330°

FF XIII-2: Square Enix Realizes its mistake of Long Development Times

Kartik: "The user and critical reception of Final Fantasy XIII seems to have shaken Square Enix at its very core. The reason for Final Fantasy XIII-2 they say, is because of they wanted to correct all the mistakes they did earlier."

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gamingbolt.com
-Mika-4972d ago

Square release your games every 1-2 years. Waiting 3 or more years for a game is too much.

DA_SHREDDER4972d ago (Edited 4972d ago )

Wanna correct the mistakes of the last final fantasy? Stop makking FF13-2 and start over with a new set of characters and storyline. Despite the linearity and broken combat system, I feel they need to start fresh cause regardless of how gorgeous the game was, everything else was complete garbage, and it doesn't seem that FF13-2 is gonna beable to fix anything. QTE battles, lol. Give me a break, better yet, just hurry up and make that FFX remake, I can't stomach the crap that is called FF now.

Optical_Matrix4972d ago

What broken combat system? That was the best thing about Final Fantasy XIII? Despite what all the blind haters say it required skills and tactical thinking, especially in the harder option battles. It was pushing Final Fantasy in the right direction in that respect, especially when you consider how hard it is when you turn off auto-battle.

The linearity was ridiculous, and the story wasn't so hot. Neither were the characters for that matter, but I give credit where credit is due.

Wintersun6164972d ago (Edited 4972d ago )

Final Fantasy XIII's combat system was fundamentally broken IMO. I want more control. If I can't tell my saboteur what spells to cast and in what order, I can't honestly say it's a good system. Having full control of only 1 character at a time sucks. Why should we not be able to tell our other 2 characters exactly what to do in combat? Otherwise I liked the idea of Paradigm Shift, but I was bothered by the lack of control.

Eamon4972d ago

FF13 battle combat system was terrible. I wouldn't put myself in the category of blind hater since I played over 25 hours of it.

There is simply hardly any tactical skill in the system. It's more about timings. I remember when fighting that Fal'Cie who posed as the human leader of Cocoon, I died mainly because the paradigms didn't switch over in time after I changed.

I also completely echo Wintersun616's comment.

ash_divine4972d ago (Edited 4972d ago )

@Wintersun

I guess I get where you're coming from but, isn't controlling all three characters a little bit much, considering the pace of the battles in the game?

I'm not saying it's a bad idea, as that's kind of closer to how the older games worked. I just don't think it'd work with FF13's cinematic still of gameplay.

Edit: @Eamon

That happened to me a couple of times so I can't really disagree with that. But, I'd say FF13's gameplay did take tactical skill UNLESS the player relied on Auto-Battle.

At first, I felt just like a lot of others, in that I thought that the gameplay consisted of tediously hitting auto-battle over and over. But then I started to notice that I wasn't getting the 5 star rating anymore. And I realised that Auto-Battle was actually slowing me down. So I ditched it and that's when I started to really GET this system.

I say SE's only mistake was even including Auto-Battle to begin with.

Eamon4972d ago

ash_divine, I agree. Autobattle was the worst addition S-E did. The pacing should never have been fast in the first place. I enjoyed SNES/PS1 era pacing perfectly fine.

If you do want to use individual commands you need to manually go into settings and change the speed of battles to slow mode. But when you do, battles could last like 5 times longer and then trying to stagger an enemy is as slow as watching grass grow.

In my opinion, Final Fantasy X had perfect pacing - mainly because it wasn't ATB anymore. But it was fast and had dynamic camera views.

Qbanj694972d ago

@Eamon

Damnm you played that crap for 25 Hours? You must be hardcore then. I beat the game in 15 and traded the game right after.

Black-Helghast4972d ago (Edited 4972d ago )

Long development times? FFvs13 says hi.

@Qbanj69

You finished the game in 15 hours? I couldn't play that..that THING for more than 2 hours straight and I had it for 5 months.

Wintersun6164972d ago

@ash_divine

I see what you mean, but it doesn't necessarily have to be done in battle everytime. I think the best thing would be to otherwise keep the battle system mostly as it is, but incorporate a system similar to FF12's gambits. That way you could at least change the order and priority of spells in different classes for your 2 other characters from the menu. That would be a major improvement.

Another easy but a huge improvement would be to allow you to change your team leader on the fly with a single button press in battle. Then you could give single commands to any member of your team just like you can manually command your leader in FF13. I don't see that breaking the pace of battle.

