FFXIII-2 screenshots! Serah party member!

[Malacite]

Re: FFXIII-2 screenshots! Serah party member!

There are branching paths, both on the field and in the story (think Mass Effect like choices)

This could potentially be awesome.

[Raydeus]

Re: FFXIII-2 screenshots! Serah party member!

Yeah, XII's chest reward system awesome, I'm sure.

[Malacite]

Re: FFXIII-2 screenshots! Serah party member!

Final Fantasy XIII-2 preview: Paradigm shift | Joystiq

So let's be honest here: Even if you liked Final Fantasy XIII (and I did), odds are that you still thought the game had some issues. The battle system, while nice and complex, did take a while to really get rolling, and put a few levels of control between you and your characters. The world was very linear, making for a long chain of fights rather than any real exploration. And dead mother or not, (again, we're being brutally honest here) Hope was a whiner of the highest order.

The last time we had a sequel to a numbered Final Fantasy game, Square was coming off of Final Fantasy X, and they took the opportunity, with X-2, to go a little goofy with fan service ("Dresspheres"? Really?). There will be some of that in XIII-2, but the stakes are higher this time. The game represents two opportunities: the chance to re-introduce players to what XIII did right, and to smooth out some of the problems players had. According to a little hands-on time we had with the game last week, Square Enix is taking full advantage of that first opportunity, and only grudgingly stepping up on the second one.

The demo we played through starts off with two characters -- Sarah, Lightning's sister, and a new male character named Noel. It's his first time to the world of Cocoon as the two start the game, and no sooner do they step out into the world than they're attacked by a gigantic creature named Atlas. He's translucent, with just one arm that looks solid, because apparently he's trying to reach through a dimensional portal into Cocoon.

The "Command Synergy Battle" system is back with almost no core changes, as if Square Enix wants to convince players that it really does work. And it does, mostly -- all of the Paradigm roles are still here and still work generally the same way. Commandos and Ravagers push up a Stagger bar while doing damage, Medics heal, Synergists support, and Sentinels tank with defense.

But there are two main differences here. The first is that some battles are punctuated with "cinematic action sequences," basically button-press events that not only do damage to the enemy, but can actually grant buffs to the party if pulled off correctly. Pushing the left stick to the right when asked can give the party a damage and spell buff, or missing it can actually hurt the party. There's even some action to these -- at one point, Noel ran up Atlas' arm to attack his head, and the game asks you to press a series of buttons, God of War-style, resulting in a crit.

The other big change comes later -- after Noel and Sarah have beaten Atlas (as a two-person party), he rises up again in a series of nearby ruins, and the on-field battles start. Monsters in random battles will sometimes drop special crystals, and those crystals enable you to equip a third party member: The monsters you've defeated. The monsters you equip in battle change based on whatever Paradigm you ask them to have, so choosing Ravager as your third class will have you fighting alongside a Flan creature, or choosing Sentinel could put a Scalebeast next to your two-person party.

The monster fighting with you has a "Feral Link" meter that raises as you fight, and when it fills, the monster gets to pull off its own special ability, another button-press event that has different effects depending on what monster you've got equipped. There were only a few monsters available in the demo, but surely these will be collectible, with rare ones requiring tough hunts.

There's also a change to the way battles start -- when you approach an enemy, a meter appears on the screen, and you need to find the enemy and press a button to attack before the meter falls out of a green area. Attacking quickly grants bonuses like a pre-emptive strike, definitely removing a little bit of the positioning randomness in the last game.

Overall the updates provide a surprising amount of extra variety to Paradigm changes, and the button-press sequences do make you feel like you're a little more in control of the fight and your party. Battle still isn't as direct as the old Final Fantasy menus (you're still just technically controlling one character and queuing up actions rather than choosing them yourself), but including the monsters and their abilities in battle does make things more interesting.

As for XIII's other big complaint, the linearity, it's tough to tell from the short demo if Square Enix has really tackled that issue in the game's overworld (if, indeed, there even is one). But the demo starts in a sort of "town" area, with various guards hanging out that you can talk to and get information from. And the dungeon itself even tries to offer up some choice with what Square Enix is calling a "Live" event -- when Noel and Sarah finally find Atlas again, they're notified that another artifact has been found in the ruins, and given the choice of attacking Atlas right away, or going for the object first.

Unfortunately, attacking Atlas is a no go -- he kills the characters in one swipe, and you're forced to restart the game. It's as if the developers were told to offer players a choice, and did the absolute minimum about it. The "too linear" feedback has been at least heard, even if it hasn't been acted on in a major way.

There is more -- finding the new artifact throws Sarah and Noel into a weird "Tile Trials" puzzle minigame, where you have to collect crystals on a disappearing path of tiles. The party is also accompanied by a Mog, who offers cute commentary during exploration, more than a few "Lupo!" calls, and the ability to make certain environmental objects, like treasure chests, appear from other dimensions. And there is a weather system in the game -- we saw rain which not only leaves droplets on the screen, but also is supposed to affect the battle system in some yet undiscernable way.

It seems unlikely that Square Enix will win any haters over with XIII-2 -- there's plenty of the original elements that inspired criticism still intact. But the changes are solid, and given that most of Final Fantasy XIII featured our characters moping around about things they couldn't understand, a little sequel-style levity might be just the thing for this world.

[Gobo]

Re: FFXIII-2 screenshots! Serah party member!

