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Latest FF and KH News; Release Dates, Upcoming Games, and More
Topic Started: Jun 3 2009, 10:20 AM (1,329 Views)
The Frostbound Prince
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Prologus is now out on the North American PSN network. You can find it in the game section under "D". It costs $3.38 (including taxes), and takes about 12-15 minutes to download and install. It is 242 MB, so make sure you have the space on your memory stick before installing. You'll always want to, preferably, install it on a memory stick with info from Dissidia, AND with enough space to save Duodecim saved games, since you'll need both to make the most of Duodecim when it comes out next week.



You also get Aerith's assist character for Duodecim, although you need to have save-data for Prologus to actually get her. (Edit: It might actually have something to do with the Midgar Flower accessory you get for completing Story Mode. Either way, Story Mode is fairly easy and takes only 20-30 minutes tops, and if you're buying Prologus, I'm assuming you'll at least complete the one whole shiny Story Mode mission x_X)


There are two modes: Story Mode, and Arcade Mode. When you start the game, you choose a number of things---namely, the difficulty (Standard, Hard, or Moderate, the last being, I believe, "easy-mode") and whether you play Action or RPG style (Action is the way you played the original game, more or less, and RPG style would be the "command battle" style from Dissidia, where you're set up much more like an RPG's fighting style). Choose your options (which can be changed at any time in the Options menu from the main screen---you can't change these while in the midst of Story or Arcade Mode, but if things are too easy/hard, you can always forfeit, return to the main screen, and rework your options.

In Story Mode, you play four more-or-less back-to-back battles as Lightning, with Warrior of Light as an assist character. Your HP (as well as, I assume, Ex-Force and possibly your assist gauge) remains at whatever it was in the previous battle, so you need to stay in top form if at all possible.

Lightning has access to three different Paradigms in battle---Ravager, Commando, and Medic. You can set the primary role to be in from the menu by pressing triangle, and change it in battle by, I believe, pressing L while holding R (might be the other way around). Medic, sadly, only replenishes/gains Brave faster, and doesn't actually heal your HP. :( The only way to gain back any HP is through Ex-Mode, and even then, it's a pitiful regen. They also nerfed the Ex-Bursts, so don't expect to do more than a secondary, weak HP attack against an enemy with it. (I might have messed up her initial Ex-Burst, though, by not imputing commands, so that MAY be it. In any case, it's been confirmed that Ex-Bursts have been made less powerful, which blows) :(

Anyway, you fight Garland (w/ Emperor Assist), Kefka (w/ Ultimecia assist), Sephiroth (w/ Cloud of Darkness assist), and finally Cloud (w/ Golbez assist). The initial two fights are easy, but Sephiroth can be a huge pain, especially since it's hard to dodge his attacks, at least in RPG mode. Cloud's battle is arguably the hardest, though, since you'll only have whatever HP you had left after fighting the three others, which is usually no more than maybe 1000HP. Two or three good HP attacks and Cloud can wipe the floor with you, which sucks. However, if you lose, you can always retry---just know that you'll still have the same HP, so if it's too low to actually manage to defeat Cloud, you may want to return to the main screen and retry the entire string of battles---it should only take 20-30 minutes tops, so decide at your discretion. You can also lower the difficulty to moderate if you're really having trouble.


Once finished, you get another brief cutscene and then will be returned to the same menu screen ("Story 00"), so click circle unless you plan to mindlessly repeat the same battles over and over. (If you do restart the story sequence, just press Start to skip the cutscenes, Forfeit the battle, and then return to the main menu, then press O to to back to the Story Mode/Arcade Mode/Accomplishments/Options menu.)


Completing the story mode option gives you the Midgar Flower accessory, which may-or-may-not be necessary for getting Aerith's assist on Duodecim. You can check out the other accomplishments (all of which require you do complete a certain number of battles in a certain difficulty of Arcade Mode as a certain character---the mystery accomplishments are all for Cloud, who you unlock by fighting and defeating Tifa in, I believe, Hard Mode of Arcade as anyone).

Obviously the most tedious of these accomplishments are going to be the 56 (of 57) accomplishments for doing Arcade Mode. You'll need to play, at minimum, sixteen times---once as each character (including Cloud) in Easy Mode, and again in Hard Mode, all the way to Battle 30 as each character. Every five battles completed in Hard Mode gains you a new accomplishment, so if you manage to get all the way through Hard Mode the first time, you'll gain six accomplishments at once (I assume). If not, you'll get however many of the accomplishments for however many enemies you did defeat.

For reference, all the remaining accessories you win for accomplishments are just Chocobo Cologne, so, strictly speaking, unless you actually find it easy to power through Arcade Mode as everyone, you really don't /need/ to complete all the remaining accomplishments. However, since you paid three dollars+ for the game, and the Story Mode only gave you maybe 30 minutes of gameplay, I suppose Arcade Mode will be where the actually playability comes in, plus you have a week before Duodecim comes out, so might as well make the most of it and help get yourself back into the swing of things.

For reference, you can play Arcade Mode as Warrior of Light, Kain, Lightning, Jecht, Garland, Kefka, Sephiroth, and, once you unlock him, Cloud. In other words, all the major players in the story mode play-through. So, in essence, you get a taste of playing Lightning and Kain before the actual game comes out, as well as refamiliarizing yourselves with six of the other characters in their new forms.


Anyway, I have yet to try Arcade Mode, so I will update when I do to let you all know if it works similarly to the Story Mode (ie: no healing between battles) or not. Decide for yourself if buying Prologus is right for you, and enjoy!


EDIT: I do believe, at least in Arcade Mode: Easy, your HP is fully replenished with each battle. That, and none of the battles (barring Onion Knight, who's always been too dodge-y and fast) are too much of a problem. I set it to Moderate in my settings anyway, just cuz I really don't feel like repeatedly dying for no reason, since regardless of the difficulty or type of battle (Action/RPG), you get the same rewards. If I happen to get bored between now and next week, and have already mastered the Arcade otherwise, then maybe I'll increase the difficulty. Unlikely, though.

Also, I've been playing the battles in RPG mode rather than Action like I almost always used in Dissidia---it's actually much nicer, dodging and possibly blocking happen more naturally, and all-in-all I'm enjoying it quite a lot. I might just keep to RPG mode in the actual game (and possibly switch to it in Dissidia, at least to level up Kefka, Sephiroth, Kuja, Jecht and Gabranth, who I've had a problem actually attacking properly with in Quick Battles vs Ex-Death), since it's much less of a pain. Plus at least in Dissidia, it might mean actually earning at least those dodge accomplishments, since I don't know how/when to dodge in Action Mode. x___X

I will edit again once I try Arcade Mode in Hard, to inform you if HP is replenished or maintained between battles. Right now I have done Easy Mode as Lightning, Kain, Warrior of Light (who looks much improved in his Fighter alt costume, fyi), Garland (who looks kinda terrifying in his alt costume o__O), and I'm just starting Kefka now. I plan on finishing Easy Mode with Kefka, Sephiroth and Jecht before testing out Hard in Arcade Mode, so gimme about a half hour or so and I'll have that info too. :)


EDIT2: All of the Easy Mode accomplishments barring Cloud are done, and yes, in Hard Mode, you do still replenish all your HP between battles---thankfully, since the enemies are level 50 rather than 20, now, and ones like Tidus can be exceedingly difficult. Will update on how much else I manage to do later, currently at round 3 in Arcade Hard Mode as Lightning...we'll see how this goes o___O


---more updates to come as a) I finish playing Prologus and b) as Duodecim actually comes out---


EDIT 3: Some tips for fighting as Lightning in Arcade Mode: Hard

I just finished all 30 rounds of Hard Arcade Mode as Lightning. It was tough-ish, particularly against the enemies I normally loathe like Onion Knight, Sephiroth, and especially Kuja (the only enemy who managed to kill me---which was retarded because he had 1HP and somehow managed to Trance twice and chain a bunch of his brave attacks into Ultima and the like, which was lame), but I have a tip, at least for Lightning.

