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Final Fantasy XIII-2 E3 Information Thread [Trailer, BioWare Storytelling, More]
- Thread starter Pooya
- Start date
Augemitbutter
Member
miladesn said:
moved to bargain bin.
badcrumble
Member
WHATSeda said:
WHAT
Fimbulvetr
Member
badcrumble said:
Yeah. It was in the GT Dev walkthrough.
Starts at: 2:00. http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2011-final-fantasy/715412
It can also be a greatsword.
CosmicGroinPull
Member
That Lightning + Serah pic in the OP is beautiful. If that's the boxart, I'd buy the game no matter what reviewers say.
Femmeworth
Banned
Isn't Distant Worlds only Uematsu's music?Thoraxes said:
This game is going to be amazing. 200 different enemies to collect for your party? I'm all in.
Am loving the shades of action rpg -- jump button included. Hope it's more of a dynamic jump button, like kingdom hearts or xenogears. None of this hotspot crap. I want to jump all over the place.
Am loving the shades of action rpg -- jump button included. Hope it's more of a dynamic jump button, like kingdom hearts or xenogears. None of this hotspot crap. I want to jump all over the place.
Femmeworth
Banned
I'm more concerned with that weapon Serah stole from a Power Ranger.Sinoox said:That floor....ugh
No. With the last Tokyo concert they did XIII and they have been doing XII music for a while too. Also X isn't only Uematsu either, 3 composers worked on that game, and that music is in the concerts too. It's a concert series of the Music of Final Fantasy.ninj4junpei said:
http://www.ffdistantworlds.com/inde...etails&id=32:distant-worlds-chicago&Itemid=62
RPGCrazied
Member
They have plenty of time to put hires textures in, but I wouldn't expect much of an improvement on the 360 version. If its like the 360 port of XIII is any indication.
Fimbulvetr
Member
ninj4junpei said:
And that costume she stole from a fantasy stripper.
Also that she suddenly can fight.
brandonh83
Banned
The story. Oh my lawd
"A few years after FFXIII, there are paradoxes, and many people think Lightning is dead, but her sister Serah is the only one who knows the truth"
LOL this will be amazing.
"A few years after FFXIII, there are paradoxes, and many people think Lightning is dead, but her sister Serah is the only one who knows the truth"
LOL this will be amazing.
There's a XIII series of Light Novels (I think LN, either that or a series short stories that are official) only in Japan that contain the story of what happened after XIII ended. I have no idea if they've been translated yet if you can't read Japanese, but from what i've read of them, everything explained in the XIII-2 synopsis makes perfect sense to me.brandonh83 said:
CosmicGroinPull
Member
Sinoox said:
That floor....ugh
That's what you're focusing on?
Thoraxes said:
Only unofficially: http://dilly-shilly.blogspot.com/2010/12/final-fantasy-xiii-episode-i.html
Honestly though, not worth a read even if you enjoyed FFXIII. Anyone who wants to know should just find a summary or something.
Rahxephon91
Banned
I'm getting Star Ocean 4 vibes from that picture.
And both characters are voiced by Laura Baily.
And both characters are voiced by Laura Baily.
Femmeworth
Banned
Little sisters are tough.Fimbulvetr said:
It didn't take long for Hope to pick up fighting, and he was only 14.
nelsonroyale
Member
brandonh83 said:
As long as its smoked ham...I likes me smoked ham
Fimbulvetr
Member
Thoraxes said:
Lightning walks a bit then suddenly realizes she's in an alternate dimension and Etro wants her to fight more shit.
At least Etro is being more overt about interfering with everything instead of only doing something 500 years ago and again at the ending.
Rahxephon91 said:
No!
Now I can't unsee Noel as Edge Maverick.... and Snow as Lymle.
ninj4junpei said:
He had suddenly gained the ability to use magic(which is the only thing he's good at).
His boomerang was stupid as all hell, but at least it made sense that he knew how to use it.
How does Serah suddenly know how to wield swords and bows? Because she's in a pseudo-magical girl costume?
http://ps3.rpgsite.net/articles/282-final-fantasy-xiii2-developer-interview
Our full interview:
We recently sat down with both director Motomu Toriyama and producer Yoshinori Kitase to discuss the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII-2 in a round-table interview. Although we only had around 30 minutes with the staff, we were able to get some interesting information, and hopefully answer some burning questions that fans may have.
RPGSite: The battles seem much more dynamic with set pieces going on could you talk about this approach?
