In case you didn’t see it one the web, Square Enix announced the next game in the Final Fantasy XIII storyline and the wrap up of Lightning’s saga. This is the third game in the Final Fantasy XIII timeline, following Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2. This is great news for fans of the XIII series since the new game focuses on Lightning, a fan-favorite character and the main character of the first game. She was also a part of the second game, even though you play XIII-2 and Lightning’s sister Sarah.
Lightning Returns is said to give players more control over Lightning herself. Players will be able to make her jump around like in XIII-2, and she can drop down and hang off ledges. Another interesting aspect of this new title is that Lightning can be moved during battle. So the gameplay will be different than the other games. Also, Lightning’s outfits will give her different stats. So it’s important to watch what she is wearing in order to make her abilities better. The game also features a “doomsday clock”. Lightning has only 13 days and 13 nights to complete her quest. That bit reminds me of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. This clock will countdown, meaning that players will have to accomplish Lightning’s goals in a set amount of time. A monorail will help her travel from location to location in the game, and it’s been mentioned that she may have to wait for the monorail as it experiences delays. As mentioned, there are days and nights in the game and it’s said that monsters will attack more in the night. There are to be new monster types for Lightning to fight, including gorilla’s and skeleton warriors.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII will be available for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 in 2013.
There is still a question lingering in the minds of fans though, what ever happened to Final Fantasy: Versus XIII? There were rumors awhile back that Versus XIII had been cancelled, but those were put to rest when the President of Square Enix, Yoichi Wada, denied that it had been cancelled via Twitter. Wada is talking about Versus XIII again, giving fans hope that this game may actually be released one day. The game was first announced 6 years ago with a mind blowing cinematic trailer, but nothing more has come from Square Enix other than a synopsis of the game and some screenshots. Wada states about Versus XIII:
“When it gets to the stage that it makes one think, ‘This is Final Fantasy,’ we’d like to show it to everyone.”
So basically, the game just isn’t ready yet. That’s all we have to go on, but it’s better than a cancellation announcement. In the future we may see more for Versus XIII, maybe it will even be released for the next generation of consoles.
Below is an announcement presentation from Yoshinori Kitase, the producer of the Final Fantasy XIII project:
