
"Will bosses have the DOOM CLOCK again if you don't beat them in a certain amount of time?"


Granted, this only effected me twice, but shit- if I want to spend an hour on a single boss I should be goddamn able to. :(
 
- Will the game feature an open world map like FF Type 0? open world maps and airships have been MIA since FF IX.

- Was the criticism for the linearity of the maps design on FF XIII something the team adressed while developing this sequel?

- Will there be some relation with FF Versus XIII and Type 0 considering that they are all part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis series?
 
Yep. It would be cool to know if they're handling the 360-port different this time; or will be like the original port of "let's finish the PS3 version then compress the heck out it to have it ready on 360"..even leaving 2.1GB of space.
 
In what ways can you take advantage of your past work on FFXIII to help you to expedite the progress of FFXIII-2, and how much of the unused content from FFXIII's development will be used in FFXIII-2?
 
This might be an insane question to ask before 13-2 even comes out, but what do they think they will work on after 13-2? Are they going to continue expanding the original 13, or are they going to make a different entry in Fabula Nova Crystallis, or simply work on something different altogether?
 
Someone mentioned this briefly but I want to ask a different variant of it. I don't remember who it was but it got brought up in the screenshot thread.

They talked about Fang being a male and they changed her late in development to being female. Does Noel's character design actually reflect what was suppose to be the Male version of Fang? Did they bring that character design back for a new person?
 
What considerations did you put into the roles of returning characters? Can you give any hints?

Given fan reaction FFX-2, how do you think FFXIII-2 will be different? Has this influenced the development process in any way?

aaand too lazy to format these in question form but I are they going to keep the whole chapter thing they had going since everything felt really disjointed, will I have to try to make the battle system fun, and did they fire whoever wrote the script in the last game because it was terrible. And this story and the character designs sound terrible.

And this is probably a really stupid question but I'm partially dying to know...will Sazh's chocobo be in it?
 
1. Will Final Fantasy XIII-2 feature DLC?

2. How long is Final Fantasy XIII-2 compared to Final Fantasy XIII and will the players be able to fully understand Final Fantasy XIII-2 even without completing or having to play Final Fantasy XIII?
 
1. Will content that didn't make it into FF13 (such as the Zoo/Park that was mentioned) make it into 13-2?
2. Is there a similar amount of content compared to FF13? ie around 40 hours for the storyline.
3. Do any locale's/environments from FF13 make an experience in 13-2? Same with characters.
4. Will there be a new game+ that allows you to use all your maxed out abilities throughout the entire game? Not just certain sections.
5. Will there be an option for the Japanese dub? At least on the PS3 version since there's room on the blu ray for it?
 
Did Atlus' Catherine inspire you to use adultery as the "theme" of XIII-2 and make Serah cheat on Snow?
 
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