Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ending (very minor spoilers)

[Del Murder]

I've just read the Game Informer review of FFXIII-2 and they dropped a pretty major tidbit on the FFXIII-2 ending. They don't reveal the actual ending, of course; it's something else. Let me quote the article directly.

To make matters worse, you aren't even getting a complete story. The canonical ending (there are multiple other "what if" endings) concludes with the words "to be continued," and it's not a scenario likely to be resolved with future DLC. After the credits, I sat in disbelief, wondering if I had done something wrong or somehow missed the true ending. I didn't. Square Enix intentionally left the story incomplete. The announcement of Final Fantasy XIII-3 is inevitable.

What do you all think about this? I'm personally kind of miffed. First, I don't like the idea of playing a story without a satisfying conclusion. And I'm also probably not willing to go on another adventures with the characters from FFXIII. Two was pushing it as it is. Of all the games to make into a large franchise! Why does SE love FFXIII so much?

[Hollycat]

This has got to be some kind of joke right?
SE couldnt do something that lame could they?

If this is true I will write a strongly worded letter to the head office.

[VeloZer0]

Because after the disaster that was FF13's production they are afraid to work on FF15?

[charliepanayi]

I've heard Square have stated that there will be no FFXIII-3, though of course they could just be lying. I also heard the ending that review mentions is not the ending you get if you complete the game fully.

[ShinGundam]

It's very different, from say XIII or normal FF; the plot is uncovered at the rate that you decide to uncover it. I personally didn't think the no-closure ending was a bad thing. If there is something unique about XIII-2's story does well is that it does not have a clear narrative flow, which might seem initially bad for a series known for explosive narrative but I enjoy when a story does something to shake up the typical foundations. In a story about time travel and alternate universes, it seems to dovetail well.

In other words, this game does have a different "storytelling structure" to begin with from XIII. To clear up the image. Exploring that is kind of the entire point of the game. You're traveling and dealing with parallel universes. Which one of these threads is the "true" history or the proper way things should go is a fairly big theme in the game.

[Freya]

Oh man yeah. I saw that in the game informer. To be honest it turned me off on preordering it. I was going to get it day one, I had been on the fence and was leaning toward preordering, but after I read that review I decided to wait till after it's been out for a bit.

[Del Murder]

Oh man yeah. I saw that in the game informer. To be honest it turned me off on preordering it. I was going to get it day one, I had been on the fence and was leaning toward preordering, but after I read that review I decided to wait till after it's been out for a bit.

That's the same reaction I had. I was fine with giving this another ride to check out the improvements but I'm not sure if I want to invest myself in this franchise long-term because there are other, much better, games to get into.

[Elpizo]

I thought XIII-2 had 9 different endings, depending on how many artefacts you collect?

[Slothy]

Why does SE love FFXIII so much?

Because they already made the engine and much of the art assets, so a lot of the work is done. That's really the only explanation I can come up with for wanting to squeeze more life out of it the series.

[VeloZer0]

I remember a long time reading a MAD comic which detailed Walt Disney being unfrozen/re-animated and being toured around the modern day company by an executive. Each stop on the tour was:
"first we create the cutest most marketable mascot we can think of"
"then do you make the movie?"
"no then we design collectible figurines"
"then do you make the movie?"
"no, then we think of clever lunch box designs"
"then do you make the movie?"
....
and after the seeming end to the marketing steps Disney asks again "then do you make the movie?" only to be replied "well actually that step is really expensive and risky, we are hoping to be able to phase it out very soon."


Every time I see SE announce a new sequel/spin-off I think of this. It is almost like creating a new IP to spawn off of is a big hassle that they just want to get out of the way before moving on the their main business.

[Jessweeee♪]

That is kind of lame, but it doesn't really affect my decision to buy it any. I don't pick up a Final Fantasy direct sequel for its kick ass story. Though FFX-2's story has grown on me quite a bit over the years xD

I do hope there's some closure. If there's just room for them to continue it, and I'm thinking this is the case, then okay. If it ends on a massive cliff hanger or just ends very abruptly, then that is pretty balls.

[G13]

I'm kind of a sucker for cliffhangers, but only if they're done well. Not sure how I feel about the possibility of a XIII-3 when I haven't even played XIII-2.

[Jessweeee♪]

Okay ME2 was a pretty good cliffhanger. But otherwise, balls.

[Quindiana Jones]

Credit to Square for actually having the balls to directly do what every other company does indirectly. They released an incomplete game and, rather than polish it up with overpriced DLC, they're going to polish it with an overpriced game.

[ShineTheLion]

I'm surprised no one has said it yet, but they interviewed Director Toriyama about this. He said the "to be continued" text at the end is not an indication of a FFXIII-3 game, but a message to the gamer that there are multiple endings which can be unlocked via side missions or by replaying specific parts of the game and making different choices. I do not know, however, if any of the endings are considered a conclusive ending, or if they are all just "possibilities".

I found a handy list online that tells what you have to do to unlock each ending, without giving spoilers about what each of the endings entails. So anyone looking to try them all, have fun with this.

http://www.justpushstart.com/2012/02...endings-guide/