Final Fantasy XIII-2

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Final Fantasy XIII-2
File:FFXIII2NTSCcover.jpg
North American box cover with Lightning and the artwork for Final Fantasy XIII-2 designed by Yoshitaka Amano
Developer(s)Square Enix Product Development Division 1[3]
tri-Ace[4]
Publisher(s)Square Enix
Director(s)Motomu Toriyama[5]
Producer(s)Yoshinori Kitase[5]
Artist(s)Isamu Kamikokuryo[5]
Tetsuya Nomura[5]
Writer(s)Daisuke Watanabe[5]
Composer(s)Masashi Hamauzu[5]
Naoshi Mizuta[5]
Mitsuto Suzuki[5]
SeriesFinal Fantasy
Fabula Nova Crystallis
EngineCrystal Tools
Platform(s)PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release
  • JP: December 15, 2011[2]
  • NA: January 31, 2012[1]
  • AU: February 2, 2012
  • EU: February 3, 2012[1]
Genre(s)Role-playing game
Mode(s)Single-player

Final Fantasy XIII-2 (ファイナルファンタジーXIII-2, Fainaru Fantajī Sātīn Tsū) is a console role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was produced by Square Enix's 1st Production Department, with help from external developer tri-Ace.[3][4] It is a direct sequel to the 2010 role playing game, Final Fantasy XIII, taking place three years after its events and Square Enix's second sequel. Lightning, the protagonist of the original game, has disappeared into an unknown world. Her younger sister Serah Farron, a returning character, and a young man named Noel Kreiss attempt to find Lightning.

The game was released in 2011 in Japan and 2012 in North America and PAL regions.[6] The game's theme song for all Xbox 360 and North American PlayStation 3 releases is "New World" by Charice, while Japanese, European and Asian PlayStation 3 releases is "Yakusoku no Basho" (約束の場所, "The Place of Promise") by Mai Fukui.[7]

Gameplay

Combat System

As in Final Fantasy XIII, the game uses a variation of the Active Time Battle (ATB) system known as the Command Synergy Battle system, which makes use of the Paradigm Shift system. The system addresses issues with those used in the previous game.[8] There is a feature that allows the player to control the difficulty of battles.[8] During some battles, players are put through quick time events called "Cinematic Action" which allows them to deal higher damage to foes and gain the upper hand in certain battles.[9] The player can tame monsters and use them as party members in battles. This also leads to a new "Feral Link" feature being in the game; as the player attacks an enemy while a tamed monster is in their party, the Feral Link bar fills up and when it is full the player can make their current tamed monster do a special attack on the enemy via a quick time event.

Mog Clock

Monsters no longer freely roam the map like in Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy XIII: they are instead randomly generated like in the previous Final Fantasy games. When a random encounter occurs, an interface called the "Mog Clock" appears in the middle of the bottom half of the screen and a dial appears under the player. The introduction of this Mog Clock feature grants the player various bonuses (or penalties) depending on the time it takes them to enter a battle with the enemy.[10]

Live Trigger

The player will be presented with a series of "dialogue trees" when talking to non-player characters (NPCs) and also having conversations between Serah and Noel. These choices offer the player different things to say at certain story scenes and to different NPCs.[11] The game will feature multiple endings, but these are not affected by the decisions made in the Live Trigger. The director Motomu Toriyama has stated that the Live Trigger system is in place "more for enjoying conversation rather than for the branching story" and that the multiple endings will be affected by a different system. The introduction of the Live Trigger system is simply for allowing the player to have unique things to say during story scenes and conversations with NPCs. The dialogue selections will also change each time the game is played.[12]

Temporal Rift

Players will be presented with puzzle-like problems in a void between dimensions. When they completely solve the current anomaly, they will be able to resolve a paradox happening in the real world. The temporal rifts are composed of a tiny minigame in which the main characters must traverse a room from one end to the other atop falling platforms and complete "connect the dots" like games. [citation needed]

Historia Crux System

The Historia Crux system allows players to jump through various time gates throughout XIII-2. Players will see a drastic change based on their choices. This would also go towards the multiple endings of the game.[13] This time travel system adds a significant element of nonlinear gameplay. It allows players to travel through “time-space locations,” ranging from hundreds of years in the future to hundreds of years in the past, allowing them to turn back time in order to explore different plot possibilities in each location.[14] The game's time travel elements have been compared to the role-playing game Chrono Trigger[15]

