Splintered
unsavory tart
Well, there are two types of chocobos, these are the Pulse kind. Only with... gear.
Final Fantasy XIII-2
- Thread starter DrakeClawfang
- Start date
Splintered
unsavory tart
me gusta.
Like these much more than I like her original design.
Like these much more than I like her original design.
ForceStealer
Double Growth
Sounds like a function to me 
That Little Red Riding Hood one though is really weird.
That Little Red Riding Hood one though is really weird.
Fangu
Great Old One
"There will also be plenty of Lightning." Thank you, thank you.
Celes Chere
Banned
- AKA
- Noctis
That sexy red riding hood outfit gives me very delightful feelings.
AvecAloes
Donator
Sounds like a function to me
Hmm...too bad I don't...nevermind.
The red one is odd. I mean, relatively speaking. I have to say though, if I could have that black coat/vest thing, I'd wear it all the time.
Celes Chere
Banned
- AKA
- Noctis
The only thing I don't like about the red one is the skirt. why is that piece missing this makes no sense. I actually think the black one is the weird looking one though, lol. /unpopular opinion/
AvecAloes
Donator
I hadn't actually thought of that - red mage. Makes sense. I'm just a little OCD in that I really, really appreciate symmetry, and if there's one thing that outfit lacks, it's symmetry
ForceStealer
Double Growth
You must love all of Nomura's half-skirts 
Tennyo
Higher Further Faster
That looks more like Amano's version of Lightning to me, but I could be wrong.
Also, I think it was pretty much a given that Hope would be important, even if not confirmed before now.
Also, I'm assuming this soundtrack will only be released in Japan?
I will defend Yuna's half skirt in X-2, and whatever it is that Cloud wears in Advent Children.
Maybe Lightning's new feather thing...
Also, I think it was pretty much a given that Hope would be important, even if not confirmed before now.
Also, I'm assuming this soundtrack will only be released in Japan?
You must love all of Nomura's half-skirts
I will defend Yuna's half skirt in X-2, and whatever it is that Cloud wears in Advent Children.
Maybe Lightning's new feather thing...
Glaurung
Forgot the cutesy in my other pants. Sorry.
- AKA
- Mama Dragon
Strangelove
AI Researcher
- AKA
- hitoshura
I guess this is the new interview? (Mentions Hope, so, yeah?)
http://www.xbox.com/ja-JP/Marketplace/Product/ff13-2/interview1
http://www.xbox.com/ja-JP/Marketplace/Product/ff13-2/interview1
Theme/setting: "prayer for rebirth", showing how the characters are going to cope and restore the world after the destruction of Cocoon after the "catastrophe".
The game starts with a mystery feel to it, asking why Lightning isn't there when she was supposed to have been saved. It's the world players know from FFXIII, but in a somewhat different state. The story starts off with the mystery of these distortions in time and space called "Paradoxes", and will have players time travelling to different eras to unravel the secrets behind these irregularities.
The main characters are Serah and a new character Noel. In addition characters from the first game will show up, with Hope being especially involved with the story, linking in with the theme of a "prayer for rebirth". Snow is being Snow, ends up being sort of comical.
Other new characters include Caius and Yeul, who will be weaved into the story as the main characters travel through time. As for how they'll fit into the story, and if they are enemies or allies, that will be left to people's imagination until the game is out.
Time travel does not mean that you will be able to go back to scene from FFXIII, but basically the timeline post-ending of FFXIII. The "catastrophe" at the end of FFXIII is what produced the disturbances in time and space.
Various means have been set up so people can enjoy the game even if they start playing from FFXIII-2 without playing FFXIII first. Such as the "Moogle's Final Fantasy Summary XIII" on the official site, or the "Lost Reports" which show the story from the viewpoint of the enemies of FFXIII. The game itself will also explain the outline of the original game and battle system through tutorials for new players.
Having two main characters was also a choice made with new players in mind. Serah is a character from the original game and thus knows the events of FFXIII. So she sees the story from the same perspective as players who have played the original. Whereas Noel is from the future and doesn't know how Cocoon got into the state it is in now. He has the same level of knowledge as those starting from this game, so those who haven't experienced the first game can enjoy the story through Noel's eyes.
