Final Fantasy XIII-2

[Alessa Gillespie]

I cannot disassociate Laura Bailey from Keiko ever so I just keep waiting for a "YUSUKE!!!" wail

"SENPAI YOU WERE SOOOOO COOL!"

 

[Arianna]

Well he's clearly wearing a PSICOM uniform.

Spoiler

And why exactly have they gone back in time? I though they were just running around Bresha Ruins, which had been re-colonized after the crash.

PSICOM and the Guardian Corp have been around for who-knows-how-long. I don't think it's necessarily a sign of 'present' or 'past.' Since PSICOM is specifically 'Anti-Pulsian' in design, it's possible that this branch could have been developed around the time of the War of Transgression.

Every culture needs a law keeping power, so Guardian Corps may even be an older institution.

?!?!?!?

Are you sure of that?

Despite the alternate theory that I mentioned before, I think they

Spoiler

arrived at the time when the last Purge was carried out before FFXIII's start. I think it could be centuries before the first game's time.

While I am not sure, I agree with you Chie. Even though I'm back and forth about it, I do think that there's time-travel involved in this game.

So, the bigger question, who's causing the rift in time, and why? (Please be fal'Cie related!!! Lindzei, Lindzei, Lindzei!!! Bart, Minrva, Orphan!!! You get the deal... )

All this is also why I posted the definition of 'paradox'.

We're not getting anything linear in this game! I think Square has pulled one on those who were complaining about XIII being 'too linear'.

I still wanted them to go visit that researcher from the other video. That was the only thing I REALLY wanted to know ;3;

You know what:

Hope had platinum-blond (if not white) hair, Yaag had silver-blue hair, Lightning and Serah had pink hair, Vanille had orange-pink hair... I just think it's hair.

Also, I can't see major characters (or, so I hope) being relegated to minor passer-bys.

I also hope that those returning characters - in new appearances and ways - will be signaled out, or at least we'll learn about who-is-who and who-becomes-or-was-who in the guide(s).

 

[Glaurung]

"SENPAI YOU WERE SOOOOO COOL!"

Is it bad that I miss Snow because he had Kanji's voice?

Also, I can't see major characters (or, so I hope) being relegated to minor passer-bys.

I also hope that those returning characters - in new appearances and ways - will be signaled out, or at least we'll learn about who-is-who and who-becomes-or-was-who in the guide(s).

Well, the truth is that

Spoiler

Yaag should be in the Valhalla (if that's the name of where Lightning is now). He's dead, after all, and he was a great warrior, along with Cid

 

[Celes Chere]

I was scared when I heard about the rap, but after seeing the videos - it sounds okay.

I think it's very unfitting and compared to other FF music? VERY disappointed.

Ahaha that's the first thing I thought of, too.

The first thing I thought of was TWEWY ;o; but you know less awesome

 

[Roger]

The guards in that area are wearing Guardian Corps uniforms, not PSICOM.

Anyway, to clear things up, I have to correct myself. They aren't seeing Pulse through a crack, Pulse is clearly filling the sky. So they aren't inside Cocoon's shell, Alyssa and the Guardian Corps are in a facility on the outside of Cocoon shell. Which explans what the guard was saying, inside Cocoon's, all the rain is made by the fal'Cie.

Anyway, yeah timetravel. or else I dunno where that guard has been having living on Pulse for five years now and never experienced natural rain.

 

[Arianna]

I think it's very unfitting and compared to other FF music? VERY disappointed.

I accept your opinion. I didn't say it was great. As for 'unfitting' - I don't know. At least it's not gansta rap.

The guards in that area are wearing Guardian Corps uniforms, not PSICOM.

Anyway, to clear things up, I have to correct myself. They aren't seeing Pulse through a crack, Pulse is clearly filling the sky. So they aren't inside Cocoon's shell, Alyssa and the Guardian Corps are in a facility on the outside of Cocoon shell. Which explans what the guard was saying, inside Cocoon's, all the rain is made by the fal'Cie.

Anyway, yeah timetravel. or else I dunno where that guard has been having living on Pulse for five years now and never experienced natural rain.

