Was the direction deliberate?

[Formalhaut]

I've heard many times now how this game is "world-driven", while the other two are "story-driven" and "player-driven" respectively.

So was this a deliberate thing on the part of SE? At the beginning of development for XIII were they set on this three-part idea then? Or was it more of a delayed vision after the controversy of XIII's linearity?

Discuss.

[Skyblade]

I have found nothing at all to indicate that there were any plans for a sequel during the production of FFXIII.

I think it's all response to the outcry, and, to be fair, it's some of the best response I've heard, where they not only listened to complaints, but actually paid attention and noticed that only aspects of the game were complained about, instead of just abandoning the project completely, as they had with previous complaint-heavy games.

They saw that the game was hated for its linearity, but also noticed which parts of it, and which characters, were liked, and kept those for the sequel. And now they're seeing that people want Lightning back, so...

But, no, I don't think any of this was planned from the original production.

[Jiro]

I don't think it was predetermined but it was obviously quite deliberate. The team seemed to like the characters and mythos they created and figured they ought to try and improve on what was a mixed bag in FFXIII. Mad kudos to them for trying to listen to fans I suppose.

[NinjaCoachZ]

I'm thinking XIII was planned to be standalone, and then XIII-2 and Lightning Returns came as a response to them being somewhat dissatisfied with it, both due to fan criticisms and possibly SE feeling like the game wasn't all that it could've been (I heard it had a somewhat troubled production).

[Del Murder]

I'm thinking XIII was planned to be standalone, and then XIII-2 and Lightning Returns came as a response to them being somewhat dissatisfied with it, both due to fan criticisms and possibly SE feeling like the game wasn't all that it could've been (I heard it had a somewhat troubled production).
This, and also money.