[22/12] LR:FFXIII Jump Festa media includes new screenshots and an extended trailer

[C i d]

Marketing for the latest chapter in the FFXIII saga kicks off today with an all new look at Lightning’s final journey.


Several hundred years have passed since she fell into a deep slumber. The world, diseased by Chaos, is on the bring of destruction. The people, hopeless and full of despair, stand by hopelessly and watch the horror unfold in front of their eyes. As the end draws near, she awakens. She is Lightning, humanity’s last hope.


Only 13 days remain until the end of the world.


As the chosen one, Lightning battles her way through the final 13 days in an attempt to save humanity and accomplish her ultimate goal.


With a brand-new battle system, the player will be controlling Lightning and Lightning alone. The Paradigm Shift feature has been replaced with a unique tactical system that will provide a fresh, interactive battle experience.


Lightning can jump, climb, swing and slide. Players can enjoy a variety of different actions by interacting with obstacles and objects. Explore every inch of the world using buildings, decorations, and furniture at your disposal.


Lightning Returns sees the return of composers Masashi Hamauzu, Naoshi Mizuta and Mitsuto Suzuki, who have all worked on the soundtrack for the previous title, FFXIII-2. Hamauzu’s track used in the trailer, “Crimson Blitz,” will be available for download on the iTunes Store on December 23 for $0.99.

Click to enlarge:



Lightning faces Anubys, a barbaric creature whose axe is as destructive as his rage. Will her new blade be enough to defeat this savage creature?



Customization is the name of the game! Unlike the previous installments, players can now mix and match abilities without the limitations of roles.



A brand-new world calls for brand-new monsters. Discover their weaknesses and devise the best strategy for victory.


Lightning finds herself in the city of light, Luxerion, where strange events seem to occur at every turn.



Lightning appears to be talking to a “disciple.” Who are they and what is their agenda?



An organization called the Order is in charge of keeping the peace in Luxerion. Called forth by the hearing officer, Lightning decides to look into the serial killings.



Lightning’s every move in Luxerion is being monitored, but by whom?



A group donning white robes gathers quietly in Luxerion as the clock strikes midnight. Some missions require skills of stealth as Lightning is ordered to trail this mysterious mob.



Interactable objects like this pole can be found around town. Utilize them to get around quickly and effectively.



The dawn’s light uncovers a secret code, one of the clues needed to uncover a mystery. More are hidden around town, but they can only be found during certain times of day.



The train connects all four continents, allowing for free travel throughout the world.



A clock hangs from the station’s exterior. As time management is vital, numerous timekeeping devices are scattered throughout the city.



The downtown area is located between the business district and North Station. Among the businessmen and window-shoppers, merchants can be found selling their unique products to passersby.



Information displays are hung near the ticket gate in the North Station. There are also shops tucked away in the back. The station’s busiest times are in the mornings and afternoons when people head to and from work.

Dangerous foes lurk even in towns. Depending on the time of day, you’ll have quite a battle on your hands! Be prepared for frequent monster encounters after dark.



The streets are full of hustle and bustle during the day, but few residents are seen wandering the premise at night. When darkness falls, monsters come out to play. Different foes can be encountered during different times of day.




Source: Nova Crystallis



[22/12] Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Jump Festa trailer, now in Japanese

Those who prefer the Japanese voice cast can experience Maaya Sakamoto in all of her glory


The Japanese official site has updated with the Japanese version of the Jump Festa 2013 trailer. The show kicks off today with Lightning Returns seeing its first public debut since its announcement in September.


New media has also been added to the official site, including screenshots and artwork of Lightning’s new outfit. You can access it through here.

Source: Nova Crystallis

 

[Dionysos]

It just looks quite dull.

FFXIII and FFXIII-2 (from what I saw from trailers, I never played XIII-2), despite their flaws, looked visually impressive and colourful.

Lightning Returns just looks very, very dull and inartistic.

