Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII will be coming out tomorrow in Japan, and the game will, at long last, provide a conclusion to the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy featuring Lightning and her cohorts. To commemorate the occasion, key Square Enix developers shared their thoughts with Famitsu magazine in a recent feature.
Producer – Yoshinori Kitase: “Lightning’s story will now be entering its climax. The upcoming game features a social media function, that can be used for laidback communications. You’ll be able to share your thoughts and hints on fights through Facebook and Twitter, even from within the game. This will be like the last festival before entering the new generation, so let’s get the game when it comes out and celebrate all together!”
Director – Motomu Toriyama: “Lightning’s story that started with Final Fantasy XIII will finally be coming to an end. This makes it the first trilogy of the Final Fantasy series, and we’ve come long way with her. To me, it’s like a happy, yet sad feeling, kind of like a father who is walking his daughter down the aisle covered in flowers at the wedding.”
“In this game, you’ll get to thoroughly create Lightning any way you want. The costumes range from wedding dress-like dresses to sharp boyish suits, and much more. The way Lightning looks when she ends the story will be up to you fans, so please make your very own Lightning. It would bring me great pleasure to be able to see all your different Lightnings out there, so let us all celebrate Final Fantasy XIII’s grand finale, together.”
Game design director – Abe Yuji: “While there is the main story, players will also have the freedom to do as they will in the game. As of late, games have been divided between the categories of ‘JRPG’ and ‘Western RPG,’ but I believe that we’ve made something that offers the better parts of the two. Depending on the in-game day, the gameplay is well divided, so please play any way you prefer. Even after beating the game once, there will be many things left to discover on your second or third try, so it’d bring me pleasure if you could start with Easy Mode, then see the rest of the world for yourself.”
Art director – Isamu Kamikokuryo: “And the Final Fantasy XIII series will be coming to an end just like that. This will be the last stage of Lightning and friends’ long journey. The game’s world has many cities and locations, so I recommend you to walk around while using the map to explore areas. Similar to traveling in real life, if you first look at the map and travel while imagining what you’ll be seeing, it may give you a different outlook on things.”
“The element of time is an important factor in the game, so knowing how to best use it while possibly visiting unexplored areas might be something similar to an actual journey. The map will be a powerful ally to you; however, walking around while being lost can also be a lot of fun!”
Main character designer – Tetsuya Nomura: “I recall feeling a very strong reaction when I first finished drawing Lightning. I felt that a great character had been born. It’s not often that I feel something like that. From there, I felt that if the development team could do a good job in taking care of her, she would become a long-loved character like Cloud, and it’s already been about 8 years since then. Perhaps, if after 5 or 10 years go by, and people can still say that they like her, such popularity will be evident.”
“Lightning’s long fight will finally be coming to an end, and she’ll be able to get some rest, so it kind of feels like a daughter returning back to her parents’ home. I’d like to thank you all for looking over us up until now. From now on, it would bring me great pleasure if you all remember the protagonist by the name of Lightning.”
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII comes out tomorrow in Japan and February 2014 in North America and Europe for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
