demo is back up on both networks. Go get em and share your opinions.

XBOX LIVE LINK

PLAYSTATION NETWORK LINK

Played the JPN demo on PSN and felt like I figured out much of the game after 3 battles. The battle system is interesting but I dunno if it would get me to actually like the XIII series.

Is there still the neat violin music and Leona Lewis jams?

How is it? Wish I was able to play it :(

MICROSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOFT!

This almost makes me want to hook my 360 back up.....almost.

I have no idea why I keep playing these FFXIII games, but I do......Looking forward to trying out the PS3 demo I guess?????

very short demo pretty much the opening of the game, but man so many color to choose from.

I have FF13 and FF13-2 to play on my ps3 first so I'll wait later this year to buy this one!

I'll be playing no matter what, so I'll skip the demo. Do you still need Gold to play demos on XBL?

@bigjeffrey: What region? It is not available here in the States.

Looks like the demo has been pulled in the UK.

Heard it was taken down or something? How did it run for people that played it? Framerate looked awful the few videos I've seen.

The 13 series is pretty much founded on violin music. 13-3 continues this trend by remixing the 13 battle theme with more drums and violins.

Sadly, Leona Lewis was only in the first one as the second one had a pop song by Charice who is kind of like Leona Lewis? Maybe 13-3 will return to its Leona Lewis roots.

@iigrayfoxii: Taken down, apparently it was not meant to go up yet, http://squareportal.net/2014/01/15/play-lightning-returns-final-fantasy-xiii-english-demo-and-get-a-special-garb/

It ran pretty fine for me, but does not look so hot in the graphics department.

well that's a big disappointment.

That's a shame. I was hoping to hear some impressions from y'all, but I guess Youtube will suffice:

That's some high-level shit right there, but if the combat can flow that well with enough practice/execution, I'm down to party with Lightning.

Apparently there's some editing to speed up the battles in some spots, but after looking at other videos, the game still moves pretty well. Did Square do the impossible and make a fun FFXIII game?

Demo back on Xbox LIVE and coming to PSN shortly

gonna check this out. didnt really enjoy FFXIII and didnt even play XIII-2 but im curious about this un

"gold exclusive"

Well fuck you too. Why are promotional materials behind a paywall?

Man you really went out of your way to find an especially punchable picture of Hope.

i played it and i think i like it maybe. i sure am immediately enjoying the combat a whole lot more than i did with 13. still dont love the world tho

Is it even going to be possible to get into this game if you haven't played the other 2? I doubt it.

Up on PSN right now and downloading.

https://store.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com/#!/en-us/games/lightning-returns-final-fantasy-xiii-demo-and-utsusemi-outfit/cid=UP0082-NPUB50103_00-B000000000000269

Downloading this alongside Toukiden, so I'll give my impressions in a bit. I will admit that Square has me by the balls with all the exclusive costumes for Lightning, though.

@flappy: I was nearly debating getting that $90 CE since it has the Aeris costume but... eh...

Well, so much for my afternoon game plans, it's Lightning time.

@toowalrus: You only ever needed a Gold account to get early access to some demos. You never had to have one to just play demos in general. So, to answer your question, no you don't need a Gold account, but then again, you never did in the first place.

edit: From what I've read, this is an early access demo, so you need Gold to play it, but what I said before still stands.

@demoskinos: I was thinking about getting the CE, but I didn't want to get another watch, even if it was a fancy pocket watch. I sure hope the Aeris andYuna costumes pop up on the store later down the line.

I can't believe how fun that combat looks. Manual dodging and juggling and blocking and just going crazy all over the screen, it looks so much fun.

But what about that sick metal track?

Super hyped for this. Looking forward to giving it a shot later.

Just finished the Demo. Amazing.

My notes:

• Combat is extremely fluid and the potential for exciting late game fights is off the charts.
• Frame rate holds up after FFXIII-2 having a disappointingly low frame rate
• Game still looks amazing even with Next Gen upon us
• The Outerworld features seem neat you can leave messages and items for other players apparently?
• Seems Serah is indeed dead. =(
• I like having a built in screen-shot functionality

I might play around with it some more. Also, was playing with my DS4 which made it all the better. =D

Is it weird that my favorite thing is that you don't auto heal after battles now?

I enjoyed the demo. Except for Lumina not being voiced by Laura Bailey. I miss her already. ;.;

Scratch that. New favorite thing: you can change the color of our outfits.

I like it. I like it a lot. The music is nice, the combat has a lot of potential, and I love it when Lightning punts things.

Didn't Laura Bailey voice Serah? Lumina is an entirely different being no? I'm a huge Laura bailey fan as well but I think Lumina's voice works she comes off as a playfully devilish trickster of sorts and I think the VO helps get that across.

Yes...but...but the face.

Dammit, man, it's not Serah.

Also

If you can beat the Zaltys boss at the end of the demo and you post your score via Outerworld, you will unlock the Siegfried Garb in the full game. Who is Siegfried, you ask? Play Final Fantasy VI, and more will be revealed.

You have to connect a Facebook or Twitter account and then it post it there.

@bigjeffrey said:

Also

If you can beat the Zaltys boss at the end of the demo and you post your score via Outerworld, you will unlock the Siegfried Garb in the full game. Who is Siegfried, you ask? Play Final Fantasy VI, and more will be revealed.

Shit, son, Siegfried AND Locke? Lightning knows how to look dapper.

I will not quit until I 5-Star that damn battle.

Edit: Dragoon is the sexiest Schema in the demo. Tore the dragon apart with style and OP flair. This game is pretty fun, guys.

wait i 5-starred it my first time and i thought i did really badly. i kind of assumed you couldnt get anything other than 5 stars

You can definitely get lower ratings. I got two stars but then I was really adamant about using red mage and heartstealer so I was anything but optimal.

These shit are really tiny, which is a shame since you can take screenshots in game but they come out like this.

huh. i feel better about it now, might actually pick this game up!

So, this game is pretty dope guys.

What the boss creature? Yeah, I 5 starred it as well first try. I thought I did really badly too.

Played it just now, and yes it is indeed very short, so I don't really know what to say.

Battle system seems fluent enough, and everything with a dragoon class in it is set to be great, but we'll just have to see really.

Anyways I'm excited to see a conclusion to the story.

So I just started the download and since this is PS3, it's gonna take about 2 years to finish, so I might as well ask what the demo is like. Is there any open-worldy stuff in it, or is it just like a cutscene and a battle?

It is a cutscene and then you fight enemies in a smallish area, capping off with a boss fight and a trailer for the game. You get to mess around with some of the classes in the game but it's mostly pure battles.

Man I was jumpin' and Deprotectin' all over that mother and I still only got 3 stars. Oh well, I guess I'll go back at some point before release and do better. Some of the costumes look kinda silly but I appreciate the VI references.