I guess the thing is, it all comes down to profit. XIII and XIII-2 might have been mediocre games (the reviews for XIII-2 were quite good though) but they sold for a decent amount and could help pay the bills. I can see fans who don't approve of the games facepalming over SE not spending more on other games, but in the end they are worth making. I wish they put out Versus already, that might have helped a bit with the criticism.
IMO XIII is seriously underrated. The problem of XIII is that it's name is Final Fantasy 13. It should have been named "Journey to Pulse" or something else and made slightly different, and people might have approved - I dunno.
At the same time I think it's sad XIII feels sort of... unfinished. I think they came 75% close to creating a masterpiece, and then it sorta fell apart. Lex and I talked a lot about this during our recent playthrough. Take the upgrading system, for instance. It fails because finding gil is hard until you reach the Archylte Steppe and you can start farming, and besides upgrading isn't worth it until you've finished the game anyway. The weapon system combined with the battle system is absolutely brilliant though. Just the whole idea of the different synergized (sp?) abilities the different items and weapons produces - there are a LOT of unexplored stuff going on here. If I didn't continue playing after finishing the game, I wouldn't even know about these things.
So when I say underrated, what I mean is that if you can look behind the obvious flaws and annoying things in the game, they really did create something special and I wish it hadn't tripped in the mud right before the finish line. But they'd been polishing on the thing for years, hadn't they - they had to launch it or go bankrupt I assume
I guess the thing is, it all comes down to profit. XIII and XIII-2 might have been mediocre games (the reviews for XIII-2 were quite good though) but they sold for a decent amount and could help pay the bills. I can see fans who don't approve of the games facepalming over SE not spending more on other games, but in the end they are worth making. I wish they put out Versus already, that might have helped a bit with the criticism.
IMO XIII is seriously underrated. The problem of XIII is that it's name is Final Fantasy 13. It should have been named "Journey to Pulse" or something else and made slightly different, and people might have approved - I dunno.
At the same time I think it's sad XIII feels sort of... unfinished. I think they came 75% close to creating a masterpiece, and then it sorta fell apart. Lex and I talked a lot about this during our recent playthrough. Take the upgrading system, for instance. It fails because finding gil is hard until you reach the Archylte Steppe and you can start farming, and besides upgrading isn't worth it until you've finished the game anyway. The weapon system combined with the battle system is absolutely brilliant though. Just the whole idea of the different synergized (sp?) abilities the different items and weapons produces - there are a LOT of unexplored stuff going on here. If I didn't continue playing after finishing the game, I wouldn't even know about these things.
So when I say underrated, what I mean is that if you can look behind the obvious flaws and annoying things in the game, they really did create something special and I wish it hadn't tripped in the mud right before the finish line. But they'd been polishing on the thing for years, hadn't they - they had to launch it or go bankrupt I assume
I enjoyed the XIII and XIII-2 series a bunch, although I know a lot of people didn't.
The issue with XIII imo, was not having enough control, forcing your players in a straight line. This is done storywise, worldwise, and gameplaywise. That and Toriyama needs to invest in some writers to clean up his dialogue. You didn't get full control of your team until chapter 10, (or was it 9?), your stats are pretty much set, and you didn't really get to interact with the world- except for Pulse but Pulse had only broken civilizations. And the lack of world and straightforward plot got confusing because it took awhile for people to grasp significant concepts- like those of fal'cie.
XIII-2 fixed these problems, although XIII-2's problems are mostly lack of polish. It's as unlinear as a FF can get (with maybe the exception of 6?), better storytelling, and the writing still sucks but it's sort of mediated by the idea that the game didn't always take itself seriously so it was hammy and it knew it, even poked fun of itself and characters- something XIII didn't really do. But everything in XIII was well thought out, different weapons had different uses other than just being being stronger, every role was important, early on they gave you enemies that complimented your talents, and fights were structured to give you challenges without being impossible.
XIII-2 didn't really have that, and that's the trade off between giving you a lot more freedom and sidequests, and being constrained but being to balance all aspects pretty... well... perfectly. Another problem with XIII-2 is its absolute mess of a plot, which even for a timetravel story was lulz. I had to play certain parts more than once to understand different issues. That said the core of the game is really the emotional story rather than the plot, more specifically the Noel-Yuel-Caius story.
Say what you will, I think XIII-2 wasn't a terrible move. I mean yeah from a fandom standpoint it seems silly, but I meant that the Crystal Engine was created for this game, and not for others. Giving XIII another sequel was on a whole, not needed because XIII had ended perfectly, but XIII did have the mythological background created before the game (Novalis mythos), it had the same models and backgrounds so they didn't need to start from scratch, the entire team was already assembled and didn't need to be remade, the battlesystem despite its detractors did get mostly positive reviews so they didn't need to make a new one.
