Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Spoiler Thread)

[Splintered]

He's got a section in XIII-2 biographies, where he mentions something about Cid (that Cid was the kind of leader that they really needed right now). He also worked with Hope's dad to found the Academy. I can't believe they didn't use him in XIII-2, he was one of the few NPC's I really liked.

And I find Lightning's massive guilt complex about what happened, weak. I can see it bothering her, but in story she only did it for self defense, as they not only tried to kill her, but her friends and her family, and she never mentioned anything in game.

Etro makes sense, Etro has issues understanding the issues of humanity and so any death causes her grief. But it suddenly being such a huge issue to Lightning that she has to poetically wax on about it, and how she mopes about it just seems so off. There's got to be a good middle ground. Otherwise it feels like a cheap way to pull a moping Cloud like image for Lightning where it didn't exist before.

Also note, it doesn't really affect the others like it does her. Except for Vanille, but that's completely in character for her.

 

[Blade]

We need a "moping Cloud" or "moping Lightning" emoticon.

 

[Claymore]

XIII-2 is available on Steam by the way. The following DLC is included:

Opponent: Omega
Opponent: Lightning & Amodar
Opponent: Nabaat
Opponent: Ultros & Typhon
Opponent: PuPu
Opponent: Gilgamesh
Serah's Outfit: Summoner's Garb
Serah's Outfit: Beachwear
Serah's Outfit: White Mage
Noel's Outfit: Battle Attire
Noel's Outfit: Spacetime Guardian
Noel's Outfit: Black Mage
Mog's Outfits: A Wondrous Wardrobe
Sazh: Heads or Tails?
Lightning: Requiem of the Goddess
Snow: Perpetual Battlefield

However...

The further DLC that was released with the original console versions will not be released with the Windows PC version (either with the original Windows PC version release, or later on as separate update content), due to licensing and contractual restrictions.

 

[Lex]

So what's missing then? The only one I can recall from memory is the Mass Effect costumes DLC.

 

[Strangelove]

preorder weapons aren't there either

there were some bonuses for stuff like the theme song cd in japan, but those were accessories. did the english version get those? i can't remember what they did but i remember using them a lot for the first half of the game and it helping out

 

[Lex]

I'm clueless on that one Hito, I don't remember getting any accessories from anything. The only thing I got was an exclusive weapon from Amazon and I'm not even sure they were that useful.

 

[Strangelove]

there were three sets of items from other things:

stiltzkin's journal (kill: libra, weak spot, magic +5%) from the dec 22 issue of famitsu (from whatever year it was ffxiii-2 came out)

diva's mic (songtress' gift [item drop up]), diva's headphones (goddess' gospel [gil up]) (used together gives you rare item drop up) from the 'yakusoku no basho' cd

goddess' bangle (physical attack +11%) and goddess' piercing (magic +11%) (used together gives you improved item healing) from the 'beautiful days' cd

(using all four of the cd bonuses activated a cp plus ability)

i had serah wear the diva stuff and noel the goddess accessories probably for long time

i didn't get any preorder bonuses for the game, but i've got the digital contents box for the game which included those steam dlcs plus three weapons (serah's genji bow, and calamity blade and muramasa for noel). but i haven't played it using those, i only really watched the lost episodes videos from it

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Looks like Noel's "Assassin's Creed" outfit won't be available either.

 

[Strangelove]

damn, i felt like there was another collaboration outfit but that totally slipped my mind

 

[Kuja9001]

Does the Ultimania make any mention whether or not Caius willingly transformed into Jet Bahamut during the finale? He looked unconscious to me when Noel hits him every time I see/play through that part.

 

[Lulcielid]

Yen Press will publish FFXIII-2 (Fragments After) novel by Jun Eishima on 04/23/2019.

 

[Blade]

Unfortunate about the Mass Effect outfits. I liked using those to Time Travel.

Welp, when it doubt, MOD it out!

 

[Kuja9001]

Yen Press will publish FFXIII-2 (Fragments After) novel by Jun Eishima on 04/23/2019.

Yay, like 6-7 yrs after I buy it

Unfortunate about the Mass Effect outfits. I liked using those to Time Travel.

Welp, when it doubt, MOD it out!

I'm curious to whether I'd still have them if I booted up my PS3 copy(need a new PS3 first)

 

[Blade]

Strange thing about DLC... anything that's in your library of purchases on PSN, if you still own it will still be downloadable.