Or, Cocoon had a transparent shell to begin with. I don't know - perhaps a fal'Cie was the shell (like a fal'Cie was the barrier protecting the Bodhum Vestige from the damages of nature on Cocoon, but also protecting Cocoon from Pulsian influences (prematurely?). At the end of Chapter 11, we do see the ship fly towards and through a greenish-hued ethereal looking shape with glowing eyes - speaking of it now, I'd say that was a fal'Cie and was the one in charge of the barrier between Cocoon and Pulse.

Hanging Edge and Lake Bresha were right on the edge of Cocoon. Speaking of all this, we never did get a really good map of Cocoon. We were given a flat cross-shaped one, but... Honestly, to understand how Cocoon works, I think we need a Cocoon-shaped map! I would even speculate if the fal'Cie allowed some of Gran Pulse's natural atmosphere into Cocoon, to help create the weather phenomena and life-giving necessities for every life there.

Heck, for that matter, maybe Orphan fed upon something Pulsian? I mean, if he sustained everything and everyone who claimed Cocoon as 'home' - where'd he get his power? (Which is another reason towards my belief that he (Bart/Minrva/Orphan combined) may be Lindzei, but I digress.) The first fal'Cie had an awful lot of power, enough to be considered equal in godliness to Buniberzei and Muin. Perhaps, if truly Lindzei, sustaining his own children is not a big deal? Okay, okay...

About that part in XIII-2 though... Lake Bresha had to be near the bottom of Cocoon.... So, I am guessing that such a vision of Pulse 'floating above' would not be unusual. Still, it's kind of confusing, because Cocoon is over Gran Pulse, somewhere. The only other confounding thing to this is that it is stated in Episode 0 that when you look up in the sky - you're not seeing stars, but other places on Cocoon. So... Now I guess they are saying you're seeing both Gran Pulse and Cocoon?

I am getting dizzy thinking about it! Maybe a nice long cutscene where Barthandelus explains how he designed Cocoon and the role of some of the other fal'Cie... ?!?!?!? I sure need it!

As for artificial weather - the only place that has a different weather system is in Sunleth Waterscape. Scientist there study the flora and fauna that call that place home (both the game and Episode 0 speaks of this.) Perhaps that scientist spent some time in Sunleth... ?!?!?! Even if created by fal'Cie - if one is born and raised in such an atmosphere, their weather would be considered natural; a place like Sunleth Waterscape, where you can 'talk' to the fal'Cie by touching a special orb-shaped power source, would be 'artificial.' This is the only thing I can think of that makes sense.

The statement of 'I wish we could still control the weather' - Again, I can only speculate. Maybe there was a time when there was more communication between humans and fal'Cie, or perhaps the fal'Cie in charge of Bresha's weather (if Sunleth Waterscape wasn't the only place ever in Cocoon's history to have such 'change the weather, please' abilities) somehow were killed...??? Or maybe Barthandelus reassigned them??? If I recall correctly, Lake Bresha was another tourist destination?

All we can do is speculate. I hope we'll be told, and not in the way that Toriyama (I think it was him) said that XIII told us about the relationship between Pulse and Lindzei and their descendant fal'Cie. I don't know about you guys, but I can only sum that relationship up as an episode of Home Improvement, where Tim and his younger brother (Dave, Allen? I forget) are in the backyard fighting, and Tim has the brother in a leg-headlock.

Lastly, speaking of digressing analogies: Anyone else feel that Lindzei/Barthandelus creating Cocoon is sort of like episode two of season one of Futurama, where their first shipment is to the moon and Fry wants to go to the theme-park. Bender seems to be left out of everything and he's like, "Oh, no room for Bender, eh? Fine! I'll create my own theme-park, with hookers and black-jack...!" Honestly, this is another thing I feel XIII is saying about Lindzei/Barthandelus...

 

[Roger]

Or, Cocoon had a transparent shell to begin with. I don't know - perhaps a fal'Cie was the shell (like a fal'Cie was the barrier protecting the Bodhum Vestige from the damages of nature on Cocoon, but also protecting Cocoon from Pulsian influences (prematurely?). At the end of Chapter 11, we do see the ship fly towards and through a greenish-hued ethereal looking shape with glowing eyes - speaking of it now, I'd say that was a fal'Cie and was the one in charge of the barrier between Cocoon and Pulse.