First, make sure to set the battle to RPG style, and in order to make this easier on you, change the difficulty to Moderate (the lowest setting) in the Options menu. These are key, particularly the RPG style, to making life easier on you.

Now, choose Arcade Mode, Hard, and Lightning. You'll face a random enemy. Initiate the battle.

NOW, SPAM HP ATTACKS. Screw trying to Brave break most of them, since a lot of them will hit you instead. As soon as the battle starts, hit square. This will do one of her ground attacks, but typically put her in the air. THIS IS WHERE YOU WANT TO BE. Now, continue to use square to activate her Thunderfall attack---it hits a bunch of times for Brave damage then finales with an HP attack. Keep doing this---if necessary, you might wanna drop down/use triangle to move closer to them, but be wary, since this gives them more opportunity to attack you.

In essence, you want to continually be using Thunderfall. It won't always hit, and especially dodge-y and evasive foes (particularly Kuja x_X) are going to just float around you and probably go in for the attack while you're recovering. Just stay calm and continue the strategy, since it's the safest choice, regardless.

If you manage to fully fill your assist gauge (which you should at least once before you manage to kill your foe), call Warrior of Light with L+square. Make sure your brave is full, though. You might also wanna get in close. While WoL is attacking, spam Thunderfall too, since hopefully while dodging one the enemy will fall into the other. Doesn't always work, but the extra chance at HP damage is always nice.

Keep this up till they die. For reference, even if YOU die, as long as you select "Retry", you can continue to fight them without worrying about losing your progress. If you're facing a particularly nasty foe, though, and have lost 5 times in a row, you might wanna quit and just retry, especially if you're less than ten enemies into your chain.

NOTE: If you manage to find Tifa, be careful. She tends to be slightly more difficult than the other enemies, but the reward for defeating her is quite nice---she unlocks Cloud in both Easy and Hard Mode of the Arcade. She showed up for me at Round 28, but supposedly her inclusion in the Arcade is entirely random---you could fight an entire 30 rounds without ever seeing her, or, I suppose, she could show up in Round 1.

In any case, you should be able to power through Lightning's Hard Arcade Mode with this strategy, and get six accomplishments in one go (all of Lightning's Hard Mode Arcade ones). If you happen to see and defeat Tifa, you'll also "unlock" all the previously hidden accomplishments---as I said before, they are all just Cloud's versions of the Arcade accomplishments.


[/end helpful Lightning info]


Anyway, I have now finished off easy mode with everyone but Cloud (doing that next), and defeated all of Lightning's Hard Mode, but haven't started Hard Mode with anyone else. Being I manage to find similar strategies for the remaining seven heroes/villains, I will share them, as well as, being I also manage to fully complete the accomplishments, share what, if anything, getting all of them does. Although some of that may need to wait until, obviously, Duodecim itself comes out.


Anyway, move tips and tricks later (why make a new thread solely for Prologus, when I can just share the info here?), so until next time, mes amis.

(Note: I am either going back to bed or attempting to find the episodes of V and Glee I missed by sleeping through last night, so further updates may be awhile. Which is fine, probably, since odds are no one will be reading this until at least a few hours from now, if at all. So :P )

Edited by The Frostbound Prince, Mar 16 2011, 06:08 AM.
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Dissidia: Duodecim [012] Final Fantasy SHOULD be out now in North American stores.

However, seeing as how EBGames still has yet to phone and tell me to come pick up my pre-ordered copy, I can't say for sure. Updates on that, and possibly other related things, when I have my copy in hand/PSP and have dived into it.

Expect periodic updates here, and in a to-be-created Duodecim thread, likely in one of the FF boards. Keep an eye out, I'll probably link the thread in question once I start it. :)

Until whenever the frig I get my copy :P
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Not that anyone's actually reading this, but whatever.

Shipment of Duodecim to ALL OF CANADA has been delayed, and unless you ordered via online shipment, or bought it off the PSN, no one in Canada has yet to be able to play the game---supposedly it could ship as early as tomorrow (Friday), or could not be in until Monday or Tuesday next week. So...fantastic.

To top that off, it's still not certain whether those who ordered through Canadian EBGames stores will actually be getting the code for Cloud's alt costume that is supposed to be the pre-order bonus in North America. Needless to say, if it doesn't come with the code, particularly since it's going to be at least 4-7+ days LATE, I will be writing a very long, very nasty letter to someone, since someone d@mn well better be getting fired over this sh!t.


As I said before, as soon as I get the game, I'll update you on what it's like, how it plays, who's in it, and all that jazz, but until then, please feel free to brag about playing your own copy and leaving your address and the exact time you go to sleep, so I can pop over there, possibly throttle you in a jealous rage while you sleep, and steal your copy of Duodecim.

...dear The Law(TM): I will probably NOT actually go to people's homes and kill them for their copies of this game. But if they happen to be dumb enough to leave their address, schedule, and housekeys as an addendum to their posts, well, I take no responsibility to what happens to them. It's called Darwinism in Action---survival of the least retarded. What can I say?


---

Anyway, more updates soon. I have heard, though, that the pre-order bonus for FF4 The Complete Collection is some trading cards and a code for two Cecil alt costumes for Duodecim, so if you live in North America, you might wanna look into that. The game isn't out until April-ish, but since it's pretty much the end of March, um, I'll letcha know what I find out later. :P

More news when there's news. Frosty out.
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Duodecim has officially shipped to Canada, finally, and if, like me, you were lucky enough to get the pre-order bonus that was potentially going to be denied us, then rejoice! ...if you didn't get it, then, um....sucks to be you :P


Shortly, I will be creating a new thread somewhere in the FF boards to host discussion about the game, including tips, tricks, hints, walkthroughs, guides, and other handy info about the game, including, probably, some reviews and overviews.

Until then, yes, I can confirm that the new characters are pretty cool. All the voice actors that were added, barring Kain, sound awesome (yay Laguna!), the interaction between them seems neat, and story mode has been fascinating.

The new "Party Mode" option allows you, particularly in Quick Battle, but also elsewhere, including, I believe, Story Mode, to have up to five characters in your "party", with each character getting "drop down" experience from those above them---so if you have, for example, Lightning, Tifa, Laguna, Yuna and Vaan in your party, and you're fighting as Lightning, the other four each get some experience as well. However, if you're playing as Yuna, only Vaan will get the added experience.

This is useful for levelling up low-level allies (namely, the new additions) by heading your party with one or two strong allies. As long as they can take down whatever enemies you're facing, everyone else will gain experience---and level up. However, I don't believe they gain AP, and you will want to occasionally check their abilities, equipment and the like to modify things. In any case, heading up my party with Lightning and Tifa, I've managed to get all my new characters (barring Kain) up to at least level 50 in about an hour or so of effort. So yay. :P


Anyway, more Duodecim stuff in the respective thread.


Also kids, remember Final Fantasy IV: Complete Collection hits North America on April 19th, came out in Japan earlier this week, and will be out in Europe and Australia probably around the 21st of April.

Pre-order bonus for FF4CC in NA is some trading cards, I believe, as well as two alt costumes for Cecil in Duodecim---although the alt costumes MAY or MAY NOT be first-run edition-related, and not to do with pre-ordering. I shall let you know when I work that out, but just realize that game's out in about three weeks, hm?

More news when I care to update. Later, lamers! ...er, I mean gamers. *shifty eyes, blames Seifer*
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So, news. Here it is.


Final Fantasy 3D

Still no news on the upcoming 3DS FF game, apart from rampant speculation that it's anything from a remake of FF1, 2, 5 or 6 to another compilation-of-FF7 spin-off to a Final Fantasy Tactics sequel. No release date known, so once again, actual news on this when there's actual news to report.



Final Fantasy Versus XIII

Still no new news or release date updates, so I'll save new news on this until there is some.


Final Fantasy XIII-2

Again, besides the tentative release date of "Winter 2011", no actual news on it. More when it's made available.


Final Fantasy XIV

The PS3 version of FF14 is still delayed, with no known release date as yet. When it gets one, finally, I'll update with it.


