Square Enix has announced a new game in the Final Fantasy XIII series at the Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary Event, bringing Lightnings story to an end.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 is out! With it comes a final trailer which neatly compresses all the good bits of FFXIII-2 into one minute.
The long wait is over. We've finished our review copy and had a great time, so come read our impressions of Final Fantasy XIII-2.
Being asked to wait is more than familiar to any fan out there anticipating Versus XIII, so it should come as no surprise that Tetsuya Nomura has requested our patience yet again. Appearing on Square Enix Merchandise Radio as a special guest, it was inevitable for Nomura to be asked for information on the highly-anticipated ever-delayed title. He had a few interesting things to say.
He explains that the situation for Versus XIII is a “delicate” one within Square Enix, but that a definite date for Versus’ next reveal has been set. He goes on to muse that the reasoning behind the constant silence concerning Versus might be able to be explained as well. Then, of course, he does what we’d all expect and apologizes while asking us to hold on just a bit longer.
As always, fans can only speculate what this means for the game. There are certainly rumors and more to be had concerning the title, including the persistent buzz of a re-branding as Final Fantasy XV. With E3 less than two months away- and a promise from Shinji Hashimoto that a next-gen Final Fantasy title will be present- one might be able to hazard a guess as to when Versus will next appear. Always remember though that nothing is certain until we next see this near-mythical title in the flesh once more.
source: novacrystallis
Got something to say? Head on down to the forums to discuss!
Is Noctis actually a woman? We’ve been assuming since 2006 that he is, well, a he, but a recent tweet from creator Tetsuya Nomura has left us reassessing that. In response to a compliment made about the character on Twitter, the Versus director replied, “if u like noct now wait til u see her @E3 this year #FinalFantasyVersusXIII”.
The tweet has since been deleted but fortunately the member who first saw the it thought to take a screenshot. Could Noctis really be a girl? Noctis being female would go a long way towards explaining ‘his’ delicate features and feminine bone structure. All we know for certain about the character’s background so far is that s/he is a crown prince, could a possible plot point be that her father disguised her as a boy so she could succeed him? In Japan, a woman cannot inherit the throne; could Nomura have been inspired by this when developing the game?
A rival theory, postulated by staff member DeathPenalty, suggests that the sex change only came about after production on the game began, due to the runaway success of Final Fantasy XIII heroine and PS3 icon Lightning. Nomura has been reportedly trying to make up lately for ground lost to rival and colleague Toriyama in the Number 1 Director-Writer race at Square Enix.
Also worth noting is that Noctina would not be the first Final Fantasy character to be secretly female. Final Fantasy V’s Faris was famously revealed to be female, not male, in a shocking plot twist that came about two lines after she’d been introduced to you.
Oh, and Versus is apparently going to be at E3 this year, so you know, there’s that.
Thanks to forum member : cathryn : for finding the tweet!
Roen, clothing designer for the upcoming and long-awaited Final Fantasy Versus XIII is listing the game in their official biography as “Final Fantasy 15 (tentative).” This is listed in the year that S-E made their partnership with Roen and announced them for Versus XIII, with Versus itself being noticeably absent from the company’s biography for that year. Coincidence? Probably not!
Sources say that this name has actually been in place on the Roen site since July of last year, which means that if this is true that it’s been in the works for nearly a year now if not more. If that’s the case, then S-E has been keeping a lot under wraps for a very long time. With the promise by Versus producer Shinji Hashimoto to reveal a next-gen Final Fantasy title at E3, one can only imagine what the future has in store for Versus. Remember though that nothing’s been certain with this game for over six years.
Now is certainly the time to discuss.
source: Roen’s biography page
Edit: Since this post, the Roen site has been edited to correct the name back to Final Fantasy Versus XIII.
Today, Sony held a massive event revealing its new console- The PS4- and detailings its features. Present were several bigwigs of various game companies there to show their support. Among them were two Square-Enix representatives. The first, Yoshihisa Hashimoto, presented Agni’s Philosophy once again. Following his presentation, Shinji Hashimoto, brand manager for Square-Enix and producer of the Kingdom Hearts series and Final Fantasy Versus XIII, left us with one tantalizing treat. He took just a moment on the stage to promise us that we would see a next generation Final Fantasy title at this year’s E3, and that we should look forward to it.
Fly, my pretties! Fly and speculate!
Yeah. Perfume. Really.
I just… no forget it. I have nothing to say.
Have a picture and a link to the guy’s twitter post.
The perfume is called “Noctis” Eau de Toilette. It goes with the Cloud, Sephiroth and Lightning perfumes released in the past. Come back next week for the long awaited release of the official Final Fantasy branded super hair gel.
…urgh, I guess I have to say SOMETHING positive. Considering that they’re launching merchandise, it’s possible that we might see Versus reappear in the spotlight in the upcoming months. We’ll have to wait and see.