I was able to reinstall a discontinued game (TMNT Turtles in Time Re-Shelled) because of this.

 

[Gary Caelum]

I played this game for the first time about a month ago when it came out for Xbox backcompat. 13-2 and Lightning Returns are pretty much the only games in the series I hadn't played (except for different genre spin-offs like Crystal Chronicles, Chocobo Dungeon etc)

Absolutely loved the gameplay. They really fixed the issue with the monotonous linear gameplay of the first. If the original FF13 had this gameplay structure, it would've been an awesome game. Some really cool towns and locations to go with it too. Academia is one of the coolest towns/cities in any FF game.

The damn story though. WTF. How did they manage to make a story that's even more convoluted than the first? And why did it have so little to do with the first game? It feels like the new Star Wars movies in that they blatantly included the old characters just to make people want to play it/watch it, but didn't really want them in the story. Serah was originally looking for Lightning and Snow. And Snow was trying to save Fang and Vanille. Those are motivations that I actually cared about given that I loved FF13 and its cast. Yet for some reason, all of those things are discarded entirely by the end. All we get is the vague implication that fixing the timeline might have fixed them. But then she dies, so it's all for nothing.
You can basically summarise this story as "everyone from FF13 ends up in a much worse situation by the end"

It might be less of an issue if it was all resolved in the third game, but from what I hear it mostly isn't, and it's also one of the worst games they've made. Are any of those storylines decently resolved in Lightning Returns?

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

@Gary Caelum
They all are. They don't all necessarily pick up right where they left off, but they're definitely resolved.

 

[Gary Caelum]

Resolved in a good way? As in, you get some kind of satisfying ending to Lightning, Serah, Snow, Vanille and Fang's story arcs?

I might play it then. Most of what I'd read about it suggested that wasn't the case.

 

[Lex]

I mean whether or not it's in a good way is all open to interpretation, but they're definitely all resolved in some way.

I thoroughly enjoyed Lightning Returns and honestly, for the story aswell (though some XIII fans hated it). It's marmite.

 

[Makoeyes987]

The damn story though. WTF. How did they manage to make a story that's even more convoluted than the first? And why did it have so little to do with the first game? It feels like the new Star Wars movies in that they blatantly included the old characters just to make people want to play it/watch it, but didn't really want them in the story. Serah was originally looking for Lightning and Snow. And Snow was trying to save Fang and Vanille. Those are motivations that I actually cared about given that I loved FF13 and its cast. Yet for some reason, all of those things are discarded entirely by the end. All we get is the vague implication that fixing the timeline might have fixed them. But then she dies, so it's all for nothing.
You can basically summarise this story as "everyone from FF13 ends up in a much worse situation by the end"

To be fair, the story of XIII was resolved. Trust me, it all comes together and to a head in Lightning Returns. It's one of my favorite games in the series for a reason.

Did you fully complete XIII-2? It certainly wasn't for nothing. Yeah, Serah died, and the Chaos spilled forth from the Unseen Realm, but if Caius had his way completely, humanity would be extinct. Noel would be the last living person in the universe. Serah, Noel, Hope, and Sazh helped to at least protect humanity from getting wiped out.

Did you ever do the Perpetual Battlefield quest in the Colosseum to see what happened to Snow? You'll see what happened to Snow as well as see some interesting bosses there.

It might be less of an issue if it was all resolved in the third game, but from what I hear it mostly isn't, and it's also one of the worst games they've made. Are any of those storylines decently resolved in Lightning Returns?

Someone's been telling you lies, lies, and more lies

There's definitely a resolution. It's the conclusion of the entire Lightning saga of FFXIII. It all ends here.

 

[Gary Caelum]

Did you fully complete XIII-2? It certainly wasn't for nothing. Yeah, Serah died, and the Chaos spilled forth from the Unseen Realm, but if Caius had his way completely, humanity would be extinct. Noel would be the last living person in the universe. Serah, Noel, Hope, and Sazh helped to at least protect humanity from getting wiped out.

Yeah but none of that's really connected to the first game. I care about the pre-existing characters, not "humanity" (that doesn't even seem like the same humanity from the first game given that it's such a different setting).
That's why I say it's not really a sequel. It started out vaguely feeling like one, especially when it sounded like Snow was gonna try and save Fang and Vanille, but then that went nowhere.

