Final Fantasy XIII-2

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is the direct sequel to Final Fantasy XIII, a part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy series. It was developed by Square Enix and. The game takes place three years after the events of Final Fantasy XIII, and depicts the story of Serah Farron's journey across time and space to prevent the end of the world while searching for her missing sister, Lightning.

Gameplay
Final Fantasy XIII-2 retains the Command Synergy Battle and Paradigm Shift systems from its predecessor and the battle system is simply a more evolved form of Final Fantasy XIII's battle system. One new gameplay element, called the Mog Clock, has been added, where the player must attack monsters on the field before the time is up to get the upper hand in the ensuing battle. When the player attacks a monster, the screen lights up and the scene switches to a battlefield, marking the start of a battle. Non-player characters (such as the remnant PSICOM operatives) will react to the monsters that appear in the field and weaken them before a fight. Another new feature is the Paradigm Tune, which enables the player to customize how the AI-controlled party members use their abilities in battle. Though the player still controls one out of a three-member party, they will be able to initiate the Change Leader option to switch the party member they control during battle. The defeat of the human characters in the party results in a game over.

Characters will grow via a revamped Crystarium System, and they will have levels unlike the previous game. These levels are gained by moving through the Crystarium. Each character's Crystarium is no longer in the form of tiers, but now takes the shape of their respective weapon, and includes all possible Paradigm Roles on a singular Crystarium, similar to the Sphere Grid from Final Fantasy X. As a player advances through the Crystarium, they may choose which Paradigm Role to level up and gain bonus stat increases alongside level increases. Characters will also learn different attacks at certain levels throughout their Paradigm Role growth. Unlike Final Fantasy XIII, there is no cap on how much a character may grow in the Crystarium at any given time. The weather or Climate Type in an area will affect battles, and at one time an uncontrollable guest will join. Summoned Monsters will return, but not be in the same form as those in the original game, as the characters are no longer l'Cie.

Monsters can be caught, trained, and used as party members through the Paradigm Pack component. Three monsters can be held at a time, and depending on the role that a player shifts to in the Paradigm, the monsters will automatically switch to the chosen role. Players can customize a monster's stats via leveling up through items and accessories can be given to monsters to change their appearance. By usage of the new Feral Link system, characters have been shown to be able to access unique special abilities from the monsters in the party by pressing a combination of buttons once a synchronization gauge has filled. Certain enemy monsters will be able to do a new form of damage called Wound Damage, which lowers a party member's max HP during battle and cannot be healed, giving further incentive to defeat enemies quickly as possible as wound damage accumulates and max HP drops.

Players will be given timed button presses similar to the the Reaction Commands of Kingdom Hearts during Cinematic Action sequences to gain the upper hand in battle and event scenes. There are also "Live" sequences, or real time cutscenes that occur to progress the story, meaning the player maintains control of their character although the camera is focused elsewhere. Another new element, called the Live Trigger, allows the player to choose their response in a conversation with a character by deciding on the sentence. The player character will also be able to engage in conversations with NPCs with speech bubbles above them, and the other characters in the party will wander the area getting into conversations on their own. A new dungeon minigame system has been added called Temporal Rifts where the player must guide the character through the various puzzles, and grab crystals along the path within a certain amount of time with the option to retry the puzzle if things become difficult.

Another new gameplay element is the Historia Crux feature, the time travel system in the game that can be accessed through the use of gates throughout areas on the field. The gates are activated by finding special Artefacts in hidden treasure chests using Mog, and by resetting the gates, Noel and Serah can redo their adventures. Using Historia Crux, the player will be able to choose the location or era to travel to. There will be a "gate matrix," where players will select their next location based on the game's AF (After the Fall of Cocoon) timeline. Players will also be able to access the save and main menus through gates.

The equipment system in the game is rather unique. Each character has four different slots for equipment and a maximum load that they can carry. These points up any way the player would like to, for defensive gear or stat boosting accessories, but cannot exceed the limit. Monsters which are in the party can be renamed and equip decorative items, such as tails, which change how they look in battle. They grow by purchasing items, unlike the other characters who use the Crystarium. Players can buy some of these weapons, armor, items, and monster training goods from the merchant, Chocolina.

The game will have a new area called Serendipity, an amusement park center complete with a casino and minigames such as Chocobo Racing and Slots, which has been compared to the Gold Saucer in Final Fantasy VII. The game will retain the missions from Final Fantasy XIII as well as alternate sidequests from various NPCs in which the player must find and retrieve specific items, for example. Unlike those in Final Fantasy XIII, these will be available from an early point in the game.

