Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, The Last 13 Days

[Aeolus]

http://gematsu.com/2013/01/lightning-returns-introduces-new-character-lumina

So now Lightning has a loli-goth frenemy and even more ridiculous costumes. Suddenly, Ms. Chocobokolina doesn't seem like such a bad choice of companion now.

[Yggdrasil]

They weren't kidding when they said that she looked a lot like Serah...

[Aeolus]

http://gematsu.com/2013/01/lightning-returns-final-fantasy-xiii-set-for-fall-2013

http://gematsu.com/2013/01/lightning-returns-extended-trailer-features-noel

http://gematsu.com/2013/01/lightning-returns-final-fantasy-xiii-screenshots


Got some screenies, a trailer, and a release date time frame. Oh No~el indeed.

[kyuusei]

We posted those some hours ago. Well, with the exception of the release window.

[Yggdrasil]

Is kinda cute seeing people hating on the game because almost everyone is doing it online. You would think that after 4 years people would just ignore what they aren't into instead repeating over and over the same sentece.

Not that I'm offended by all the hate or anything, is just that we all know by now how this goes and it became boring a long time ago.

[Aeolus]

Is kinda cute seeing people hating on the game because almost everyone is doing it online. You would think that after 4 years people would just ignore what they aren't into instead repeating over and over the same sentece.

Not that I'm offended by all the hate or anything, is just that we all know by now how this goes and it became boring a long time ago.

I'm more interested in seeing just how far down this rabbit hole goes.

Also given the general lack of interesting RPGs that come out these days its hard to not talk about the elephant in the room.

[Yggdrasil]

Elephant?

Well, I know that people is still salty over XIII after all these years but I just wanna know how this is going to end.

[Dice]

I know that we can't stop talking about it because we're all gonna buy this game despite our complaining. :P

[Embryon]

I know that we can't stop talking about it because we're all gonna buy this game despite our complaining. :P

I'm buying it and I haven't complained. :P Well, I ragged on Lightning's new outfit, but you can change that so it's not a big deal.

[Yggdrasil]

Preview Part I: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Demo Report -- Source: Nova Crystallis

[Dice]

CALLED IT!  Yuna in the top 3.

Lightning is Japan's #1 Female Character according to recent Final Fantasy poll.

1. Lightning (FFXIII)
2. Aerith (FFVII)
3. Yuna (FFX)
4. Tifa (FFVII)
5. Celes (FFVI)
6. Tina (FFVI)
7. Serah (FFXIII)
8. Garnet (FFIX)
8. Faris (FFV)
10. Rinoa (FFVIII)
10. Rydia (FFIV)
12. Selphie (FFVIII)
13. Rikku (FFX)
14. Beatrix (FFIX)
14. Yuffie (FFVII)
16. Ashe (FFXII)
17. Rosa (FFIV)
17. Eiko (FFIX)
17. Agrias (FFT)

Source:http://www.finalfantasy-fxn.net/index.php?page=article&article=Lightning-Is-Ranked-NUMBER-ONE--1706

I'm sad Beatrix isn't higher, I'm sad Serah-chan from 13-2 is as high as she is....ew.
I love that Celes-Tina are high together (hah)....DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, SQUEENIX

[Aeolus]

Of all the; why the fuck is Lightning at the top? I would've guessed that Titfa would've been Japan's no.1 over miss "OMG, WE'RE PETS!". Yuna and Aeris aren't too surprising but Lightning and Tifa should've been switched. Serah-chan is also way too high, but it does make at least some kind of sense given that she is a Serah-chan (maybe that X is a typo).

Love that Faris is as high as she is though, and as awful as Riona is I also can't really complain about her position given the general competition and that she tied with Rydia. Beatrix and Agrias being as low as they are is rather disappointing though.

Elephant?

Well, I know that people is still salty over XIII after all these years but I just wanna know how this is going to end.

You've never heard of the metaphor about the elephant in the room before?

[Yggdrasil]

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Preview (cont.):



Part II: The developers explain the latest in the FFXIII saga
Part III: Bold new ideas for the series, but are they for the best?

Highlights from Part 2:

Courting fans who may have lost interest in Lightning or Final Fantasy XIII

"With the Lightning Saga having expanded to three games now, there is a risk that some players have been driven away from the series," Kitase explains. "At the same time, there might be this impression that people had to play the first two installments to enjoy the third and final installment. With Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII we wanted to focus on giving it a brand new feel – a brand new game that can be enjoyed regardless of prior knowledge of the series." By creating this game the team wanted to bring back the players that drifted away from the Final Fantasy XIII saga or the Final Fantasy series. The effort of giving this game a whole new feels shows in their logo – it's a completely different approach that casts away the traditional Yoshitaka Amano design. According to Kitase, they "wanted to convey to the audience that this is a new game that's being brought to the table."

Why continue the Final Fantasy XIII Saga instead of creating a new one?

"There are two major pillars to this decision," says Kitase. "The first concerns the development of the concept for Final Fantasy XIII. Lightning was found to be a very attractive character, so we wanted to expand the story of her." From the beginning stages of Final Fantasy XIII-2, they had plans to start expanding even more on the world of Lightning and her saga – not only through games, but "the foundation came about for DLC, novels or other various expansions." In that respect, they drew up the idea for Lightning Returns as the conclusion for the series during the development of Final Fantasy XIII-2.

"The second pillar is represented by the idea that every numbered Final Fantasy goes through massive revisions for each entry," Kitase explains. "Because the characters, systems and world would have to be created from scratch, it would be difficult to implement player feedback. As such it might take two or more years between releases. With XIII it was a very rare but great opportunity for the team to take this character and take elements from the game like the battle system and evolve them through the trilogy. By considering user feedback through such a short development time, the player can see that those changes have been applied straight away."

Source: Nova Crystallis



Lightning Returns' Lumina designed by Toshiyuki Itahana

"The design for recently revealed Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII character Lumina was created not by Lightning illustrator Tetsuya Nomura, but by Toshiyuki Itahana, who previously designed download costumes for Final Fantasy XIII-2, this week’s Famitsu reveals."

Source: Gematsu

You've never heard of the metaphor about the elephant in the room before?

Yes, I've had heard of it before.

[Aeolus]

http://www.siliconera.com/2013/01/28/lightning-can-guard-and-evade-attacks-in-lightning-returns-final-fantasy-xiii/

Well at least the evading mechanic sounds nice on paper, but there are a couple of easy ways I anticipate Squeenix screwing that up (such as keeping it locked for most of the game, making the dodge all but completely useless by only letting it work during the dodge tutorial and maybe a gimmick fight or two, making it completely useless, making it gamebreaking, making it so gamebreakingly useful that you can't even get to the end of the game without complete mastery over the mechanic as endgame enemies will spam instadeath attacks all over the place, ect...).

Also, Lightning's wardrobe continues to grow more impractical and ridiculous, and the last thing we needed was mandating the use of the more fuck ugly ones.

[ZeronHitaro]

Wow; there were only traces of it before but with that CGI render and those barftastic outfits it's pretty much undeniable. Lightning is almost a pixel for pixel clone for T3BD's 'Aya'. You could joke about the similarities before with T3BD's 'Lightning Outfit' but that chuckle sure fermented into one bitter echo.

Damn their art department is getting pathetically lazy.

Wasn't interested in the game before; still am not interested. Between Youtube and Wikipedias the concept of 'needing to see how it ends' holds zero motivation to justify wasting $65~ this day and age. Honestly after playing X-2 I'm probably not even going to utilize either of those tools though. I'm quite content with my

Code:

'everyone dies'

ending.