Did you ever do the Perpetual Battlefield quest in the Colosseum to see what happened to Snow? You'll see what happened to Snow as well as see some interesting bosses there.

That like 5 minute long thing where he ends up in that battle arena place? It didn't really add anything. He's still just vaguely lost in time somewhere for some reason. But if Serah's dead, it doesn't matter that much anyway

 

[Makoeyes987]

The pre-existing characters are all there and it connects entirely to XIII.

Hope is the "hope" and savior of humanity. That's who he grew up as. His entire experience as a L'cie and putting his existence on the line to save humanity is what drives him to be the leader and savior of humanity's future. That's extremely connected to the first game. XIII-2 is very much about how Serah and Noel protect and safeguard Hope's future of being a savior for Cocoon and humanity.

Lightning is so core to this game it shouldn't even need discussing. The real ending of the game happens from her perspective. Did you not play Requiem for the Goddess or something?

Fang and Vanille are in the crystal pillar. They're still asleep and thanks to Hope, they've been saved. I don't know how you can say nothing in XIII-2 connected to that sub-plot or the first game. Serah literally gets visited by their spirits telling her not to give up and to save humanity's future for them because their sacrifice is what allows humanity to exist and finally evolve/thrive on Pulse. A good number of the artefacts connect to them too.

Snow's entire journey is chronicled in each of the graviton cores you find to help levitate the new Cocoon so humanity doesn't get wiped out by the old Cocoon slamming into the planet. Snow traveled through time with his new L'cie powers and ended up getting trapped in ??? AF with a bunch of other fighters from different dimensions or who were dead. He was drawn there. Because Chaos Yuel doesn't want him to interfere in the final battle. His arc culminates in Lightning Returns. You literally see him the minute you begin the game.

I don't know if you just sped through all of XIII-2 or what. But it very much connects to XIII and the journey of all the characters who saved the future. How much more could it connect...? For one the Fal'cie of Cocoon are dead. Cocoon is no longer utopia and the sacrifice for opening Etro's Gate by sacrificing its people. So the only path forward is how humanity rebuilds and becomes a race that shapes its own destiny. And how the characters fit to protect that future.

The only character not really covered in the main game is Sazh but that's because his story is an entire side-story called "Heads or Tails" and if you haven't done that, he just sorta appears out of nowhere.

Did you do everything in the game, cause it sounds like you only did side-quest shit and the bare core points of the main plot because it's just false that FFXIII-2 doesn't connect or move forward on the main characters of the game. It very much does and IS a sequel to what happens with XIII.

 

[Gary Caelum]

Well the only one of those I didn't know about is the Graviton core thing. I'll go and read that now.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

I see where Gary is coming from here. Stuff connects in the sense that, yeah, Event Set B follows Event Set A, but for me it never really feels like a sequel to FFXIII.

I don't know if that's down to there being such a difference with the playable cast; or that the plot elements are just such a bizarre departure from what came before; or something else I'm picking up on without being able to name it -- but it's real and it's palpable.

This is not, by any means, to say that the game sucks. I actually dig a lot about it, and it certainly plays much better than its predecessor even if it is decidedly weaker in other respects.

 

[Gary Caelum]

Right, you can say it's a sequel in that it technically does include some info on what happened to the main characters from 13.
But it's really not the focus of the story at all. The Noel/Caius/Yeul thing is the main focus, and that's completely independent from any of the 13 cast. They're all just forced together for the sake of this story in a completely unnatural way.
Lightning is connected to Caius because she got randomly pulled through a portal and sent to fight him (which required them to overwrite the ending scene from FF13). Noel is connected to Serah because he also got randomly pulled through a portal and sent to help her. That's the most forced story connection you can possibly create.

I would've liked it more if they'd just focused on the 13 characters a lot more, or alternatively if they'd made it so Caius and Noel were actually connected to the first game in some way.

 

[Kuja9001]

If you like any character that isn't Light then don't get your hopes up for any decent resolution in LR. Also be sure to read the novellas as they go into better detail about certain characters during the events of XIII-2 for example my boi Snow, his chapters are great and sad.

I mean whether or not it's in a good way is all open to interpretation, but they're definitely all resolved in some way.

I thoroughly enjoyed Lightning Returns and honestly, for the story aswell (though some XIII fans hated it). It's marmite.

"Lifts hand" I doooooo