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The world of FFXIII is sustained by Lightning becoming a crystal.
— Previously Toriyama said, “someday I’d like to make a story where Lightning finds happiness.” However, FFXIII-2 wound up ending on a tragic note.
Toriyama: If you play Lightning’s DLC episode, you’ll understand her thoughts when she became a crystal. It’s sad, but I think you get the impression she can end feeling a little relieved. However, I certainly couldn’t say that the conclusion this time was a happy one for her. This was done strategically; I got the feeling I’d like to try envisioning the story one more step beyond.
Watanabe: Nevertheless, Lightning’s character burdens herself with everything, so it’s fairly difficult for her to overcome and find happiness. Since she’s the sort of person who supports herself by doing exactly what needs to be done, she’s likely to feel guilty even when the circumstances are in her favor. For example, even after the ending in FFXIII, if peace had continued as it was and Lightning lived with the newlywed couple Snow and Serah, I don’t think she would have felt lonely as one might expect.
Toriyama: If that had happened, sooner or later Lightning probably would have took off (laughs).
— Watanabe, you make a hobby out of imagining the developments that take place after the ending like you did when FFXIII was complete. Aren’t you thinking of some developments that take place after FFXIII-2’s ending too?
Watanabe: Well, I wouldn’t say that I’m not thinking about it. In the ending of FFXIII-2, the visible world is connected to Valhalla and becomes engulfed by its chaos. It’s that reason that the world collapses and I think it’s an unprecedented development. Especially since the world isn’t collapsing because of something like the outbreak of a great war or the invasion of monsters from another world. With that in mind, what happened to the people living there? If the the adventure took place in that world, what sort of things would they encounter? These are the sort of settings I consider as a scenario writer.
Toriyama: Personally, I’d try to continue the paradox endings like Serah and Snow setting out to find the 13 crystals in “The Couple’s Departure” or “Control The Pudding With Pudding” where Serah and Noel take the form of monsters. Simply, I think it’d be fun (laughs). Even though that’s a joke, there’s the thought that if possible we want to envision the story firmly until the end, without breaking from the Crystal Legend of the Fabula Nova Crystallis. Lightning’s happy ending won’t either.
— Hereafter, will it be possible to restore Lightning after she became a crystal?
Watanabe: We’ve said prior that the theme of this story is “the future is unknown, but you can keep going as long as you have hope,” the same applies for Lightning. The conclusion where she becomes a crystal looks disappointing, but since there is no telling what the future will hold hereafter, I want the fans to continue having hope. If you think back to FFXIII, becoming a crystal and obtaining eternal life means completing the Focus of the l’Cie and preparing for their re-emergence.
Toriyama: Lightning’s episode certainly didn’t end on a bright note, but depending on how you think about it, you could say since Lightning kept her heart when she became a crystal, the world of FFXIII will be forever preserved by her. I’m praying too that in time the day will surely come when Lightning wakes up and Serah is compensated.
The line appearing at the end of Lightning’s episode, “XXX Years Later…” explained?
— You explained the reason Lightning became a crystal in the end of her episode, it’s very interesting.
Toriyama: At first, there was a plan to have Lightning sequentially defeating Eidolons of the darkness like Odin Dusk, but since I wanted the story of FFXIII-2 to come to a close, it ended up the way it did. A special system was put in concerning the battle too, since there was feedback that we created a battle system that completed the FFXIII series, I’d like to hear the opinions of all the players.
— If you receive a high enough score in the battle, you can see a special scene after the staff credit roll.
Kitase: Actually, there wasn’t a plan to put it in originally, what happened to Lightning was similar to the main title’s ending. However, there was the opinion that in the end, Lightning should appear advancing forward, so it was added in as a secret event. Does that scene take place in the real world? Or is it something imagined by Lightning? It’s not stated, but even though she’s become a crystal, we wanted you to get the impression that Lightning is continuing to make progress.
Toriyama: Even if you receive a high enough score in the battle, Lightning’s level has to be raised at least to Level 10 in order to see it. By all means, please try it out.
— In that event, “XXX Years Later” was displayed, how should this be interpreted?