Lightning v Chaos Bahamut

Also, multiple endings and a variation on new game + confirmed

FFXIII-2 will have multiple endings, a first for the series said Toriyama. Famitsu.com's interviewer was extremely shocked by this statement. One of the reasons for including a multi ending system, explained Toriyama, is that when it comes to the world view and serious story development, FFXIII-2 is similar to FFXIII, so they felt that they should show new elements in the gameplay area. He contrasted the changes to the switch from FFX to FFX-2, where the world view and battle system changed considerably.

Toriyama said that the game will have more yarikomi elements (I keep forgetting how to translate that damn word -- it's all the extra crap you can do in a game beyond the main quest). You'll be able to play the game multiple times. Famitsu asked if this means there will be a New Game + style feature, where you restart the game with your character fully buffed up from the previous playthrough. Toriyama responded that they hope to offer a different form of repeat play from this.

Following much feedback from players, they made FFXIII-2 player driven. Players will actively explore and will trigger events with their actions. They're making the game so that there are many choices for players.

The Serah character does not have summons during battle, said Toriyama, but in its place she can have monsters join her party.

Full interview

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Team Interviewed

[Kailea]

Re: FFXIII-2 screenshots! Serah party member!

multiple endings........ *sigh* god -.-

[Raydeus]

Re: FFXIII-2 screenshots! Serah party member!

Harem ending here I go! \(^-^)/






...what? <_<;

[Infinite Dreamz]

Re: FFXIII-2 screenshots! Serah party member!

I hate multiple ending so dumb...Lightning does look cool though I will admit that...

[Malacite]

Re: FFXIII-2 screenshots! Serah party member!

I like multiple endings, to a degree - They have to be meaningful and worth pursuing though. Fallout 3 took it too far with something like 200+ possible endings >_>

Even Crono Trigger was a bit much with 13. I like how Star Ocean does it though, with your relationship between all the party members (and which members you decide to recruit) altering it, though it's usually just slight stuff that doesn't dramatically change anything (like X falls in love with Y instead of Z, that sorta thing. the main conclusion to the plot doesn't change so it's kinda fluff in that regard)

[Cheezeman3000]

Re: FFXIII-2 screenshots! Serah party member!

I don't mind multiple endings but in this case it seems like the only reason they're doing it is to appease the fans. It almost seems like a reluctant answer to the fans who clamored that the first game wasn't open-ended enough. At least it appears they're also adding more open environments/sidequests, which is what the fans really wanted.

If they do it well, and not just as an attempt to appease the fans, then I will definitely love playing through to get the different endings.

[Raydeus]

Re: FFXIII-2 screenshots! Serah party member!

They got it wrong then.

People wanted open gameplay and exploration, not endings.

Now, if they had made a Skyrim-ish FFXIII I'd be all over it (and not just drooling over Serah and Lightning's pics), but those things don't happen in Squeenix-Land

[jenova_9]

Re: FFXIII-2 screenshots! Serah party member!

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Full Res Screenshots

new screenies

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: FFXIII-2 screenshots! Serah party member!

multiple endings........ *sigh* god -.-

What's the problem with multiple endings?

I don't think the whole experience of a game exactly has to be a one-off and there are plenty of ways to go about it.

I've been on FFXIII on and off and if there's really any problem I had with it, its that they drag on too long with the two-character setup. There's a certain charm to the Paradigm shift system, but its really hard to enjoy it with only two characters.

I get that the characters of the story - unlike most FFs - don't meet under the best circumstances, but I hope for the love of moogles that Hope isn't a heavily involved character. People go on and on bout Vaan or Tidus and I don't see hte problem with them, but for once everyone was right to hate this guy. Vaan needed to be the dumb, tactless guy. Tidus needed to be the energetic guy with some family issues - I mean, everyone else aside from Rikku was more or less and orphan so they can't have family problems.

I tend to sympathize with Sahz more than the others in XIII so far, though I'm starting to like Lightning. Even if she's stuck with Hope right now, at least his presence shows she's not a completely bitter woman. Vanille... she's just terribly attached to reality to start with. I want to hate that, but it does make Sahz being saddled with her more interesting.

One more thing I'm hoping for is a skill system that isn't really so on-rails as FFXIII's. FFX and FFXII really had it right to start with (well maybe not the license to wear things in XII, but aside from that).

Its not a bad game at all, I guess you could say I had the same problem getting into FFVII. Once you got out of Midgar the game was great, but the time you're forced to stay there was a drag.

[Kailea]

Re: FFXIII-2 screenshots! Serah party member!

it is not that multiple endings are bad, I love em.... but not in a Final Fantasy game, I guess I am of the group that wanted at least one of the games they grew up with, to stay similar.

I never read books to much, but I always saw a new Final Fantasy (really any RPG but FF mainly) as a new "book" for me to read. Hell Final Fantasy is what got me to read as much as I do now.

[Raydeus]

Re: FFXIII-2 screenshots! Serah party member!

If I wanted multiple endings -SE style- I'd be playing Chrono instead.




Well, not like I was going to play XIII-2 anyway. Just saying.

[Cheezeman3000]

Re: FFXIII-2 screenshots! Serah party member!

I kinda agree that I'd rather not have multiple endings in my FF, since usually that means the story suffers from split personality disorder. But, heck, if they do it well, then it's not an issue. Also, don't forget they've kinda done this before, with FFX-2 having secret endings that actually changed things fairly significantly.