Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

[Flawless]

IGN

Square Enix has announced Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. Set to arrive in 2013, Lightning Returns will incorporate “a brand-new story, world, characters and an enhanced gameplay system,” according to Square Enix. The game will feature Lightning as a solo playable character and allow her to freely roam a new world.

Other details regarding Lightning Returns are limited. We do know that the main story takes place hundreds of years after Final Fantasy XIII-2, set in a world called Novus Partus -- which is composed of four islands connected by monorail. The development team told IGN that three of the guiding pillars for the art direction in Lightning Returns are "gothic, mechanical and fantasy."

The most startling change to Lightning Returns comes in the form of the doomsday countdown. According to Square-Enix, the world will end after 13 days, and a massive clock will count down constantly in the corner of the screen to indicate this looming deadline. Any action players take, even taking the monorail from place to place, will spend time and hasten the end of days.

With Lightning as the only playable character, players will have unparalleled control over customizing her looks and combat style. The battle system itself, a greatly modified version of the previous two, will feature real-time elements including direct control of Lightning's movement and her attacks, as well as time-based moves that drain the doomsday counter. Lightning Returns will also include a real-time block system, designed to make battles much more active and time-based. Even dying mid-battle will activate a prompt to give players the choice to rewind their mistakes at the expense of the timer.

Square Enix confirmed that Lightning Returns will be the final chapter of Lightning’s saga, which began in Final Fantasy XIII back in 2010.

[Burns11]

Re: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

Coming 2014, Final Fantasy XIII: We Don't Care How Much It Sucks We Are Going To Keep Cramming It Down Your Throat Until We Make Our Development Costs Back

[Flawless]

Re: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

More details:

1UP

Not unlike Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and its hero Zack Fair, the entire game revolves around her; she explores on her own, fights combat solo, and singlehandedly bears the burden of saving the world from a looming apocalypse. Surprisingly, the combat system takes an even more action-oriented style than Crisis Core. Square has completely swept away the menu-driven, hands-off system that served so effectively in the first two chapters of FFXIII, pouring its resources instead into a system that allows players to control Lightning directly in single combat against foes.

Menus are out. Instead, players can assign four skills or commands to the controller's face buttons and execute them instantly. If this sounds suspiciously similar to Kingdom Hearts, realize the overlap only goes so far. Lightning fights in a far less button-mashy style than Sora and friends, with considerably less air-combo time, and she's not limited to a single use of each power followed by a cooldown period. Instead, her commands run on a Active-Time Battle gauge in the classic Final Fantasy style, and each ability comes with a corresponding ATB cost. This system doesn't employ the same fixed costs as in FFXIII and XIII-2, though, and the meter isn't segmented as it was in those games. The result is a faster-paced battle system than in any previous Final Fantasy, but a far less manic one than in the earlier FFXIII titles. There's far less screen clutter and extraneous information flying about, and the battle camera stays fairly fixed on Lightning rather than cutting to dramatic angles in the heat of combat.

That's an essential design choice, because Lightning Returns drops the classic hands-off style of Final Fantasy combat for something much more focused on timing and reflexes. This is certainly no God of War, but nevertheless the game requires a nimble touch. Players can move Lightning freely about the field during combat, managing relative distance from opponents and dodging or parrying enemy attacks. Previous Final Fantasy games have flirted with the idea of allowing player control in combat, but even in Final Fantasy XI and XII it ultimately amounted to window dressing that had little impact on the action. By dropping the concept of a party and allowing the heroine to fly solo, Lightning Returns brings a genuine real-time mechanic to the series while integrating a touch of Super Mario RPG-style "timed hits."

Real-time combat? It's there. An open world with a quest-based, non-linear structure? Supposedly that's in, too, and better realized than FFXIII-2's. Full character customization in which tweaks to her skills corresponds to visual changes? Lightning can go full-in as a physical bruiser, a spell-slinging mage, or even as a more nuanced combatant. From what we understand these abilities are largely gear-based, potentially offering her the same flexibility as characters enjoyed with the Materia system of FFVII and Crisis Core.

