Final Fantasy XIII Director Motomu Toriyama Discusses The Return Of Lightning

In San Francisco, Square Enix unveiled the first gameplay footage of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, which ships this fall for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Game director Motomu Toriyama, who has worked on the franchise since Final Fantasy VII, was on hand to explain why the developer chose to create another direct sequel to the bestselling game franchise in the exclusive video below.

[majiebeast]

Only in Japan would a character like lightning, with as much character depth as a cardboard box be popular. Just fire Toriyama and his obsession with Lightning.

@Summons
Is lightning your waifu?

Lightning and personality and char development should never be put in the same sentence. Chocotits npc or whatever her name was has more character. FF13 saga is a joke, all of them are bad games with incredibly bad characters. Its like they took the worst off all the bad final fantasy characters and put it in 2 game.

[Summons75]

Only in America would a character like Cloud, with as much character depth as a cardboard box be popular.

Haha look at that it works both ways. Lightning may not be my favorite character in ff but she has more personality and character development cloud ever had in four discs and a movie.

[adorie]

Final Fantasy VII burst into the mainstream thanks to Sony's advertising. I remember I was floored when I saw an ad for an RPG, and to boot it being Final Fantasy. That played a big role in why Cloud was popular. I knew many who didn't like RPG's, who bought the game because it looked really nice, interesting and because of Cloud's massive Buster Sword.

[ApolloTheBoss]

Dafuq you talkin bout?!

[Pozzle]

No. Just no.

[DragonKnight]

Seriously Summons, how can you stand up for this terrible game, part of this terrible saga, and yet flame on DmC? I would seriously like to know that. It's like one franchise is ok to be ruined but the other isn't?

On Topic: Toriyama needs to be fired. With a game like Final Fantasy, a globally recognized and renowned franchise, you need to think beyond what the Japanese audience like. And in actuality, when was the last time you saw in any form of Japanese entertainment, a bland and emotionless character like Lightning? I mean, this is the country that brought us manga and anime. A medium known for overly emotional characters and plots. Who are these Japanese people that like a character who is essentially a walking cardboard cutout?

SE have admitted they have an obsession with Lightning, but why? There is nothing likeable about this character. Cloud sucked just as much, but at least with him you could give him that he was poisoned by mako to destroy his brain, and manipulated by everyone for years. What's Lightning's excuse?

I'll be so glad when this shite trilogy is over.

[N4GDgAPc]

@DragonKnight

Its called an opinion. He likes FF13 and hates DmC. Is that hard to fathom?

And believe it or not there main audiance is Japan. Thats why there called JRPG. Japan dissagrees with u because she is the top favorite FF female character.

And you must hate Cloud because they both have the same personality.

Its like you can never understand when you don't like something how do they even like it. U try to force feed that everyone hates the game. Which is untrue. FF13 and FF13-2 is one of my top 5 games this generation. I must be lieing though coming from u right?

FF13-2 ended with a to be continued. So the next one is for the people that enjoyed it. Haters are just being greedy saying screw u guys who loved it that want to continue the story and its all about me and disband this creation.

[DragonKnight]

@N4GDgAPc: Oh would you just shut up. Every single comment you make is b*tching at someone specifically because they say something against your own personal beliefs. It's like you don't form your own thoughts and opinions until someone says something for you to disagree with. You must have me on tracked so you can follow my comments.

-When a person rags on people for complaining about things in one game that said person complains about in another game, that's called hypocrisy. He likes the same things in the FFXIII saga that he hates in the DmC game. That's also an oxymoron.

-Gee, and here I thought they were called JRPGs because they were, you know, made in Japan. If their main audience were Japan, they'd make FF a pokemon game and not sell it outside Japan like all the other Japanese devs have done. FF is a globally successful game, it's target audience is the world. And that was a small facebook poll where Lightning, being a new character and knowing the Japanese mindset of focusing on the newest things, could not possibly lose against older FF characters.

-I hate Cloud because he's a weak ass pansy who had an identity crisis until he found out his own personality is... a weak ass pansy. He has more personality than Lightning though that's for sure. Lightning has all the personality of a stump.

-You're right, I can't understand people liking terrible games. But umm, where in my comment did you see anything like "You WILL hate Final Fantasy XIII trilogy, you WILL like what I like or else suffer the consequences!!! GRRR" Hmm? Oh that's right, nowhere. You're just making stuff up. And yeah, I am already acquainted with your terrible taste in games, we don't need to touch more on that. I don't need to know that you liked RE6's new direction, loved the Mass Effect 3 endings, and wish that "hard games" would be made easier for you to play. Let's also remove the need for exploration and going at ones own pace because those are old concepts that shouldn't be in games anymore right?