Kitase: We actually didnt take any inspiration from any western RPGs. Not cautiously anyway. On the other hand, the Paradigm Shift system from Final Fantasy XIII was quite popular but most people liked it so we actually carried it over to make it a different versionnot completely the same. Two examples, in XIII-2, you can actually recruit monsters and make them work for you, and there are more than 150 types of monsters there for you to capture, and they can help you. They progress the same as characters do in any RPG. Second, youve got one called Cinematic Action, so like in a big battle against a boss character the Cinematic Action element is put in so its more dynamic. And in every single way we want to make sure the player has some kind of interaction with the gameplay.
RPGSite: Do you feel that fans were disappointed with the original Final Fantasy XIII? Are there any features in Final Fantasy XIII-2 that were direct actions based on fan feedback and fans of the original?
Kitase: I think that XIII was criticized by other people we think because it was meant to be story-driven. But it was so much so, that people thought it was quite linear, which people didnt like. So before we started making XIII-2, we decided that we were determined to take all the negative comments seriously, and rectify every single one of them fairly and properly. So this new game is more player driven, than story driven, so that the player will have very active involvement. Theres a lot more things you can do and explore, like towns and other things, and also you can choose what you want to say to a NPC.
RPGSite: One of the deepest criticisms that has been made was the lack of the traditional Final Fantasy town. In response in interviews, it was said by someone in the development team that making towns on a high definition system is actually quite difficult. So is that something that has finally gotten easier now? Have they developed ways to make it a quicker process? To make it a more painless process? Or can we still expect the towns to be smaller than what you would have found in games like Final Fantasy VII-IX.
Toriyama: Like Kitase said earlier, we did take it seriously that there was a huge criticism over no townswe know people didnt like it and so we took that and have towns in the new one. And you can explore the town and you can talk to all the people, and that will lead to other situations. Shops, as well now in XIII-2 you can find certain characters you can talk to and they can sell things to you and you can make purchases. I think if we created towns in the same way as we did for Final Fantasy VII-IX, it would be quite boring, and so it is very difficult. So with that we put an AI in every single person living in the town so they can do their own things. They may sit down and chat, or they may talk to their family members, or somebody they want to talk to, so they do their own actions. In that sense, its a quite different type of town you would find in a Final Fantasy [game].
RPGSite: At point did you decide to make Final Fantasy XIII-2, and what was the reason behind it?
Kitase: We actually made the decision to make a sequel right after the worldwide launch of Final Fantasy XIII. Around the time we were visiting the United States and other European countries on the promotion tour, we actually got a lot of positive reactions from the fans, and also obviously Final Fantasy XIII was luckily a commercial success with 5 millions units sold around the worldover 6 million. But we just felt generally that people wanted a sequel anyway, and while making Final Fantasy XIII we thought that the characters and the universe had more potential, not just squeezed into one title.
RPGSite: Will Final Fantasy XIII-2 be using a chapter based system, as far as story progression goes, because that was in Final Fantasy XIII, people thought that system made it too linear will XIII-2 similar in that sense?
Toriyama: There isnt an awful lot I can tell you on this subject, but we have changed that structure, because obviously people didnt like itthere is a new one. For details on that, well have to wait until TGS, but one thing I can tell you is that for the first time in the Final Fantasy series, XIII-2 will have multiple endings.
RPGSite: Could you explain why you went back to the Paradigm System for the battling? Was it because its a direct follow up from Final Fantasy XIII? Or do you guys feel like youve found the perfect balance in a battle system for the series?
Kitase: We decided to carry it over into the new game for of course the reason you just mentioned. Because its a sequel, it just seems, you know, the right thing to do, so we stuck to the same system. Also, it was quite popular in XIII, so we thought it was the best battle system to incorporate it into this game as well.
Having said that, its not just that were implementing the same battle system, but actually like I told you a bit earlier, you can capture and recruit over 150 different types of monsters, so that is a great addition and also more acutely strategic gameplay you can enjoy It compared to XIII.
RPGSite: Is there a common theme between XIII-2 and XIII? For instance, I noticed that in XIII-2 we have rap music going on when youre exploring areas in town, and the whole introduction was this J-pop spectacle, so can you elaborate on this? Difference similar like those between X and X-2?
Kitase: Its a different case than X to X-2 was, than in XIII to XIII-2. When we made X-2 we wanted to change absolutely everything, including music and the taste. X was more of an asian atmosphere, while X-2 was more pop style, so it was a total departure. Opposed to that, XIII to XIII-2, the seriousness of their universe and the way the story unfolds will remain unchanged. We just wanted to add some new elements, but the basic ideas have not changed much. Its not like X to X-2 were it was a completely different thing. XIII to XIII-2 is an actual sequel. When it comes to music, in XIII Masashi Hamauzu did the music and he was quite popular which had an orchestral feel to it and that will actually be maintained as well, but with new elements.
