Square Enix poured on the "fanservice" for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. Siliconera and other attendees at Square Enix’s pre-E3 showcase first noticed this when we played the game. Lightning has an out of character victory pose when she wears her Sorceress garb.
Considering Lightning’s stoic personality and the fact that she’s a goddess or something of the sort ferrying souls to stop the end of the world this just doesn’t fit into who Lightning was in Final Fantasy XIII and the sequel Final Fantasy XIII-2.
During a fan presentation in Japan, the developers also talked about how Lightning’s boobs jiggle and confirmed they boosted Lightning’s bust. Why did Square Enix feel the need to do this since other Final Fantasy games steered clear of this kind of stuff? That’s the question Siliconera asked Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII producer Yoshinori Kitase.
"The particular pose seen in the E3 playable demo has since been revised," Kitase explained to Siliconera. "Lightning’s 3D model is not repurposed from the prior two installments, but it was recreated from scratch. During that process, we reevaluated her overall proportions in order to accommodate for the schemata changes with the 80 + outfits we have in store, and reached her current design as the result."
"Through the previous two installments, we aimed to achieve the highest level of freedom for the players with this last installment. At the same time, we chose to release part of Lightning’s characteristics to the fans. Many of the garb are intended to broaden the perception of Lightning’s image, and the choice is all entrusted in the hands of the players. A big feature of this game is that the garb that you choose will be reflected in the field, in battle, and in cutscenes. Depending on what garb Lightning is wearing, the impression that the player receives on certain cutscenes would drastically be different. But that is the player’s choice," Kitase continued.
Garb is more than cosmetic. The Sorceress garb (now called Mist Wizard) gives Lightning black magic spells while other outfits focus on dealing physical damage.
"If you prefer to play Lightning as her original self, we recommend you to equip her with the Equilibrium, or the garb from Final Fantasy XIII or Final Fantasy XIII-2 which you can actually get if you have save data from the previous two installments!. If you’re more adventurous, you may want to try out a more comical or a more radical garb. Of course, we have sleek and cool outfits as well as beautiful and elegant garb. We would love for you to coordinate your very own Lightning, and share your screenshots via social media! We hope to see a hundred different Lightning created from a hundred different points of views," Kitase said.