Unlike the original game, Final Fantasy XIII-2 will feature difficulty modes of gameplay: Normal and Easy mode, which can be changed at any time. There is also the option to save the game at any point throughout the story from the main menu. The game has multiple endings and the main quest can be played multiple times, but director Motomu Toriyama looked for an alternate means of achieving this besides a "New Game+" feature; this will be done by allowing players to reset the Historia Crux gates, and therefore take them back to the beginning of that time period. Players will have the ability to do this at any time, though certain content and endings will be unavailable until after the main quest has been completed at least once.

Setting
As a result of Cocoon's fall at the end of Final Fantasy XIII, some of its surviving citizens now reside on Gran Pulse, and the world has adopted a new dating system, since the fall of Cocoon ("AF" or "After Fall"). In the three years since, new towns and cities have been established. While searching for Lightning, Serah and Noel will travel to old and new places on Pulse and in Cocoon.

As they travel through time, some locations from XIII will show change in appearance. Eden is no longer the capital and the Sanctum is no more. The city of Academia is now the capital, and the new provisional government is run by the Academy, a scientific expedition group wishing to build a world that doesn't rely on the fal'Cie.

Playing as Lightning, there is a mysterious new world called Valhalla, the realm of death and chaos at the edge of time in the distant future, ruled by the Goddess Etro.

Plot
At the end of Final Fantasy XIII -Episode i-, Lightning, who felt there was still something threatening the newly acquired peace, found herself being captured and dragged into the Historia Crux by Chaos, and taken to Valhalla due to the effects of a time paradox. She then becomes the protector of Etro. Two years later, many former residents of Cocoon have created settlements on Gran Pulse like the village of New Bodhum near the crystallized structure, and believe Lightning to be dead or crystallized with Fang and Vanille; but only her sister, Serah, knows that she is still alive. Snow tells Serah that he believes her, and promises that he will look for Lightning and bring her home, but a year goes by and he goes missing as well.

Inside Etro's Shrine, Lightning speaks with the Goddess about Valhalla being gripped by a mysterious sadness. Meanwhile, a man in purple named Caius Ballad lays the lifeless body of a young girl named Yeul to rest in the ocean. Angered, he summons an army of monsters and challenges Lightning to battle. She confronts Caius with her own army of summoned monsters and the Eidolons. They eventually meet each other and clash swords before Caius transforms into the entity, Chaos Bahamut. He swipes at Lightning and sends her flying over Valhalla.

Falling from the sky over the beach, Lightning manages to land safely on Odin in his Gestalt Mode, but is promptly pursued by Chaos Bahamut. Riding Odin, Lightning battles Chaos Bahamut, leading him into the city. Dodging Chaos Bahamut's attacks, she manages to defeat him with an attack from behind, but gets caught off guard by Caius's surprise attack. Lightning is saved by Odin, and Caius reappears in his human form. As they clash blades and fire magic at each other, Lightning eventually manages to bury Caius under fallen debris. Then she notices the Door of Souls over Etro's shrine and sees a familiar figure falling from the sky towards Valhalla. She recognizes it as the young man she had previously seen in a vision, Noel Kreiss. Summoning Bahamut, she saves him from his fall but Caius returns as Chaos Bahamut to continue to their fight. Unable to leave Valhalla unprotected, Lightning tells Noel about Serah and asks him for his help. She summons a gift for Noel to give to Serah, but Caius reappears and summons a meteor over Etro's shrine before transforming to escape. Summoning Odin, Lightning thrusts herself into the meteor as it crushes the shrine. Then Noel leaps into a time gate to find Serah.

One night, Serah has a dream about Lightning's battle with Caius, and Noel coming to New Bodhum to help her. Then after a strange crystalline meteor falls from the sky, she awakens to find that her clothes have mysteriously changed. As she heads outside to the shouts of NORA, it seems that time has stopped and has New Bodhum fallen under attack by mysterious monsters. Once time resumes, Serah finds herself amidst the chaos. When she is attacked, Serah is saved by Noel. With little time to talk, Noel hands Serah a weapon, enabling to fight off the monsters with him. Afterward, Serah's weapon transforms into her new Moogle companion named Mog. Noel says Mog is a gift for her from Lightning. At the crash site of the meteor, Noel reveals to Serah that he is from 700 years in the future and that Lightning is waiting for her. He offers to take Serah to her, but the members of NORA remain skeptical. Placing Serah's hand on the meteor that fell near New Bodhum, Noel shows them it is really a time gate, of which Lightning is waiting on the other side in Valhalla. The next day, he reveals to Serah that he is from a distant future where all of humanity was slowly wiped out until he was the only one left, and how he became the last hope for his friends and family. Joined by Noel and Mog, Serah leaves her home to find her sister. However, unknown to them, they are being watched by Caius and his companion, Yeul.