What do you think of the music in XIII-2?
RPGSite: Unexpected. It reminded me of Persona which that stuff can be brilliant depending on the situation.
Kitase: Obviously we want to make adjustments, because, like you say, if we stick the same kind of music all the way through, it might sound a bit out of place, or be a bit strange. We made it so every thing has an appropriate tune.
RPGSite: My proper question is about side quests, and the end game. One problem that a lot of people had with the original XIII and some of the other recent Final Fantasy titles is that once you finish them, there really isnt that much to do. In XIII there were side quests, but they were all these monster hunt queststhere was nothing else. So Im wondering if theyre looking at post game content stuff to do after the game is over, and if theyre looking at more variety of side quests during the game as well.
Toriyama: We mentioned the multi endings earlier, so its in relation to that so we cant tell you very much about it. For people who have already cleared the game once, from the second playthrough on there are replay values attached to it. Its a lot like New Game+, its the same system, so there are items and features than can entice you to keep playing. As far as side missions, there are more side missions a bit like in Red Dead Redemption. So its not just the hunts, its the other types of missions as well. One of the criticisms we received about Final Fantasy XIII was there was not enough mini games, and people want to see more of them, so thats some of the things we added as well.
RPGSite: I had some questions about some of the new elements youre throwing into the battle sequences. For example, you mentioned monster collecting earlier on how do you exactly collect monsters in battle, and on a side note, what specific thing triggers the Cinematic Actions? Are they automatic? Or do you have to fill certain conditions for them to play out?
Kitase: Firstly, how to collect monsters. At first you have to defeat the monster, and when you meet certain conditions, at some certain rate obviously, it will enter you party and start working for you. You can mix them like if you play a card game and make a deckits a bit like that. When it comes to the Cinematic Actions, there are two types: first is the one you saw in the demo against Atlas. When you take on a really big boss, when a certain level of damage has been inflicted on the boss, then it happens. Another thing with the Cinematic Action is, with some of the monsters you can collect, capture and make work for you, some of them can trigger those Actions.
RPGSite: You talked a little about Red Dead Redemption. Can you explain how that influenced you?
Toriyama: Among the millions of games that came out last year, Red Dead Redemption was adored by a lot of Japanese developers, including ourselves. Our game is not as open-field as that game, obviously. We did take some inspirations, however. For example, missions can happen anywhere rather than having to go to a certain shrine, or base or something, and thats from them. In this game you see lots and lots of chocobos and you can ride them. The kind of feeling you get as you ride the chocobo, its a bit like the way you ride a horse. Its a really refreshing feel good experience, and thats one thing we learned from the game.
RPGSite: With Final Fantasy XIII, a lot of people felt that the Xbox 360 version was not as good as the PlayStation 3 version. What are you going to do to make sure the 360 version of XIII-2 is at least as close as it can be to the PlayStation 3 version?
Kitase: What we believe is even with Final Fantasy XIII there wasnt an awful lot of difference when it comes to real time graphics. Its about the same. When it comes to actual movie files, which was very heavy, the compression capacity of the two consoles was quite visible. In the meantime, we are now capable of event scenes/drama scenes as real time graphics rather than movies. The real problem that was causing so much difference between two versions, is a relatively small amount it only makes up a small percentage of the entire graphical elements in XIII-2, so its not going to be a very big issue anyway.
RPGSite: Thank you for your time.
Our full interview:
We recently sat down with both director Motomu Toriyama and producer Yoshinori Kitase to discuss the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII-2 in a round-table interview. Although we only had around 30 minutes with the staff, we were able to get some interesting information, and hopefully answer some burning questions that fans may have.
RPGSite: The battles seem much more dynamic with set pieces going on could you talk about this approach?
Kitase: We actually didnt take any inspiration from any western RPGs. Not cautiously anyway. On the other hand, the Paradigm Shift system from Final Fantasy XIII was quite popular but most people liked it so we actually carried it over to make it a different versionnot completely the same. Two examples, in XIII-2, you can actually recruit monsters and make them work for you, and there are more than 150 types of monsters there for you to capture, and they can help you. They progress the same as characters do in any RPG. Second, youve got one called Cinematic Action, so like in a big battle against a boss character the Cinematic Action element is put in so its more dynamic. And in every single way we want to make sure the player has some kind of interaction with the gameplay.
RPGSite: Do you feel that fans were disappointed with the original Final Fantasy XIII? Are there any features in Final Fantasy XIII-2 that were direct actions based on fan feedback and fans of the original?
