[10/09] Final Fantasy XIII-2 TGS demo fan report

[Rey]

Snow to debut at Tokyo Game Show.

Yesterday, Square Enix invited a few of its Japanese ‘Square Enix Members’ account holders to test out the Tokyo Game Show demo of Final Fantasy XIII-2 a week ahead of its debut. Gametwiit attended the event and today reported on the demo, as translated by Nova Crystallis.



Speaking during a roundtable discussion, the development staff revealed the game has only been in a development for about 1.5 years. Production on the sequel began shortly after the North American and European launches of Final Fantasy XIII. The staff hopes to announce a release date at the Tokyo Game Show next week.

Game director Motomu Toriyama confirmed Snow’s return in XIII-2, but joked that he and Serah have yet to marry. Both Snow and plenty of Lightning will appear at the Tokyo Game Show.

Reiterating what was confirmed Thursday, Final Fantasy XIII-2 will have multiple endings. Pulse, Lindzei, and the Goddess Etro of the Fabula Nova Crystallis mythology are the “axis” of the story, according to the staff.

Regarding the actual demo, it is set in the same Bresha Ruins location as the E3 demo, but with added tweaks. Normal and Easy gameplay difficulties have been tossed in, and the Battle Results screen now displays additional statistics. Attendees experienced a full taste of the game’s Monster Hunter aspect, which allows players to recruit creatures as a third party member in battle. This time, they got a look at the chocobo (attacker) and cait sith (healer) characters.

There are around 150 total monsters in the game. XIII-2 also has a Blood Damage system that limits how much the player can heal, by a Healer in your paradigm, as the battle moves forward.

As far as additional party members go, Toriyama said that, at certain points, a guest character will join Noel and Serah as a third party member.

If you’ve beaten Final Fantasy XIII, don’t delete that save file! Some save data functionality might carry over, and those who have it on their system may receive something at a later date.

Source: http://gematsu.com/2011/09/final-fantasy-xiii-2-tgs-demo-fan-report

That last part intrigues me. I have 100% in XIII. I deserve something special. Plenty of Snow and Lightning? onoes! Clearly Snow is too stupid for Serah, and Serah refused the marriage. No but seriously, it is funny they are not married yet. I am so psychic. I knew Lindzei would be a huge part of the story.

 

[C i d]

Yeah I read this quite recently. They also said that the game is 90% complete. I would want to congratulate SE for finishing a game of decent quality (as far as I can tell) in just 1.5 years.

yeah yeah I know they have the basics from XIII. but it's still very fast, considering so many new gameplay points they are adding.

EDIT:

gil after battle. Ranks give item drop advantage. crystogen points absent. Notice 'normal mode'

chocobo in battle

Source: Novacrystallis

 

[One-Winged Moogle]

Like that Snow is coming back. Dont' like two people+ pet(moogle)+monster for most of the game. I hope we get more human party members that stay for longer.

 

[C i d]

I figured I shall post this here since it's talking about the same event, with some other info:

Final Fantasy XIII-2 director Motomu Toriyama has provided a big hint about when we can expect to hear the game's final release date. During the Q&A session of a fan event held in Tokyo over the weekend, Toriyama was asked by attendees for a more specific date than the currently announced December timeframe. He responded "It will be announced at Tokyo XXXXXX."

The number of Xs in his response -- at least as Famitsu.com transcribed it in its report from the event -- matches the Japanese word for "Game Show" (which is just "Game Show"), so it looks like we'll get the date next week!

Tokyo Game Show may also be the revealing grounds for the identity of the mysterious man who was shown in a confrontation in Valhalla with Lightning during the game's first trailer earlier this year. Square Enix's PR department said to expect this info from next week's big event as well.

Other points mentioned in the Q&A session:

Asked if they're looking into releasing download content, producer Yoshinori Kitase asked a PR person "Is it okay if I say?" but was denied permission, so he instead said that they're actively looking into it.

Asked if we'll get a limited edition, Kitase said they're "really actively looking into it."

If you have your XIII save data, you'll get some bonuses in XIII-2.

As previously announced, XIII-2 has a monster raising component. Your characters are built up using a new growth system like the Crystarium system from the original. Your monsters have their own growth system which is similar to this.

You'll find over 150 monster types in the game. They all have unique inputs for performing their special skills, so those who aren't too good with action games can select a monster with simple controls.

In XIII, you could only ride Chocobos in the Gran Pulse world. In XIII-2, you can ride them anywhere. However, you won't have access to Chocobos at the start of the game. You'll gain access at a point where it starts to be difficult to move around with ease.

The game will have a red Chocobo. Toriyama says that this will be a unique Chocobo amongst the series' Chocobos.

That Moogle Serah uses as a weapon and as a means of grabbing items items is from Lightning's world. He's come to help Serah.

The "Fragments" shown in last week'S screenshots of the game's time travel interface are part of a quest system. You get them from NPCs and can attempt to clear the related quest. You'll start to encounter these fragments right from the game's first chapter.

Asked about the game's length, Toriyama explained that just looking at the story volume, it's a bit shorter than XIII. However, there are all sorts of additional play elements this time, including the time travel, the fragments, and lots of mini games.

It was already announced that most of the characters from XIII will appear in XIII-2. We'll get an introduction to some of those characters at TGS. Some of the characters will be playable (not necessarily at TGS, but playable in the game).

Serah and Snow are not yet married, and Snow apparently has a good reason for this. In the final version of the game, we'll get the full word on the current status of their relationship.

Development on XIII-2 is currently at 90%. The game has been in development for a little over one and a half years, according to Kitase.


Source: Andriasang

 

[Rey]

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is shorter than XIII then? It was kinda to be expected, with X-2 being shorter than X. Might be ten hours or so less. So I may finish it in fifty or so hours. I just hope it is not so short and is not 30 hours or something. I can see it being more short to do everything in this one then.

 

[C i d]

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is shorter than XIII then? It was kinda to be expected, with X-2 being shorter than X. Might be ten hours or so less. So I may finish it in fifty or so hours. I just hope it is not so short and is not 30 hours or something. I can see it being more short to do everything in this one then.

But the amount of optional gameplay is apparently way larger than XIII and you can replay for alternative paths that lead to different endings. It's also been said there are many secret areas, mini games and sidequests.

Besides, I believe he is referring to story cutscenes when he's talking about story volume. In XIII-2, live cutscenes have made things faster and seamless between gameplay and story. And those conversations during gameplay on the bottom left of the screen has been made very relevant to the story. In XIII, it's just usually some random remark with little relevance, like 'wow', etc. In XIII-2 demo, serah and Noel were discussing about atlas and their decision to stop him, during the gameplay, through the bottom left conversation tab. Explaining and stuff may also be made easier as NPCs can be talked to to gather secrets/info. You can even choose what to say to see different outcomes sometimes.

 

[Ohri-Jin]

150 monsters in game...(Pokemon)
Not a whole lot of party members it seems
story shorter than the first game....
extra content? side quests? wahaha I hate sidequests that are put in to prolong the game..unless the side quests are epic...which I doubt...probably monster hunting..
or capture all the 150 monsters like POKEMON!!

90% done in 1.5 years...

I so hope this game doesnt flop and give the fans a very decent game or I am gonna laugh my freeking ass off if it disappoints yet again.