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A sequel, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, was released in 2013 in Japan and 2014 worldwide. The game was the fifth-best selling game of 2011 in Japan, and sold 3.1 million copies worldwide by January 2013. Though praised for its gameplay, lack of linearity, and graphics, the game's story was criticized as weak and confusing. The game builds upon the Paradigm Shift battle system used in XIII and includes a less linear overall design.įinal Fantasy XIII-2 received critical acclaim in Japan and generally positive reviews from Western video game journalists. The development team wanted to exceed Final Fantasy XIII in every aspect while making the story's tone more dark and mysterious than the previous game. Many of the key designers remained in their roles from the previous game, and developer tri-Ace was hired to help with the game's design, art, and programming. The game was unveiled at the Square Enix 1st Production Department Premier in January 2011. Her younger sister Serah Farron and Noel Kreiss journey through time in an attempt to find her.ĭevelopment of Final Fantasy XIII-2 began in early 2010 and lasted about one and a half years. Lightning, the protagonist of the original game, has disappeared into an unknown world. The game's plot features a heavy time travel element, allowing the player to jump between different times at the same location or different places at the same time. It includes modified features from the previous game, including fast-paced combat and a customizable "Paradigm" system to control which abilities are used by the characters, and adds a new system that allows monsters to be captured and used in battle. XIII-2 is a direct sequel to the 2009 role-playing game Final Fantasy XIII and part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis subseries. It was released in 2011 in Japan and 2012 in North America and PAL regions, and was ported to Windows in 2014 and Android and iOS through cloud gaming in 2015 in Japan.
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Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
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