Yesterday, Square Enix invited a few of its Japanese ‘Square Enix Members’ account holders to test out the Tokyo Game Show demo of Final Fantasy XIII-2 a week ahead of its debut. Gametwiit attended the event and today reported on the demo, as translated by Nova Crystallis.
Speaking during a roundtable discussion, the development staff revealed the game has only been in a development for about 1.5 years. Production on the sequel began shortly after the North American and European launches of Final Fantasy XIII. The staff hopes to announce a release date at the Tokyo Game Show next week.
Game director Motomu Toriyama confirmed Snow’s return in XIII-2, but joked that he and Serah have yet to marry. Both Snow and plenty of Lightning will appear at the Tokyo Game Show.
Reiterating what was confirmed Thursday, Final Fantasy XIII-2 will have multiple endings. Pulse, Lindzei, and the Goddess Etro of the Fabula Nova Crystallis mythology are the “axis” of the story, according to the staff.
Regarding the actual demo, it is set in the same Bresha Ruins location as the E3 demo, but with added tweaks. Normal and Easy gameplay difficulties have been tossed in, and the Battle Results screen now displays additional statistics. Attendees experienced a full taste of the game’s Monster Hunter aspect, which allows players to recruit creatures as a third party member in battle. This time, they got a look at the chocobo (attacker) and cat sith (healer) characters. There are around 150 total monsters in the game. XIII-2 also has a Blood Damage system that limits how much the player can heal, by a Healer in your paradigm, as the battle moves forward.
As far as additional party members go, Toriyama said that, at certain points, a guest character will join Noel and Serah as a third party member.
If you’ve beaten Final Fantasy XIII, don’t delete that save file! Some save data functionality might carry over, and those who have it on their system may receive something at a later date.