Plot

Setting

The actual story will delve deeper into the Fabula Nova Crystallis mythology, and this time focus on the Goddess Etro.[8] The worlds of Gran Pulse and Cocoon in Final Fantasy XIII return in Final Fantasy XIII-2.[16] Players will be able to revisit old areas as well as new areas at various time periods, showing changes in appearance. Lake Bresha is now called the Bresha Ruins, and there is no longer a crystallized lake to cross. A re-created version of the city of Bodhum has been made on Pulse, known as New Bodhum, home of the former citizens from Bodhum. The Yaschas Massif on Pulse reappears with its ruins now inhabited by Cocoon soldiers and scientists like the Bresha Ruins. The Sunleth Waterscape is no longer a lush-green nature reserve. The Archlyte Steppe is now inhabited by hunters. Serendipity is a floating casino city packed with minigames like Slots and Chocobo Racing. The City of Academia replaces Eden as the new capital city, and is Hope Estheim's new hometown. Augusta Tower, a high tech area with a maze-like interior. Fang and Vanille's former hometown of Oerba is on the verge of being consumed by a black hole. The trash-filled Vile Peaks are now covered in snow. Valhalla, the realm of death and chaos at the edge of time in the distant future, otherwise known as "the unseen world" is also a playable area.

Characters

See also: Characters of Final Fantasy XIII

Final Fantasy XIII-2 has two new main playable characters: Serah Farron, Lightning's younger sister, and Noel Kreiss, a mysterious young time traveler from 700 years in the future who uses dual combinable swords.[12] He is the last surviving human from his time, and he seeks to change that fate. Lightning, the main protagonist of Final Fantasy XIII, is a knight protecting the Goddess Etro's shrine in Valhalla from Caius. Serah appeared as an NPC in XIII and is given a much larger role in this game as she goes on a journey with Noel and her new Moogle companion named Mog to find her sister.

Other new characters include Caius Ballad, a mysterious purple-haired man in dark purple and black clothes from the future who is the game's main antagonist.[8] He is also Noel's former friend and mentor, Lightning's fated rival, and the immortal guardian of the timeline. His companion Paddra Nsu-Yeul, a mysterious Pulsian seeress with strong connections to him and Serah referenced in Final Fantasy XIII, as the author of two Analects made during Fang and Vanille's time over 500 years in the past, and Alyssa Zaidelle, a young girl with short blonde hair in yellow and red clothes who works as part of the Academy organization as Hope's assistant. In addition, the six main playable characters and NORA from Final Fantasy XIII will make reappearances in Final Fantasy XIII-2.[12]

Hope Estheim returns as the 24 year-old leader of the Academy, a scientific expedition group that studies the world's history, looks for a new energy source for Cocoon to replace its dead fal'Cie, and plans to build a future in which the world does not rely on the fal'Cie. Snow Villiers reappears in darker clothes and no longer wears a bandanna to cover his hair. He is somehow transformed back into a Pulse l'Cie, and returns in the Sunleth Waterscape as an uncontrollable guest character. He saves Serah and Noel from a giant Flan-type monster before the latter berates him for always believing himself to be "The Hero" and seemingly abandoning Serah. Sazh returns taking part in activities to better Gran Pulse, but nothing else is currently known about his role. Oerba Dia Vanille and Oerba Yun Fang also return.

Story

Final Fantasy XIII-2 begins 3 years after Final Fantasy XIII. Vanille and Fang transform into Ragnarok to prevent Cocoon's collision with Gran Pulse by turning themselves and the structure into a crystal pillar. Freed of her l'Cie status along with Snow, Hope, and Sazh, Lightning is reunited with her sister Serah as she awakens from crystal stasis. However, Orphan's defeat and Cocoon's fall have an unintentional side-effect which makes Lightning disappear to Valhalla. As a result, with the exception of Serah, many think that Lightning is dead or she sacrificed herself alongside Vanille and Fang. Two years later, many of the survivors of Cocoon's fall begin rebuilding their lives on Gran Pulse with Serah living in the newly constructed town of New Bodhum. One day, Snow disappears after leaving Serah to find Lightning for himself and her.