Hanging Edge and Lake Bresha were right on the edge of Cocoon. Speaking of all this, we never did get a really good map of Cocoon. We were given a flat cross-shaped one, but... Honestly, to understand how Cocoon works, I think we need a Cocoon-shaped map! I would even speculate if the fal'Cie allowed some of Gran Pulse's natural atmosphere into Cocoon, to help create the weather phenomena and life-giving necessities for every life there.

Heck, for that matter, maybe Orphan fed upon something Pulsian? I mean, if he sustained everything and everyone who claimed Cocoon as 'home' - where'd he get his power? (Which is another reason towards my belief that he (Bart/Minrva/Orphan combined) may be Lindzei, but I digress.) The first fal'Cie had an awful lot of power, enough to be considered equal in godliness to Buniberzei and Muin. Perhaps, if truly Lindzei, sustaining his own children is not a big deal? Okay, okay...

About that part in XIII-2 though... Lake Bresha had to be near the bottom of Cocoon.... So, I am guessing that such a vision of Pulse 'floating above' would not be unusual. Still, it's kind of confusing, because Cocoon is over Gran Pulse, somewhere. The only other confounding thing to this is that it is stated in Episode 0 that when you look up in the sky - you're not seeing stars, but other places on Cocoon. So... Now I guess they are saying you're seeing both Gran Pulse and Cocoon?

I am getting dizzy thinking about it! Maybe a nice long cutscene where Barthandelus explains how he designed Cocoon and the role of some of the other fal'Cie... ?!?!?!? I sure need it!

As for artificial weather - the only place that has a different weather system is in Sunleth Waterscape. Scientist there study the flora and fauna that call that place home (both the game and Episode 0 speaks of this.) Perhaps that scientist spent some time in Sunleth... ?!?!?! Even if created by fal'Cie - if one is born and raised in such an atmosphere, their weather would be considered natural; a place like Sunleth Waterscape, where you can 'talk' to the fal'Cie by touching a special orb-shaped power source, would be 'artificial.' This is the only thing I can think of that makes sense.

The statement of 'I wish we could still control the weather' - Again, I can only speculate. Maybe there was a time when there was more communication between humans and fal'Cie, or perhaps the fal'Cie in charge of Bresha's weather (if Sunleth Waterscape wasn't the only place ever in Cocoon's history to have such 'change the weather, please' abilities) somehow were killed...??? Or maybe Barthandelus reassigned them??? If I recall correctly, Lake Bresha was another tourist destination?

All we can do is speculate. I hope we'll be told, and not in the way that Toriyama (I think it was him) said that XIII told us about the relationship between Pulse and Lindzei and their descendant fal'Cie. I don't know about you guys, but I can only sum that relationship up as an episode of Home Improvement, where Tim and his younger brother (Dave, Allen? I forget) are in the backyard fighting, and Tim has the brother in a leg-headlock.

Lastly, speaking of digressing analogies: Anyone else feel that Lindzei/Barthandelus creating Cocoon is sort of like episode two of season one of Futurama, where their first shipment is to the moon and Fry wants to go to the theme-park. Bender seems to be left out of everything and he's like, "Oh, no room for Bender, eh? Fine! I'll create my own theme-park, with hookers and black-jack...!" Honestly, this is another thing I feel XIII is saying about Lindzei/Barthandelus...

Wha? What the?

When you look up in Cocoon, anywhere in Cocoon, you see the opposite side of Cocoon. There are no edges inside a sphere , for you to see Pulse from Cocoon in XIII, the ground underneath someone's feet would need to be transparant. In XIII, no one in Cocoon had any idea what Pulse was like, moreover, Lightning said that Cocoon had spend the last 700 years in constant fear of a Pulse invasion. I have a hard time believing that half of Cocoon could look up and see the uninhabited grasslands of Pulse on any given sunny day.

And if they are inside Cocoon. Where is this natural weather this guard is talking about coming from anyway?

 

[Arianna]

Wha? What the?

When you look up in Cocoon, anywhere in Cocoon, you see the opposite side of Cocoon. There are no edges inside a sphere , for you to see Pulse from Cocoon in XIII, the ground underneath someone's feet would need to be transparant. In XIII, no one in Cocoon had any idea what Pulse was like, moreover, Lightning said that Cocoon had spend the last 700 years in constant fear of a Pulse invasion. I have a hard time believing that half of Cocoon could look up and see the uninhabited grasslands of Pulse on any given sunny day.

