Rumour has it that Square Enix will be making a special announcement regarding Lightning and the XIII universe during their Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary celebrations on September 1st. I'll post more news as it comes.

During Lightning's Story: Requiem for the Goddess, the second time you defeat Caius and Chaos Bahamut, you're treated to a secret ending. The words "In a distant future..." show, then fade to a scene of Lightning, woken from her crystal stasis, in a future that appears to be 700AF - A Dying World, the time that Noel came from.

Edited September 1, 201214 yr by Morph

Thanks, Morph! I can't wait.

I can't wait either. While XIII hasn't been my favourite, XIII-2 was an improvement, and Lightning really has a lot more too her than what she shows, I just want to know what happens to her next.

A Storm Gathers

http://www.finalfantasy13game.com/astormgathers/index.html

Edited August 25, 201214 yr by Morph

LIGHTNING RETURNS: FINAL FANTASY XIII

Final Fantasy XIII heroine Lightning Farron will be back in a new game, Square-Enix announced today. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. This one is going to be a very different Final Fantasy.

Series director Motomu Toriyama began a presentation in Tokyo by showing an image of a rose, saying roses have many meanings. He then said that this game is the conclusion of Lightning's saga. (No, we're not sure what that means either!)

Toriyama said Lightning will make her comeback, returning as a stronger character than she was in the first two games, FF XIIIand FF XIII-2. Lightning is going to face her final battle, so he asked the character designer to convey the power in her eyes. It's the end of her trilogy of games.

From the start, Toriyama described features little seen in Japan's renowned role-playing game series. The game will offer players a lot of ways to customize their version of Lightning. Her outfits will be about more than just aesthetics. They affect her abilities.

Character control will be more dynamic. She'll be able to hang off ledges, pull herself up, jump, duck behind corners. You'll be able to move her around in battle, a first, they said, for the series.

Concept art that begins to illustrate how different this game is from the standard FF game was shown. The world of Lightning Returns runs in real-time. When the game begins, the world, called Nobus (Novus?) Partus, is 13 days away from the end. She has 13 days and 13 nights to save humanity. The game runs on a doomsday clock, shades of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.

The whole game runs on a time-of-day system, with a monorail that moves through it on schedule, like everything else in the world—you can get stuck in one region waiting for the monorail to take you to another island.

The game world touches on three themes: gothic, mechanical and fantasy.

The game will be out for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2013.

Source: http://kotaku.com/59...t-final-fantasy

Official Website: http://www.finalfantasyxiii.com/LR/

More news will be available on September 4th!

Edited September 1, 201214 yr by Morph

LIGHTNING UNDER YOUR CONTROL

Lightning will be the playable character - with a highly evolved range of techniques for battles and exploring the environment. Customise Lightning with a large range of different outfits and weapons; that affect not only the way she look, but also her actions and abilities.

ACTION-ORIENTED COMBAT

A new battle system gives a level of direct control over the action unlike any FINAL FANTASY game, while having iconic elements that are known and loved throughout the series too.

A CONSTANTLY MOVING, BEAUTIFUL WORLD

Stunning artistic direction depicts a doomed world filled with choice and diversity. Living, expansive environments featuring a rising and setting sun, provide unique experiences for every player.

USE YOUR TIME WELL

A world on a course for total annihilation presents unique challenges; where certain areas, missions, and people will only be available during selected periods. How will you use your remaining time?

A CONNECTED EXPERIENCE

Stay connected to FINAL FANTASY and its characters, with unique features that link the in-game world to the real world.

Edited September 6, 201214 yr by Morph

Thanks for the update & the links, Morph! It looks great. I'm thinking with a new TR & FF coming out in 2013, I should take a semester off from school. Priorities!

I liked the philosophical bit about comparing Final Fantasy to the crystal in the video on the website. The scenery looks amazing, and now I'm wanting to finish my last FF game so I'll be caught up.

So did I. I liked both parts about the crystals and the rose -- which is the shape of Lightning's crystal.

I'm still waiting for Square to release a trailer. The press got a first look, but all cameras were banned.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Art Director, Isamu Kamikokuryō, paints a picture of Lightning in his art studio.

