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Final Fantasy 13's Lightning may return again
Lightning Returns director Motomu Toriyama recently told Siliconera that while the pink-haired heroine's saga has come to a close with the third installment of the Final Fantasy XIII games, Lightning herself may show up as a "guest character" in future Final Fantasy games. "For Lightning, her story ends here in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, as this game is meant as a finale to this series. But we know that Lightning is an extremely popular character, even when compared to other Final Fantasy characters," Toriyama said. "So there is a possibility that Lightning would appear in other future Final Fantasy titles, not as a protagonist, but as a guest character." Lightning wouldn't be alone if this were to happen - heroes from past Final Fantasy titles have appeared in games like Final Fantasy Tactics, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, Dissidia Final Fantasy and the Kingdom Hearts series. At least keeping her role limited to "guest character" will (hopefully) save us all from "Lightning Returns 2: Electric Boogaloo." [Image: Square-Enix]
'Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII' headed to 360/PS3 in 2013
The "new direction" Square Enix is taking the story of Lightning is ... almost the same direction as before. As in, it's another sequel to Final Fantasy XIII. "Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII" was unveiled at tonight's Final Fantasy 25th anniversary events.According to the game's Japanese website, Motomu Toriyama is heading up the third game in the Final Fantasy XIII series (yes, we seriously just wrote that) – a game that's said to end Lightning's story. A video was shown during tonight's event that we're expecting to see pop up any time now, but we've got a concept art gallery below for you to check out in the meantime.Update: Andriasang's liveblog of the Japanese event shares a variety of details on the upcoming game, including Lightning's customizable gear (said to be many and varied), the setting ("Navus Partus"), and more. Check it out!%Gallery-164099%
What Square Enix learned from Final Fantasy 13's large-scale development
Square Enix had 180 artists, 30 programmers and 36 designers working on Final Fantasy 13, and that many people on board made its development complicated, director Motomu Toriyama told Gamasutra."With a large-scale development team, we didn't use our time well," Toriyama said. "How do you communicate to everyone in the department what the drive of the game is?"Toriyama and his team tried to keep the game as secret as possible within the massive workforce, which led to playtesting happening "way too late in the process," he said. Square intended to fix those issues with Final Fantasy 13-2, and implemented production-based milestones as opposed to story-based ones it used at the beginning of FF13's development. Still, more needs to change."We are also thinking that we will not do large-scale internal development any longer," Toriyama said. "We have a lot of great creators in Square Enix, but for larger-scale development we will be doing more distributed and outsourced development to reach our targets on time."
Final Fantasy XIII-2 announced, coming to 360 and PS3
Square Enix has announced Final Fantasy XIII-2 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. During a Square Enix 1st Production Department event in Japan, producer Yoshinori Kitase revealed the direct sequel to last year's Final Fantasy XIII, which is to be directed by Motomu Toriyama. Though we hope the "-2" in the title signifies the subtraction of Hope and Vanille, the logo highlights the addition of a new character alongside XIII's prickly leading lady, Lightning. According to a translation by RPG Site, Final Fantasy XIII-2 is set to launch in 2011, though it's unclear if that pertains to Japan only. Update: The English version will launch "next Winter." %Gallery-114575%
Square Enix producers have more Final Fantasy 13 stories in mind
Despite the eventual existence of Final Fantasy Agito XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII, there's apparently still room for more "Fabula Nova Crystallis" games from Square Enix. Maybe. In an interview in the Final Fantasy XIII Ultimania Omega guide, producer Yoshinori Kitase expressed an interest in continuing the Final Fantasy XIII story. "I'd like to at some point make a story where Lightning ends up happy," director Motomu Toriyama said. Whether or not this becomes a game depends on demand from fans. The team also revealed content that was planned as DLC but cut from Final Fantasy XIII: an area called "Seventh Ark" that would have offered "free battles." This was axed for quality reasons, as well as for differences in PSN and Xbox Live.
Producers: Final Fantasy XIII will 'resurrect' Japanese game industry
digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/09/producers-final-fantasy-xiii-will-resurrect-japanese-game-ind/'; Final Fantasy XIII may not be out in North America and Europe yet, but the development team is in full "victory lap" mode in Japan. At least, that's how it seemed when noted industry figure Jem Alexander interviewed producer Yoshinori Kitase and director Motomu Toriyama for the European PlayStation Blog. Asked about the state of the Japanese game industry, the two (no individual attribution was given to the speakers) said that FFXIII was going to fix it. "Some people have been saying that the Japanese game industry is dead, and all that... I dunno," the creative lead said. "I will say that Final Fantasy XIII is one really epic title for high definition consoles. With this game, we are going to resurrect the whole thing." And then they immediately moved from boastful to confusing: "As for Western games that have influenced us - FPSs mostly. The Call of Duty series, for example." Influenced their desire to sell a lot of copies, maybe? The team also suggested elsewhere in the interview that God of War Collection-style remakes of previous Final Fantasy titles are unlikely. And, while they didn't outright deny DLC (which is looking more and more likely), they said that material or ideas originally left out won't be put back in as DLC.