Final Fantasy Type-0

Aside from the rename that I announced earlier, and a tentative JAPANESE release date for Q2 2011, not too much more is known, although I did quickly read a few things about some details of their battle system and the like. As was evident earlier, the plot seemingly revolved around a class of students in one school in one country, who end up dragged into a conflict when one of the countries invades their neighbour, sending all four countries into war. As well, the battle system seemingly has "victory options", such as killing specific lead enemies, whereas others can be talked to and convinced to give information, et cetera. If anyone actually cares, I'll research this some more, since it seems to be the only game with any actual info whatsoever. Aside from that, more news when I hear release dates or anything equally intriguing.


Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

Nothing really new to report, from what I can tell. No release date yet, although there might be some plot related news buried within the pages of speculation and fanboy/fangirl pining. In any case, if I find out anything new, updates shall be made.



Final Fantasy IV: Complete Collection

JUST AS A HEAD'S UP! THIS GAME IS OUT IN NORTH AMERICA NEXT WEEK (April 19th, 2011)! Pre-order it now!

Anyway, yes, the game is already out in Japan, and out next week in North America and Europe (April 21st), and the following week (April 28th) in Australia.

I also believe the DLC for Cecil in Duodecim (two alt costumes for his Paladin/Dark Knight forms based on his sprite from FF4) comes with the first-run editions of the game, and not necessarily pre-orders. I think I read somewhere that pre-order bonuses in North America are just trading cards or something, but to be safe, if you do have Duodecim and want the alt costumes, you have until Monday, I think, to pre-order, so do so, just in case, if you want it.

I will be pre-ordering my copy hopefully tomorrow, so yes. In any case, considering the game is both FF4, an added "Interlude", and FF4: The After Years all bundled together for the PSP, it's certainly worth checking out. It'll be awhile before I actually manage to play it, since I'm still attempting to hammer my way through Duodecim, but certainly something I've been looking forward to, since up till now, The After Years was a mobile/Wii exclusive. So now that I can actually play it....yay! Rydia's my hero :D



...anyway, yeah, not much at all new, but I figured I'd forewarn anyone who wants the DLC for Dissidia: Duodecim that FF4:CC is coming out next week and pre-ordering it to be safe might be a good thing to look into. Since who knows how long "first run" actually is. x___X



Anyway, more news when it's made apparent to me. I'll also probably update the Duodecim thread I have in the FF boards should anyone care, since I recently attempted the Labyrinth, and will probably be doing at least Cloud's 013 scenario tonight-ish, so yeah. Blah. If no one's reading these things, though, I'm not gonna bother, so make some noise and lemme know this is actually being read, cuz otherwise, I'm not gonna waste my time. I don't mind doing it once a month, since I'm looking for myself anyway, but if no one actually reads this, or the Duodecim thread(s), or anything else I type, it kinda becomes...pointless to bother. x___X

So lemme know someone besides the mythical Bob is reading this, and you get complimentary cookies for proving you're literate. Yay cookies! :D *has Rydia summon cookies, rejoices, and runs off*
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Oh, I seemingly neglected some info that I was vaguely aware of. So yes.


Final Fantasy III is, or at least should, be available to buy/download for iPhone and possibly iPod Touch/iPad.

Final Fantasy V and VI are supposed to be coming soon to the PSN, as PSOne Classics, and 5 is already out on the Japanese PSN, if I heard correctly. Updates on the exact times/etc of release when I hear them.

Also, according to GameStop's Canadian website, FF14 will be out for PS3 on August 31st, 2011. Not certain if that's a confirmed release date or not, so who knows.

In random news, GameStop's Canadian website also gives the release date for FF4 Complete Collection as April 30th, despite the official release date (and their US version's counterpart GameStop website) being April 19th. April 30th is also a Saturday, so...*vain shrug*

There's probably more info out there I'm missing, but until then, if you have yet to invest in the pe-FF7 games, the next few months will be an excellent time to do so, especially if you have a PSP, seeing as how once they release FF5 and 6, you'll be able to play FF1, 2, and 4-9 on there, as well as FFTactics, FF7: Crisis Core, Tactics: War of the Lions, and both Dissidia games. The only ones you can't will be, for now, FF3 and the post-10 ones. So if you haven't invested in a PSP, now might be a good time to do so. :)

...and this post has been open for the last five hours, so about time to post it o___O
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Annnnd just a head's up, Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection should be out in most of the world today or tomorrow, although Australia is supposedly not getting it until the 28th, and despite the fact I got my pre-ordered copy today, seems like many locations across Canada aren't getting/distributing their copies until April 30th...which is a Saturday. But anyway.

So yes, if you haven't pre-ordered it, and you'd like the snazzy DLC alt outfits for Cecil in Duodecim, pick it up soon, since the DLC alt costumes, as well as the kinda-lame Amano art trading cards for Cecil, Rosa, Kain, Rydia and Edge are first-run copy-only. So if you don't buy your copy soon, no shiny DLC code or trading cards for you. :(

I haven't read anything about any of the remaining games I'm following, and I don't think any of the new games are anywhere near releasing, but I'll keep you all informed regardless of the fact no one reads/replies to this thread, plus give you a head's up if/when I learn of when various games hit the PSN, like FF5 and 6 are supposed to over the next few months.


Also, if you're playing Duodecim, which I assume by everyone's general lack of interest on the subject no one else is, there's a couple DLC packs up on the PSN for the game, depending on whether you're playing the JPN/NA/EU version(s). Japanese and Asian PSN gamers have access to quite a lot of stuff, actually, and the EU PSN supposedly has alt costumes for Zidane and Kuja, as well as possibly other things, but so far, the NA PSN has, like the other two, a helmet-less Warrior of Light alt costume, plus has three music packs, each with 3-5 songs, one for FF1, another for FF4, and the final one for FF13. Each are original music from the respective games (ie: not remixed/upgraded, so the FF1 and 4 songs are a little...sketchy), and each cost 99 cents. Which is quite decent, since rumour had it the song packs were gonna be upwards of three dollars each.

So yes, if you're playing that game, I might keep updating for what's on the North American PSN, since that's the version I have myself, but otherwise, you can merely visit the PSN for your area, go to PlayStation Store, log in, go to the PSP Add-Ons tab, scroll down (in the NA version it's the icon directly below the initial one) to the Dissidia: Duodecim icon, select it, and then check whatever options you have there for DLC. As I said, there's only four options now, aside from the codes for alt outfits for Cloud/Tifa/Lightning/Cecil based on pre-ordering (via GameStop/Amazon) or buying specific SE titles (3rd Birthday and FF4:CC), but so long as sales go well, I assume we'll eventually get most of what's on the Japanese PSN, which includes alt outfits for Zidane, Kuja, Sephiroth, Squall, Laguna, Yuna, and Vaan, as well as probably others, plus a bunch more FF music packs, including one with some extra FF8 tunes. Can't wait for that and the FF9 music packs... Best. Music. EVAR. :D


...anyway, more news when I know it, until then, enjoy your lives and seriously, go check out FF4: The Complete Collection and Dissidia 012 [duodecim]: Final Fantasy already. The PSP is seriously an FF fanatics new BFF. :P
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New news (as of early June 2011)

Final Fantasy XIII-2

A bit more info here, and a shiny new trailer. I'll link that in a second, but first, the North American release has been bumped back to "Q1 2012", although at least according to the "release data" info for Japan, it's supposed to be out in December 2011, and Europe and Australia still are listed as "TBA 2011", so either no one's updated the info yet, or maybe North America's just got the rotten luck of getting it a few months late.

In any case, they unveiled a new trailer for XIII-2 at (or before?) E3, so please check it out here .

From what we now know, according to this trailer, everyone but Serah believes Lightning to be dead. Serah is seemingly the heroine of the sequel, and is saved by a mysterious youth named Noel when Serah is attacked. The duo team up and, based on battle clips, fight off enemy hoards.