Kitase: I’m afraid explaining that would be pointless. (Laughs.) Well, if I were to say just one thing, when the line “To Be Continued…” was shown at the episode’s ending, most people probably thought Lightning’s episode will continue in more DLC. However, we are interpreting it differently, I’ll say that at least.
Toriyama: Like Lightning advanced one step forward in the secret event, I think we also want to take a step forward to advance our project. I’d be happy if you anticipate it after this.
Besides what future projects Toriyama wants us to look forward to, he and Kitase also commented on fan’s reactions to all the DLC content that accompanied FFXIII-2.
— Have you heard the feedback from players about the DLC? (From P413)
Kitase: Although we don’t receive direct feedback, they seem to be rather popular according to their star marking in the platform download shops.
Toriyama: I think after this I’d like to do an in-house recap concerning the feedback of the DLC.
Come on completely limp handheld continuation! At least then I'd find XIII-3 funny and not just tragically indicative of the sickness infecting the genre as a whole.
From the interview above, I honestly think that Square Enix is going to make another — and the last — Final Fantasy XIII saga. This time they probably are wrapping up the series to its conclusion. I am looking forward to another quality game from Square Enix, and I hope it will be even more enjoyable than its predecessors.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Omega scenario details from Toriyama and Watanabe!
About what the story was meant to be and the future of the series!
Spoiler:
In the beginning, Toriyama didn’t want to make XIII-2 be a direct sequel to the original game. Instead it was meant to take place some 900 years afterward. However, during the creation of all the back story for the 900 years in between the two titles, it was decided to turn the sequel into a time travel game. The theme of the game is to push forward and keep hope alive, even if the future is uncertain and dangerous.
The battle between Lightning and Caius in Valhalla is meant to take place in an endless loop. Neither one of them seems to be aware of it though – only when Lightning turns into a crystal does it truly end. Valhalla is a place between the Unseen World and the real world, where the flow of time has stopped and where people pass by on their way to the beyond. Originally it was meant to be the place in 999 AF that was also mentioned in Final Fantasy Type-0 which would have tied both games together, but ultimately that idea was scrapped.
The Caius seen in 700 AF went to Valhalla to end the world using the power of Chaos. From there he had the ability to send messages to Caius’s in different timelines. This helps explain why the Caius in 200 AF seems to know Noel, even though they shouldn’t have met yet. Caius doesn’t exactly have the ability to time travel, but the Caius you fight in 500AF can conceivably be 700AF’s Caius that travelled back in time from Valhalla.
Doesn’t Caius purposely shorten Yeul’s lifespan by changing the future? Caius is aware of this and that is why he sets out to destroy the world. When Serah and Noel solve paradoxes, the possibilities for the future broaden. That’s why Caius tries to reduce the number of possible futures to the point where there is only the one inevitable future, where the world is destroyed. He silently allows Serah and Noel to solve the paradoxes as the world is still heading for its destruction.
Caius’s motivation comes from the fact that he’s seen Yeul die so many times and that he knows the world will end anyway in 700 AF. He wants to shorten her suffering by ending the world sooner. Caius actually probably died at the hands of Noel near the end of the game, but may live on through Chaos.
The game didn’t feature any love story between Noel and Serah since both characters had their own loved ones in Yeul and Snow respectively. Although this game hasn’t brought the “happy ending” for Lightning that Toriyama promised before, he hopes to tell more stories using the Fabula Nova Crystallis mythologies.
Some other bits and pieces from the Ultimania include scrapped DLC plans. Originally Snow’s episode was to include a motorcycle minigame through the Archylte Steppe where he would fight monsters along the way. The goal would be to defeat 30 monsters, and Snow’s abilities would include things like jumping, spinning, drifting, and a water spell. The racing system was eventually used as the base for the chocobo mini game in Xanadu.
There were also plans to make a Hope-centric DLC as an adventure type game using Live Triggers in Augusta Tower. The goal would be to stop Alyssia from killing Hope and you would do so by using terminals, where you would have to make some decision that would let you continue onward or end directly in game-over.
Why not just bump this thread? I don't think this really deserves its own thread, boo.
Quote:
Although this game hasn’t brought the “happy ending” for Lightning that Toriyama promised before, he hopes to tell more stories using the Fabula Nova Crystallis mythologies.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Omega Interview