Perhaps the most interesting feature of LR:FFXIII's battle system, however, is the new "Overclock" ability. Overclock allows Lightning to slow the flow of combat for everyone but herself, gaining the upper hand against difficult foes. The tradeoff, however, is that using Overclock costs time.

And time is of the essence in this game. Just as FFXIII spanned 13 days (revealed through flashbacks sprinkled throughout the story), LR:FFXIII also takes place across 13 days. In this case, however, that period of time serves as a countdown to an apocalypse. In just shy of two weeks, the world will end, and Lightning's goal is to prevent it.

This may sound awfully reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, but I think a better comparison might be to Valkyrie Profile or Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter. As in Valkyrie Profile -- a game created by tri-Ace, who incidentally co-developed FFXIII-2 -- Square tells us that if you reach the end of the 13-day countdown without having beaten the game, you may be thrust into the final battle regardless. On the other hand, you may also be able to start over, potentially carrying across skills and materials (the developers have yet to determine the specifics). In that sense, LR:FFXIII reminds us more of Dragon Quarter, a game designed around the assumption that you'd screw things up and need to restart, replaying the quest with enhanced strength and abilities that built with every new attempt.

What makes LR:FFXIII particularly Dragon Quarter-like is the way it treats time as a sort currency. Treasures cost time to access (the more powerful the item within, the more time required). Overclocking apparently burns several minutes per use, much like abusing the ability to transform into a dragon in Dragon Quarter added to the constant advance of Ryu's deadly D-meter, marking your progression to the inevitable end of your quest. And should Lightning fall in combat, it's not necessarily game over; rather, a menu appears that allows players to choose to quit or cast a healing spell. The rub? Casting a spell like Arise costs 100 minutes, a not-insignificant investment when you're on a 13-day deadline. Is it worthwhile to burn time and continue or simply accept failure gracefully? Trade-offs like these give Lightning Returns the potential to force interesting decisions on players, requiring consideration and long-term strategic thinking.

[jreezy18]

Re: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

Another one...Why am I not surprised.

[weeeeeeez]

Stopped playing after FF X. What's up with the lead character being all girls now ?

[Chrisksaint]

Re: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

I just wished they stuck with the combat system of like FFX, then I'd buy any game they made probably

[LionsFanNJ]

So...Versus XIII is just vaporware huh. Ok then.

[KSUowls]

Re: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

I guess I'm the one excited for this?

I was excited when XIII-2 was announced and that Lightning would be in it. Of course I found out that she was only in it for like 10 minutes of the game so it's still sitting in the wrapper. She's probably my favorite character in the franchise, certainly of the main ones.

So yeah. I'm stoked for the opportunity to explore her character in more detail.

[jfsolo]

Re: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

So...Versus XIII is just vaporware huh. Ok then.

IGN reported in July that Versus was basically cancelled without any announcement.

As to this game, I love Lightning, but as of right now this will be the second straight FF game that I skipped, making it 3 out of the last 5 that I've avoided. Sadly, I'm thinking the FF series maybe dead to me.

[Flawless]

Re: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

They said Versus was still in development before this was announced at their event. It won't be at TGS though, so I'm starting to think it's no longer a current-gen game, and ultimately, may just end being FFXV.

Conceptually, I think Lightning Returns sounds interesting (much more so than XIII and XIII-2), but probably would've been better served to use these concepts in a new IP.

[jreezy18]

Re: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

So...Versus XIII is just vaporware huh. Ok then.

No, it's still in development. One of the higher ups at Square Enix, can't remember his name, was in a meeting last month and said the game is looking amazing.

[Chrisksaint]

Re: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

It does look like an interesting concept

[MarvellousOne]

Re: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

They are really trying there best to milk Final Fantasy 13 series and it's really tiring, I personally think they just need to move on from this and finish versus 13 or start developing FF15. Just my .02 cents on the ordeal

[LionsFanNJ]

Re: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

It seems because of the backlash of the original XIII, they're determined to "try" and make up for it with variations of it. Its like they were personally offended it wasn't that well received

[AUChase]

Re: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

I'm going to remain optimistic for now, but the past two Final Fantasy games have turned me off of the series. I hate the fight/combat system.. I just couldn't play it. It didn't feel anything like Final Fantasy.

I'm sure someone is enjoying it, though.