Team NORA, or at least the minor characters therein, make a return, although we noticably don't see Sazh, Hope, or, most importantly in a game centring around Serah, Snow. Since the entire first game was about, at least for Snow, saving Serah, and putting himself and everyone else in danger to do so, it seems...odd that when Serah's in actual physical danger, he's nowhere to be seen, and she gets rescued by a mystery man instead.

Lightning does appear playable, if only based on the battle footage within the trailer, as we see her fighting with Odin. Whether this is out of context (ie: we fight as Lightning as the game opens, she dies (or "dies"), and the rest of the game centres on Serah), or Lightning does eventually become playable again is anyone's guess. A lot of people, myself included, have been contemplating if Lightning might actually be (one of?) the game's villains/nemesises.

Since the man that seems to be Lightning's antagonist has yet to be revealed (ie: he is NOT Noel, at least not from what most people can agree), and most of the minute-ish long new trailer centres on Serah and Noel, just how much of the game actually has to do with Lightning and her purple-haired male rival is up to debate---although they must play an important role if the logo design for the sequel is based on them, right?

We still don't have much information, except that Vanille and Fang likely play little to no actual/physical role in the game, and that the other heroes from the first game would be returning "in interesting ways".

Also, depending on how long it's been between the end of 13 and the start of 13-2, Hope could look quite different. I am secretly betting that Noel could actually be an older Hope, although some people are claiming to have seen a guy that looks "like an older Hope" in a quick half-second scene in the new trailer, so have a look and try to pick things out for yourself.

Mmm, wait, supposedly it's been five years, making Serah between 23 and 24, depending on how old she was supposed to be in the original. If five years also passed for Lightning, she'd be 26, making her one of the oldest heroines ever in the series (barring Rosa from FF4:The After Years, Edea in FF8, probably Fran in FF12, maybe Beatrix in FF9, maybe Leila in FF2, perhaps a few of the newly introduced characters in FF4:The After Years, maybe Faris in FF5, and perhaps Lulu in FF10 and 10-2), and certainly makes her amongst the oldest of the main characters of the series, at least of those given specific ages.

Also, based on the battle demos, it seems, at least with Noel and Serah, that the duo occasionally fight with various monsters (ie: Behemoths, whatever). Someone claimed that each "party" can consist of three heroes and two monsters, although whether this is even true, or if those parties only actually involve the party leader + two of the four other "party members" is anyone's guess. I also read the monster system might be entirely optional, so again, who knows.

Time is also a big thing in the sequel, and from what I've just read, there's a decent chance at least someone (possibly Noel as a time-trekked hero from either past or future, or Lightning going into the past or future herself) isn't in the same "timespace" as the rest of the cast.

Those weird maps you see with the red tiles that vanish as the party walks over them? According to this in-game primer info, are "temporal rifts". Primer on Temporal Rifts. In case you don't bother to read that, the basic jist is, they are voids between timelines, and the heroes have to "undergo the trial set forth by the crystal". In the case of that specific one, tiles disappear when you walk over them, so you have to plan your route carefully to pick up all the crystals before you exit.

...this actually sounds a lot like Dissidia and its sequel, and, if used similarly, could make Dissidia actual canon within the series, since it would explain Lightning's appearance in Dissidiaverse quite intriguingly...especially considering both games make use of a "rift" of "nothingness" and involves the heroes "collecting their crystals" before they can leave.

If they didn't plan that, I call dibs on pointing out the obvious parallels!

Anyway, if any other news comes up before E3 ends, or what have you, I shall do my best to be made aware of it and post!

Final Fantasy Versus XIII

As always, information about this game is sparse at best. Hopes were that, at this year's E3, they'd release some new information, perhaps a trailer or demo, but so far, it looks unlikely. If anything is announced, I will post it as immediately as it's made known to me, but yes. Still no release date, still no real info aside from some character names, a brief peak at an incomplete battle system, and some very beautiful graphics. Oh, and it's still, so far, PS3-exclusive.

...I want this game so bad. And since XIII-2 got bumped back from "this Winter" to "Early 2012", odds are we won't see this until at least late 2012, probably not until later. If at all, by this point o___O



Final Fantasy XIV

Still no news on the PS3 version of FF14, although I did read that Square-Enix might be cutting some of its in-development games from its roster, and 14 would be a good place to start. I'm just hoping, if this is true, that they didn't decide to give up on VersusXIII. I /want/ that game. FF14 I could really care less about right now.



Final Fantasy Type-0

Listed for "Q2 2011" for Japan, which should be this summer, it's still TBA in North America and Europe, although most people are betting for a late 2011/eventual 2012 date, IF Type-0 is still actually coming out in Japan within the next few months.

There's supposedly a wealth of new info for it, but I can't seem to find much of anything. All the characters have names based on cards (ie: Cinque, Sice, Ace, etc.), as in either numbers or king/queen/jack/ace. There are summons. Gilgamesh is in it. Each character has their own weapon type. A list of potential names for the various characters is here.

If I actually find any info worth writing about, I'll try to post it. As is, a lot of the actual info seems to be buried within a lot of random threads, and I'm not in the mood to sift through them right now. If anyone's actually interested, say so, and maybe I will later.



Unnamed Final Fantasy 3DS game

Still no release date set, and still only rumours flying around like bioluminescent monkey ninjas as to what the game is. Most people still think it's gonna either be a remake (5, 6, and 7 are high on the so-called "list"), or a threequel to FFTactics Advance (ie: FFTA3).

In other words, still no actual news, so apart from Square-Enix supposedly creating an FF game for the 3DS, no actual news about this game is actually known. Updates for this, again, when there is some.



Kingdom Hearts 3DS: Dream Drop Distance

Still no release dates, and it's looking unlikely this game will be getting any E3 love either, even though there were supposedly plans to unveil some new info about KH:DDD at this year's E3, but it didn't, or at least hasn't, happened yet.

In other news, there's still supposed to be a bunch of new worlds introduced, and, if I didn't mention it before, this game is supposed to tie all the other games together AND set the stage for Kingdom Hearts 3...at least, whenever the main-series KH crew finally finishes up VersusXIII and can actually work on KH3 o___O



Random News

-new DLC is out for Dissidia: Duodecim, including 3-5 extra songs for FFs 1-4, 7-10, 12 and 13, and alt costumes for at least one character per game, barring FF11 , FF5 and FF6.

-If you have the European version of the PSN, and have a spare dollar or two, you might wanna try downloading the Duodecim DLC pack for the music of either FF4 or FF6 (I think it was six, but the internet world has problems with roman numerals, it seems, so blah). There was supposedly an error where downloading the DLC music pack ACTUALLY GIVES YOU FINAL FANTASY IV: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION FOR A DOLLAR. Yes, an entire game for a dollar. It might've been fixed by now, but if it isn't, and you have an extra few bucks and wanna get a 30 dollar game for a dollar and have a European PSN account and a PSP, it's worth a shot, no?

-FF3 and FFTactics are both up on iPod touch/iPad/iPhone

-FF5 and 6 are supposed to be coming to the PSN eventually, which will mean that every main-series FF game prior to FF10, apart from FF3, will be available for PSP once they're both online. This also will make the PSP the BEST system for an FF lover---you have access to FF1, FF2, FF4 and its sequel, FF5 and 6 (once they're uploaded), FF7, FF8, FF9, FFTactics, FFTactics: War of the Lions, FF7: Crisis Core, Dissidia, Dissidia: Duodecim, and quite possibly some others too (like Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, if you count Zack's inclusion). Pair that up with a PS2 and a PS3 and copies of FF10, 12, and 13, and you've got most of the the series. Even counting the DS's ability to play GBA games, right now, the PSP is still better for a FF collector than owning a DS. So buy one. NOW.

-Chaos Rings Omega, a follow-up to Chaos Rings, is likewise on iPod touch/iPad/iPhone right now. The original game has a lot of FF-esque components, including enemy names like Quezacoatl, Leviathan and such, and an intriguing, epic plot involving four intertwined-but-separate storylines. Omega takes place during the Arc Arena event prior to the original's, and includes at least two or three old heroes. I'm under the impression there's only the one storyline, but monthly expansions allow for potential expanded missions and increased level caps, plus Chaos Rings II is eventually coming out, so yes. The original was on sale a few weeks ago, although I believe it's back up to being its regular price, but the original was at least quite entertaining for an iPod game, and if you enjoyed the original, Omega is probably worth checking out---I'll confirm or deny that when I have a chance to play it myself.

