New information from this week’s Dengeki issue has been leaked, thanks to Erren Van Duine from Nova Crystallis. Check out some new details from the translated article below:

New Capital Academia

Cocoon’s metropolis led by the Academy. The Academy’s idea is a future with no need of the fal’Cie. In Academia’s business district at night, Cie’th appear. Depending on the time period in which you visit, things will change.

Toriyama Mini Interview 1

Hope is about ten years older, he’s now the Academy’s leader but he also helps with Gran Pulse developments. Because of certain things that happened in Cocoon, some characters have a feeling of guilt. Other characters from XIII are also “walking new paths” and out of them, Hope really has changed the most.

Hope still keeps his boomerang as a memento of sorts, but he doesn’t really use it often.

Regarding Sazh, he too is helping the society of Gran Pulse in his own way.

Gigantic Casino Xanadu

Can be seen floating in the sky, but the time period it is in is unknown.

Slot Machines: You can buy coins to spend on these machines with gil. Conversely doing well will allow you to earn prizes.

Chocobo Races: Here you can have the chocobos you’ve captured in battle race. There are

five categories, with the top one having big prizes.

Chocobos have “Racing Points.” When these points hit 0 the chocobo must retire. Pressing the right button at the right time when a race starts gives you a start dash.

Minigame “Time Labirynth”

You’ll encounter these in the course of the story, but there are also optional ones.

“Vanishing Floor”: Every time you get off a floor panel it disappears. The stage is composed of a series of floor panels and crystals. The objective is to gather all the crystals.

“Crystal Bond”: Where you must link crystals of the same shape and color with each other.

“Clock’s Needle”: Where numbered crystals appear floating over a giant clock’s dial. Details are unknown.

Monster Special Skills

Tonberry’s Deep-seated Grudge : a special move where grudge is unleashed.

Chocobo’s “Kweh!”: a series of blows done with the chocobo’s beak.

Toriyama Mini Interview 2

One of the criticisms many people had towards XIII was the lack of dungeons. To fix that they created the Time Labyrinths which are similar to the Cloister of Trials segments from FFX. The ones you encounter as part of the story are relatively simple, but the really hard ones are optional.

Chocobos who participate in Chocobo Races can get stronger and learn new abilities while racing. You can also play with the slot machines.

Kitase: Staff members who did the slot machines put a lot of effort into them. Using them, you can acquire premium items but there are also risks.

While not a minigame itself, throwing the Moogle around to get treasure chests is also fun.

Kitase: One thing I’d like to clarify is that all these minigames are not DLC, they’re all contained in the game.

Source (full article): Nova Crystallis.