Final Fantasy XIII-2

==Development==
[[File:FFXIII-2 Logo Art.jpg|thumb|Logo art by [[Yoshitaka Amano]].]]
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.<ref>[http://www.ign.com/videos/2010/10/04/ign-daily-fix-10410 IGN]</ref> 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."<ref>[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/103997-Final-Fantasy-XIII-Producer-Wants-a-Sequel FFXIII Producer Wants a Sequel], Escapist</ref> 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]]<ref>[http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2011/01/28/ffxiii_and_fnc_interviews/ Andriasang]</ref>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. This ended up not being the case, however, and Lightning's story was to be continued in the sequel ''[[Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII]]''.

The development of the first ''Final Fantasy XIII'' game was problematic due to poor communication between different sectors of the development, as ''Final Fantasy XIII'' had a tremendously large production team. With ''Final Fantasy XIII-2'' the team strove to change this by setting milestones and sharing content internally. Motomu Toriyama has said that Square Enix realized they needed to apply more Western technology and production techniques.<ref name=Gamasutra>http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/173093/Square_Enix_to_avoid_largescale_internal_development_after_Final_Fantasy_XIII2.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GamasutraNews+%2</ref> Because ''Final Fantasy XIII'' was a large-scale project, the developers wanted to keep it secret, but this led to user testing happening too late in the process and a lot of feedback about things that needed fixing were decided to be included in ''Final Fantasy XIII-2''. The team conducted user tests and used the feedback to make adjustments to the gameplay and this process was started about a year earlier than what was done with ''Final Fantasy XIII''.<ref>http://www.gameinformer.com/games/final_fantasy_xiii-2/b/ps3/archive/2011/11/23/creators-talk-time-travel-sequel-development-amp-more.aspx</ref> Development went better for ''Final Fantasy XIII-2'' than for its predecessor, but Toriyama still feels it could be improved, thinking they need to add more buffer time for player testing in the future.<ref name=Gamasutra/>

Both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game only need one disc. In an interview, director Motomu Toriyama said that the game 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.<ref>http://andriasang.com/comy9w/</ref>

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.<ref>http://www.siliconera.com/2011/12/18/tri-ace-helped-out-with-final-fantasy-xiii-2/</ref> Outsourcing development is something Square Enix is looking to do more in the future, based on the experiences of developing ''Final Fantasy XIII'' and ''Final Fantasy XIII-2''. ''"We are also thinking that we will not do large-scale internal development any longer,''" Toriyama has commented. "''We have a lot of great creators in Square Enix, but for larger-scale development we will be doing more distributed and outsourced development to reach our targets on time''."<ref name=Gamasutra/>

===Gameplay===
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.<ref>http://finalfantasyxiii2.wordpress.com/2011/08/11/exclusive-motomu-toriyama-interview/</ref> 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.<ref>http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2011/06/09/ffxiii_2_team_interview/</ref>

The developers believed that the Paradigm Shift system was well received by the players who understood the system. They considered that the best they could do in one game was to have players master the basics of the battle. From there, Director Motomu Toriyama felt they could allow greater flexibility and increase the strategic element, and thus they made the Paradigm Shift as the basis of the battle and had monsters join the party as allies.<ref>{{Refwebsite| page url = http://www.usgamer.net/articles/where-final-fantasy-went-wrong-and-how-square-enix-is-righting-it| page name = Where Final Fantasy Went Wrong, and How Square Enix is Putting It Right| site url = http://www.usgamer.net| site name = US Gamer}}</ref>

===Art direction===
[[File:Valhalla-concept-art.png|thumb|Concept art of Valhalla.]]
''Final Fantasy XIII-2'' uses different types of art styles and art director [[Isamu Kamikokuryo]] has said that even with the world 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.<ref name="Gamespot">http://uk.gamespot.com/news/final-fantasy-xiii-2-roundtable-art-and-music-6345473</ref> The developers wanted to go with a dark atmosphere and took inspiration from works of surrealism, such as the art of Salvador Dali and Giorgio de Chirico, which were used as references when determining the balance of how far the team should pursue a photo-like realism, or an unrealistic fantasy.<ref>http://finalfantasy.com.br/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1075</ref> Kamikokuryo 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.

{{Q|There are instances where the line is blurred because these characters are not meant to be hyper-realistic and have a mysterious appeal to them. The characters were meant to be a mix between realism and fantasy. If the end product is distinct from other titles, we've succeeded.|Isamu Kamikokuryo}}<ref name="Gamespot"/>

===Storyline===
Toriyama at first didn't want a direct sequel to ''Final Fantasy XIII'' and started with the idea of having ''Final Fantasy XIII-2'' take place some 900 years after the first game. After creating the backstory of the 900 years, the team decided to make it a time-traveling story.<ref name=Ultimania>''Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Omega'' Scenario Interview with Toriyama and Watanabe</ref>

The story of ''Final Fantasy XIII'' included many mysterious elements that are central to the story and the game's universe; l'Cie, fal'Cie, and [[Ragnarok (Final Fantasy XIII)|Ragnarok]], to name a few. The developers found that many aspects of ''Final Fantasy XIII's'' story were not easily explained. Thus, in ''Final Fantasy XIII-2'' the team wanted to employ a different story-telling style, whereas even if the basic elements of the ''Final Fantasy XIII'' universe continue to be present as the backdrop, the story of ''Final Fantasy XIII-2'' centers around a time paradox, which the team thought to be a more familiar form of mystery.

The developers drew inspiration from one-shot TV dramas and opted for a plot structure where smaller pieces take place quickly one after another. The story of ''Final Fantasy XIII-2'' is described as a glimpse of a more contemporary drama and to be easier to follow in comparison to ''Final Fantasy XIII''.<ref name="se members">https://www.webcitation.org/6F6ghnqAc?url=http://eu.square-enix.com/en/blog/final-fantasy-xiii-2-mini-interview-focuses-story</ref>

In the FMV interviews section of ''Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Omega'', the director of the ending FMV, Hiroshi Kamohara, points out that the "To be continued..." at the end is not supposed to mean "see you next time...", but more like "the story will continue in the next generation" and that was the non-Japanese staff that decided to phrase it like that; the makers of the FMV did not craft it with a sequel in mind. However, in another interview Yoshinori Kitase has said that the "To be continued..." was added pertaining to the Lightning DLC.

The original plan for the ending of ''Final Fantasy XIII-2'' was for [[Lightning (Final Fantasy XIII)|Lightning]] to sequentially defeat dark Eidolons akin to [[Twilight Odin]], but since the story of needed to come to a close, it "ended up the way it did."<ref>{{Refwebsite| page url = http://www.novacrystallis.com/2012/06/final-fantasy-xiii-2-ultimania-omega-developer-interview/| page name = Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Omega Developer Interview| site url = http://www.novacrystallis.com| site name = Nova Crystallis| access time = 03:02, August 03, 2019 (UTC)}}</ref>