And if they are inside Cocoon. Where is this natural weather this guard is talking about coming from anyway?

For someone born and raised on Cocoon - fal'Cie weather is normal weather. Places like Sunleth Waterscape, where the humans can (via devices) interact with weather related fal'Cie to change the weather for that one place - that would be artificial.

I know... Me + Speculation = Wall of Text.

fal'Cie are beyond human thought. They are indeed closer to the gods, in their own ways. So... who knows what's going on in and about Cocoon. It was just speculation that a fal'Cie could be the barrier between Cocoon and Gran Pulse. Said barrier may still need to allow things such as air to come into Cocoon so the other fal'Cie in charge of other living conditions can properly work. Then again, we have Aero, Aerora and Aeroga, so... They may not need Gran Pulse.

I understand what you're saying about a Sphere. What I meant was this: It is stated that when someone on Cocoon looks up they see other parts of Cocoon. Well, Serah looks and points up and says, "... that's Pulse." How can she see Gran Pulse, if one is only supposed to be seeing other parts of Cocoon? Hence, why I speculated - perhaps erroneously in at least some of my idea. How can she see Gran Pulse if they are supposed to be seeing other parts of Cocoon?

The whole thing is very convoluted.

Now I'm thinking that the War of Transgression may have done more than ripped a hole into Cocoon - perhaps it shifted the whole sphere...?!

 

[Roger]

For someone born and raised on Cocoon - fal'Cie weather is normal weather. Places like Sunleth Waterscape, where the humans can (via devices) interact with weather related fal'Cie to change the weather for that one place - that would be artificial.

I know... Me + Speculation = Wall of Text.

fal'Cie are beyond human thought. They are indeed closer to the gods, in their own ways. So... who knows what's going on in and about Cocoon. It was just speculation that a fal'Cie could be the barrier between Cocoon and Gran Pulse. Said barrier may still need to allow things such as air to come into Cocoon so the other fal'Cie in charge of other living conditions can properly work. Then again, we have Aero, Aerora and Aeroga, so... They may not need Gran Pulse.

I understand what you're saying about a Sphere. What I meant was this: It is stated that when someone on Cocoon looks up they see other parts of Cocoon. Well, Serah looks and points up and says, "... that's Pulse." How can she see Gran Pulse, if one is only supposed to be seeing other parts of Cocoon? Hence, why I speculated - perhaps erroneously in at least some of my idea. How can she see Gran Pulse if they are supposed to be seeing other parts of Cocoon?

The whole thing is very convoluted.

Now I'm thinking that the War of Transgression may have done more than ripped a hole into Cocoon - perhaps it shifted the whole sphere...?!

Ragnarok was strong, but literaly turning Cocoon inside outin it' entirety is a little extreme. Like I said, Serah could see a planet covering the entire sky, those grasslands are obviously Pulse, so they must be on Cocoon. But I take that to mean on the outside of Cocoon as opposed to the inside as we were in XIII. Cause yeah, you can start up XIII in any chapter in Cocoon and look up and see lights in the sky. Those aren't stars, certainly isn't Pulse, those are other cities on Cocoon. Sazh flew up at Lake Bresha, went straight through Phoenix at the center of Cocoons sky and crash landed at the Vile Peaks on the other side, it's not like Cocoon is just a giant snowglobe, there's land on all sides.

Now I have to admit. I dunno how the Hanging Edge and Lake Bresha quite work. the Hanging Edge just being an area near the place where Fang nearly tore a hole into Cocoon and thus made uninhabitable is one thing, but how can Lake Bresha be a relatively close distance directly underneath the Hanging Edge. And yeah, the map doesn't exactly clear up how in God's name that works.



Did they fix the crack like this? Just put a spare piece of land up there and giving a literal hanging edge over one very unfortunate area of Cocoon, this being Lake Bresha.

 

[Dana Scully]

The guards in that area are wearing Guardian Corps uniforms, not PSICOM.

My bad, thanks for the correction.

 

[Alex Strife]

Is it possible (just asking) that there is artificial gravity inside Cocoon, so they would be... well, basically turned down, so they see Pulse on the top, and they'd have Pulse's sky below them? Just asking, really.

