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.
The official site for Final Fantasy XIII-2′s soundtrack has been finally updated featuring some new track samples of its first disc.
The soundtrack will consist of music composed by Masashi Hamauzu (Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy IV:Complete Collection, Final Fantasy VII:Dirge of Cerberus, Final Fantasy X), Naoshi Mizuta (Final Fantasy XI, Parasite Eve 2), and Mitsuto Suzuki (Final Fantasy XIII, The 3rd Birthday). It will be on 4 discs and is due to release on the 14th of December. A limited edition of the soundtrack will also be released on the same date, and will have a bonus DVD containing trailer footage and possibly other extras.
“ITS SHOWTIME!”
Square Enix Japan have started showing this new trailer on the BS11 Channel. Besides the neat Sazh reveal, it shows a new dragon enemy, and some motion capture and modelling stuff.
Theres.. really not too much else, i’m afraid.
Source: Final Fantasy XIII-2 WordPress
Square-Enix will be releasing a new Type-0 demo, despite the game being out for nearly a month in Japan. If you didn’t get your Type-0 fix with the Natsubi demo, hopefully this will help ease the burden. You start the demo out with an item that doubles your experience as well as all of the unlockable summer costumes already unlocked. Assuming you purchase the game, you’ll be able to carry over all of your progress into the full game. The demo is due on the 22nd of November.
Not contented with the previous screenshots released this Monday? Feast your eyes upon these new in-game screenshots and Lightning render, released by Square Enix today. More shots of the crystarium, monster menu, cutscenes, Historia Crux, and the newly revealed location, Augusta Tower, can be seen below.
Source: Final Fantasy XIII-2 WordPress
Still yearning for more Final Fantasy XIII-2 news? Famitsu posted an article today containing more in depth details of the monster-Crystarium growth system, additional information about the many things you can do with your monster collection, and tidbits on the world, story and the Historia Crux system.
Though you will still be spending CP when developing your playable characters on the Crystarium, it will be different in the case of the monters as they have their own Crystarium growth system. Items will be used to advance through the monsters’ Crystarium and these items can be received after winning a battle or can be bought in different shops. The abilities you can unlock will depend on the item you will use. Furthermore, as the level of the abilities gets higher, the rarer the required items will be.
A better look on the Crystarium and a few cutscene shots can be seen below, released by Square Enix recently this week.
As seen in the battle screenshot above, a Flanbanero is shown wearing sunglasses. Cool, huh? Not only you are able to add decorations to your collected monsters, but you will also have the ability to name them.
Inheriting monster abilities, which was previously revealed, is indeed another cool addition to the monster collection system. There is a consequence though, as the monster you have chosen for the others to inherit its abilities will be sacrificed. As for the monsters that inherit, they may acquire a new set of abilities if the monster they inherited from has a different paradigm role than theirs. There will be 4 major types of these abilities: command ability, auto-ability, special/characteristic ability, and resistance. The command and auto abilities can only be inherited from a monster with the same paradigm role as the monster that inherits.
Moving on to the other tidbits, 2 colored gates of the Historia Crux system are shown in the article with each having different ways of getting unlocked. Blue colored gates will need general Wild OOPArts items to be unlocked while the yellow colored gates require specific keys to do so. Regarding the story, it is revealed that Caius used to be Noel’s mentor and friend, although the reason of their conflict is yet to be revealed. The “Augustia Tower” is also introduced, which is a building built by the Academy in order to work on a project. Said project is not described in the article and is also yet to be revealed.
As the game will come out in less than a month in Japan and a month and a half in the rest of the world, expect to see more info to be released in the future!
Many thanks to forum member Ectis for finding this information.
Source: Andriasang
The website to vote for your favourite of the two costumes for Serah that AKB48 member Yuko Oshima designed has opened earlier today.
For any non-Japanese speakers, all you have to do to vote is to click on the big button next to the picture with A or B in it. The two buttons in the top left on each costume are the Original Sketch, and the Proper Design.
Currently leading the vote is the rather stylish Military Suit, leading over Red Riding Hood by 2299 to 1591. The voting will be open until the 3rd of December.
Also an extra minor note, but Ms. Oshima will most likely be cosplaying the winning costume at the XIII-2 Launch Event.
Jump has released an article containing new screenshots of Final Fantasy XIII-2′s newly modified Crystarium. It has been previously revealed that XIII-2′s Crystarium will be completely open from the beginning of the game, unlike in XIII where it was restricted at certain points. The crystarium takes the shapes of Noel and Serah’s weapons, and not only you are able to level up your characters by spending CP, but you will also get special bonuses by completing certain conditions asked in specific roles.
Thanks to forum member Musou for finding this information.
Source: Nova Crystallis
Final Fantasy XIII-2 has been rated T for teen, which is what most Final Fantasy games usually get. As what we have seen in the recent trailers, it has been rated T for its mild language, mild suggestive themes, simulated gambling, violence, and drug reference. You’re probably wondering what the drug reference in the game is; ESRB has explained it vaguely and briefly in its featured summary of reasons.
As with all big Square Enix releases, Final Fantasy Type-0 will be receiving one of the impressive Ultimania Guides. As usual, the overly large book will be packed with Maps, Guides, Side-Missions, Ability and Skills tips, and everything else you could possibly need to know about the game and more.
Type-0′s Ultimania weighs in at a whopping 848 pages. It hits stores on November 30 for ¥2,100.
Thanks to forum member Naunen for the heads up!
Game Informer recently got their hands on XIII-2 and played through the first part of the game. They’ve released their impressions. There isn’t a lot of information we didn’t already know, other than a huge amount of revealed storyline. If you’re not a fan of spoilers, you may want to steer clear. If you don’t mind, there’s certainly a lot to discuss. Head on over to the forums to take a look.
Thanks to forum member Musou for finding this.
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
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
