Thu, Dec 20, 2012 | 23:45 GMT
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 – first trailer released
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 is the final entry in the RPG trilogy. It has big shoes to fill, and even larger expectations to meet, following two quite different and oft-critiqued prequels. Check out the first trailer through the break and judge for yourself whether Lightning can restore your faith in Final Fantasy.
Update:The video was a GameTrailers exclusive, but has since disappeared. However, we have an alternate clip below.
It shows off Lightning’s outfit as revealed in Famitsu scans, but one of the new features of Lightning Returns is the ability to customise outfits; it’s not clear whether this is our heroine’s official costume or whether we’re being shown how the game accounts for personal tastes.
Lightning Returns has a couple of other interesting new twists. The player is given thirteen days, over a real time day-night cycle of about two hours each, to save the world – but can lengthen or shorten that time depending on their actions. Square Enix has hinted that sometimes doing the “right” thing will have grave consequences. It will have multiple endings, and it is intended that multiple playthroughs will be required to see everything.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 is expected on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2013.
Thanks to BlitzWhat for the clip.
Thanks, Kotaku.
26 
Posted in: PS3, RPG, Square Enix, Xbox 360
Tags: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13
26 comments
#1
Phoenixblight
20/12/12, 2:09 am
Still going with the restrictive fighting system. Oh Square. Your 3rd party developers seem to know what the hell they are doing but your dev team seem to be lacking.
#2
Ireland Michael
20/12/12, 2:13 am
That looks utterly terrible. It looks like a poorly constructed expansion pack than an actual game.
#3
Clupula
20/12/12, 2:29 am
On the one hand, I’m glad they stuck with turn-based fighting, as I think the battle system in XIII is the second best in the series (only behind X-2), but on the other, if you’re only one character, why not just go all the way with it and make it like Kingdom Hearts/Versus XIII?
Oh well. Still will be getting this day one. I really liked the first two, for different reasons. Liked the party and overall story more in XIII, liked the villain, gameplay, and time mechanic more in XIII-2.
#4
Dark
20/12/12, 2:35 am
That fucking annoying soundtrack , why they have to use it in every FFXIII trailer..
and, i thought this going more like an action RPG
but from the trailer , it just looks like more of the same.
#5
goodguy
20/12/12, 2:45 am
the battle system remind of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj3K1OhKG4E
but with paradigm shift
#6
brotherhoodofthewolf
20/12/12, 4:28 am
@4 that’s Lightning’s theme
#7
belcross
20/12/12, 8:07 am
The trailer is bad..Saw it on youtube. At least there is jumping and platforming.
#8
SameeR_Fisher
20/12/12, 8:08 am
The video is no longer working, so here is another link to update
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7cuvUvRUeJU
#9
Erthazus
20/12/12, 8:17 am
Expansion pack with shitty storyline and with shitty city in it with crappy Lightning armor.
Basically Square Enix wants to milk the shit out of the FF fans. The only problem is that FFXIII-2 sold not really well to make another crappy expansion pack but they still want to try and milk it.
That battle system is a reharsh of the old system but this time it requires you not to press only X,X,X,X,X,X,X,X all the time but you are going to press everything just for the sake of it using one character.
Fuck you Square Enix. Die already.
“At least there is jumping and platforming.”
LOL. FFXIII-2 had platforming too. It was automatic. Wooow.
#10
Erthazus
20/12/12, 8:23 am
Oh yeah and: “sunglasses at night” (c)
Brilliant Square Enix.
#11
Da Man
20/12/12, 8:25 am
Well, it apparently has enough spiky haired characters for independent attention whores to complain and for fans who can’t get over a 30 years old pseudo battle system to enjoy, so I don’t see a problem.
#12
Deacon
20/12/12, 9:26 am
Too early to get a real feel for it.
#13
Zohar
20/12/12, 5:38 pm
I could not feel more utterly dejected by SquareEnix and what they think Final Fantasy fans want. They’ve squandered an entire console generation on this trash.