Together, they travel through the Historia Crux to the Bresha Ruins in Cocoon at 5 AF. They battle an invisible giant called Paradox Alpha, later revealed to be Atlas. However, Serah and Noel are arrested by PSICOM for being in a restricted area. They are freed by Academy scientist, Alyssa Zaidelle, who asks them for their help in defeating Atlas before he causes the site to be shut down. Noel and Serah eventually find Atlas, now in his true form, in another part of the Ruins. By destroying the crystal on top of his head, Noel and Serah defeat Atlas, and restore the Bresha Ruins to their former glory.

Possible Endings
There are nine possible endings in Final Fantasy XIII-2:
 * After Caius is defeated, Serah, Noel and Mog return to Pulse at 500 AF, where the new Cocoon named "Bhunivelze" rises into the sky. After Serah thanks Noel, she has a vision, then abruptly dies. Noel weeps for her as Hope arrives from Academia to greet them. The world suddenly goes dark and Mog grows weak. Noel remembers Caius's warning about Etro to them, previously thought to be a bluff. Bhunivelze and everything on Pulse begin to emit Chaos as a giant seal opens in the sky. Valhalla appears within the world with a somehow intact Etro's shrine, and a crystallized Lightning is seen sitting on Etro's throne. The words "To be continued..." are the last screen, hinting that there may be DLC expansions or perhaps a Final Fantasy XIII-3.

Paradox Endings

 * Noel and Serah use magic to disguise themselves as Microchu and Miniflan in order to remain unnoticed while they prepare a poisonous pudding to kill the evil King Flandragora in the Sunleth Waterscape. There is a special track for this on the soundtrack called Fight Pudding with Pudding.
 * Noel replaces Caius as the new Guardian of Time, and floats through the Historia Crux.
 * Snow appears in Academia -4XX AF- and stops Alyssa from tricking Serah and Noel into going to Caius's trap, before flying off with Serah and Mog on Shiva as Noel and Hope look on.
 * Serah remains in her eternal dream with Lightning, Snow, and the members of NORA in New Bodhum.
 * Serah, Noel and Yeul are trapped in the destroyed New Bodhum at 700 AF, looking for a way out.
 * Serah and Noel find a crystallized Vanille in Oerba.
 * Serah and Noel are modified by the demi-fal'Cie Adam to serve as guards in Augusta Tower.
 * Serah and Noel die battling Atlas in the Archylte Steppe.
 * After obtaining all paradox endings and 160 Fragments, a secret paradox ending, "A World Without a Goddess," plays after the end credits. It shows Caius in between time, sitting on Etro's throne from which he leaves and uses Ragnarok, causing Chaos to emerge, wanting to create a new world without Etro where Yeul doesn't die. This scene also alters the opening scene where Caius is seemingly shown talking to the player.

Playable Characters

 * Serah Farron (セラ・ファロン) - The main protagonist of the game. She is Lightning's younger sister, Snow's fiancée, and the only one out of her friends to know Lightning still exists. Gaining the ability to have visions of the future, Serah journeys with Noel to find and save her sister. Her weapon is a crossbow that can transform into a sword, though its true form is that of her moogle companion Mog.
 * Noel Kreiss (ノエル・クライス) - The main male protagonist of the game. Noel comes from the Dying World at 700 AF, where he is the last surviving human in a world that faced destruction. After a chance encounter with Lightning, he travels into the past to find her sister, Serah. He sets off with her to save Lightning in the hopes of changing the future. He uses two swords that are able to combine to form a spear in battle.

Temporary Playable Characters

 * Lightning (ライトニング) - The narrator of the game. Having been attacked by the emerging Chaos and subsequently taken to Valhalla, Lightning is no longer believed to be alive by anyone except Serah. In reality, she has become a knight, protecting the Goddess Etro in Valhalla while being confronted by Caius. She now wields a new gunblade resembling a combination of her Blazefire Saber and a traditional sword.