Then they went out to address most of the issues that were brought up, the storytelling was made easier, the worlds were nonlinear to the point you could address different storylines at different times (or at least the Snow story whenever you wanted), maps opened up and towns or at least NPC activity was increased, and tried to implement player interactivity. They didn't always succeed but it was obvious the experimentation was there.
tl;dr XIII-2 was a safe bet because it allowed Final Fantasy to experiment with a lot of things XIII was scared of, and they could it at relatively low cost because they had the same models and backgrounds, teams, and the fanbase was still active. Hell they even messed with different ways of development, XIII-2 actually outsource pieces of their game to other companies to help speed up time, something iirc, they mentioned doing beforehand to increase production time and get games out at a reasonable time. Considering how long it took XII and XIII, and lets not mention VXIII, this is probably more of a good thing than a scary thing.
I mean while the Chrono series, Ivalice, SaGa, hell, even other entries in FF collect dust, the
I'm kind of wary about blaming XIII series for other series tbh. Besides having different teams; the Chono series is dead. Whether or not XIII had sequels or not, there would be no Chrono series. Why, fuck if I know, they are dumb, but the Chrono series isn't getting attention not because XIII but because they don't care. They canceled Break a billion years ago and haven't touched it since. If XIII was stopped now or when it first began they wouldn't be closer into making a new Chrono game. Because... as reiterated, they are dumb.
Since XII and XIII, Ivalice has had two other games under its belt. Revenant Wings and Grimoire. And maybe War of Lions I don't know but it has a Balthier cameo so probably. They were under a portable system but they lacked a lot of what made XIII-2 possible, because the PS2 was at the end of its years and it made no sense building another big game on it, and therefore they would have to start from scratch again. And it was being considered for another game, but that fell through probably more on the developers they outsourced it to fault. So Ivalice did get its time in the sun post XII.
I dunno about Saga, but the same applies to the other Final Fantasies. Its better to release a sequel to a game that's freshly out because there's still a decently active fanbase with a story fresh in its mind, everything is already rendered, with a team already knowing what its doing. Besides, IV has two other games under its belt, X has a sequel and is getting a HD port, and VII... lol.
Not to mention its not like all the other projects are dead. Since XIII, Type-0 was pushed out, Dissidia 012, Kingdom Hearts BBS and DDD (and these were actually good games with a good deal of effort behind them unlike the rest of the games- so much so that they are considered to be on part with numbered titles), and a new Parasite Eve game (fucking terrible but at least they pushed it out) Thearhythm, Dragon Quest, XIV (an embarrassment), probably a relaunched XIV (hopefully less of an embarrassment) were released.
Versus is sad, but Versus has its own problems since its director is always doing a new Kingdom Hearts game anyways, plus they decided to build an entirely NEW engine right in the middle of development for it. They have their own problems.
Kitase: Including the initial development of novels and FFXIII-2’s DLC, Lightning Returns is also part of this extension [of the FFXIII series.] This production can be seen as the conclusion of the Lighting Saga which connects back to FFXIII-2. It closes the Lightning saga, but it’s not a game to be held to the rest of the series, and we’re building new gameplay systems for it. The title reflects that, and it is also stressed once again that this is the last game that will portray Lightning. Kamikokuryou: Kitase has requested the logo to be different from previous FFs, so that’s why we changed it. Toriyama: The concept this time is the newly coined term, “World Driven.” The first entry (FFXIII) was mainly tied by story and can be called “Story Driven.” XIII-2 was mainly conducted by player’s choices and can be said to be “Player Driven.” The world of Lightning Returns is changing within every moment depending on the action of the player. This is what we mean by “World Driven.” Abe: The time passing in game is tied to real world time – you can witness the various changes. This entry’s story progresses through quest completions. Actions such as completing quests will increase the timer. One day in the game equates to about 1-2 hours in real world time. LRFFXIII starts 13 days before the end of the world. Depending on player’s actions, it is possible that the 13th day may not be reached as each action can alter the time remaining in the world. Toriyama: If you Game Over, you’ll be able to carry over all of your items to the next play through. We designed it that way so that the game can be enjoyed many times because of this. Abe: The game’s clear time for one play through is designed to not be longer than many tens of of hours. Toriyama: World Driven also means that the game has links to the real world. In an online environment there are devices that users can use naturally to communicate. Kitase: It’s an even greater experience compared to the Facebook connection found in FFXIII-2. Toriyama: The world of Lightning Returns came into being at the end of XIII-2 when the Chaos of Valhalla combined with the real world. Novus Partus – the new world – begins to decay as a result of this. Because of the effects of Chaos, time has stopped for all people. They do not age nor die, and this has been going on for hundreds of years.
