We yet live! Thanks to all of you for staying with us during this dry spell. Ed Beers AKA Jake here with a video game news update. Straight from Japan just as they're celebrating 25 years of Final Fantasy... dear lord I feel old... On September 1st the people at Square Enix reveal that yet another sequel to Final Fantasy 13, the FF that everyone wanted but near no one was pleased with, is currently in production. Titled "Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13", you are put in control of everyone's grumpiest Final Fantasy lead this side of Squall, Lightning. However, as oppose to the usual 40-60 hours of story and wandering and side quests, they've gone for a more Majora's Mask approach and have given you 13 days before the world ends.
Yes it seems, that along with 13-2's focus on time travel, as well as their 'once you get past the first 20 hours of gameplay it gets really good' experience in FF 13, time seems to be the focal point of this number entry in the series. Papa Final Fantasy 8 would be so proud. Though I have yet to see exactly how those days pass, wither it's in real or game time and if time passes even when you aren't playing, I have to express my general confusion and frustration at Square for yet again adding a time limit to one's gaming. For more on that subject, feel free to read my less than kind review of Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance.
Course they aren't just telling us 'oh, well, you have to see how fast you can level up and save the world in 13-ish days'. They are trying to expand on the time system to better use, such as having a monorail system between towns that runs on a time table, that certain people or groups only come out during certain times of day, and of course the ability to reverse time through achieving goals such as monster killing. Personally, I have never been one to enjoy the prospect of a ticking clock over my head reminding me of how much I've wasted wandering about enjoying the view. While I'm always for the release of more games from one of my childhood favorite developers, I can't help but worry that they're much more found of Lightning and the Final Fantasy 13 series than any of their fans are.
Still, with the promise of a more action based gameplay style, rumors of Lightning being able to hang from cliffs or dodge around corners, as well as having full control over her moments during battles, things could be much worse. Guess we'll just have to wait for this year's Tokyo Game Show for a better idea of how this game will or won't work.
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