Source: Hidemi Matsuzuka’s Twitter
So when can you can aid our brave and seemingly undying protagonist as she fights to save the world within 13 days? Sometime this Autumn (that’s the northern hemisphere’s autumn, my southern hemisphere brethren), or “Faaaawwwwwl”, if you’re one of them yankee types.
Accompanying this announcement is a bunch of shiny screenshots (showing recently-revealed character Lumina, as well as some of Lightning’s questionable wardrobe) and a new trailer. Some of the screenshots are duplicates from the last batch, I don’t know how they got in there, but just enjoy them again because removing them is an absolute chore. Lightning’s on a phone, that’s adorable, everyone should see that more than once.
That’s right, folks! The people over at Square Enix have decided that now is the time to provide a brief description about one of the new characters that will be appearing in the upcoming Lightning Returns. According to the translation provided, it states that this new character will be named “Lumina”, and is described as being a loli-goth version of Serah, Lightning’s sister who we all know and (sometimes) love. Lumina will either help or hinder Lightning throughout her journey (ooh, suspense!); other than that, no further details have come to light as of yet. As always, however, we will keep you updated!
In addition, some of the costumes that Lightning will be able to wear have been further described. “Dark Muse” is the official name for the costume she wears in the Jump Festa trailer, and has a grill-shaped shield, chaps, and some kind of camouflage overcoat. “Alone in the Dust” is the name of the costume that has very samurai-esque features.
Update: And here’s a scan showing off this “new” character.
Thanks to Agent Dunham for the info!
Source. (Please note, this is in Japanese.)
The most recent Famitsu is out in the wild and as such, all new details of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII have been revealed.
As we’ve heard much of already, Lightning Returns will have a lot to do with the concept of time in that time is constantly moving forward in the game world. Taking a page from a few other open world games, NPC locations, gatherable information and much more will all depend on the current time.
As far as the new battle system featured in the trailer goes, its real name has yet to be decided though it’s currently being referred to as “sugoi ATB” or “amazing ATB”. Everything to do with Lighting during battle such as weapons, accessories, abilities, etc. are all combined into set Styles as seen in the trailer, with names like Divinity and Enchanter, as well as a Style called Cerberus, which of course will sound familiar as that was a Paradigm in the previous two games. It does in fact seem that the team is tweaking the Paradigm system of the first two games, giving people something familiar yet fresh at the same time.
On the storyline side of things, days occurring in the original game Final Fantasy XIII were said to have had 26 hours. But now, in the time that LR takes place, the days only consist of 24 hours. As usual, Chaos is to blame.
Lightning has only got 4 minutes 13 days to save the world, and though it’s currently being decided just how long those days will be in real world time, it is said the team is thinking they will be somewhere between 1-2 hours long each. In current play tests it is said the game is being beaten in about 2 to 4 days which might make the game seem short, however, the journey to the end of the game apparently has multiple paths, and while the conclusion of the story will not change, the events you’ll experience leading up to the game’s ending can, depending on how you go about things, which will hopefully fuel your desire to play the game multiple times.
Now of course it’s being said the Lighting Returns is indeed a full conclusion to the saga and Motomu Toriyama confirms that no DLC will be needed in order to fully finish the story unlike Final Fantasy XIII-2′s Requiem of the Goddess DLC which truly concluded and filled in a serious gap of the main story. Yoshinori Kitase also had to say that you’ll be pleased with the full conclusion of other beloved characters’ stories from the previous games.
Expect more details to be revealed as we step into 2013, and closer to the release of Lightning Returns.
To go with the newly released extended trailer, Square Enix has released some new screenshots of Lightning Returns. The screenshots recently appeared in the latest issue of Jump but now here they are in decent quality. The official artwork of Lightning in her new outfit has been released too. See them all below.
In true Square Enix fashion the Jump Festa Lightning Returns trailer was leaked early a few days ago, but now the event is in full swing they’ve officially release an extended version of the trailer for all of us to view. The new content shown is much of the same we saw a few days ago, but longer. Watch the trailer below if you want your fill of slightly longer battle scenes and the all important title animation taking place twice in case you missed how flashy it was the first time.
Final Fantasy XIII Japanese Commercial 1 HD
Final Final Fantasy XIII Trailer (Translated)Final Final Fantasy XIII Japanese TrailerFinal Fantasy XIII Release Date Announcement Video
FFXIII - Promised Eternity - Piano Cover Final Fantasy XIII-2 Digital Contents Selection Attack on Titan Guy Humps Hornets' Nest, Dies Hope y'all like Android/iOS junk Time Gate: Minimum Game Cancel Stupid Things You Used to Believe Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn relaunches this summer on PC and PS3 Square Enix Origin Forum Need Serious Help!!!
Japan: December 17th 2009
NA: March 9th 2010
Europe: March 9th 2010 Japan: December 15th 2011 NA: January 31st 2012 Europe: February 3rd 2012 Japan: TBA NA: TBA Europe: TBA Japan: October 13th 2011 NA: TBA Europe: TBA