The environments seem to be a mix of Assassins Creed locations, and the increase of platforming and open world elements suggests to me that they are drawing from AC (didn't SE say once that they planned to draw from AC, Tomb Raider, Uncharted, etc?). It looks like they've done a mixture of the Holy Land cities (the general themes of the game, the climate, etc), Renaissance Italy (with the paintings scattered about on the walls), and there is even an element of Istanbul / Constantinople in there too with some of the Islamic looking geometric patterns. Perhaps I've looked too much into it, but nevertheless, it does look like a mess. It is as if they've played Assassin's Creed (and perhaps Mirror's Edge too, due to red handlebars that tell you where you can climb), and then had some cheese to eat a little bit too close to bedtime, had one heck of a nightmare vision, and have decided to use the elements from that dream for this game.

In fact, I'm wondering whether this place is in fact a dreamworld. Paintings wouldn't be placed awkwardly about a town like that unless it was in fact a nightmare.

However, perhaps these are early days. Perhaps there is a lot more to the game, and I hope so because I don't like criticising something violently without having anything fair and positive to say.

 

[Squid]

Hahaha it really does look like they're in Italy!! What a lifeless looking game How can you go from something as beautiful looking as FFXIII and FFXIII-2 to something so bland?

 

[Linnaete]

Since I have done enough ranting about this game's trailer already, let's take a casual flick through of the screenshots!

It is good to see that the NPC designers are in top form as usual. I am sure Lightning even with her silly dominatrix-vampire-Gundam get-up will fit in no problem in this town. But oh, THIS one behind Lightning's shoulder here:

An organization called the Order is in charge of keeping the peace in Luxerion. Called forth by the hearing officer, Lightning decides to look into the serial killings.

I'm getting some Yevon and Templars from Assassin's Creed vibes from this. But that's just silly. This is meant to be a Final Fantasy game. Why would I ever get any Assassin's Creed vibes from this?...

A group donning white robes gathers quietly in Luxerion as the clock strikes midnight. Some missions require skills of stealth as Lightning is ordered to trail this mysterious mob.

...oh. In fact, this is also giving me Dishonoured vibes too. It just needs walker enemies.

And that sword! How would she be stealthy with a 5 foot pole stuck on her back, let alone be agile with all the parkour? She can't even sit down with it on.

Interactable objects like this pole can be found around town. Utilize them to get around quickly and effectively.

Light parkour. City architecture, as jumbled up and artistically incoherent as it is, does strike me as something you may find in Ass Creed. And God, the lighting here looks nonexistent, while it's so miserably grey.

EDIT: that is the perfect pose for the stripper's pole

The dawn’s light uncovers a secret code, one of the clues needed to uncover a mystery. More are hidden around town, but they can only be found during certain times of day.

...oh, that does it. This is definitely looking like those optional Subject 16 code puzzle things you randomly come across in Renaissance Italy in Assassin's Creed 2.

You see, this looks better. The lighting, while still incomplete, is at least there in this screenshot and it doesn't look as flat. I'm still not keen on the aesthetics though, namely the colour palette.

Dangerous foes lurk even in towns. Depending on the time of day, you’ll have quite a battle on your hands! Be prepared for frequent monster encounters after dark.



The streets are full of hustle and bustle during the day, but few residents are seen wandering the premise at night. When darkness falls, monsters come out to play. Different foes can be encountered during different times of day.

This is a world where a behemoth can casually appear in the town square at night? Is it just me thinking that this is just stupid? Okay, sans an in-game contextual explanation, but still...

Hahaha, your city actually looks better at night, even if it inevitably looks drab and lifeless. And hey, giant moon. It's just missing an evil face, but otherwise, this is clearly Majora's Mask.

-----------

Oh Final Fantasy. There was once an age when you defined the JRPG genre. There was an age when other developers looked up to you as a pioneer. There was an age when you left shockwaves in the gaming industry. Now you're looking like a mishmash of other genres and games (I suppose that isn't necessarily a bad thing...) that have come before you and will likely have done it far better than your mixing pot of a game has. This thing looks and feels soulless, like it hasn't an identity of its own and conceived by a nonchalant bit of "yeah, why not?" handwaving.