Guest Characters

 * Snow Villiers (スノウ・ヴィリアース) - Snow left to search for Lightning two years after her disappearance, but is nowhere to be found at the time Serah set out on her own search. He appears as an uncontrollable guest character in the Sunleth Waterscape -300 AF-.

Antagonists

 * Caius Ballad (カイアス・バラッド) - A mysterious man from the future who is an important figure in both Noel's past and Serah's future. He is of equal strength to Lightning and is said to be on a similar mission to hers, and will be in her way as she tries to complete her own. Caius also has the ability harness his inner Chaos to transform into Chaos Bahamut. He travels with his companion Yeul as they pursue Noel and Serah. Caius is the immortal guardian of the timeline, and able to retain memory of all timeline events. As a result, he intends to dispose of all 'contradictions' in it, namely Noel and Serah, believing them to be enemies.

Other Characters

 * Mog (モーグリ) - Serah's new moogle companion and a gift from Lightning. Instead of a traditional moogle's pom-pom, Mog's pom-pom is a glowing crystal. He carries a rod adorned with a clock, and can transform into Serah's weapon. He is a treasure hunter and will reveal invisible treasure chests within dungeons. He can access treasure in out-of-reach places by being thrown by the player. He also uses his magic to execute the Mog Clock pre-battle system.
 * Hope Estheim (ホープ・エストハイム) - Hope appears as a 24-year-old young man, and the leader of the Academy, researching the world's history and looking for a new energy source for Cocoon in the absence of the fal'Cie. He is aware of Noel and Serah's travels through time because of his research, and helps them in their search for Lightning. He also wants to change history in order to improve the world and bring back the people dear to him.
 * Paddra Nsu-Yeul (ユール) - A mysterious young woman with her face partially covered by a veil who is Caius's traveling companion and has a strong connection to him. She says that she and Serah are the same in how they can both have visions of the future. She was previously mentioned in Final Fantasy XIII, as a Pulsian seeress and author of the fourth and ninth Analects.
 * Alyssa Zaidelle (アリサ・ザイデル) - A young girl who is part of the Academy and Hope's trusted assistant. They work together to understand the nature of paradoxes and help Noel and Serah in their journey.
 * NORA (ノラ) - Snow's friends: Gadot, Lebreau, Maqui and Yuj have stayed with Serah during their years on Pulse while resuming their occupation as New Bodhum's neighborhood watch group.
 * PSICOM (サイコム) - The military corps from Cocoon now handle monster extermination on Pulse to protect the new cities that the citizens are building, and look over the rebuilding of the formerly floating world.
 * Sazh Katzroy (サッズ・カッツロイ) - Sazh is currently engaged in activities to improve Gran Pulse. Hope states that Sazh has disappeared in the ten years since Serah left with Noel. He is stated to possibly be in an upcoming storyline DLC.
 * Oerba Dia Vanille, Oerba Yun Fang, and Dajh Katzroy have made brief appearances in the "Change the Future" trailer. Vanille and Fang were seen in Serah's dream.

Music
Composers of the original game, Masashi Hamauzu and Mitsuto Suzuki, return joined by Naoshi Mizuta, composer of Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light and Final Fantasy XI. The game's main theme in the Japanese PlayStation 3 version is "Yakusoku no Basho," sung by Mai Fukui. An English version of the theme, called "New World", sung by Filipina artist Charice Pempengco, is used in the Japanese Xbox 360 and Western releases of the game.

The soundtrack was released on December 14th, 2011. It includes the standard and limited edition. Standard version soundtrack spans over four discs, while the limited edition has a bonus DVD packed with two trailers, the trailer shown at E3 2001 (Japanese voices version), and the game's Final Trailer (Special Music Edition). The standard edition retails for 3990¥, and the limited edition is 4880¥. A selection of songs from the game are to be available with the Limited Collector's Edition of Final Fantasy XIII-2 in Europe and the entire soundtrack is to be available to those who purchase the Crystal Edition in Europe or the Collector's Edition in North America. However, neither shall include "New World" by Charice.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 includes music from Final Fantasy XIII.

