We still have a few months to go until the release of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, and Square Enix have shared a short video recapping the main events of Final Fantasy XIII to refresh our memories for the upcoming third game in the series.
At the start of the video, Lightning and Sazh are seen disguised inside a train. The two have their own objectives, as they both ride the train that is used to deport the cursed ones to outside countries. In order to get to their destination, they’ll need to take out the guards of the PSICOM (Public Security and Intelligence Command), who control the train.
Sazh asks Lightning what her reason is for being there, to which she replies that it’s for her younger sister Serah, who has been cursed by the deity, known as Pulse. Although Lightning wants to save her, Sazh explains that those who’ve been branded as the l’Cie become monsters unless they complete their mission (known as Focus), and that she does not have much time left.
At 1:13, we get a look at Snow, who had to see his loved one be taken from his reach. He has also made it his objective to find Serah. When the group unites to save her, they encounter fal’Cie, the one who chooses who becomes a l’Cie. After an unsuccessful attempt at saving her, they all become l’Cies. While they were gifted cursed powers from the curse, they don’t know about their mission.
Unless they fulfill their unknown objectives, they too, will become beasts. The only thing they can do is move forward. Due to their dangerous nature of being “cursed ones,” they are deemed a potential threat to the people around them, and are sought after by the PSICOM army.
After being cornered, Snow tries to reason with the pursuers, by telling them that the so-called l’Cie is human just like everyone else. However, this proves futile, as the treat of their existence alone is a risk that cannot be taken lightly by PSICOM.
While the entire world is against Lightning and her friends, one man named Cid Raines, Brigadier General of the Guardian Corps, sees them in a different light. Cid reveals that he had been planning to overthrow the fal’Cie, but was transformed into a l’Cie before he could put his plans into action. Cid’s “Focus” was to guide the party to where they were, and he believed that he could free them from their Focuses by killing them.
When they finally reach Serah, she had fulfilled her Focus, and had become a crystal. Prior to being crystallized, Serah tells her sister and the others to protect Cocoon.
Shortly after, Galenth Dysley, the main antagonist of Final Fantasy XIII appears. He reveals to Lightning and her friends that their Focus is for one of them to take on the form of Ragnarok and shatter Cocoon. After having been in guise of a Primarch of Cocoon, his true identity has been revealed as none other than the fal’Cie, Barthandelus.
The video concludes with Lightning’s quote before the final battle: “When we think there’s no hope left, we keep looking until we find some. Maybe Cocoon is past saving, but it’s our home. And we’ll protect it or die trying. We live to make the impossible possible. That is our Focus.”
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII comes out on February 11 in North America and February 14 in Europe.