----
...and that's all for now. I think I've been working on this post for two hours, almost, so yes. More news when there's actually news. Remember: actual replies and views mean I know I'm not doing this for nothing! Actual human interaction is good, so if you've read any of this, you know, say so. If no one's actually reading this, there's not much of a point to me writing it, now is there?

Anyway, Frosty out, until next month, FF and KH fans!
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Annnnd I just found this . It has five separate videos, each detailing various aspects of FF13-2 based on the demo. Please feel free to enjoy---I know I'm about to.

...my poor internet bandwith thingie is totally already exceeded for this month. A season and a half of Castle episodes + downloading those four free games off the PSN + also downloading Vagrant Story and all the Dissidia DLC + general internet browsing plus all these FF13-2 vids is totally eating up the max GB I can download per month, I'm sure of it...



PLEASE READ THE POST ABOVE THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT HAPPENED TO HAVE READ THIS THREAD IN THE LAST SIX HOURS. THIS IS MY SECOND POST TODAY, SO BE AWARE AND DON'T MISS THE MAJOR UPDATE, k?
Edited by The Frostbound Prince, Jun 8 2011, 04:12 PM.
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So, it's been awhile. I figure this thread could use some updating (and the site could use some vague activity), so here we are. I have a feeling there won't be much new (aside from the announcement of a new game [see: Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy below]), but whatever. Yay for updates. Or something. *shifty eyes*


Kingdom Hearts 3DS: Dream Drop Distance

A whole shiny slew of nothing, as far as I can tell. No release date announced anywhere, and since there's nothing all that exciting on the first page of the game's boards on GameFAQs, I have no desire to delve into the depths of the hundreds of other threads listed there to look for any actual information, so let's just say there is nothing new and wait until they release something shiny, hm? Moving on...


3DS Final Fantasy game

Still no news, information, release date confirmation, or anything aside from the fact that there will, at some point, be a Final Fantasy-esque game on the 3DS. News when there is some =P



Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy

Ah, some actual news. Not long after my last actual update, there was an announcement that there would be a "new Final Fantasy game" coming out featuring the cute little chibi characters featured in the icons section of Dissidia and Duodecim (ie: icons bought in the PP catalog, I think, and were basically just FF: 4HeroesofLight versions of the heroes of the game [ie: the Dissidia/Duodecim heroes]).

It's described as a rhythm/music game, and features, as I said, chibi-ized heroes (including chibi Cosmos and Chaos as the game's logo), and early rumours pegged it as the "new direction" Dissidia was supposed to go in, or the "new form" it was to take, based on claims that future Dissidia titles would be unlike the previous games.

Turns out that isn't the case, though. There's hope for a Dissidia 3, or at least hope that THIS GAME IN PARTICULAR is not the future of that particular franchise, since aside from sharing the chibis and characters (which, to be fair, were mostly characters in other FF games, aside from Cosmos, and maybe Warrior of Light), the game isn't related to Dissidia or Duodecim in any way. Aside from the obvious ones, I guess.

Anyway, no official release date, and like many of the new games scheduled for release, there's no confirmation it will even be available outside of Japan, although odds are it will be.

Based on the random screenshots (found here ), it seems you pick a party of four, wander around the world map, then get into "battles" with classic chibi-ized FF enemies and button mash to various classic FF songs (of which there will be at least 50+ tracks in the game) to defeat the boss. I'm assuming the entire battle system will be set up something like Rock Band or that ice cream mini-game in KH: Birth by Sleep or the rhythm mini-games in FFFables: Chocobo Tales.

So, it could either turn out to be really neat, or really lame. I hope the game isn't that expensive, though, since I'm not sure chibi-lookin' heroes and some glorified minigames to some epic tracks is worth more than 20 bucks. Oh, and it's a 3DS game, so it'll be in...3D. Somehow. o___O

Can't really say I'm looking forward to it, but as long as it isn't the future of Dissidia, and there's a chance for some more games like that (I want Rydia/Zell/Rinoa/Quistis/Leon/Maria/Edge/Maenad/Locke/Sabin/Gau/Celes/Faris/Zack/Beatrix/Vivi/Freya/Paine/Baralai/Gippal/Fran/Ashe/Balthier/Hope/Fang/Snow/Noctis/Noel/Ramza/Delita/Mustadio/Agrias/Boko/[insert every other character I love and have neglected to include here] in it!), then yay for that.



Final Fantasy Type 0

Did I say it'll be out in Japan on October 13th? Oh wait, maybe it's the 27th now. Whatever. And that it still doesn't have a confirmed release date (or confirmation FOR a release date) in North America or Europe yet? If not, yes.

If you haven't seen the latest trailers for this game, do yourself a favour and YouTube them. They are bloody and amazing and I think aside from Versus XIII, this is the runner-up for game I am most looking forward to. I'm hoping that we'll see a NA release date for sometime early next year (March at the latest, hopefully?), but I suppose I won't hold my breath. I'm hoping that, if/when they do release it, it'll come with the DLC code for the Gilgamesh alt costume for Duodecim like it's Japanaese version is supposed to come with. Time will tell, I guess.

The boards seem to hint that all the summons have been revealed, as well as a significant portion of the plot/cast/etc., but I can't seem to find any specific info, so whatever. Tried checking the official site on the Japanese version of S-E's site, but aside from some epic music and an interesting site design, my lack of flency in Japanese is keeping me from, you know, finding out anything at all. So..blah.

Moving on, I guess.



Final Fantasy Versus XIII

Aside from a supposed confirmation that yes, it will have an English version, nothing much new. No release dates (even in Japan), no new info, as far as I can tell, nothin'. It's kinda sad this game has been in development for at least five, maybe six years now, and they still haven't thrown out a ballpark figure for when to expect it. If I didn't think this game was going to be the most awesome thing ever, I think I'd've given up by now. If it still isn't out or on its way by this time next year, someone please kill me. Or the crack team keeping this game from manifesting itself into my hands x_X



Final Fantasy XIII-2

Some more-or-less official-esque release dates, including December for Japan and January for North America and Europe. The new trailer (which you should also YouTube, or check the North American version of Square-Enix's site for the game) teases Hope's reveal, and gives us another look at the previous game's "support" characters (Serah, and the Team NORA quartet).

Also, it seems like Snow has disappeared, too, which is why Serah is running around with Noel at all, and odds are good we'll get our first looks at XIII-2's Hope, Sazh and Snow at some point, too.

I'm really hoping Noel turns out to be awesome, and not just the cookie-cutter "cheery teen boy" character like Tidus/Vaan, or the emo one like, say, cliched versions of Cloud/Squall (or Hope during his "I'mma gonna kill Snow!" phase). I was disappointed with how annoying Snow turned out, and Hope is really too young for me to idolize, so yes, make Noel awesome please, because if Serah's as annoying and pointless as she came off in the whole twelve seconds she wasn't a crystal in 13, you really need another strong character (aside from Lightning) to lead the game.

Also, I really hope they don't go down the FF10-2 route, and make all but one or two original characters playable, and relegate the rest to NPC mode. Personality-lobotomied Yuna and even-more-annoying-that-usual Rikku, despite having Paine, who was awesome, back them up, was still not enough to prevent the game from being...kinda annoying, since two of the original cast didn't really show up at all/until the end of the game, and three of the others were glorified NPCs who really just seemed bored to stay out of the adventure. I get why Lulu couldn't save the world, but why exactly were Wakka and Kimhari not out helping you, exactly?