 

[Exoskeleton]

Okay so I think there's a lot of bandwagon riding going on here. If you follow the story a bleak future kind of sorta makes sense in this case so like it or not it's relevant to the story. I'm not much of a fan myself but complaining about one location(since only once location has been shown out of the 13 islands or whatever that's supposed to be) is just being a bit selfish don't you think? If one bleak location gets you down you must have missed out on plenty of sweet games.

I'm pretty sure the world is supposed to be bland and lifeless. It's basically an apocalyptic future. Everyone she once knew is most definitely dead and the world she's woken in is a dark and controlled by some insane religion people. I must admit, I like the fresh idea of this. The city doesn't bother me, I like dark places. You can tell they are trying to give the XIII-3 series a fresh start. However, I'm assuming whatever Lightning does in this future wont affect what happened hundreds of years in the past where her old pals are. Maybe it'll end the event that began at the end of XIII-2 which made the world the dark place it is, but I really don't think they can link the XIII series through story this way. If they do it will definitely be a surprise.

Still not happening with the battle system for me. I prefer party members, at least three permanent ones like in X-2.

Overall though it's interesting. I didn't bother with XIII-2 and decided to watch a walk through instead. I have a small shred of hope that this game will clean up the story nice and well. Something in the back of my mind keeps telling me some cheap, lazy plot device will be thrown in at some point during the game. Really wish they would change the battle system. I hate it

 

[Linnaete]

Okay so I think there's a lot of bandwagon riding going on here.

Do you know what annoys me? When "bandwagoning" is thrown around as a form of countering dismissal. I am giving this game a chance and I have given my own valid reasons what I liked/didn't like so far.

complaining about one location(since only once location has been shown out of the 13 islands or whatever that's supposed to be) is just being a bit selfish don't you think?

...no? Jumping the gun possibly, but it's not my fault that the first trailer (y'know, designed to give positive initial responses) has decided to focus much of the screen time on a location (this is essentially one of four "continents" in the game world, not 13 islands, fyi) that looks conspicuously early on in development both visually and technically, marred by a juttering framerate.

And I quote from Toriyama himself:

“As this is the third title on the current generation hardware it will also be the most complete and polished game in the Final Fantasy series. The game is scheduled for release in 2013 so look out for it.”

This doesn't even look as "polished" as the previous two games at the moment. For a tentative release date of 2013 as well!

 

[C i d]

Okay so I think there's a lot of bandwagon riding going on here. If you follow the story a bleak future kind of sorta makes sense in this case so like it or not it's relevant to the story. I'm not much of a fan myself but complaining about one location(since only once location has been shown out of the 13 islands or whatever that's supposed to be) is just being a bit selfish don't you think? If one bleak location gets you down you must have missed out on plenty of sweet games.

I'm pretty sure the world is supposed to be bland and lifeless. It's basically an apocalyptic future. Everyone she once knew is most definitely dead and the world she's woken in is a dark and controlled by some insane religion people. I must admit, I like the fresh idea of this. The city doesn't bother me, I like dark places. You can tell they are trying to give the XIII-3 series a fresh start. However, I'm assuming whatever Lightning does in this future wont affect what happened hundreds of years in the past where her old pals are. Maybe it'll end the event that began at the end of XIII-2 which made the world the dark place it is, but I really don't think they can link the XIII series through story this way. If they do it will definitely be a surprise.

Still not happening with the battle system for me. I prefer party members, at least three permanent ones like in X-2.

Overall though it's interesting. I didn't bother with XIII-2 and decided to watch a walk through instead. I have a small shred of hope that this game will clean up the story nice and well. Something in the back of my mind keeps telling me some cheap, lazy plot device will be thrown in at some point during the game. Really wish they would change the battle system. I hate it

Due to chaos infecting the world, people no longer age, so most of the people she know in the past will still be alive. Hope is confirmed to be present, aiding Lightning through wireless communication. Chocolina is seen in multiple places in the trailer. Snow is rumored to be back too. I think Noel is also hinted in the trailer (with his arm showing briefly).

Hope that clear things up

I agree with you though. They will probably explain things with cheap plot devices. Equivalent to FFXIII-2's plot device: everything weird happens because of paradox, I suspect that LR will be the same, except this time it's because of chaos.