But as it is a sequel the story is a continuation, and since there are systems which have carried over, those who have played the original first will get a deeper enjoyment out of it.
Having save data from the original will give you some special items that, while they don't affect the game balance to a great degree, will be useful to have.
The original used a 'symbol encounter' battle system, where you entered battle if you made contact with the enemy characters walking around on the field. But FFXIII-2 takes up a different system, where enemies will suddenly appear as you're walking around the field screen. In a standard random encounter system this would put you straight into battle, but this game used a system called the "Moogle Clock" where once the enemy symbol appears you have a certain time in which to make contact with it, which allows you to enter battles with an upper hand over the enemy. It's also possible to avoid battles and run away, but failure to escape means you'll enter battle at a disadvantage. Having giant monsters roaming wide-open spaces which you can contact with and battle, which proved popular in the original, is also retained for FFXIII-2.
Monsters make up the third party member in this game, including series favourites like cactuars and chocobos. Monsters have a certain probability of joining you after battles, and there's about 150 types in all. They also grow just like the main characters, some developing faster and others which take a while but eventually become very powerful. The more useful they are the harder it is to get them on your team, but you can raise the probability of them joining based on how you fight in battle, so it would be worth trying to mix up your battle tactics if a monster you want on your team appears.
FFXIII-2 uses the "Paradigm Shift" systems, an evolved form of the original's "Optima" system. It is basically based on the Optima system, but monsters have their own unique Roles, and you can form up to three in battle. When you give the order to change Roles with the Paradigm Shift, an appropriate monster (say Cait Sith if you wanted a Medic) will appear.
So monsters will switch places during battle. In addition to having a Role, monsters also have a special attack called a "Synchro Drive". A special meter fills up as you use monsters in battle, and when that's full you can use it. They have animations like summons from the previous games in the series, but there are now scenes where you need to enter commands with the buttons, which will boost the attack power if successful or give various other merits. That is also featured in the boss battles as well.
The feel of playing the game overall has also changed from the original, which used a game design focusing on fast-paced developments with events happening one after another, which lacked elements of exploration. There were many asking to freely explore the world, so in this game the player themselves can explore the world through time travel, a system called "Historia Cross", offering a much higher degree of freedom than the original.
Historia Cross involves selecting an location in a certain era and travelling there, where as you progress through the story or explore you find a "Gate", which will lead to yet another time period. Some eras have multiple gates, including ones that are difficult to locate.
In a single you can not only further the story but also search for treasure, talk to NPCs, or take on various tasks from inhabitants ("Fragments"). The player explores, discovering Gates to new eras and shaping a future of their own.
An entertaining feature of this game is the ability to go back to eras you've visited before and explore them again. For instance, if there's a monster you can't defeat, you can go to a different era and develop your characters further, then return to the previous era and take on the monster again. Exploring eras again can uncover new Gates and lead to a different era. This is similar to the 'New Game+' system where you can play the game a second time with characters you've levelled up. Even if it's an episode you've already completed, you can not only play from where it ended, but also go back to the start and replay it.
There are also other time travel elements included. For example, if you do something in the world of the past, that will be reflected by changes in the future world. Not just at a minute level, but it also factors into the story developments and these changes will help solve the mysteries of the story.
There are over 100 Fragments in total, which you receive items, skill boosts, etc. for completing. But these aren't related to the main story, so those who want to see how the story turns out can simply ignore them.
There's also mini-games like a casino and chocobo racing, where you can earn coins to use to get items that you can't get anywhere else.
There is a multi-ending system, relating to the Historia Cross system and those hard-to-find Gates.
360 specific news:
The game comes on one disc, but while the number of discs has decreased the volume of the game has increased. The main story runs at about the same time as the original, but there are many other side elements like Fragments and the mini-games.
A majority of the cutscenes in the original were pre-rendered movies/video files, which was a choice made because they couldn't make scenes with the quality they were looking for using real time rendering. As video files take up a lot of memory space, it lead to an increase in the number of discs.