...this is my exact issue with 13-2. If you don't have good reasons why only Noel and Serah (and, in alternate timelines, Lightning) are playable, I won't be as impressed as I could be. I get Sazh needing to be a daddy, and the fact that Fang and Vanille are likely still crystalized (please keep Vanille that way, but please defrost Fang ASAP, ok?), but Hope really should be involved (I personally thought Noel was a dark-haired, older Hope before they revealed him to be a new guy), and unless Snow is dead or captured or hunting down Lightning himself, he should be there too (stupid hero complex x__X). Even the NORA quartet would likely tag along, so if your entire battle party in 13-2 consists only of Noel, Serah and a random monster (with Lightning solo in her bits of the game), I will be sad indeed.


Anyway, nothing much else is new, I suppose, except they've been revealing bits of the map (like the "new" Yacchas Massif, etc.), and yes, new trailers and stuff. Most likely there'll be a lot of new info as the game inches closer to its December/January release, so stay tuned. I'm looking forward to this game, and hoping it's awesome.



Final Fantasy XIV

Still nothing. Rumours are that the PS3 release of this will be out in November, but it could still be until sometime early-to-mid-2012, if at all. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if they don't bother to make a PS3 version of the game, since the PC one was a mess and shamed the Final Fantasy name. So we'll see. If I hear anything, I shall alert you all. =P





So, what did we learn today? Some vague new things about FFXIII-2 and Theatrythm. Yay. I guess. Away now for another few months, until some actual news happens (or until someone cares enough about some game to ask questions that I feel like finding the answers for =P)

Till later, kids, and stay frosty. =P
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OK, so, it's been like, four or five months since I last updated this thread. That's vaguely shameful. The only MORE shameful thing is that none of the games I've been updating you on have been released in the meantime. For shame, Square-Enix, for shame.


Anyway, here's whatever I could find on all the currently to-be-released games, for your reading pleasure. Enjoy. :D





Theatrythm Final Fantasy

This 3DS game finally has a release date IN JAPAN: February 16th, 2012. No news on if it's getting a North American/European release, yet.

Confirmed characters seem to be the original cast of Dissidia (and possibly the entire Duodecim expansion of it as well?), plus Seifer, Locke, Rydia, Minwu, Ashe, Vivi, Snow, Aerith, a Chocobo, Faris, Cosmos, and Yuna. As well as...I want to say Xande and Gilgamesh, but I could be off on the former.

Not only are there maps to walk through and battles to face all whilst button-mashing to the music, you've also got cutscenes (ie: FF8's Dance, FF7's death of [spoilers?], FF10's Crash Yuna's Wedding, etc., AND you've got summons who can take over the fight, like Ifrit and Odin, at the very least. It's shaping up to look kinda cool, even if the button-pressing-to-music thing will likely be very, very annoying (that and buying a 3DS just to play it? Mleh.)

You can find a trailer for it Theatrhythm Trailer there, if you care. It's kinda cool, in a chibi, awkward kinda way.





Unnamed Final Fantasy 3DS Title

Still nothing on this front---no release dates anywhere, no confirmation on if it's a 3DS remake of an earlier FF game or something entirely new, nothing. Good to know I didn't miss anything on this front after neglecting to check it out for months. x____X




Final Fantasy Versus XIII

Again, no release dates, seemingly no new info, and once again, I'm just really sad. It's a good thing I didn't specifically wait to buy my PS3 until this game came out, otherwise I'd be sad indeed...




Final Fantasy X HD

For PS3 and PSVita, this graphically-updated version of FF10 will be out at some yet-to-be-announced time. No news on whether they will be adding any extra content to it, of if it's just going to be a graphically superior version of the game, but yes. More news when it's known.




Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

The 3DS game has a Japanese release date of March 29th, 2012, and is still TBA 2012 for the rest of the planet.

I can't seem to find any actual info for the game, since most of it seems to be buried under dozens of random threads, but if it hasn't been stated before, it's set up as a continuation of information gleaned from Birth by Sleep, but directly follows KH2, I believe. So...yes.

More info if I can ever find any...




Final Fantasy XIV

The PS3 version of this game STILL hasn't been released, and is given a Q4 2012 (ie: Oct/Nov/Dec) release date. Honestly, at this point, I'll be surprised if it's ever released. Here's hoping they manage to massively rehaul this mess of a game, since the PC version TANKED, and nothing seems to be saving it.

More on this if it ever shows up...




Final Fantasy Type-0

The PSP game released in Japan and Asia in late October last year, although is still to-be-announced for North America and Europe.

A lot of info, including summons, attack and weapon names, and the like has been collected in Type-0 Info Spreadsheet that link, and you can use the terms at the bottom of the page to navigate to the different pages within it (ie: Summons, Abilities, etc..).

I would pretend to give you more info, but uh, I don't think it's necessary since you can just read that linked file and learn yourself. Also, trailers on YouTube if you haven't. You will thank me, cuz they're awesome. :D





Final Fantasy XIII-2


First off, if you haven't already, go download the demo off the PSN and/or XBox Live for PS3/XBox360.


The demo itself is a slightly-revamped version of the demo playable at E3 last year, I guess, so yes. Content-wise, you are in the Bresha Ruins, I do believe, and you have a decently massive map to explore, along with quite a number of people to potentially talk to.

Your mission is, as Noel and Serah, to take down Atlas, a mostly-invisible titan whose hand is the only thing visible, and stop him from destroying the Ruins and killing everyone. There are a number of button-mashing events that, if you do them correctly, allow for bonus damage/what-have-you, and you have two choices on how to approach the boss---either head-on (which is a suicide mission if you don't spend days mindlessly levelling up), or a more round-about way by activating a machine that will take out a massive chunk of his HP and "slow him down". Obviously, the longer way is what's really valid in this case (since in the real game, you can just come back later to take him out the quick way once you level up more).

Before I go any further, I want to say that you CANNOT SAVE in the demo, and even though it makes a saved file (possibly for bonuses in the actual game when it's released...?), you cannot save your progress in the demo, and as soon as you do end up beating Atlas, the demo automatically ends and if you wish to play more, you have to continue again from the start, all your progress erased. Annoying, since I spent 3 hours or more level-whoring, but I suppose not completely unexpected---it is a demo, after all. And a free one. Que sera, sera, I suppose. :P

There's a locked section of the map that would've unlocked at Atlas's death, except since killing Atlas ends the demo, you aren't able to access it. Ditto the upper sections of the rest of the map, since stairs/platforms raise up on Atlas's death to allow you to access these areas, but since the demo cuts out when this happens, no dice. Which is vaguely annoying since why include those sections of the map in a demo if you aren't actually letting the player access them? *sigh*


As to the demo itself, you quickly get reacquainted with the previous game's system, with the new tweaks made. You still have the Paradigm system, the battles are still relatively fast-paced, and a lot of things are similar. There are some slightly revamped aspects though. For example, the Crystarium is now simplified, allowing you to work on either multiple "Roles" (ie: Commando, Ravager, Sentinel, Medic, Saboteur or Synergist) at once, or focussing on one role at a time to maximize bonuses, all along the same chain/web of the Crystarium, which each ability/stat boost in a role costing the same price. So if you focus on Commando and are up at "Lv 50" there, the next stat boost will cost the same as one in a "Lv 1" Synergist role, for example. Which makes it good for massively levelling up in a single role, but less fun if you want to make a quick grab later at some low-level stat boosts/abilities in a new role, since unlike in the original, it costs the same for the next boost/skill regardless of role, which is somewhat discomforting if you're trying to level up each role in a balanced way, but better if you're sticking solely to one role, like Commando.

Every---I believe it's 25, but it could be 10, 15 or 20?---"levels" (ie: abilities/stat boosts gained) in a role, you unlock a bonus---either a role bonus (increases [whatever] in the specific role), another ATB slot, greater accessory "slots" (see below later), or new Roles (ie: Noel and Serah seemingly start out with Rav/Com/Med/Sen, but one gets Syn as a possibility at level up, and the other Sab. I'd assume you'd unlock the final role at next level up, maybe).


