Similar to the FF XV thread, I thought it would be cool to have a general discussion thread for the next big Final Fantasy game that will be out.
Lightning Returns is the 3rd (and final) installment in the Final Fantasy XIII - Saga, as well as the 4th installment of the Fabula Nova Crystallis - Compilation. Its is the very first 2nd sequel to a FF game and to make it fresh and distinctive from its predecessors its enormously different in virtually every aspect.
Set 500 years after FF XIII-2, LR features an entirely new world known as Nova Chrysalia. The entire original playable cast of FF XIII will be featured in the game along with Noel from XIII-2 and several new characters such as the female Lumina who bears a striking resemblance to the late Serah Farron from the the two previous games. the game will apparently have a much darker and grittier tone and in great contrast to the original game have a vast freely explorable world, with also lots of sidequests and optional challenges, pushing the powers of the current gen consoles to limits that werent possible with FF XIII in 2009.
Two major changes are the fact that Lightning returns (hence the title) as the sole playable character and the fact that the player has only a limited amount of time to save the world and is racing against a "Doomsday clock". Another big change is that the world is not always the same, depending on the time, allowing access to locations or events only at very specific moments for instance.
Lightning herself has been awakened from her crystal sleep by the supreme god Bhunivelze himself to be the "Savior", Bhunivelzes champion to save the souls of the new world from complete annihilation and ensuring their rebirth in a new world once the old one is gone for good. To ensure the rebirth of Serahs soul, Lightning agrees to take on the role of the Savior. This new life of hers brings her into conflict with old allies such as Snow or Noel.
Snow is now a more bittered, darker character, still reeling from the loss of Serah (and suffering over 500 years from that surely can take a toll) and the mayor of a city and apparently also still a Lcie. Hope is back to his original look from FF XIII and is Lightnings greatest ally, who aids her in an "Oracle"-esque kind of way (Batman fans will understand the comparison^^) on her mission. Sazh, once again is fighting for his son and is more desperate than ever and Fang and Vanille (both painfully missed in XIII-2) are back in full as well. Fang is part of a band of thieves in the Dead Dunes while Vanille can now hear the dead and is involved with a religious order in the city of Luxerion. Noel is now a vigilante, trying to prevent a prophecy of doom.
The most notable feature of LR is the new battle system which (like FF XV) abandons the traditional battle screen and goes instead for a much more dynamic and action oriented battle system which by the looks of it will also be more versatile and demanding then the paradigm-system in XIII and XIII-2. Most notably Lightning has now a large amount of different outfits, each presenting her with different skills and abilities and their own ATB gauge. Much like in FF X-2, she can change these costumes mid-battle and several of the costumes are based on famous Final Fantasy characters such as Yuna, Aerith or Cloud.
The game is produced by many of the same developers who also worked on the two predecessors. Its directed by Motomu Toriyama and produced by Yoshinori Kitase.
The game will be released on November 21, 2013 in Japan and in February 2014 worldwide for Playstation 3 and X Box 360.
Lightning Returns is the 3rd (and final) installment in the Final Fantasy XIII - Saga, as well as the 4th installment of the Fabula Nova Crystallis - Compilation. Its is the very first 2nd sequel to a FF game and to make it fresh and distinctive from its predecessors its enormously different in virtually every aspect.
Set 500 years after FF XIII-2, LR features an entirely new world known as Nova Chrysalia. The entire original playable cast of FF XIII will be featured in the game along with Noel from XIII-2 and several new characters such as the female Lumina who bears a striking resemblance to the late Serah Farron from the the two previous games. the game will apparently have a much darker and grittier tone and in great contrast to the original game have a vast freely explorable world, with also lots of sidequests and optional challenges, pushing the powers of the current gen consoles to limits that werent possible with FF XIII in 2009.
Two major changes are the fact that Lightning returns (hence the title) as the sole playable character and the fact that the player has only a limited amount of time to save the world and is racing against a "Doomsday clock". Another big change is that the world is not always the same, depending on the time, allowing access to locations or events only at very specific moments for instance.
Lightning herself has been awakened from her crystal sleep by the supreme god Bhunivelze himself to be the "Savior", Bhunivelzes champion to save the souls of the new world from complete annihilation and ensuring their rebirth in a new world once the old one is gone for good. To ensure the rebirth of Serahs soul, Lightning agrees to take on the role of the Savior. This new life of hers brings her into conflict with old allies such as Snow or Noel.
Snow is now a more bittered, darker character, still reeling from the loss of Serah (and suffering over 500 years from that surely can take a toll) and the mayor of a city and apparently also still a Lcie. Hope is back to his original look from FF XIII and is Lightnings greatest ally, who aids her in an "Oracle"-esque kind of way (Batman fans will understand the comparison^^) on her mission. Sazh, once again is fighting for his son and is more desperate than ever and Fang and Vanille (both painfully missed in XIII-2) are back in full as well. Fang is part of a band of thieves in the Dead Dunes while Vanille can now hear the dead and is involved with a religious order in the city of Luxerion. Noel is now a vigilante, trying to prevent a prophecy of doom.
The most notable feature of LR is the new battle system which (like FF XV) abandons the traditional battle screen and goes instead for a much more dynamic and action oriented battle system which by the looks of it will also be more versatile and demanding then the paradigm-system in XIII and XIII-2. Most notably Lightning has now a large amount of different outfits, each presenting her with different skills and abilities and their own ATB gauge. Much like in FF X-2, she can change these costumes mid-battle and several of the costumes are based on famous Final Fantasy characters such as Yuna, Aerith or Cloud.
The game is produced by many of the same developers who also worked on the two predecessors. Its directed by Motomu Toriyama and produced by Yoshinori Kitase.
The game will be released on November 21, 2013 in Japan and in February 2014 worldwide for Playstation 3 and X Box 360.