 

[Glaurung]

Is it possible (just asking) that there is artificial gravity inside Cocoon, so they would be... well, basically turned down, so they see Pulse on the top, and they'd have Pulse's sky below them? Just asking, really.

It is. People lived INSIDE a hollow sphere (kinda like the concept of a Dyson Sphere). In order to allow people to live in all parts of the interior, not only at the bottom, the gravity field had to pull them OUTWARDS, instead of inwards, like in Pulse, or like in our Earth. So it is plausible that people didn't see stars, but cities and forests when they looked up (I watched a lot of gameplay and I had a bit of claustrophobia with that ).

 

[Roger]

Yeah, if you are at the center of Cocoon you'd have equal gravity pulling you in every direction.

 

[Arianna]

The fal'Cie not only maintained this, they also taught humans about it; this is how the military is able to have anti-gravity devices as well as the manadrive:various spells.

 

[Arianna]

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is currently 70% complete.

Just a bump to post about a very short, one page article in this week's Jump.

Via Anoop at http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2011/06/12/ffxiii_jump/

Nothing new in it, except that the pictures are the same from E3 with Japanese text.

EDITED: For Japan, 'Optima Change' is being changed to 'Paradigm Shift'.

 

[Roger]

For English, 'Optima Change' is being changed to 'Paradigm Shift'.

You sure it's not the other way around?

 

[Tetsujin]

You sure it's not the other way around?

Yeah, they say that it's the Japanese version that switched to calling it Paradigm Shift now as well.

 

[Arianna]

Another (small) article!

http://www.gameinformer.com:80/b/ne...antasy-xiii-2-will-have-multiple-endings.aspx

You sure it's not the other way around?

I read it again. Gods. I can't read right anymore.

You're right. Optima Change has been changed to the Western 'Paradigm Shift'.

Thanks for posting that Ari, I was just about to

...

Sauce: http://translate.googleusercontent....2.html&usg=ALkJrhjVK1Us1SqZS8dNi2Nk7Dp6OwdHfA

You're welcome. Thank you for the article!

What is the actual translation (or at least, what do they mean) to the paragraph about XIII-2 being 'lighter'???

 

[Tetsujin]

The fact they say that the multiple ending deal is a first for the series points to it not being like X-2 where you just unlock post-credits scenes. Good. =p

Could the “grown up” nature of the multiple conclusions hint at the series’ first sex scene?

...between Fang x Vanille?

 

[Glaurung]

Toriyama pointed out that the love story angle may not be going away completely, and that the player will be able to influence the game's conclusion.

So, its doesn't focus completely on a love story, but neither ignores it. I see it as a good balance.

I wonder if they thought about a "rival romance" for Lightning

 

[Roger]

Yes, multiple endings where we can make Serah stay married to Snow or choose to get with... Lightning? Really? Wasn't Lightning her sister, who is buds with Snow now? Who left Serah with Snow? I'd have thought there'd be a more obvious alternate option to snow.

But hey, keep the dream alive Gameinformer.

 

[Glaurung]

Yes, multiple endings where we can make Serah stay married to Snow or choose to get with... Lightning? Really? Wasn't Lightning her sister, who is buds with Snow now? Who left Serah with Snow? I'd have thought there'd be a more obvious alternate option to snow.

But hey, keep the dream alive Gameinformer.

I saw that line as a weird thing too, but it's just the writer's especulation (or hope, who knows? )

 

[Tetsujin]

I don't see what's weird about that?

A situation where you can only either save a family member or your husband, tough decision and all that. It wasn't supposed to be read as "lol, let Serah dump Snow and have a lesbian relationship with her sis"

 

[Roger]

I don't see what's weird about that?

A situation where you can only either save a family member or your husband, tough decision and all that. It wasn't supposed to be read as "lol, let Serah dump Snow and have a lesbian relationship with her sis"

What do you mean, the comment they made was in response to the love story thing. I was joking about the lesbian but still, it seems that they are talking about who Serah is going to end up living with, rather then full on choosing to let die, which I find a pretty strange interpretation, considering Snow and Serah have gotten marrid with lightning approval.

 

[Marle]

I just want as little of Snow as possible in this game.