As an annoying change, you now have access to all four accessory slots right off, but you're given a number associated with it, say, 80. Each individual accessory also has a number associated with it, and you can only equip as many accessories, despite the slots available, as equal or lesser to the number of your accessory "slots". So, for example, if your Accessory Slots number is 80, and you want to equip an Iron Bangle, which is 50, you can equip it. However, unless you find a second accessory worth 30 or less, you can't equip ANY OTHER ACCESSORIES, despite the three remaining actual slots for them, since your accessory number won't allow it.

Thus, you'll need to constantly be upgrading your accessory "slots" when you gain bonuses if you wanna use multiple accessories at any given time. Which, considering the other bonuses, like extra ATB slots, further roles, and role bonuses for the ones you're working on are arguably a better "waste" of that bonus, uh, be prepared to have to pick-and-choose the single accessory you'll be able to equip until you're willing to waste your bonuses increasing your accessory number :P



Another new change is the fact that, rather than a third character in your party, you can randomly obtain "crystals" upon defeating monsters. Those crystals allow you to use whichever monster in question you won it off of in your party, should you choose to include it.

You can set up three different monsters as "party member" at any given time. Each monster has one role, which defines it. Some are Medics, some are Commandos, some are Ravagers, whatever. They will fulfill that, and only that, role in your party. Thus, when you make Paradigms for battle, you need to pick and choose which of the three available monsters will be in whatever role. So, for example, if you decide to have one Ravager monster, one Medic one, and one Commando, you can technically set up the following Paradigms:

Noel/Serah/[monster1, 2 or 3]

Com/Rav/Rav (as monster 1)
Rav/Rav/Rav (as monster 1)
Med/Med/Med (as monster 2)
Com/Rav/Med (as monster 2)
Com/Com/Com (as monster 3)
Com/Rav/Com (as monster 3)


...or quite simply, you can have that third slot filled with either a Ravager, Commando, or Medic, IF you have three different-role'd monsters in your active "party". So you could have all those Paradigms with just the one monster (ie: always use "Cait Sith", a Medic, in all 6 available Paradigms), or shake things up. Unfortunately, however, it means you can't have a hugely personalized Paradigm set, since you'll only ever be able to make the third, monster-based slot be one of the three roles active. So you can't have a Paradigm of Sen/Sen/Sen if you've decided to include Paradigms like Com/Rav/Rav, Com/Rav/Com, and Med/Med/Med, since monsters only have the one role, and you can only assign three monsters at any give time to your party, even if you have more, so you're essentially limited to three different roles (or less, if you decide to throw in multiple monsters with similar roles) for that third character in any given Paradigm. Not a huge deal, but obviously you'd tend to want to have a Commando, Ravager and Medic, probably, as third character, and that pretty much means that if you want a Saboteur, Synergist or Sentinel, and you aren't gonna use it enough to make sacrificing a Medic monster for this other role, that you'll need Noel or Serah to play the Sentinel/Synergist/Saboteur in your party if you want one. Not a huge deal, I suppose, but still. Not as simplistic as a third, completely-customizable, human character in your party, like the previous game. Slightly unfortunate.

On the plus side, though, the monsters can easily become waaaay stronger than either Noel or Serah, if you level them properly, so take what you can get. :P


I have quite enjoyed the new pseudo-streamlined Crystarium system, and the monster "level up" system---in which you basically feed them various items to teach them stat and ability boosts--- is decent enough, even if I did waste money buying stuff from Chocolina to quickly max them out, and then had dozens of extra post-battle item drops left over when I stopped picking up new party members and already had maxed out the ones I had.

Also, just quickly, I already foresee it being annoying to get all your monster allies, since even after playing the demo for 3ish hours, I still hadn't gotten about 8 of the possible ones I'm sure were available, AND, at least in the demo, there seems to be a limit to the number of "monster crystals" you can hold, which, if that wasn't just a limit on the actual number of monsters available in the demo, the 20-30ish limit WILL be annoying if it's actual true in the full game, since it means constantly using the crystal to boost other monsters using the Infuse system I didn't bother attempting to use in the demo, or otherwise destroying them, meaning you'd only ever want the best crystals available, meaning it's purposeless to focus too much on levelling up any given monster if you're just gonna be trading up in each new area you get access to.


Anyway, my last point of contention is Chocolina, your resident stalker, chocobo-obsessed, time-travelling, annoying-freak-of-nature shop owner. In the Bresha Ruins alone, she can be found in about 5 different areas (meaning you don't need to constantly back-track to find her, which is nice, if a little odd, since HOW DID SHE BEAT YOU THERE AND YET CAN STILL BE FOUND IN THAT EARLIER LOCATION?! Clones. Terrifying Chocolina clones, that's how. *has nightmares*). She is literally dressed like a scantilly-clad, human-formed, hooker-esque chocobo lady. It's vaguely terrifying. And she annoys me. I think she's an escaped mental patient. And I'm slightly worried that no matter where you go, even jumping timelines, that she manages to find you. WHAT'S THAT IN THE RAFTERS?! Oh gods, it's Chocolina! Run for your life! *flees*


That's enough on the demo now, I suppose. I'll probably post my initial overview of the demo I had written last weekish at some later point. Moving on to the actual game now....




As for the game itself, yes, if it wasn't readily apparent, the game features Noel and Serah's adventures in various timelines in an attempt to track down Lightning, who's chillin' out in Valhalla as the protector of the goddess Etro.

You've got Mog, who can help access various timeline-related items, chests, and locations, and can also transform into weapons for Serah to use. You've got Chocolina the stalker shopkeeper, you've got some other annoying characters, like Alyssa, who seems to be the replacement Vanille, in the sense of annoyingness, and you've got the return of Team NORA, who now claim to be some Hero League or something, and continue in their role of slaughtering monsters and generally pretending to be heroes.

Snow is off searching for Lightning, and Hope appears in his mid-20s as the leader of the Academy in 10AF (ie: ten years after the original game), with the annoying Alyssa as his personal attendant. FYI, the Academy factors into FFType-0 (formerly AgitoXIII) as one of the four warring entities, I do believe, fighting over the crystals. So it's interesting that, barring perhaps founding it, Hope at the very least rises to a leadership role within it within a decade of time passing from his role as L'Cie hero in the events from the first game. Ah, interconnections between the various games in the Fabula Nova Crystallis. I love it. :D

I still haven't heard much of anything about Fang, Vanille or Sazh, so what, if any, role they play is up to debate. I assume the former two are still slumbering away in crystal form, and Sazh is playin' daddy, but who knows.

Essentially, I believe the plot boils down to finding anomalies in time, fixing them, and using them to jump into alternate timelines. For example, Serah is from 3AF (ie: three years after the events in the original game). The Bresha Ruins segment, I believe, takes place in 5AF (ie: two years in the future), and the events with an older Hope take place in 10AF. There also seems to be dates like 200, 300 and 400AF and the like, as well as mystery ???AF dates as well, meaning you're jumping around the timeline, fixing things up and trying to create a timeline where humanity isn't all-but-wiped out.

Caius, the big-bad, seems bent on stopping you, since Noel and Serah essentially become anomalies in the timeline, and the woman who accompanies Caius, likewise an anomaly, shares her name with the prophetess who wrote some of those prophecies that can be discovered in the original game. Interesting...

I'm going to guess there's a small chance you might encounter Fang and Vanille in their first pre-Ragnarok quest, since let's face it, this is a timeline-jumping game, but who knows. I haven't seen references to any pre-AF dates (ie: timelines taking place BEFORE, rather than after, the events from FF13), although who knows.


Anyway, just quickly, since I didn't mention it in the demo overview, the best thing you can do to create awesome monster allies is infuse them with other, stronger ones, and create monsters with unique abilities and stats. One they seem to be talking about right now is a monster called "Kichu" (whether that's its name in the English version is up to debate) that makes an excellent Commando cuz he's fast, resilient, and strong, and by infusing him with about 8 other monsters, creates an ultimate fighting machine waaaay stronger than Noel and Serah. Alas, the items you use when levelling them matter, since with Kichu, you'll generally wanna use the strength-boosting items rather than the normal/other-stat-boosting ones, but yeah. Monster infusing allows the infused monster to gain new abilities and auto-abilities, and possibly other stuff. Unfortunately there's a limit to 10 auto-abilities per monster, so you can eff things up if you don't plan ahead. Although I'm sure that planning ahead will be easier once some good, North American-based FAQs get posted up early next month. So totally wait for those before planning your end-game monster allies, yo!