Development
Hints at a sequel to Final Fantasy XIII were first given when Square Enix stated they would be willing to create a direct sequel if the fans want it. They also said the first installment had enough cut content to fill a new game. Late 2010, in an interview from the Final Fantasy XIII Ultimania Omega, Motomu Toriyama proclaimed the idea to make a story where Lightning "ends up happy in the end." Furthermore, an autographed postcard was personally sent by Tetsuya Nomura to members of the Japanese Square Enix Members community, with an artwork of Lightning and a message saying "She must not be forgotten." Later, Square Enix registered the domain for the game. The game was officially announced at the "Square Enix 1st Production Department Premiere" event on January 18, 2011.

Toriyama has said in an interview with Famitsu the main reason they decided to make a sequel is that there was demand throughout the world and because the development staff wanted to portray Lightning's character further, to give her a clear conclusion. Toriyama said that other than Lightning finding true happiness, the after effects of Fang and Vanille's sacrifice on her and the other characters are another central theme in the game. He has even compared the light and dark appearances of Lightning and Caius respectively to those of an angel and the devil, but warned not to jump to conclusions about which one is which. Toriyama has said that the traveling system has been completely redone since Final Fantasy XIII, as the team was trying to create a "truly living world, with lots of people living all the way to the far corners of the game". The game is more fantasy-oriented as opposed to the futuristic feel of its predecessor and focuses on the Farron sisters as opposed to how the first game focuses on the love story between Snow and Serah. As opposed to the story of Final Fantasy XIII, where Lightning is on a quest to save Serah, the story of Final Fantasy XIII-2 is the reverse, with Serah trying to save Lightning. The story of Final Fantasy XIII-2 also explores their relationship as sisters, and how they are similar yet different in their own ways.

Following player feedback on the linear, story-driven gameplay of Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII-2 focuses on player-driven gameplay with a more open world that players can explore widely, triggering events as they find them. In all the different types of gameplay presented, the developers' goal has been to make the player the main focus and instigator, and the game design to promote the player progressing through the story rather than just passively watching. Toriyama compared this mindset to the differences between Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 - the latter builds on the world and story of the former and thus can have a stronger focus on gameplay.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 uses different types of art styles and art director Isamu Kamikokuryo has said that even with the world has been reduced close to ruin after the events of Final Fantasy XIII, he was careful in expressing the serious tone of the story and the world when compared to the first game's beautiful but manufactured setting. Kamikokuryu further said that the character designs are built from the scenario and setting and the new designs for Lightning and Serah are reflected within the environments where they begin their journey.

Players who own Final Fantasy XIII save data will unlock an additional wallpaper (PS3) or gamer picture (Xbox 360) for the save file. Downloadable content will be released after the game and will contain additional weapons, costumes and monsters. Kitase assures players that the content will allow for even longer play. Post-release downloads also include a "Final Fantasy XIII Lost Report" which will be distributed through the game's official site and offer a look back at Final Fantasy XIII's story through Rygdea and Yaag Rosch's perspectives.

Both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game only need one disc. In an interview with the magazine, director Motomu Toriyama says that the game actually has the same amount of volume as Final Fantasy XIII and the reason they're able to fit the game in less space this time is that the event scenes are real time rather than prerendered. Kitase has also stated that there will be a downloadable version for Xbox 360, but it is unknown whether or not there will also be one for PlayStation 3.

In addition to the Square Enix staff, Tri-Ace staff were involved with the development of Final Fantasy XIII-2, helping out on the game with aspects of game design, art and programming.

Sequel
Square Enix registered a domain name for Final Fantasy XIII-3 on September 7, 2011. No development plans have been announced as of yet. A representative of Square Enix, however, notes that the filing is to protect the Final Fantasy XIII IP and is not indicative of a new title.

Downloadable Content
The game will feature downloadable content in the form of downloadable outfits, equipment, scenarios, recruitable monsters and minigames.

Japanese release
A Final Fantasy XIII-2 bundle was released in Japan on December 15th, 2011 with a black 320GB PlayStation 3 Slim with an image of Lightning. Square Enix also released two new books in Japan on the game's release date of December 15th. The first is a postcard book priced at ¥1,260 that has 24 CG illustrations featuring characters like Lightning, Serah, Noel, and Caius, as well as an eight-page character introduction. The second is a 232-page book priced at ¥1,470, titled FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 Fragments Before, which takes place immediately before the events of the game and contains several stories revolving around characters such as Serah, Snow, Noel, and Rygdea and Bartholomew Estheim:
 * Serah: Memories of the year AF 0.
 * New Bodhum: A story of the year AF 3.
 * Snow: The story of his departure.
 * Rygdea & Bartholomew: The creation of a provisional government, and the secret history of the founding of the Academy.
 * Noel: The end of the world, a period of uncertainty.