Edited September 11, 201214 yr by Morph

Square Enix Japan released a short behind the scenes developer documentary. Not only do you see the team developing Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, but you get the first ever shot of the game running in it's early stages, with Lightning in her Final Fantasy XIII-2 armour.

At 1:06, Lightning is on a test screen using a spell. At 1:11, you see the first glimpse of the game running.

Edited September 14, 201214 yr by Morph

Two characters definitely returning in Lightning Returns are Snow Villiers and Hope Estheim. I don't doubt the others will have a role to play too though, lol.

Last week, Square Enix had a Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary Event in London where a new sketch of Lightning was on show.

Edited November 12, 201213 yr by Morph

A deleted Tweet from Ali Hillis.

Square Enix has announced that Lightning Returns is a part of their Jump Fiesta 2012 lineup, taking place in Japan from December 22nd to December 23rd.

It is unknown if there will be any gameplay footage shown at the moment, but here's hoping they have a lovely trailer for us...which should get released in English shortly after.

Edited December 8, 201213 yr by Morph

LIGHTNING'S NEW OUTFIT REVEALED IN FAMITSU!

One of Lightning's new outfits had been shown in Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu. She is shown wearing a black corset / breastplate with full length armoured pauldrons, high boots, long side skirts and a white cape. She's also sporting a red shield all the way down her left arm, and her sword is coloured red and yellow.

FIRST OFFICIAL LIGHTNING RETURNS TRAILER RELEASED!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ajSAdgXU1ts

Edited December 20, 201213 yr by Morph

Two New Costumes And A New Character Revealed!

Lightning's additional costumes are called "Wear", apparently colours can also be customized. The first on the left is called "The Dark Muse", it consists of a camo jacket, knife and lattice style shield. The second is "The Lonely Soul", it appears to be a type of sandstorm outfit in a Samurai style.

The new character, named Lumina, looks a lot like Serah, even down to her hair style. I get the feeling she's going to be giving Lightning the run around, but what's her story I wonder.

New Trailer!

Edited January 18, 201313 yr by Morph

OH my gosh, that looks amazing! I can't wait for this one to come out. In the meantime, I guess I'll just focus on FFVII. The cut scenes & battle screens look great. Hope there's some funny one-liners like Tidus had. My boys still quote "How does a bird get so big?"

This game is looking amazing! Check out the "Divine Task" trailer!

Confirmed returning characters;

Hope Estheim - Lightning's guide and constant comm-companion. Somehow, Hope has reverted to his 14 year old self, yet retains the knowledge he has gained over the past 1000 years.

Snow Villiers - Now the last l'Cie (and close to becoming Cie'th) and Patron Guardian of the city of Yussnan.

Snow has been seen fighting Lightning, but why?

Oerba Yun Fang - Fang is the leader of the bandits who make their home in the Dead Dunes. Vanille is never usually far from Fang, but she's yet to be seen -- she's surely woken from crystal stasis too, since Fang and Vanille became a single crystal.

Noel Kreiss - Now known as the Shadow Hunter, Noel carries a heavy burden and suffers from the influence of Chaos.

He believes the prophecy of Lightning being the one to destroy the world at the end of days and that he is the one meant to stop her.

Edited July 13, 201313 yr by Morph

I've been watching the trailers for the game, and after seeing most of the scene where Lightning shows up in Yussnan at a celebration and absorbs the souls of Snow's guards while he looks on, I have a theory on why Lightning has to chase him down -- perhaps Snow runs because he's afraid of Lightning.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII - 13 Days Trailer

So Cloud Strife is making an appearance in this game, that makes the game worth waiting for and buying.

They're hoping to add a nostalgic feeling to the game by throwing in some character costumes.

So far, Lightning's Garb will include;

Cloud Strife's First Class SOLDIER [FFVII] Garb

Final Fantasy XIV - Miqo'te Garb

Yuna's [FFX] Summoner Garb

Edited July 18, 201313 yr by Morph

New Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Garb

Explore Lightning's dying world wearing the garb of Lara Croft, complete with Survival Axe & Riot Shield!

Edited February 6, 201412 yr by Morph