---


One of the things that currently bother me about this game is the shop system. it is likely that Chocolina will be the only shopkeeper in the entire game. Her appearance in the trailer kinda hints strongly to this. I really hope not, because then what's the point of NPCs who pretend to sell stuff (but can't actually be interacted with), while they are just there for the sake of including pseudo-town staples?

 

[Exoskeleton]

Do you know what annoys me? When "bandwagoning" is thrown around as a form of countering dismissal. I am giving this game a chance and I have given my own valid reasons what I liked/didn't like so far.

Yes that annoys me as well. Luckily countering dismissal was the last intended use I had for the phrase. I simply want others to go into it with an open mind instead of picking at a game so early in development. Good to see your contribution.

...no? Jumping the gun possibly, but it's not my fault that the first trailer (y'know, designed to give positive initial responses) has decided to focus much of the screen time on a location (this is essentially one of four "continents" in the game world, not 13 islands, fyi) that looks conspicuously early on in development both visually and technically, marred by a juttering framerate.

My point was that if one does not like one part of a game they should at least wait until there's a bit more than just scraps and pieces to determine a judgement. The recent marketing strategy was clearly not intentional and possibly only shoveled out due to the leak. I don't think picking apart screenshots this early on is gonna help with a game this early on in development. I assume most of the "polishing" Toriyama speaks of happens after the game is complete or near completion of the game. You cant polish something if it isn't complete. I could care less about picking apart Square's marketing strategy this early in the game's development. They probably only have that one area done which is why it's shown so often. However I admire your passion for this game, as it is clearly shown. Thank you for clearing that 4 continent thing up. I haven't payed much attention to everything announced about this game and doubt I will in the future.

For a tentative release date of 2013 as well!

I've learned to disregard all release dates from SE. 2013? Unless they're haul-assing, reusing, and are hocked up on caffeine we'll just see about that.

Edit: Thanks for clearing that up Martel. How convenient for them to still be alive. Lame! I think the Noel thing is just a rumor and we never see Hope but we hear his voice in the trailer. Regardless my expectations have been lowered.

 

[Tmoo]

The official trailer isn't much far removed from the leak. Ah well. Still liking the themes and art style. Luxerion reminds me a bit of Res-o-Fate, but without all the wonky gears blocking everything.
Stella Did your username used to be just Fleur? I remember she used a blue font and had a Star Ocean avatar/sig. It's tripping me out

 

[Shaissa]

since this has to do with the world ending soon... I wonder of Noel well make a return?

But it looks like it should be on the PSP or something with how the images look right now...unless thats just me

 

[Razberry Knight]

The official trailer isn't much far removed from the leak. Ah well. Still liking the themes and art style. Luxerion reminds me a bit of Res-o-Fate, but without all the wonky gears blocking everything.
Stella Did your username used to be just Fleur? I remember she used a blue font and had a Star Ocean avatar/sig. It's tripping me out

Fleur posted a while ago. They're not the same.

Also I really can't see any good coming out. The trailer just doesn't draw me in. The story is about time again with small religious pieces from the original but overall not a refined game. Her outfit is ridiculous though. And a time.frame.of.13 days will.go by even faster.for players assuming the game is literal about that.

 

[.Mosh]

The game can never be judged until we have gameplay of a near finished product that shows off the four continents and the side quest gameplay, battle system explanations and story trailers. Once it is all covered then anyone can say what they like about it.

It is just like an author giving you a 20 page sample out of there upcoming 600 page book. It makes no sense to you and hasn't yet got to its full potential. I am looking forward to this conclusion and what it brings to the table. The way I see it, is without FFXIII and its sequels, the franchise would have been doomed. I feel this saga was an experiment if different gameplay combinations that will show S-E what the fans want.

 

[tilinelson2]

Maybe Square Enix is tired of the FFVi, FFVII and Chrono Trigger widows and are trying to make Final Fantasy appealing to Assassin's Creed, Dishonored, etc, audiences. Those people seem to be buying much more and complaining much less than their "old" audiences.