[03/12] Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Has A World That Changes In Real Time Read more at htt

[Steve-O]

Speaking with 4gamer, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII director Motomu Toriyama talked a big more about how the "world driven" game works. The Final Fantasy XIII team reiterated that FFXIII was "story driven" and FFXIII-2 was "player driven".



Lightning has 13 days to save the world in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. While Lightning tries to change the future, the world moves at its own pace with a 24 hour clock and day/night cycle. Toriyama said "time management" was one of the key systems in Lightning Returns.



Players might not even make it to day 13 because Lightning’s actions can slow down the world’s demise or speed it up. Battle Director Yuji Abe says in-game characters act on their own schedule and there are different events depending on the game time (morning, afternoon, evening, or night), which changes in real time. Square Enix is still adjusting the time of one Final Fantasy XIII day, but Abe says he thinks it will be between 1-2 hours.



Abe hopes fans will discover new events when they replay Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII and players will talk about what they saw during a run through the game. Toriyama said the foundation of Lightning Returns is the world driven concept and like a Daruma otoshi toy (a game where you smack the base of the Daruma with a wooden mallet) each part of Lightning Returns is a different block on the Daruma. Toriyama said he will explain his philosophy for the game design during Game Developer’s Conference which sounds like the next time we’ll hear about major developments in Lightning Returns.


Source: http://www.siliconera.com/2012/12/0...y-xiii-has-a-world-that-changes-in-real-time/

 

[kratoscar2008]

Strangenly this sounds too much akin to Valkyrie Profile. This game doesnt sound that bad but im not taking any chances.

 

[Steve-O]

More Details from IGN

Square Enix has revealed new info about Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. In an interview with 4Gamer, director Motomu Toriyama, producer Yoshinori Kitase, lead designer Yujii Abe and art director Isamu Kamikokuryou explained more about the game’s mechanics, plus why it isn’t called Final Fantasy XIII-3.

According to a translation by Final Fantasy Network, the team believes the entry is unique enough to warrant a different name, “as calling it XIII-3 might give the impression that it would be a direct evolution of Final Fantasy XIII-2.” Kitase referred to the game as “a new experience.”

Toriyama noted that Lightning Returns will be “world-driven,” as opposed to the “story-driven” Final Fantasy XIII and “player-driven” XIII-2. The idea of a “world-driven” game is “to put the player in a world that is constantly shifting and changing — one that doesn’t necessarily revolve around the player.” The world will reportedly run in real time 24 hours a day, giving the player “a sense of time and urgency to experience content that will not always be waiting for them.”


Players will manage the game via Lightning, who will slow down or speed up the world based on her actions. According to Abe, the day and night cycle of the game has not been completed but will be “roughly one to two hours.” Toriyama noted that experiencing everything in Lightning Returns will likely require multiple playthroughs, as with Abe saying that he wants players to think “oh! I didn’t know that event occurred” while on their second time through.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII was originally announced in August. The 4gamer interview reflects comments from Square Enix earlier this year that Lightning Returns encourages multiple playthroughs. Back in September, Toriyama confirmed to IGN that Lightning Returns will be the last Final Fantasy XIII and that some familiar faces will return.

Source: http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/12/04/why-lightning-returns-isnt-called-final-fantasy-xiii-3