-FF13-2 had an ending. It was in the form of DLC and graphic novels. It just wasn't good enough for you so you all decided the rest of us should be punished by asking for another frickin' Lightning game. And we're the ones being greedy because we'd like for Square-Enix to move on from the worst FF game and FF character to ever exist? We're greedy for wanting SE to release a game they announced 7 years ago? Or localizing a game they have no reason not to localize? Or finishing a goddamn PS2 HD remaster that should DEFINITELY have been done in one year after its announcement? If that's what being greedy is, then color me frickin' greedy. God forbid anyone wants to move away from a trilogy known for linearity, stale characters, ridiculous storylines, restricted leveling, restrictions in general, and maybe MAYBE get a promised game with actual depth and FUN. What a crime that would be.

[Heisenburger]

A warrior. A warrior willing to dress up as a woman and pass as a whore to save a friend....

Yeah... he has NOOOO personality.

/s

[MaxXAttaxX]

...in the game. He is dead in Advent Children and beyond.

On topic.
The return? Was she not in the previous two games no more than a year ago?

[Son_Lee]

Did you even FFVII all the way through? Disc 2 of FFVII contains more character depth for Cloud than most characters reach in an entire game or series. From wanting to be Zack to losing Aerith, his hometown, and the fact his childhood idol became his arch-nemesis.

[N4GDgAPc]

@DragonKnight

If you actually read my posts i only say anything because u attack us because what we think. Never once did I attack u because u hated the game. I can care less if u hate it.

U guys never say your opinions on why instead u say what others opinions are. Pretty much tring to convince people not to buy the game and people that already love the game to hate it. Thats not saying your opinion.

Maybe u don't try to comeout this way but how you write it makes you sound like a whiner that didn't get his way.

U constantly come in here with theorys on why these scores are this way when u don't understand its a OPINION!

And you are tring to tell someone off yourself because he hates DmC but likes FF13. So your attacking his opinioin.

Apparently u didn't play FF13-2 because even with the DLC it did not finish the story.

@Son_Lee

There is a difference from a depth of a character and someones personality. When it comes down to it Lightning has the same exact personality as Cloud.

[contradictory]

you've never played FF VII then eh?

[N4GDgAPc]

Yes I did its my favorite game ever^^ And Cloud is one of my favorite characters created. And Lightning was created based off of Cloud. Lightning is just a girl version of cloud. Really when someone says they have no personality they really do. Its more like they keep there feelings to themselves and don't express it. Like what Summons75 said pertty much stuck in a cardboard box.

[DragonKnight]

N4GDgAPc: Seriously, just stop. You never make any relevant comments to anything. All you do is look for people to argue with. You do it everywhere and with everyone. As soon as someone comments negatively, in even the smallest way, about your precious games you strike. People make legitimate complaints, you strike, people get sick of listing said complaints and you say they have none. You constantly go everywhere looking for people to b*tch at and say THEY'RE the ones causing the problems. Seriously just stop. Take your bad taste and your constant need to b*tch about people having a conflicting opinion to yours somewhere else and stop trolling on people who don't like games known for linearity, accessibility, poor stories, poor characters, restrictions, and in general just badly designed.

[Godmars290]

More like they thought they could get away with one character for three games, rather than design three characters for three games. A story and world to go along with them, also the 3-5 year time/money investment for each project versus the same time for the first, and an additional year for each additional project.

@Summons75:
And he was popular - for the one game he was in.

[rainslacker]

Hmm...given that the cardboard box in MGS had it's own personality and cult popularity, aren't you giving an actual compliment?

[iamtehpwn]

"Only in Japan would a character like lightning, with as much character depth as a cardboard box be popular."

Is there any need to downtalk/insult these people just because you don't particularly agree with their choice? Even though I am slightly surprised she's the most popular, I thought more people would've choose Yuna or Tifa, it's still their decision and their liking.

[Godmars290]

I want to know who in Japan officially considers Lightning a popular character. I've been under the impression that this is only Square saying such.

Actually as far as that goes the same applies to Commander Shepard. Even if they got a few good scenes, they were little more that a static/reactionary protagonist who was spoon fed the plot wile being promoted as the only one who could save the day when really anyone else could have done what they did.

[iamtehpwn]

@GodMars, Lightning was recently the most popular female Final Fantasy character in Japan:

http://www.novacrystallis.c...

[Godmars290]

Popularity spawned by familiarity. She's the most recent therefore the most generally familiar and therefore the most popular. Same applies to Zack for male character.

A leas that's the excuse I'm sticking to.

[iamtehpwn]

@GodMars if that's true, Aerith wouldn't #2 and for the male list, Snow or Noel would be #1.

[adorie]

Bring out her "coolness" in the battle. So. This is what Final Fantasy has become? "coolness"? Sakaguchi had class and there were points to a lot of what went on in the game and "coolness" wasn't one of them.

After XIII I ceased buying the other and will skip this one too. Used it is, though, because I own every FF from nes to XIII; ps3.