Kitase: I think that XIII was criticized by other people we think because it was meant to be story-driven. But it was so much so, that people thought it was quite linear, which people didnt like. So before we started making XIII-2, we decided that we were determined to take all the negative comments seriously, and rectify every single one of them fairly and properly. So this new game is more player driven, than story driven, so that the player will have very active involvement. Theres a lot more things you can do and explore, like towns and other things, and also you can choose what you want to say to a NPC.
RPGSite: One of the deepest criticisms that has been made was the lack of the traditional Final Fantasy town. In response in interviews, it was said by someone in the development team that making towns on a high definition system is actually quite difficult. So is that something that has finally gotten easier now? Have they developed ways to make it a quicker process? To make it a more painless process? Or can we still expect the towns to be smaller than what you would have found in games like Final Fantasy VII-IX.
Toriyama: Like Kitase said earlier, we did take it seriously that there was a huge criticism over no townswe know people didnt like it and so we took that and have towns in the new one. And you can explore the town and you can talk to all the people, and that will lead to other situations. Shops, as well now in XIII-2 you can find certain characters you can talk to and they can sell things to you and you can make purchases. I think if we created towns in the same way as we did for Final Fantasy VII-IX, it would be quite boring, and so it is very difficult. So with that we put an AI in every single person living in the town so they can do their own things. They may sit down and chat, or they may talk to their family members, or somebody they want to talk to, so they do their own actions. In that sense, its a quite different type of town you would find in a Final Fantasy [game].
RPGSite: At point did you decide to make Final Fantasy XIII-2, and what was the reason behind it?
Kitase: We actually made the decision to make a sequel right after the worldwide launch of Final Fantasy XIII. Around the time we were visiting the United States and other European countries on the promotion tour, we actually got a lot of positive reactions from the fans, and also obviously Final Fantasy XIII was luckily a commercial success with 5 millions units sold around the worldover 6 million. But we just felt generally that people wanted a sequel anyway, and while making Final Fantasy XIII we thought that the characters and the universe had more potential, not just squeezed into one title.
RPGSite: Will Final Fantasy XIII-2 be using a chapter based system, as far as story progression goes, because that was in Final Fantasy XIII, people thought that system made it too linear will XIII-2 similar in that sense?
Toriyama: There isnt an awful lot I can tell you on this subject, but we have changed that structure, because obviously people didnt like itthere is a new one. For details on that, well have to wait until TGS, but one thing I can tell you is that for the first time in the Final Fantasy series, XIII-2 will have multiple endings.
RPGSite: Could you explain why you went back to the Paradigm System for the battling? Was it because its a direct follow up from Final Fantasy XIII? Or do you guys feel like youve found the perfect balance in a battle system for the series?
Kitase: We decided to carry it over into the new game for of course the reason you just mentioned. Because its a sequel, it just seems, you know, the right thing to do, so we stuck to the same system. Also, it was quite popular in XIII, so we thought it was the best battle system to incorporate it into this game as well.
Having said that, its not just that were implementing the same battle system, but actually like I told you a bit earlier, you can capture and recruit over 150 different types of monsters, so that is a great addition and also more acutely strategic gameplay you can enjoy It compared to XIII.
RPGSite: Is there a common theme between XIII-2 and XIII? For instance, I noticed that in XIII-2 we have rap music going on when youre exploring areas in town, and the whole introduction was this J-pop spectacle, so can you elaborate on this? Difference similar like those between X and X-2?
Kitase: Its a different case than X to X-2 was, than in XIII to XIII-2. When we made X-2 we wanted to change absolutely everything, including music and the taste. X was more of an asian atmosphere, while X-2 was more pop style, so it was a total departure. Opposed to that, XIII to XIII-2, the seriousness of their universe and the way the story unfolds will remain unchanged. We just wanted to add some new elements, but the basic ideas have not changed much. Its not like X to X-2 were it was a completely different thing. XIII to XIII-2 is an actual sequel. When it comes to music, in XIII Masashi Hamauzu did the music and he was quite popular which had an orchestral feel to it and that will actually be maintained as well, but with new elements.
What do you think of the music in XIII-2?
RPGSite: Unexpected. It reminded me of Persona which that stuff can be brilliant depending on the situation.
Kitase: Obviously we want to make adjustments, because, like you say, if we stick the same kind of music all the way through, it might sound a bit out of place, or be a bit strange. We made it so every thing has an appropriate tune.