The game's story will be continued in FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 Fragments After.

Square Enix teamed up with Morinaga to promote Final Fantasy XIII-2 in Japan; Morinaga's popular Potelong snack will, for a limited time, feature Final Fantasy XIII-2 themed packaging. To promote the game's release, AKB48 member, Yuko Oshima, was appointed the leader of a group of thirteen official test players.

North American release
The North American collector's edition which will sell for $79.99 will be available in limited quantities at GameStop, Amazon and Best Buy, and includes:
 * Packaging featuring artwork by Yoshitaka Amano.
 * The 4-disc Original Soundtrack. Although this excludes both "Yakusoku no Basho" and "New World", it includes a bonus track on Disc 4, Omega's Battle Theme.
 * A collection of concept artwork containing "a variety of never-before-seen illustrations, environments and more".

These retailers also had their own pre-order bonus: Gamestop had an alternate costume for Serah (with PowerUp Rewards members also receiving a Geinji Bow for her); Amazon had Omega as a coliseum boss/crucible monster, and Best Buy had a hardcover book entitled "FINAL FANTASY XIII -Episode i-", a story (written by Jun Eishima) that ties together the events between the predecessor and the game.

Ultimate Prize winners of the Word to Your Moogle tour receive a pink and white PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 featuring Mog.

European and Australian release
It has been confirmed that Europe and Australia will get three different editions of Final Fantasy XIII-2. The Limited Collector’s Edition, with recommended retail price of £59,99/68€, will include the game; a composer selected soundtrack CD, an artbook, six postcards featuring CG artwork of main characters; and a high definition lenticular art print of Lightning.

The Crystal Edition, with recommended retail price of £79,99/91€, includes all of the items above, although the composer selected soundtrack is replaced with the 4-disc Final Fantasy XIII-2 Original Soundtrack (this soundtrack will include all background music from the game, but not the theme song "New World".) Also included is a T-shirt from the that will not be available for purchase elsewhere. The Crystal Edition will be a strictly limited edition and will be packaged in a presentation box.

The Nordic Edition will include the game and four additional downloadable pieces of content; an alternate costume for both Serah and Noel; a unique weapon for Noel, with a special look and gameplay effects; and a recruitable monster battle: Omega, the famous Final Fantasy boss monster, and if the player wins they can recruit Omega to join the party.

Preorder extras for Europe and Australia have also been released, available for customers preordering from certain retail outlets. The preorder extras include:
 * An exclusive steelbook case, a downloadable content pack, the "Fight In Style" pack, which contains a new recruitable monster (Omega) and alternate costumes for both Serah and Noel, Final Fantasy XIII -Episode i-, a novella that fills the gaps between Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2, and three lithograph artcards, available from Game.co.uk.
 * A code which allows one to obtain the unique downloadable weapon Muramasa for Noel, with a special look and boosts chain bonuses, available from Amazon.co.uk.

Asian releases
Multiple Asian editions of Final Fantasy XIII-2 for PlayStaion 3 and Xbox 360 were released. Asian Japanese versions (Japanese voice & texts) for both consoles released On December 15, 2011 and all other versions were released on January 31, 2012 for Asian regions (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia, etc). Like its predecessor, a version features Japanese voice overs and both Chinese and English subtitles is available. Bundled and limited versions are also available.


 * PS3 Japanese Version (Japanese Voice & Texts)
 * PS3 English Version (English Voice & Texts) (8 post cards included for pre-order bounus)
 * PS3 Chinese + English Version (Japanese Voice, Chinese/English Texts) (8 post cards included for pre-order bounus)
 * PS3 Chinese + English PS3 Bundle Version (Japanese Voice, Chinese/English Texts), which includes the game disc and:
 * PS3 FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 LIGHTNING EDITION Ver.2 Console
 * 2 DLC codes for Serah's Outfit: Summoner's Garb and Noel's Outfit: Battle Attire (first print limited offer)
 * 1 mini clear poster (randomly given out of 8 designs)
 * 1-disc Original Soundtrack -SPECIAL Package- (selected tracks)
 * 8 post cards (pre-order bounus)
 * X360 Japanese Version (Japanese Voice & Texts)
 * X360 Chinese + English Version (Japanese Voice, Chinese/English Texts), which includes the game disc and:
 * 1 table calendar
 * 2 DLC codes for Serah's Outfit: Summoner's Garb and Noel's Outfit: Battle Attire (first print limited offer)
 * X360 Chinese + English Version Limited Edition (Japanese Voice, Chinese/English Texts), which includes the game disc and:
 * 1 table calendar
 * 2 DLC codes for Serah's Outfit: Summoner's Garb and Noel's Outfit: Battle Attire (first print limited offer)
 * 1 mini clear poster (randomly given out of 8 designs)
 * 1-disc Original Soundtrack -SPECIAL Package- (selected tracks)
 * 8 post cards