With this game the game engine has advanced, and the quality of the real time rendering has risen. So the majority of the cutscenes are now rendered in real time. This uses a lot less space than pre-rendered movies require, so there were able to fit it into a more compact size without sacrificing image quality.
Another important reason behind opting for real time rendering was that the graphics reflect changes in the characters' outfits and weapons, which are seen in the cutscenes with real time rendering.
Load times have been made so that you can play without long waits when entering battles, which would get stressful when fighting a lot, but there is a wait when moving to a new time period with the Historia Cross. Installing the game onto the 360's hard drive also reduces the load times compared with reading from the disc.
Japanese preorder bonuses include:
- "Seraphic Wing" weapon for Serah from Lawson or HMV
- "Calamity Blade" weapon for Noel from Square Enix's e-STORE
- The first press edition of Mai Fukui's "Yakusoku no Basho" (theme song for the Japanese PS3 version) single includes the "Songstress' Gift", and the mini-album includes the "Goddess' Gospel", which includes download codes for both the PS3 and 360 versions
- There is no bonus for Charice's "New World"
These items won't break the game balance, and there are other items within the game that have similar effects. It would simply make the start of the game a bit easier, and they don't effect the Achievements for the game.
The game starts with a mystery feel to it, asking why Lightning isn't there when she was supposed to have been saved. It's the world players know from FFXIII, but in a somewhat different state. The story starts off with the mystery of these distortions in time and space called "Paradoxes", and will have players time travelling to different eras to unravel the secrets behind these irregularities.
The main characters are Serah and a new character Noel. In addition characters from the first game will show up, with Hope being especially involved with the story, linking in with the theme of a "prayer for rebirth". Snow is being Snow, ends up being sort of comical.
Other new characters include Caius and Yeul, who will be weaved into the story as the main characters travel through time. As for how they'll fit into the story, and if they are enemies or allies, that will be left to people's imagination until the game is out.
Time travel does not mean that you will be able to go back to scene from FFXIII, but basically the timeline post-ending of FFXIII. The "catastrophe" at the end of FFXIII is what produced the disturbances in time and space.
Various means have been set up so people can enjoy the game even if they start playing from FFXIII-2 without playing FFXIII first. Such as the "Moogle's Final Fantasy Summary XIII" on the official site, or the "Lost Reports" which show the story from the viewpoint of the enemies of FFXIII. The game itself will also explain the outline of the original game and battle system through tutorials for new players.
Having two main characters was also a choice made with new players in mind. Serah is a character from the original game and thus knows the events of FFXIII. So she sees the story from the same perspective as players who have played the original. Whereas Noel is from the future and doesn't know how Cocoon got into the state it is in now. He has the same level of knowledge as those starting from this game, so those who haven't experienced the first game can enjoy the story through Noel's eyes.
But as it is a sequel the story is a continuation, and since there are systems which have carried over, those who have played the original first will get a deeper enjoyment out of it.
Having save data from the original will give you some special items that, while they don't affect the game balance to a great degree, will be useful to have.
The original used a 'symbol encounter' battle system, where you entered battle if you made contact with the enemy characters walking around on the field. But FFXIII-2 takes up a different system, where enemies will suddenly appear as you're walking around the field screen. In a standard random encounter system this would put you straight into battle, but this game used a system called the "Moogle Clock" where once the enemy symbol appears you have a certain time in which to make contact with it, which allows you to enter battles with an upper hand over the enemy. It's also possible to avoid battles and run away, but failure to escape means you'll enter battle at a disadvantage. Having giant monsters roaming wide-open spaces which you can contact with and battle, which proved popular in the original, is also retained for FFXIII-2.
Monsters make up the third party member in this game, including series favourites like cactuars and chocobos. Monsters have a certain probability of joining you after battles, and there's about 150 types in all. They also grow just like the main characters, some developing faster and others which take a while but eventually become very powerful. The more useful they are the harder it is to get them on your team, but you can raise the probability of them joining based on how you fight in battle, so it would be worth trying to mix up your battle tactics if a monster you want on your team appears.