Long story short, the game is already out in Japan, will be out on January 31st in North America, and in Australia on February 2nd and Europe on the 3rd.

The game has a number of pre-order bonuses, depending on your area. The North American ones seem to be:

GameStop/EBGames: "Summoner's Garb" for Serah, and, I believe, if you have some GameStop specialty-member status, the Genji Bow for Serah as well.

Wal-Mart: Valhalla wall poster featuring Noel, Serah, Caius, Lightning, and I think Mog.

Amazon.com: Note that only the .com version (and not .ca, for anyone else here who might be Canadian) is doing this, but you get access to a unique monster battle, Omega, who can then (maybe? always?) become playable upon completion.

Best Buy: Final Fantasy XIII -Episode 1- Novella, which bridges the gap between FF13 and 13-2.


Obviously if you qualify for the Genji Bow, the GameStop bonus is pretty awesome, since it gives you a new outfit for Serah that can appear in all cutscenes (and, I assume, in battle as well), plus a handy new weapon. I went with the Amazon.com bonus, since I wanted access to Omega, so here's hoping either he ALWAYS drops his crystal, or at least that you can refight him until he does. Wal-Mart's bonus is kinda lame since I assume posters should/will be available elsewise, and Best Buy's is interesting, but only if they end up releasing the pre-order-based DLC online at some point anyway, in which case I'll be vaguely disappointed I didn't get the novella, but whatever.


Obviously if you haven't already pre-ordered yet, and want the game, DO SO IMMEDIATELY. ...Since the game is out on Tuesday, and it's currently Friday, you only have a few days left to realistically pre-order it before its release, so if you want any of the bonus pre-order content, grab it now.




Finally, the collector's edition of the game looks pretty sweet, as, among other things, it comes with the entire OST (soundtrack) for the game, as well as a concept art book, plus special packaging. It's also 20 dollars more expensive, of course, so obviously if all you want is the game, uh, go with the cheaper one. :P

There's also going to be at least SOME DLC for the game, although considering their DLC for Duodecim fizzled out following the PSN downtime in April, so we never did end up getting everything they supposedly planned, uh, don't hold your breath for tons-and-tons of DLC content, nor the possibility that the pre-order-based DLC content (Genji Bow, Summoner's Garb, and/or Omega boss) end up on there. It could happen, it might not. But they've set it up so that at least some bonus content is supposed to be coming out over the PSN/X-Box Live, so make sure to check back as I'm hopefully able to update you on what new content does get released online. :)











And that's all for today, since I think this took me like three hours or more, and there's barely anything here. Uh, yay for new games coming soon, lemme know if you're planning on getting XIII-2 or not, and uh, yeah. Here's to more news when there's news. I will likely be typing up an FF13-2 topic when I get my copy---of course, since I pre-ordered it through Amazon.com as a Canadian, the earliest I'll see it is February 7th, and it could take as long as Feb 14th. *sigh* ...this is why I almost always preorder through EBGames---sure, the Canadian versions don't always launch on the days they're supposed to, but at least I'm guaranteed to get my game the day it actually ends up arriving. Two weeks later will NOT be fun. ...if you want to send me free copies of the game to help me bide my time, uh, by all means, please do. :P

More to come, at some point. Here's to it NOT being mid-June before my next update x____X
Edited by The Frostbound Prince, Jan 27 2012, 05:36 PM.
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OK, quick and pointless update since I haven't updated it since January which is like six months ago and it's wasn't even on the first page anymore and hey, it's been months, gotta be some new news, right...? ...not really, no.


OK, so Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance has been released on 3DS everywhere, and came out some time in July, depending on where you live. Rumoured to be the last spin-off/"sequel" before the inevitable Kingdom Hearts III, it seems to bring together plot threads from every other game, and introduces some new worlds like Hunchback of Notre Dame, Three Musketeers and Tron: Legacy to the mix.

I tried pre-ordering the Mark of Mastery edition, but of course the copy I bought wasn't actually in stock when the online store in question decided to sell it, so I might not be getting it, which is a massive piss-off. Not that I have a 3DS yet, but still. More news on this when I get a chance to ever play it, maybe.

In similar news, Theatrythm: Final Fantasy, the rhythm/music-based 3DS game featuring the chibi sprites featured as bonus unlockable content in Dissidia and Duodecim was released back in February in Japan, and in early July in North America, Europe, and Australia. Further information to be supplied if/when I end up getting and playing it, I suppose.

Still no news on release dates or further information for Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Final Fantasy X HD, or Final Fantasy Type-0, unfortunately.

While Square-Enix has announced the name of their rehauled, 2.0 version of the epic PC/PS3 MMO fail that was Final Fantasy XIV---Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn---no confirmation of a release date for either system has been set, and what changes they've made to better the 2.0 version over the original are equally as elusive. If there's interest, I'll try to track down a list of those upgrades, otherwise, mleh.

As a side note, I will no longer be reporting on the Unnamed 3DS Final Fantasy title, since the common understanding on it now is that it was a misquote of Square-Enix confirming that "there will be a Final Fantasy title for the 3DS", and/or may have been Theatrythm to begin with, so...yeah. Until they either give it a name or confirm its a remake of one of the other games in the series, don't expect to hear about it again. :P


Finally, in the only real news of the last six months, Final Fantasy Dimensions, a rerelease of the formerly Japanese-exclusive set of mobile episodes branded together as "Final Fantasy Legends: Hikari to Yami no Senshi", has been announced for Android and iPhone/iPad/maybe iPod, and featured two quintets (?) of crystal warriors---one "Light", one "Dark"---who quest to stop some mounting catastrophe using various job classes which seem to be a hybrid fusion of FF5's job classes and other noteworthy abilities. For example, rumour is that the Red Mage will have the abilities of FF5's job of the same name, but also have the Spellblade skills and, I believe, Celes's Runic skill from FF6. Pretty hardcore if that's the case, and would make a worthy job class to consider, if such is the case.

They also seem to have a fairly balanced set of jobs overall---unlike games like FF3 and 5, where the early jobs quickly get outshone by ones found later in the game, even early-game jobs continue to have perks deep into the game. For example, Monks always have high HP and Def compared to other jobs, Thief classes have the best speed, even compared to Ninjas, etc. Plus it seems the Dark and Light Warriors will have at least a few unique jobs depending on which "team" you're controlling, and some unique jobs period---like Memorist, that allows you to allocate your own stat boosts based on the memories you've found during the game, but with only the ability to use 4 randomly chosen command abilities in battle, based on what you've previously learned.

In any case, seems interesting enough. Neither Android nor iPhone/Pad/Pod versions have a defined release date yet, but are supposed to be out within the next month or so, supposedly. I'm just hoping its compatible with my iPod touch, cuz I would rather NOT have to buy something else to continue to play a game in my favourite series, okay universe? :P


There, that, my friends, is about as much as I care to do at the moment. As you can see, unless you have a 3DS and interest in Theatrythm or KH3D: Dream Drop Distance, nothing's out for you to play just yet. Although FF13-2's been out for six months now and is probably a more respectable price now, so if you have a PS3 or XBox360, you can always search for that. Speaking of, the last of the DLC for XIII-2 came out back in May, and it looks unlikely for it to get anymore (including monster versions of Hope, Fang and Vanille for your party :( ), so yeah. Sucky. ...I have to remember to buy a new PSN card so I can afford the last of that DLC, anyway.

So yes. That is all. If there is no longer a desire for me to keep you apprised of this vague and sketchy info, lemme know. If there is, likewise, lemme know. I'm off, happy gaming, fellow FF8Kers, and here's to hearing about localizations for Type-0 and the eventual release date for Versus XIII soon, yeah? :P
Edited by The Frostbound Prince, Aug 4 2012, 11:40 AM.
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