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Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII announced for 2013 [Up3: Famitsu Details]

Hmmm....
Hmmm...

OOqXz.gif
 

Erethian

Member
I'm not particularly a fan of Final Fantasy games anymore so I may be totally off, but I'm surprised 13 is getting this much focus. I thought it wasn't terribly popular.

It's cheaper because the engine is already up and running, along with the potential for asset reuse.
 

totowhoa

Banned
All this FFXIII stuff is the very definition of "nobody asked for this"

I'm a little ignorant when it comes to Sqaure these days, but were all these XIII spin-offs planned from the get-go? I'd have to imagine they were, and they just chose to go ahead in spite of the mixed reception of XIII.


It's cheaper because the engine is already up and running, along with the potential for asset reuse.

That's what I always figured. Trilogies have been a pretty common theme this generation, and I assume that this is one of the big reasons.
 

Alex

Member
Despite what an empty shell the character and world is, if it's a good game like XIII-2 was, I'll likely buy it.
 

Gospel

Parmesan et Romano
I'm a little ignorant when it comes to Sqaure these days, but were all these XIII spin-offs planned from the get-go? I'd have to imagine they were, and they just chose to go ahead in spite of the mixed reception of XIII.
they want to get as much mileage out of xiii as possible.
 

Bladenic

Member
I'm a little ignorant when it comes to Sqaure these days, but were all these XIII spin-offs planned from the get-go? I'd have to imagine they were, and they just chose to go ahead in spite of the mixed reception of XIII.

Really doubtful. XIII's ending was fine.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
From IGN:

The most startling change to Lightning Returns comes in the form of the doomsday countdown. According to Square-Enix, the world will end after 13 days, and a massive clock will count down constantly in the corner of the screen to indicate this looming deadline. Any action players take, even taking the monorail from place to place, will spend time and hasten the end of days.

With Lightning as the only playable character, players will have unparalleled control over customizing her looks and combat style. The battle system itself, a greatly modified version of the previous two, will feature real-time elements including direct control of Lightning's movement and her attacks, as well as time-based moves that drain the doomsday counter. Lightning Returns will also include a real-time block system, designed to make battles much more active and time-based. Even dying mid-battle will activate a prompt to give players the choice to rewind their mistakes at the expense of the timer.

Ehh... I dunno. Sounds interesting yet boring at the same time. I'm disappointed that she's the only character we have to use.

Edit: I do like that we can finally move her around, but... Well, we'll see if they release some battle footage.
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
I'm going to action game the shit out of some old assets in a bikini I pay money for :)
 

Hcoregamer00

The 'H' stands for hentai.
Will wait for Final Fantasy XIII-5 starring Vanille and Fang as they try to save the President who got kidnapped by ninjas.

They are bad enough to save the president.
 

Drago

Member
From IGN:

The most startling change to Lightning Returns comes in the form of the doomsday countdown. According to Square-Enix, the world will end after 13 days, and a massive clock will count down constantly in the corner of the screen to indicate this looming deadline. Any action players take, even taking the monorail from place to place, will spend time and hasten the end of days.

Ehh... I dunno. Sounds interesting yet boring at the same time. I'm disappointed that she's the only character we have to use.

Edit: I do like that we can finally move her around, but... Well, we'll see if they release some battle footage.

it IS majoras mask 2
 

totowhoa

Banned
they want to get as much mileage out of xiii as possible.

No kidding, but that doesn't answer the question either :p I assume that it was planned, and that the high-cost nature of modern game development made it rather enticing to focus their FF output this gen around a single world.

Edit: Only Lightning is playable? I thought Crisis Core was a fun experience, albeit a rather cheap and b-movie-esque. I wouldn't mind seeing Square give another go at a single-party FF game.
 

GoshaDole

Member
At the x party. They showed some concept art. Lightning is fully customizable. The game takes place on 4 islands, with valhalla being one area. art theme is black/white with mechanical, gothic, and fantasy aesthetics. They showed some townspeople, buildings, and enemies.
 

Emitan

Member
From IGN:



Ehh... I dunno. Sounds interesting yet boring at the same time. I'm disappointed that she's the only character we have to use.

Edit: I do like that we can finally move her around, but... Well, we'll see if they release some battle footage.

I... I like dressing up in games ._.
 
I'm not particularly a fan of Final Fantasy games anymore so I may be totally off, but I'm surprised 13 is getting this much focus. I thought it wasn't terribly popular.

It wasn't. At all.

But Square has this engine, world, and characters, so they're just gonna keep pumping out these turds so FF stays in the public's conscience, while they work 5 1/2 years on their next engine.
 

Aeana

Member
The time aspect has been the most worrying for me since I heard about the game. I'm still not really sure if I'm going to like it. I didn't like Majora's Mask because of it.
 

BadWolf

Member
From IGN:



Ehh... I dunno. Sounds interesting yet boring at the same time. I'm disappointed that she's the only character we have to use.

Edit: I do like that we can finally move her around, but... Well, we'll see if they release some battle footage.

So like Dragon Quarter?
 

def sim

Member
It's cheaper because the engine is already up and running, along with the potential for asset reuse.

Two supplementary games post vanilla 13, I figured they'd make another world instead and try all over again. Assets or no. I get the sense they really want people to like 13's setting for whatever reason.
 

Huff

Banned
lollipop chainsaw has me conditioned to expect outfits for all the japanese female characters, so bring it on
 

Alex

Member
The time aspect has been the most worrying for me since I heard about the game. I'm still not really sure if I'm going to like it. I didn't like Majora's Mask because of it.

Luckily, that's a thing I really like a lot, time management, shame for those that are against it but I always have fun with it in the games I find that handle it well.
 

7Th

Member
We do know that the main story takes place hundreds of years after Final Fantasy XIII-2, set in a world called Novus Partus -- which is composed of four islands connected by monorail.

Everyone but Lightning and maybe Vanille and Fang is dead? What was the point of XIII-2 in the first place?
 

Mariolee

Member
The game is actually called "Lightning Returns"? And the subtitle is Final Fantasy XIII? That makes as much sense as if we called the second Indy movie "Temple of Doom: Indiana Jones". They're really trying to milk all the money they can out this engine aren't they? Or trying to compensate for the money being poured into Final Fantasy Versus XIII.
 

yami4ct

Member
From IGN:



Ehh... I dunno. Sounds interesting yet boring at the same time. I'm disappointed that she's the only character we have to use.

Edit: I do like that we can finally move her around, but... Well, we'll see if they release some battle footage.

I like the idea, but it seems they're ditching the only good thing the XIII games had. The battle system worked well because of the different party members and roles. This just sounds like another action RPGs. Also, this seems suspicisly like Versus XIII. I don't want Versus XIII to become this, but I wouldn't be surprised either.
 
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