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Final Fantasy XIII-2 Is A Real Video Game By Square Enix

Lightning and crew sing, "What can I do for you?" Okay, not really.

It just seemed too crazy to believe when the first details popped up; Last week, Kotaku reported that Japanese publisher Square Enix had registered the site domain for something called finalfantasy13-2game. It sounded like.... but that couldn't be, right? Surely, this was some sort of trick or prank. Square wasn't really considering developing a sequel to a sequel that wasn’t as especially well-regarded as other sequels in the franchise… were they?

But, sure enough, the site registration was legit and the game in question is totally real. Andriasang reports that, at a press conference last night in Japan, Square Enix revealed that a sequel to last year’s Final Fantasy XIII was well into development. The newly christened Final Fantasy XIII-2 continues the adventures of Lightning and her team of RPG vagabonds in a brand new adventure, utilizing the long-in-development engine (and, probably, some of the art assets) that powered the original game.
  

Oh, man. She's the One Winged Angel. I just saw that.
Oh, man. She's the One Winged Angel. I just saw that.

And because Square doesn't have to spend all of that extra time developing the engine, players won’t have to wait nearly as long to get their hands on this newest iteration of the game. According to Square Enix, Final Fantasy XIII-2 (which, in case you haven't guessed, is a game title that is just as terrible to type out as it is to say with your mouth) is on track for release in Japan this year on both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 (no need to wait for Microsoft's E3 Press Conference to get the news). That crazy-quick turnaround for this game’s development doesn’t just apply to the Japanese release; Joystiq reports that Final Fantasy XIII-2 should be available in English-speaking territories by “next winter.” Even if that means an early 2012 release date, that's a pretty short development cycle for a Final Fantasy game.

In addition to announcing the game, Square showed off the very first trailer for XIII-2 at the event itself. Technically, the full, high-resolution of the trailer was supposed to launch on the game's official site this Thursday, but that didn't stop the internet from shooting bad footage of the trailer and posting it online first.  

  
  
 
So, can you guys glean any details about this Final Fantasy XIII sequel from the trailer? Here's what I noticed; Armored Ass-less Chaps. That is the worst. The worst

For the most part, though, we really have no clues about how XIII-2 is going to go down. No real sense if the game is a continuation of the events set into motion at the end of XIII-1, or if this is a brand new adventure that has little in relation to the previous game. We don't know how (or if) the gameplay has changed, if the linear level layouts of the original game have been altered or kept in place, or even how many hours of the game will be devoted to a tutorial of the battle system (hopefully, less!). It doesn't really feel prudent to make any assumptions as to how this new game will differ from its predecessor, if at all.
 
But I’m just going to cross my fingers and hope hope hope that the game features Lightning as the leader of a J-Pop supergroup that uses the power of pop music to save the world from the sins of mankind or Armageddon or God. It worked so well the last time.   
 

Fingers crossed!
Fingers crossed!

224 Comments

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xyzygy

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Edited By xyzygy
@Deeveeus said:
" @HadesTimes said:
" I guess 13 was more successful than most people thought. What ever happened to Final Fantasy versus 13? Or is this instead of that?  Or are they BOTH coming out? This is all rather strange, doesn't this strike anyone else as strange? "
I think that it sold well enough to make a game on the same engine quickly...which is FAR cheaper I would imagine. Perhaps they fix some of the wrongs with this one? (The battles system was great, weapons...not so much, linearity sucked too) "
It sold over 5 million. That's amazing for an RPG in this day and age.
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SpacePenguin

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Edited By SpacePenguin

ah man not this "...- 2" crap again

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oraknabo

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Edited By oraknabo

Where's my XII-2?

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Puck

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Edited By Puck

Did she just kill a chicken in that first picture?

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Axersia

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Edited By Axersia
@oraknabo said:
" Where's my XII-2? "
It's called Revenant Wings and it's actually better than the original game.
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Hailinel

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Edited By Hailinel
@Axersia said:
" @oraknabo said:
" Where's my XII-2? "
It's called Revenant Wings and it's actually better than the original game. "
The title is correct, but I disagree with your assumption as to its quality.  But then I've never played an RTS game that I could actually enjoy.
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knightlyknave

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Edited By knightlyknave
@xyzygy said:
It sold over 5 million. That's amazing for an RPG in this day and age. "
I heard it sold almost twice as many as Dragon Age . . . and I'm thoroughly depressed by that.
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xyzygy

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Edited By xyzygy
@knightlyknave said:
" @xyzygy said:
It sold over 5 million. That's amazing for an RPG in this day and age. "
I heard it sold almost twice as many as Dragon Age . . . and I'm thoroughly depressed by that. "
If Dragon Age is Bioware's best selling game, then I am disappoint. Bioware deserves more sales than that.
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Addfwyn

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Edited By Addfwyn
@knightlyknave: wasn't quite twice as many, FFXIII sold a couple million more copies.  Though their overall reviews were pretty similar (the PC version of DA reviewed slightly better, but the console versions were about on par with FFXIII).  XIII actually was quite a critical and commercial success, just not to the extent that some past FF games have been.   FFXIII was actually the fastest selling Final Fantasy game, though not the highest-selling, so expecting a sequel is not surprising at all.  Heck, even FFX-2 outsold DA, so it's quite commercially viable for Square to do this.
 
I actually find it quite encouraging.   
 

@xyzygy:

  
I'd guess it's probably ME, but I don't have the numbers in front of me.  
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xyzygy

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Edited By xyzygy
@Addfwyn: I actually think it's DA. I remember reading about how it was the best sellling. Here, it's not the same article but it'll do. I believe Mass Effect 1 and 2 sales are both in the same range as each other which is good.
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ThatThomClancy

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Edited By ThatThomClancy

i don't even...

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clubsandwich

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Edited By clubsandwich

FUCK YES!!!!!! I loved FFXIII, so excited for this!!!

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arkasai

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Edited By arkasai

Wasn't there a FF13 VS game in development?

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Addfwyn

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Edited By Addfwyn
@Arkasai: still is, a big trailer was just released for it as well.
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ninjadude853

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Edited By ninjadude853

I still have to finish XIII, i think i had just made it to pulse

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Belmont_Shadow

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Edited By Belmont_Shadow

Its amazing how many idiots are dissing this game because they didin't like the first. Do you not realise that the sequel will go out to improve the game and make it better? Jesus chirst.

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Belmont_Shadow

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Edited By Belmont_Shadow
@IronScimitar said:
"

*facepalm*

Meanwhile, Parasite Eve and Kingdom Hearts remain forgotten for the 360/PS3.

"
So? KH is being milked like fuck on the handhelds....a console version would be overload. I think it's only right after KH3ds that there isn't a KH game for a while.
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cryptic_code

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Edited By cryptic_code

Not sure how I feel about this.

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Grem

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Edited By Grem

Wonder if there is gonna be a reward for people who completed XIII

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aacx97

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Edited By aacx97

Lotta hate for FFXIII, but its still one of the only JRPGs I actually finished this gen. Actually I think the only other one was Eternal Sonata, and that was pretty short.

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ezdude

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Edited By ezdude

I hope they learn from their mistakes and keep the good things from the first game, the little parts there are. 

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artisan88

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Edited By artisan88

I've lost faith in Final Fantasy :( So I appreciate the pretty trailer, but my interest in the game is as threadbare as Lightning's bikini armor (although.... schhaaWING!).

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LiquidPrince

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Edited By LiquidPrince

So stoked. FFXIII was my favorite FF ever.

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InKtOiD

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Edited By InKtOiD

I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and maybe...MAYBE they'll actually make this the type of game that 13 should have been.