Lightning Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII - New Details

I was on board until I heard 'younger Hope'. That means HopexLightning will never happen.

I fully expect the story of this game to be completely ludicrous and utter crap but damn if everything else is looking pretty good. I gotta admit, the thought of battling against Snow and Noel sounds like a lot of fun. I plan to hand Snow his ass and then try and make friends with Noel.

Also, as much as I want this to be the end of this franchise, I must admit I wouldn't mind a Noel spinoff game. I really liked him as a character.

For a bunch of folks 500+ years old, they're are looking surprisingly youthful.

Originally Posted by Aulayna

FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 players will likely remember Caius Ballad, the immortal morally grey villain. Caius will be making an appearance in LR:FFXIII alongside Paddra Nsu-Yeul (mostly commonly referred to as Yeul, the Seeress that Serah and Noel encountered many times on their journey).

Morally grey until the bonus ending, where his character gets completely ruined by the poor writing.

As hinted in earlier trailers, Lightning won't just be re-uniting with most of her former party members - she will infact be doing battlew with them. In the newest screenshots we can see Lightning fighting both Noel and Snow. This is most likely due to the five-hundred year time difference between XIII-2 and LR:XIII. Snow, as always, is looking for Serah - a quest that is currently fruitless as he is now bound by a fal'Cie focus.

Five hundred year difference? Between what part of the games? Technically there's already something like a twelve hundred year difference between some of the various aspects of XIII-2, and the final event takes place well before some of the other events in the story. XIII-2 kind of destroys any idea of "linear time".

And it's made worse when the ending opens the void and opens up chaos, seeming to destroy even the concept of "time".

Sazh, featured in the Gamescom "Savior's Choice" trailer, returns along with his son Dajh who has been asleep for the centuries since the end of XIII-2. Sazh is seeking a way to wake Dajh up and Lightning will come across both of them in a location called the Wildlands.

Are we even going to attempt to address the fact that Sazh is still alive? At least in XIII-2, they made a BS explanation about Hope creating a stasis pod for himself.

Oerba Yun Fan will appear in the Dead Dunes desert leading the Monoculus band of mercernaries on a search to find lost relics of the past. Oerba Dia Vanille will be found in the city of Luxerion, a city of quiet worship - waiting for the end of days.

When did they wake up from the crystal? Or did they? Did the time wiping undo it all?

Hope Estheim returns too, in his younger XIII form - we was given this form back by the god Bhunivelze. He will be assisting Lightning from the Ark - a place outside of the realm of Noval Chrysalia. For the most part he will be sending Lightning on quests to save the souls of humanity in preparation for the end of days.

We have a god giving out gifts, and it chooses to restore Hope's youth rather than save the world being consumed by chaos?

The average playtime is confirmed to be around 20-30 hours. However if you wish to see everything the game has to offer without skipping a single event then the total will be somewhere around 50 hours. Once you've completed the adventure once a New Game+ mode will unlock offering varying difficulty options and allowing you carry over Lightning's costumes, skill sets, abilities and level progress.

I have yet to see a Final Fantasy game in which I can do everything in less than a hundred hours, usually longer.

There's been some further translation of the character parts. It seems the game is set 500 years after the battle of Valhalla between Lightning and Caius.

More Spoilers

Originally Posted by NovaCrystallis

A young man who formerly journeyed with Serah and Mog. Blaming himself for bringing about the destruction of the world, Noel’s guilt makes him hide away from society. He ceaselessly works to maintain public order from the cover of darkness and has come to be known as the “Shadow Hunter”.

Lightning appears before Noel, just as the Oracle Drives predicted. It seems that the images showed the truth all along…? The Lightning that Noel remembers from before is nowhere to be seen. She rushes to the attack without hesitation and Noel finds himself driven to his knees. Has Lightning really discarded her humanity completely?

Noel attacks with rapid and unpredictable strikes. His blows are fueled by many powerful and conflicting emotions, such as determination for the future of the people and anger at the promise he failed to fulfill.

Noel also has attacks which inflict status anomalies in his repertoire, so Lighting will have to observe his every movement, and fight carefully.

The crumbling remains of Academia, once known as one of humanities greatest cities. This was the spot from which Chaos first flowed into the world 500 years ago. Due to its proximity the area has taken great damage and is now in the advanced stages of dilapidation.

The temple building from Valhalla, the world of the dead, can be found in a corner of the Wildlands. The followers of Etro have built a settlement before the temple itself, and live out a tranquil existence there.

The Shadow Hunter’s hideout lies in the darkest depths of the Warren. Forbidding words are scrawled across the walls in human blood but what could they possibly mean…?

The Warren is the dark hidden face of the shining City of Light, a twisting slum populated by criminals and followers of the heretical cult, “The Children of Etro”.

After descending to Luxerion, the City of Light, Lightning finds the people living an existence plagued by fear with a brutal serial killer in their midst. She decides to get to the bottom of the incidents and sets off to investigate. The flyers that the culprit is thought to have distributed. Is there some kind of link between the murderer and the script used on them?

Lightning follows a suspicious group, but what she sees when she finally tracks them down brings shock and surprise… It seems that the mysterious white-clad group known as the “Children of Etro” is connected to the incidents.

Lightning finally tracks Noel down, but her path is blocked by obstacles and the fanatical followers of the Children of Etro.

Yeul appears before Lightning and begs her to save Caius. What could Yeul’s request to inflict pain on him possibly mean…?

A young woman known as the “Priestess of the Farseers” who possesses the ability to see fragments of the future to come. She asks a particular favor of Lightning.

Having lost someone dear to him through his own actions and damned the world to destruction, Noel was filled with nothing but guilt and regret. His smile disappeared forever and he locked his heart away in the darkness.

Lightning was defeated by Caius long ago, but is her challenging him again simply an attempt to vindicate her honor or something else entirely…? The man who fought and defeated Lightning 500 years ago in Valhalla, the world of the dead. He holds within himself the heart of Etro, the goddess of death, and was the one responsible for releasing the insidious Chaos energy by piercing that heart during his battle with Noel and Serah.

Snow Villiers is Lightning’s brother in law and they once fought together as sworn allies. Is there no way to save Snow’s soul other than to fight him…? Snow uses no weapons and fights bare handed. His combat style has not changed but his fists are now charged with ice and Chaos power, making each blow cause great damage.

Originally Posted by Aulayna

There's been some further translation of the character parts. It seems the game is set 500 years after the battle of Valhalla between Lightning and Caius.

I thought time didn't even exist in Valhalla. Isn't that kind of the point of the timeless world?

Originally Posted by Skyblade

Originally Posted by Aulayna

There's been some further translation of the character parts. It seems the game is set 500 years after the battle of Valhalla between Lightning and Caius.

I thought time didn't even exist in Valhalla. Isn't that kind of the point of the timeless world?

Good question. As I'm not one of the people making the game, I don't know the answer to that, I'm only sharing the information that's out there on the internet and a lot of it is from Japanese to English translations so it may not be 100% accurate. I'm sure, either way, when we actually get to play the game that, a lot of these key plot details will be clearer.

Another FF XIII title?