One year later, New Bodhum is overrun by monsters. Serah is saved from the ambush by a mysterious youth named Noel, who claims to have met Lightning. Accepting his offer of bringing her to her sister, Serah sets off through time and space to find out what has happened to Lightning, while learning more about Noel and the mysterious enemy, Caius.[17]

Development

Due to global demand and the development staff's desire to further Lightning's character, development began for a sequel to Final Fantasy XIII,[16] with input from both inside and outside of Square Enix, as well as overseas.[8]

Talk of a sequel came as early as January 2010; the game's art director mentioned in an interview that the amount of working art assets that were cut from the final product was enough to make up an entire game.[18] In March 2010, during an interview with Kitase, producer for the game, he was asked about the possibility of a sequel. In response, he replied: “If we could do a XIII-2, we could direct all our attention to the story and refine what we have already built.”[19] On December 15, 2010, Tetsuya Nomura, main character designer for the original game, released a drawing of Lightning, along with the words “She must not be forgotten”.[20] On January 11, 2011, Square Enix registered the domain name FinalFantasy13-2game.com via a proxy company that it had used to register websites for several other unannounced games at the time, including MindJack and Nier.[21]

The game was officially announced at the Square Enix 1st Production Department Premier in Tokyo on January 18, 2011. The teaser trailer showed Lightning, outfitted in armor, drawing her weapon and engaging a mysterious male warrior. The teaser was officially released on January 20, 2011, and can be viewed on the game's official websites.[22][23][24] Motomu Toriyama, who was also the director and scenario designer of the original game, returns as director alongside producer Yoshinori Kitase, who was the producer of the original game. Tetsuya Nomura returns as the character designer, though he will only be responsible for designing the faces of new and returning characters. The clothing of all new and returning characters is being designed by other artists.[25] The armor worn by Lightning was designed by Isamu Kamikokuryo, the art director of the original game who returns to the role for the sequel.[25] The clothing of Noel, Serah and the male character shown in the teaser trailer were designed by Yusuke Naora, who was the character designer of The Last Remnant.[25][26] The Moogle was designed by Toshitaka Matsuda.[26] Additionally, developer tri-Ace was contracted to help out with aspects of game design, art and programming.[4]

Square Enix Europe stated that they wanted to make a sequel that "exceeds Final Fantasy XIII in every aspect".[27] Unlike Final Fantasy X-2, which had a more cheerful and humorous feel than Final Fantasy X, the development team wanted the overall tone of the story of Final Fantasy XIII-2 to be darker and more mysterious than the original.[8] Director Motomu Toriyama said that considering Vanille and Fang are gone and the world is in a state where Cocoon had fallen, there is no way for the new story to be totally peaceful. Yoshinori Kitase, the producer, remarked that the story would have the serious feel of a true numbered entry in the Final Fantasy series.[8]

On June 2, 2011, two in-game screenshots from the English version of the game were released in relation to E3. They showed Serah as a returning character with a new costume and a new male character named Noel. One of the screens showed Serah and Noel engaged in battle, with Serah as the playable party leader.[28] GameSpot released an exclusive teaser trailer for the game the next day, showing more characters and a glimpse of the battle system.[29] There were two demos presented at E3: One where Serah and Noel deal with a giant boss called Atlas and other having Lightning riding her Eidolon Odin and fighting an alternate existence of the Eidolon Bahamut.

In August 2011, a new trailer was released at the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle.[30] It depicted further gameplay and cutscenes, as well as a figure appearing to be Hope from Final Fantasy XIII, using his Airwing boomerang to aid Serah and Noel. In the following September, two new trailers were released for the 2011 Tokyo Game Show, one entitled "Promise", the other entitled "Despair". Both were released in English and Japanese. New footage included Hope and Snow returning from the previous game, and the appearance of Paddra Nsu-Yeul. Extensive footage of Caius in battle with Lightning was also shown. October 2011 saw the release of the trailer, Change the Future, made specially for New York Comic Con. This trailer elaborated on how Lightning went to Valhalla, and further showcased Caius, Yeul, Snow, and Hope. A 7 minute trailer entitled New Adventures chronicled much of the new battle system and elaborated on the new Historia Crux system was also released. In December 2011, the Battle in Valhalla trailer further showcased Caius and his abilities, and showed numerous shots of Lightning in battle with him.