FFXIII-2 uses the "Paradigm Shift" systems, an evolved form of the original's "Optima" system. It is basically based on the Optima system, but monsters have their own unique Roles, and you can form up to three in battle. When you give the order to change Roles with the Paradigm Shift, an appropriate monster (say Cait Sith if you wanted a Medic) will appear.
So monsters will switch places during battle. In addition to having a Role, monsters also have a special attack called a "Synchro Drive". A special meter fills up as you use monsters in battle, and when that's full you can use it. They have animations like summons from the previous games in the series, but there are now scenes where you need to enter commands with the buttons, which will boost the attack power if successful or give various other merits. That is also featured in the boss battles as well.
The feel of playing the game overall has also changed from the original, which used a game design focusing on fast-paced developments with events happening one after another, which lacked elements of exploration. There were many asking to freely explore the world, so in this game the player themselves can explore the world through time travel, a system called "Historia Cross", offering a much higher degree of freedom than the original.
Historia Cross involves selecting an location in a certain era and travelling there, where as you progress through the story or explore you find a "Gate", which will lead to yet another time period. Some eras have multiple gates, including ones that are difficult to locate.
In a single you can not only further the story but also search for treasure, talk to NPCs, or take on various tasks from inhabitants ("Fragments"). The player explores, discovering Gates to new eras and shaping a future of their own.
An entertaining feature of this game is the ability to go back to eras you've visited before and explore them again. For instance, if there's a monster you can't defeat, you can go to a different era and develop your characters further, then return to the previous era and take on the monster again. Exploring eras again can uncover new Gates and lead to a different era. This is similar to the 'New Game+' system where you can play the game a second time with characters you've levelled up. Even if it's an episode you've already completed, you can not only play from where it ended, but also go back to the start and replay it.
There are also other time travel elements included. For example, if you do something in the world of the past, that will be reflected by changes in the future world. Not just at a minute level, but it also factors into the story developments and these changes will help solve the mysteries of the story.
There are over 100 Fragments in total, which you receive items, skill boosts, etc. for completing. But these aren't related to the main story, so those who want to see how the story turns out can simply ignore them.
There's also mini-games like a casino and chocobo racing, where you can earn coins to use to get items that you can't get anywhere else.
There is a multi-ending system, relating to the Historia Cross system and those hard-to-find Gates.
360 specific news:
The game comes on one disc, but while the number of discs has decreased the volume of the game has increased. The main story runs at about the same time as the original, but there are many other side elements like Fragments and the mini-games.
A majority of the cutscenes in the original were pre-rendered movies/video files, which was a choice made because they couldn't make scenes with the quality they were looking for using real time rendering. As video files take up a lot of memory space, it lead to an increase in the number of discs.
With this game the game engine has advanced, and the quality of the real time rendering has risen. So the majority of the cutscenes are now rendered in real time. This uses a lot less space than pre-rendered movies require, so there were able to fit it into a more compact size without sacrificing image quality.
Another important reason behind opting for real time rendering was that the graphics reflect changes in the characters' outfits and weapons, which are seen in the cutscenes with real time rendering.
Load times have been made so that you can play without long waits when entering battles, which would get stressful when fighting a lot, but there is a wait when moving to a new time period with the Historia Cross. Installing the game onto the 360's hard drive also reduces the load times compared with reading from the disc.
Japanese preorder bonuses include:
- "Seraphic Wing" weapon for Serah from Lawson or HMV
- "Calamity Blade" weapon for Noel from Square Enix's e-STORE
- The first press edition of Mai Fukui's "Yakusoku no Basho" (theme song for the Japanese PS3 version) single includes the "Songstress' Gift", and the mini-album includes the "Goddess' Gospel", which includes download codes for both the PS3 and 360 versions
- There is no bonus for Charice's "New World"
These items won't break the game balance, and there are other items within the game that have similar effects. It would simply make the start of the game a bit easier, and they don't effect the Achievements for the game.
Strangelove
AI Researcher
- AKA
- hitoshura
Scias
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- Vega, Kyle Hyde
Cloud Strife, disguising himself as a Chocobo so he can get even more screentime
Come on man, that's just low.
Come on man, that's just low.