Final Fantasy XIII-2 Coming To NA In January 2012

Final Fantasy XIII-2 will launch in Japan in December this year. A press release detailing Square Enix’s Comic-Con lineup issued today reveals it will launch in January 2012 for North America. No word on a European date yet.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 11 New Screenshots

Final Fantasy XIII-2 - 4 New Screenshots

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Lightning vs Chaos Bahamut Video

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Camera Control During Cutscenes

Famitsu Xbox 360 reveals that Final Fantasy XIII-2 will let you move the camera around during event scenes and that's it.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Lightning and Serah Screenshot

Final Fantasy XIII-2 - 2 New Screenshots

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Has More New Characters

Noel joins the Final Fantasy XIII cast as the main character of Final Fantasy XIII-2. But he won't be the only major new character in the game.

In an interview in this week's Famitsu, art director Isamu Kamikokuryo reveals that there will be other new "main characters" besides Noel.

It's unclear what Kamikokuryo means by "main" characters, as the game's producer and director have said that the story will center on Noel and Serah, the two characters who were playable in the E3 demo. At the very least, it looks like we can expect some additional major additions to the cast.

Characters from the original FFXIII will be returning as well, of course. Kamikokuryo said that players will be able to see slightly grown up versions of the past characters, and how they're now living.

Kamikokuryo's discussion also shed a few additional details on who's working on FFXIII-2, along with some additional hints about the game:

• The staff remains mostly the same from the original.
• Tetsuya Nomura handled designs for the characters' faces while the bodies and clothing were handled by other FF series art directors.
• The character shown standing back-to-back with Lightning in the game's original January trailer was designed by Yusuke Naora.
• The enemies that appear in the Neo Bodham area are a new category of enemy that are neither from Cocoon nor Pulse. They're designed by lead art designer Toshitaka Matsuda.
• There is a common pattern that appears on Lightning's shield and Serah's clothing. When playing the game, you'll find out why the pattern is the same.
• A number of people submitted Moogle designs, but in the end they went with Matsuda's design. Matsuda also designed Lightning's sword, NPCs, new monsters, backgrounds, and the summons which appear in a different form from the original.
• Similar to the original, Lightning's sword can transform between gun and sword.
• The game's maps weren't finalized from the start this time. Instead, they're letting the staff fill the maps with ideas for things like short-cuts and so-forth. They're letting the staff be free to do trial and error in this area.
• Because of the tight production schedule, they didn't have much time for pre production. They didn't even have enough time to do much in the way of setting drawings. In some cases, they used photographs and other resources to explain things. Looking at the bright side, Kamikokuryo said that this actually made it easier to get the point across, and allowed them to change their approach to direction.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Special

Story

At the end of Final Fantasy XIII -Episode i-, Lightning, who felt there was still something threatening the newly acquired peace, found herself in a mysterious empty dimension while searching for a way to save Vanille and Fang. 5 years later, though many of the surviving residents of Cocoon, creating the village of New Bodhum near the crystallized structure, believed Lightning to be dead, only Serah Farron refused to accept it. Soon after, New Bodhum is under attack by mysterious monsters as Serah is saved by a mysterious youth named Noel Kreiss. Joined by Noel, Serah leaves her home to find her sister. Part of the plot appears to involve an alternate world or universe, as the demo of the game playable at E3 2011 involved a giant enemy called Paradox Alpha or "Atlas" which Noel stated to be fading in and out of time/space with only its left arm visible.

The story is said to be be darker than in Final Fantasy XIII, mysterious, and also reveal events that took place behind the scenes in the original game. Past characters will return, but with important and unexpected changes. The goddess Etro will be an important element to the game's story. Square Enix stated a desire to create a world bigger and more alive that reflects the changes after the end of Final Fantasy XIII. In the game's first trailer, Lightning, wearing a suit of armor, is seen kneeling to a crystal throne within a temple/resting place of goddess Etro, before crossing swords with an unknown purple-haired male character, who wields a large, elaborate sword emanating a purple flame. He is believed to be her rival, and is featured in the logo with her. Toriyama has described the male character as being of equal strength to Lightning, and being able to fight on even terms with her. He is said to be on a similar mission to Lightning's, and will be in her way as she tries to complete her own.