Reception
Japanese magazine Famitsu gave the game a perfect 40 score with each of the four reviewers giving the game a 10. This marks Final Fantasy XIII-2 as the second Final Fantasy game to receive a perfect score from the said magazine, the first one being Final Fantasy XII. gave the game an S score, the highest score in their scale.

Western reviewers are more critical of the game. It received an 8.0 from. The reviewer commended the significant improvement it has over the original although criticized the progression of the story. He also noted that the characters didn't have any clear motivations other than to save Lightning. gave the game a 9 out of 10 score. The magazine pointed out its improvement over XIII in most aspects of the game especially the explorations.

The PS3 version of the game received a 77/100 from, while the Xbox 360 version received an 81/100 from the same reviewer. This makes Final Fantasy XIII-2 the offline numbered Final Fantasy title with the lowest Metacritic score (not counting the remakes of Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy III), lower than Final Fantasy XIII, which received an 83/100.

Demo
A playable demo of the game was released on January 10th in North America, and on January 11th in Europe, on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade.

Staff
The staff behind Final Fantasy XIII-2 are as follows:
 * Producer: Yoshinori Kitase
 * Director: Motomu Toriyama
 * Scenario: Daisuke Watanabe
 * Art Director: Isamu Kamikokuryo
 * Character Design (Playable Character Faces): Tetsuya Nomura
 * Character Design (Playable Character Costumes and Non-Playable Characters): Isamu Kamikokuryo, Nao Ikeda, Yusuke Naora, Hideo Minaba
 * Battle System Director: Yusuke Matsui
 * Composers: Masashi Hamauzu, Mitsuto Suzuki, Naoshi Mizuta
 * Image Illustrator and Title Logo Designer: Yoshitaka Amano
 * Additional Work on Game Design, Art and Programming: tri-Ace

Sales
During its first week of release in Japan, Final Fantasy XIII-2 sold 524,000 copies with the PlayStation 3 version topping the charts. The Xbox 360 sold far fewer copies due to the low number of Xbox 360 customers in Japan. First week sales in Japan were much poorer than for Final Fantasy XIII, which sold 1.5 million units in its first week. By the end of 2011, the game sold 697,146 units, becoming the fifth bestselling game from Japan in 2011.

Trivia

 * Final Fantasy XIII-2 marks the first time Hideo Minaba has done character design in a numbered Final Fantasy since Final Fantasy IX.
 * The object in the bottom-left of the in-battle HUD resembles the early Overclock concept seen in Final Fantasy XIII's E3 2006 trailer.
 * The moogles in Final Fantasy XIII-2 are different than the ones seen in the original game because another artist, Toshitaka Matsuda, was chosen to design them for this title.
 * The idea of monsters fighting in the player's party was previously used in International Version of Final Fantasy X-2, where monsters can be recruited and used in battle with its "Creature Create" system.
 * Final Fantasy XIII-2 is the third game in the series to have two sisters as playable characters, the first being Final Fantasy V, second Final Fantasy IX.
 * Final Fantasy XIII-2 is the sixth game in the series to involve time travel as a major plot element, after Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy.
 * Final Fantasy XIII-2 is similar to the logo of Final Fantasy X-2 by having the game's number in larger size (" FINAL FANTASY X-2" and " FINAL FANTASY XIII-2") and having single-colored characters in battle poses.
 * According to an interview with Isamu Kamikokuryo about the art direction, the colors pink and purple came up a lot, and consequently, they are the colors in the logo.
 * The icon that indicates party leader resembles the one from Final Fantasy XII.
 * Final Fantasy XIII-2's NA release date lands on the same day Final Fantasy VII was released for the first time in Japan.