RPGSite: My proper question is about side quests, and the end game. One problem that a lot of people had with the original XIII and some of the other recent Final Fantasy titles is that once you finish them, there really isnt that much to do. In XIII there were side quests, but they were all these monster hunt queststhere was nothing else. So Im wondering if theyre looking at post game content stuff to do after the game is over, and if theyre looking at more variety of side quests during the game as well.
Toriyama: We mentioned the multi endings earlier, so its in relation to that so we cant tell you very much about it. For people who have already cleared the game once, from the second playthrough on there are replay values attached to it. Its a lot like New Game+, its the same system, so there are items and features than can entice you to keep playing. As far as side missions, there are more side missions a bit like in Red Dead Redemption. So its not just the hunts, its the other types of missions as well. One of the criticisms we received about Final Fantasy XIII was there was not enough mini games, and people want to see more of them, so thats some of the things we added as well.
RPGSite: I had some questions about some of the new elements youre throwing into the battle sequences. For example, you mentioned monster collecting earlier on how do you exactly collect monsters in battle, and on a side note, what specific thing triggers the Cinematic Actions? Are they automatic? Or do you have to fill certain conditions for them to play out?
Kitase: Firstly, how to collect monsters. At first you have to defeat the monster, and when you meet certain conditions, at some certain rate obviously, it will enter you party and start working for you. You can mix them like if you play a card game and make a deckits a bit like that. When it comes to the Cinematic Actions, there are two types: first is the one you saw in the demo against Atlas. When you take on a really big boss, when a certain level of damage has been inflicted on the boss, then it happens. Another thing with the Cinematic Action is, with some of the monsters you can collect, capture and make work for you, some of them can trigger those Actions.
RPGSite: You talked a little about Red Dead Redemption. Can you explain how that influenced you?
Toriyama: Among the millions of games that came out last year, Red Dead Redemption was adored by a lot of Japanese developers, including ourselves. Our game is not as open-field as that game, obviously. We did take some inspirations, however. For example, missions can happen anywhere rather than having to go to a certain shrine, or base or something, and thats from them. In this game you see lots and lots of chocobos and you can ride them. The kind of feeling you get as you ride the chocobo, its a bit like the way you ride a horse. Its a really refreshing feel good experience, and thats one thing we learned from the game.
RPGSite: With Final Fantasy XIII, a lot of people felt that the Xbox 360 version was not as good as the PlayStation 3 version. What are you going to do to make sure the 360 version of XIII-2 is at least as close as it can be to the PlayStation 3 version?
Kitase: What we believe is even with Final Fantasy XIII there wasnt an awful lot of difference when it comes to real time graphics. Its about the same. When it comes to actual movie files, which was very heavy, the compression capacity of the two consoles was quite visible. In the meantime, we are now capable of event scenes/drama scenes as real time graphics rather than movies. The real problem that was causing so much difference between two versions, is a relatively small amount it only makes up a small percentage of the entire graphical elements in XIII-2, so its not going to be a very big issue anyway.
RPGSite: Thank you for your time.
Sounds promising...but I dont think FF VII-IX style towns would've been boring. Of course picking certain things to say sounds cool too, as long as you cant just keep going back and choosing a different conversation choice for the hell of it.
Like that there are actual shops now though.
Like that there are actual shops now though.
APZonerunner
Member
HD towns are too boring. Oh, how we laughed coming out of that interview..
Special said:1280x720 resolution on xbox
All the screens released so far are also bullshots... you should know that
The game is much more rough currently. Muddy textures everywhere.I'm also surprised the 360 version will still be 3-4 discs even though they claim they're cutting down on the FMV.
Sword Familiar
178% of NeoGAF posters don't understand statistics
Nice read Kagari, APZonerunner. It really seems like they've listened and tried to make a better game. Still a bit worried about the story, but I guess if I go in not expecting much I can only be pleasantly surprised.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Not that Chrono Cross was a bastion of great character design... but Serge is 800x cooler than this dude.brohmbel said:Has this resemblance been pointed out already? Am I the only one who sees it?
Sword Familiar
178% of NeoGAF posters don't understand statistics
Londa said:
Looks like a mash-up between Serge, some KH character and Yuna.
Crash Station
Member
Kagari said:
Sounds awesome. Love the Radiata Stories approach.
Hours Left
Member
Thanks Kagari and APZonerunner. Really great interview.
If they are planning DLC from the start, I wonder if it will be scenarios starring the other playable characters from XIII. (Though I'm hoping they'll be more integrated in main game.)
If they are planning DLC from the start, I wonder if it will be scenarios starring the other playable characters from XIII. (Though I'm hoping they'll be more integrated in main game.)