Characters

A mysterious man who saves Serah from monsters. He accompanies Serah on her quest to find her sister. He uses multiple weapons including a sword, two katanas, a bow, and a dagger. As a beast tamer, Noel can command monsters he defeats, turning them to crystals, and gains access to new monster skills by syncing up with them in battle. He is also the main protagonist of XIII-2.

Lightning's younger sister and Snow Villiers' fiancee. Serah wishes to find her lost sister and sets out to search for her. Her weapon is a sword that can transform into a bow. She's had dreams of the events to come, namely of the appearance of Noel.

A moogle carrying a rod adorned with a clock who can transform into Serah's weapon. He's a treasure hunter and will reveal invisible chests within dungeons. He also uses his magic to execute the Mog Clock .

The main protagonist of the original game. Lightning has been missing since the ending of Final Fantasy XIII, but Serah refuses to believe that she is dead.

Snow will appear and is unconcerned about the new friendship between Serah and Noel, but nothing else is known about his role, or if he will be playable.

A young girl with short blonde hair wearing yellow and red clothes who is part of a research team from the Academy. In the E3 trailer, she shows Serah the grave of a friend who died running from the Purge.

Gameplay

Combat System

The game's battle system will be a further evolution of the "Command Synergy Battle" (CSB) and Paradigm Shift systems first used in the original game. It will fix and address issues and make areas that were already considered good even better. There will be a feature that allows the player to control the difficulty of battles. During battles, players will be put through quick time events called "Cinematic Action" which will allow them to deal higher damage to foes and gain the upper hand in certain battles.Further more, the player can tame monsters and have them in the party for fights. Also in battle there is a "Feral Link" feature. As the player attacks, the Feral Link bar fills up, and when it's full the player can make their current tamed monster do a special attack via a quick time event.

Mog Clock

Monsters no longer roam the map like in Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy XIII, they instead randomly appear on the field when the player gets close. Just as monsters are appearing, a red ring surrounds the player's character and dial clock is shown on the screen, which is titled the "Mog Clock". The feature grants the player various bonuses (or penalties), depending on the time it takes them to enter the battle.

Live Trigger

The player will be presented with a series of "dialogue trees" when talking to NPCs. These choices offer the player a lot of options to go about playing the game. However, what they choose will not drastically alter the game. The system is instead just options for allowing the player to have unique choices when talking to NPCs.

Anomaly System

A new feature that was shown at this year's E3. Players will be presented with a puzzle-like problem. When they completely solve the current anomaly session, they will be able to travel to a different space-time dimension.

Misc Game Info

- XIII-2′s story begins in Gran Pulse after the ending of XIII.

- The story will feel like it expands out from the after story that was included in the booklet with Xbox 360′s Final Fantasy XIII International.

- Outside of Lightning, other characters will appear in the game in unexpected forms. Some will see major changes.

- XIII-2 is a full sequel. You'll learn some of the things that took place in the background scenes of XIII.

- The story will be more dark and mysterious than XIII's.

- The story will focus on the goddess Etro.- The game will not have the pop feel of Final Fantasy X-2.

- The battle system will be an evolved form of XIII's ATB system.

- They're listening to opinions both inside and outside of Square Enix and from outside of Japan regarding characters, story and interface.

- There may be a difficulty setting.

- Serah's moogle transforms into a bow *and* a sword.- What's a... mog clock? It's a new system in Final Fantasy XIII-2. When you spot enemies a mog clock appears underneath them. Trigger a fight with an enemy by hitting it while the clock is green and you'll begin the battle with a preemptive strike and haste status. Attack the enemy while its yellow and you won't get any bonuses. If the enemy hits you when the mog clock is in red, the enemy gets to attack first.

- You can run from fights if the mog clock runs out and the enemy is far away. You'll know if you're far enough if the ring around Noel and the enemy is gray. Red means you're in a fighting zone.

- In addition to dodging damage, completing cinematic events gives your characters a positive status effect. Noel gains the attack boosting brave status. Serah's magic gets charged with faith status.

- Switching paradigms automatically switches monsters. The Warhorn (a behemoth-like creature) appears under a commando paradigm. Flanbanero, an orange flan that's fond of water spells, is a ravager.

- The team designed battles for players to use feral link, a monster special attack, often. A synchronization gauge lets you know when the attack is ready and it fills fast.

- Final Fantasy XIII-2 has secret enemies. A cactuar is hidden in a specific room of the demo, but there is only a small chance you'll run into the monster.

Videos

Screenshots