Final Fantasy XIII producers: Traditional RPG towns are tough to do in HD
Lots of fans think it would be great to see the classic Final Fantasy VII remade in full HD glory on a platform like the PS3, but Final Fantasy XIII producers Yoshinori Kitase and Motomu Toriyama say it would be really tough to do. In a recent interview with Ultimania, they say that the limit isn't the HD technology, it's the amount of artisanship. "Considering the amount of work to make graphics that deserve HD, it is hard to make towns in the conventional style," said Toriyama. FFVII's graphics were beautiful at the time, but when you consider that we all played them on a 4:3 TV SD screen rather than the 1080p HD behemoths we're all playing games on today, you realize that it's a lot more work for artists to put in to make the game look as epic as Final Fantasy should. That's one reason why FFXIII doesn't have conventional RPG towns. Kitase agrees, saying that "it is very hard to make games on PlayStation 3 in the same style the games in that era had. Making graphics will take enormous time." So score one for standard definition and the limits of the old pre-HD consoles. Note that neither producer says it's impossible, just a lot of work. So maybe some enterprising young developer will come along and make a solid, HD JRPG in the old-school fashion.
Pixar, Molyneux and Schafer also giving talks at GDC 2010
Worried that you're only gonna get one legendary game developer speaking at this year's GDC? Well quit it, because it turns out that March's pontification festival will also feature the likes of Double Fine's Tim Schafer, Lionhead/MGS Europe head Peter Molyneux, Square Enix FFXIII director Motomu Toriyama, a couple of "Pixar notables," and fantasy wordsmith R.A. Salvatore. According to Gamasutra's announcement of the speakers, the gentlemen will join "almost 350 other lectures, keynotes, and panels" taking place at the early March event, giving speeches on everything from comedy in gaming (Schafer, of course) to intuitive game design (Molyneux), and even a sneak peek (the first, actually, if we're not mistaken) of 38 Studios' upcoming MMO (with R.A. Salvatore). For all you zipper and chain-clad folks, Toriyama's speech on creating "The Crystal Mythos" might be more up your alley. If none of that sounds exciting to you, then there's always the other 345 or so folks at the event or ... umm ... a bar down the street maybe? Listen, are you alright?
Final Fantasy XIII might get DLC, no story expansions
We know -- it's tiresome hearing about "DLC" when we're still waiting on "regular ol' C" -- still, our interest was piqued by the mention of possible downloadable content for Final Fantasy XIII in a recent RPG Site interview with Squeenix's Motomu Toriyama and Yoshinori Kitase. According to Kitase, the developer is "exploring the option of downloadable content, perhaps adding new areas, items or enemies." He went on to add that any DLC wouldn't expand the game's story -- that'll be completely contained within the core game. Our hope is, as ever, that any potential expansion for the game will finally add that Final Fantasy kart racer mode we've been waiting on ever since -- wait, they already did one of those? Get out of town! [Via VG247]
Interview: Final Fantasy XIII's Yoshinori Kitase and Motomu Toriyama
We were given the opportunity to sit down for a brief roundtable group discussion with Final Fantasy XIII's director, Motomu Toriyama, and producer, Yoshinori Kitase, shortly before getting eyes on with the newly announced summon Gestault mode. Check after the break for the full interview and, if you haven't already, make sure you read through our impressions of the summon system.
Blood of Bahamut gets dated for Japan
Square Enix news continues in full force today with word (via Kotaku) that Blood of Bahamut has been given a release date for Japan. The Nintendo DS title is expected to ship on August 6. Blood of Bahamut is a four-player action RPG set in a city constructed on the back of a giant creature, cleverly named Gigant. Characters are presented in 2D, battling it out in a 3D environment. One of the game's many directors is future Square Enix legend Motomu Toriyama, whose previous work includes planning for Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII, as well as event directing for Final Fantasy X. Also, while the game is looking better every time we see it, it still pales in comparison to the incredibly rad artwork Square Enix is using to promote the game. Or as we like to call it, "Future wall scroll." %Gallery-36800%
OPM UK and Edge go hands-on with Final Fantasy XIII
Both OPM UK and Edge magazine feature hands-on previews of Final Fantasy XIII in their respective May issues (out now). While 1UP may have already exposed most of what we need to know about the battle system, there are a few tidbits that had gone unnoticed. OPM UK details the post-battle screen, which includes information on a 5-point performance rating. The developers refused to elaborate on this, but did say it would affect gameplay. Edge asked FFXIII director and writer Motomu Toriyama if the number of time segment commands for each character would increase (which would ultimately let characters perform more actions in a single turn). He replied with a hinting wink, "That's a very shrewd observation." Toriyama also talked a bit about the storyline, revealing to OPM UK that FFXIII won't just be about Lightning and will be "told by different viewpoints and characters." In that regard, it looks like gamers can expect to see a storyline similar in scope to FFVI. With a public demo packaged in the Japanese Blu-ray version of Advent Children (out in less than two weeks), gamers will get to experience an hour's worth of FFXIII gameplay and story.
FFXIII still on track for '09 Japanese release
Final Fantasy XIII director and writer Motomu Toriyama wants to dispel recent delay concerns that have befallen the flagship title. There was worry that Dragon Quest IX's push back would affect FFXIII's schedule; however, that does not appear to be the case. Toriyama tells Famitsu that "development is going favorably for a 2009 launch." While Japanese gamers can be comforted by this reprieve, worldwide audiences will still have to sit it out a bit longer. Didn't you know? A 2009 launch for FFXIII is only for Japan.