Nobody over there has a vision anymore.
#14
TheOutcastWolf
20/12/12, 9:25 pm
@4 That theme song is awesome, what the heck.
Okay I liked FFXIII, but I saw it’s flaws… there were a lot… FFXIII – 2 was better and made up few of the mistakes… My body is ready for this new one…
People just think that because the others weren’t truly amazing as they thought, this one will fail, which I truly believe it is not…
Anyway, word on a pack featuring all the three games?
#15
R3D_ONE
20/12/12, 9:39 pm
it’s down again ? found new one http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6EGmVT9_cTo
#16
Dragon246
21/12/12, 6:36 am
THAT ARMOR!!!
Has SE really lost all the good art directors it had? Its just horrible. Looks like they completely forgot what made lightnings outfit in 13 and 13-2 so good.
I liked original ff13 more than 13-2 because of better storyline, but I hate turn based combat. In this case, as there is only lightning, why not implement KH or Crysis Core battle system. Those were really good.
#17
Phoenixblight
21/12/12, 6:44 am
” why not implement KH or Crysis Core battle system.”
That was Versus but it looks like that project is canned or pushed to be a next gen game.
#18
Dragon246
21/12/12, 6:49 am
@17
WHERE THE F%@K IS VERSUS???
#19
Phoenixblight
21/12/12, 6:53 am
@18
Never got out of pre-production. They just went with sequelitis with the Lightning series. Even Type 0 was removed from the Crystal series that Versus, FFXIII were announced to be.
#20
Gregard
21/12/12, 8:13 am
@17 @18
Personally, since we are near the end of the console cycle, I would prefer if they move versus to next gen. Now THAT would be a system seller
#21
Erthazus
21/12/12, 8:17 am
FFXIII Versus is done in my opinion. They will show it at next January annual press conference that Square enix always do. + Yoichi Wada confirmed about it’s existence.
but FFXIII-versus as a next PS4 launch title can be a massive system seller but sony won’t do it anyway, because they hate money and they prefer “giant enemy crab with real-time weapon change that is based on Ancient Japanese history”. So, nothing wrong here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g1fr5vk72M
#22
Clupula
21/12/12, 8:36 am
I would actually be hugely pissed if Versus was moved to PS4. I’m not buying a next gen console until there’s, at least, twenty games for the system that I absolutely must have.
So, that would mean I’d have several more years to wait. I want them to do with the PS3 what they did with the PS2 and continue to support it for at least a couple years into the PS4′s life time. I fully expect Versus and Last Guardian to be titles that come out during this time period.
#23
Clupula
21/12/12, 8:40 am
@13 – According to some recent interviews (even though I really don’t trust them after their whole, “Making big towns would take too long” lie), they claim that revamping FFXIV has taken away resources from all of their other Japanese HD titles. That would make sense in a way, being they do keep milking XIII instead of putting out anything else this gen. The XIII sequels seem to be cheaper affairs than XIII was or any of their other titles were, outside of Nier, so I could see them pretty much dragging people off a lot of other projects just to fix the disaster that that game was, while putting out cheaper XIII sequels, just so they have something for the HD consoles.
Funny thing is, to most PS3 owners I speak to, it’s not going to make a difference because we’re not going to buy a subscription-based game anyway.
#24
manamana
21/12/12, 9:32 am
Zohar has pretty much said it all.
#25
Dragon246
21/12/12, 11:14 am
I agree with clupula. PS3 or bust.I will also take the next-gen plunge late, after getting 15-20 games that justify the new machine.I am sure this will arrive on ps3, maybe with a january official announce like erth said. The game looked an absolute bombshell. Waiting patiently !
#26
Phoenixblight
21/12/12, 5:10 pm
@Erth
Wada said they were in pre-production and had been there for 5-6 years. Its time to accept the fact and realize Versus is in development hell and won’t be getting out of it. Thats why I suggested that it could be Next Gen because then they will most likely pull their head out of their ass.