To promote the game's upcoming release in Japan, AKB48 member Yuko Oshima was appointed the leader of a group of thirteen official test players.[31]

Reception

Pre-release anticipation has varied from East to West. Final Fantasy XIII-2 was a runner-up for 1UP.com's "Best Xbox 360 Game of the Tokyo Game Show 2011," but did not earn a mention in the PS3 category, despite being playable on the platform.[44] However, it was still listed as one of "The Top PS3 Games of 2012."[45] In Japan, the game finally climbed to number one on Famitsu Magazine's Most Anticipated List after Final Fantasy Type-0 was released in October 27, 2011.[46]

Final Fantasy XIII-2 received perfect scores from the Japanese magazines Famitsu and Dengeki PlayStation. Famitsu editor Ranbu Yoshida said, "It feels like a very different game from its predecessor; the story changes depending on where you choose to go in your time-traveling journey, and it's easy to lose yourself in changing and redoing areas you've previously finished." While assistant editor Norihiro Fujiwara wrote, "The setting and presentation is fantastic, and the issues people brought up with the first game -- its linearity, its lack of meaty gameplay -- are a thing of the past. You're sucked into the game right from the beginning, and the story's very easy to get into."[38] Dengeki has given the game an S rating, the highest rating that is achievable in the magazine.[43]

The game received mostly positive reviews from Western magazines. Official Xbox Magazine has given the game a score of 9.0 out of 10, stating that it "repairs almost every problem with Final Fantasy XIII, delivering an experience that feels like what that original game should have been"[41] and that "FFXIII-2 will restore your excitement for the franchise's future."[37] Game Informer has given the game a score of 8 out of 10, praising the player-driven progression, entertaining combat and other adjustments that make it one of their "favorite RPGs from a mechanical perspective," but with criticism directed at the story.[37] PlayStation: The Official Magazine, on the other hand, gave it the same score of 8 out of 10 for the opposite reason: they praised the story as an "emotional tale" with "a superb cast of characters" and "so much heart" but criticized the "shallow filler content" and "artificial mechanics."[33]

During its first week of release in Japan, Final Fantasy XIII-2 sold 524,000 copies with the PlayStation 3 version topping the charts. The Xbox 360 version only reached 48th, largely due to the low number of Xbox 360 customers in Japan. Initial sales have been notably lower than what they were for the game's predecessor which sold 1.5 million units in its first week.[47] By the end of the year, the game had sold 697,146 units, becoming the fifth bestselling 2011 game in Japan.[48]

References

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  2. ^ "Final Fantasy XIII-2".
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  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "STAFF". FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 Official Website. Square Enix. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  6. ^ "Final Fantasy XIII-2 Release Date For US Confirmed". Game Breakers.
  7. ^ "Final Fantasy XIII-2 theme songs revealed". Gematsu.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Gantayat, Anoop (26 January 2011). "Toriyama and Kitase Discuss Final Fantasy XIII-2". News. andriasang. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
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  13. ^ "Final Fantasy XIII-2: Historia Crux, Noel's origins, and Lightning's role". Gematsu. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  14. ^ Schreier, Jason (September 8, 2011). "Time-Travel Gameplay Could Save Final Fantasy XIII-2". Wired. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  15. ^ Yoon, Andrew (September 8, 2011). "Final Fantasy XIII-2's time travel explained". Shacknews. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
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  25. ^ a b c Gantayat, Anoop (1 February 2011). "Hey Mr. Tetsuya Nomura, Whatchu Up To?". News. Andriasang. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
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  29. ^ "Final Fantasy XIII-2 - GameSpot Exclusive E3 Teaser Trailer (PlayStation 3)". Videos. GameSpot. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  30. ^ New FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 trailer emerges from PAX
  31. ^ "Final Fantasy XIII-2 Judge 13"". Retrieved 29 November 2011.
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  35. ^ Parish, Jeremy (01/28/2012). "Final Fantasy XIII-2 Review: A Series in the Throes of Awkward Adolescence". 1UP.com. Retrieved 8 February 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  36. ^ http://www.edge-online.com/reviews/final-fantasy-xiii-2-review
  37. ^ a b c d e "Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Xbox 360)". Metacritic. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
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  45. ^ Leone, Matt. "The Top PS3 Games of 2012". 1UP.com. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
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  47. ^ "Final Fantasy XIII-2 PS3 Sold 60% of Stock". Andriasang. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  48. ^ "Japanese Video Game Market Down 8% in 2011". Anime News Network. January 6, 2012. Retrieved January 7, 2012.

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