The people in the game are emotionally affected by this sense of immortality, and they’ve grown to see death in a completely different way. Toriyama: I can’t give out details yet, but the main characters from previous the entries will also make appearances. Kamikokuryou: The illustration of Novus Partus was designed to bring together all the elements in a single image. The idea behind it is a world formed with Etro’s shrine and the distant celestial bodies. Toriyama: The former form of Novus Partus was Gran Pulse; however, it is now mixed with the ensuing Chaos which has destroyed most of its original form. The last bit of land left is the stage of this installment. There are two continents of natural terrain and two continents of urban environments for a total of four pieces that make up the current world. Kamikokuryou: The city of light, Luxerion, has an unbelievable presentation much like a fairy tale. I wanted to make something distorted from reality. The scenario stems from a world going towards its end, and so the design also reflects that by mixing gothic elements into it.
I put the monorail system into the art because you’re traveling freely around this big world, and I thought it would be good if this type of transport could be featured in it. Toriyama and the rest of the team liked the idea enough that they decided to implement it as part of the gameplay. Toriyama: Lightning’s goal is to figure out how to save the world. Toriyama: About Serah, let’s just say that she went on journey to “save all” for now. Toriyama: So far, every installment has focused on a different god. This time the story is related to the awakening of Bhunivelze. The people of Luxerion worship him and wish for him to return to bring about a new world. Toriyama: The purpose of this project is to completely revive Lightning as a character, and so that is the reason why she is the only one playable. The degree of personalization for her will be quite high. Abe: The game features something known as Styles as part of the customization system. You can set up several outfits comprised of various equipment which create different skills for battle. Players can preset different Styles and change between them in this way. Instead of selecting commands, you will be pressing buttons that correspond to individual abilities.
Dress Spheres from FFX-2 were similar to jobs, but the Styles here are more about deconstructing the individual elements that make up jobs. Abilities are also different from before. For example, you can’t create a pure “White Mage” – that’s why we are calling it Styles because it works differently from your typical job system. There is a lot of freedom in terms of customization, so you can create a well-balanced character or an all-powerful one. Toriyama: Even though the battle system is similar to an action game, there still will be an ATB gauge. Abe: Lightning fights by herself with the focus is solely on her, so the player can move around with a great amount of freedom. The gameplay will also have timing based mechanics. Kamikokuryou: This time, the number of organic based monsters has also increased. Toriyama: Boss battles and tougher enemy types are being designed to be a rich battle experience. The key will be to destroy various body parts on the monsters. Kitase: Because the motion for both Lightning and the monsters has increased, the variation of battles will be plentiful. Abe: We’ll try our best to make sure everything we’ve said in this interview becomes a reality. Kamikakuryou: Most of the in-game assets have been newly designed. Novus Partus has been created from the ground up out of many drawings. Lightning herself also looks quite beautiful now. Toriyama: The game’s development is at about 30% currently. This is the final title with which Lightning can see a happy ending. She’s going to face a final trial in this battle, one that puts her against the very legend that she spent all this time creating. Even though there aren’t multiple endings, you certainly can run into bad endings if you run out of time – resulting in the world being destroyed. Kitase: Lightning has been with us since 2006, so we’ve known her for a long time. She will be the focus in Lightning Returns to compensate for the fact that she didn’t see much screen time in the previous game.
'make an appearance' better entail more than the 5 seconds of fang/vanille we got in xiii-2
i mean good for hope and all (i think it's neat that he's the guide) but i will flip my shit if we do not get some decent screentime with the rest of the cast from XIII/XIII-2
anyways i feel rather...cautious about this game. i am a total whore for lightning but until i see how the fuck they're gonna tie a brand new world into the plot/world established in xiii-2 i just can't get excited.
The way I 'read' the videos, were like 'the last time we saw lightning, she had slept in crystal for several hundred years... blah blah... now she's prepared to yet again' etc.
The way they set up the last DLC of XIII-2 resembles a lot the way they've described the game so far. To me, it make sense that they used that DLC to experiment their way of how single player Lightning would be in a game. Of course this is just me thinking out loud. But for the story to not be related to XIII and XIII-2, that just makes no sense to me.
I mean, even the title, 'Lightning Returns', suggests she's returning to something, meaning there has to have been that something in the first place.
I had a language blemish there. I didn't necessarily mean returning to something, It was more of a "if there is a 2, there must have been a 1". As in why would they make a story completely detached to XIII and XIII-2 and call it "L returns".
This makes me so incredibly excited. (Even if it says "not final artwork". ) And March is very early, I'd expected something like 3rd or 4th quarter!! Thanks for sharing.
This makes me so incredibly excited. (Even if it says "not final artwork". ) And March is very early, I'd expected something like 3rd or 4th quarter!! Thanks for sharing.
March 29th might just be a placeholder date so they can start taking pre-orders for the game. Personally, I feel like the game would be a rush job if it were to be released only six months from now. I'll just wait until SE announces the official release dates.
That said, I'd like to see LR: FFXIII make an appearance at Jump Festa 2013, so we can finally see some screenshots, or even a trailer (fingers crossed).
Maybe this is the game where they use all those unused assets from FFXIII (Yes, I have the theory that those assets have been used or will be used somewhere in FFXIII )
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