The best case scenario IMO would be to incorporate both of above changes. That wouldn't impact on those who like to play like they did in FF13, and it would also provide a fix for us who want to have complete control over every character.

torchic4972d ago

XIII's combat system i thought was delightful. much MUCH better than the combat in the other RPG that was released this month to glowing reviews, and ultimately put me off the game. i do agree with Wintersun616 that it would've been nice to control more characters at a time, especially in boss battles (Saboteur and Synergist roles especially), but it would be very difficult to do so with the sheer pacing of battles.

i agree with ash_divine though that once you turn Auto Battle off, the difficulty spikes up A LOT. i turned auto battle off during boss battles, and turned it on when i was fighting those 30 second battles and running through corridors. the game becomes more tactical and you really do get 5 stars on battles.

and to the dude that apparently finished the game in 15 hours. good for you.

MRMagoo1234971d ago

Im more into turn based fighting like ff7,8,9 and 10 i really dislike when they change the game to more action styles, it may be nostalgia talking but i would take a remake of the aforementioned ffs to any new one any day of the week.

The story of ff13 was ok at times but the characters didnt seem as good as previous games to me, plus the world was made of corridors which ruined the ff exploration. All in all ide rather they took 10 years to make a good game again than shoveling out some crap like 13.

lMHl4971d ago

FF is balls deep bro

+ Show (8) more repliesLast reply 4971d ago
oli4972d ago

releasing games every 1-2 years is stupid, i prefer waiting and getting a good game. you seem to be one of the new people who started gaming this gen. in generations before, these games wouldn't be made that quick.

Misterhbk4972d ago

Final Fantasy IX - released in 2000
Final Fantasy X - released in 2001

They both just so happen to be my two favorite final fantasy games. Just wanted to point that out.

oli4972d ago (Edited 4972d ago )

well... you got me there.

_Aarix_4972d ago

Your comparing ps2 development to ps3? Wow. I doubt they can make a good this gen ff in a year. It would've been much easier last gen.

Eamon4971d ago

If I remember correctly,

Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XI where all developed around the same time. This is what Square had announced before the PS2 was released.

They had planned to release a final FF title on PS1, then release FFX on PS2 and FFXI a year after.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4971d ago
brish4972d ago

There are a lot of good games that took a while to make.

Skyrim took about 3 to 4 years if I recall and people seem to like it (I'm waiting for it to be patched before I get it).

A company can start multiple teams for games and release games every year.

For example:
2010 team 1 starts making game (to finish 2013)
2011 team 2 starts making diff game (2014)
2012 team 3 starts making diff game (2015)
2013 team 1 releases first game, starts another one
2014 team 2 releases second game, starts another one
2015 etc etc

Pozzle4972d ago

Forget long development times. Stop announcing your games 5+ years before you have any intention of releasing them! (I'm looking at you FF Versus XIII).

blumatt4972d ago

Yeah, I'm wondering where the hell Versus 13 is myself. I want it so bad.

no_more_heroes4972d ago

KH2 released in 2006. They haven't even STARTED making KH3 proper. It's sort of why I'm both enraged and intrigued by FFvXIII's existence at the same time, because they could've been spending that time making KH3 instead (KH team is the one making it), but in a way, it might be a bit of a sneak peak at what KH3 might be like, at least in terms of gameplay.

VampiricDragon4972d ago (Edited 4972d ago )

square has been incredible this gen. Theyve released over 30 really good games

most of them have been on handhelds but thats irrelevant when your talking about all they did this gen.

And "hypcrite much"

Call of duty releases there games every 1-2 years people hate it, assisins creed is milked beyond repair.

And now you want square to be like that?

Yeah your really looking out for them

Type zero was in dev for 3 years and look how great that turned out. Rocket slime 3 the same.

They give games the time they need.

Kyosuke_Sanada4972d ago (Edited 4972d ago )

-reads Vampiric Dragon's comment-

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Rai4972d ago

type zero was announced along side FF13 and FFv13. it was originally name FF AGITO 13. so it took them 5 years to make the game.

I can't say that releasing a game every 1-2 years is a bad thing. the first 10 Final Fantasy games came out on a 1-2 year basis

Stealth2k4972d ago (Edited 4972d ago )

@ sanada

Is trolling neccessary. No offense but you are also moron. Theyve been releasing countless original games each year. For the majority of systems in between releases

@ rai

Before you comment you should really get the facts or else you will look like a moron. Just friendly advice

http://andriasang.com/comyq...

"The game was in actual development for three and a half years, said Tabata, although there was a period where progress was at a bare minimum"

So basically it wasnt even in dev a full 3.5 years.

Kyosuke_Sanada4972d ago (Edited 4972d ago )

Square Enix needs to realize it's not the long development times that it's the problem but the games in between each title.

Like I mentioned in a previous thread,I severely doubt that if SE managed to push out great original games (like what Square did with Xenogears, Vagrant Story and Front Mission 3 on the PSOne) or even proper sequels for past titles (I'm looking at you Third Birthday) for consoles within the development period between FF's then alot of fans wouldn't have raised so much flak for about how slow the series was releasing......

Quality games would have gave them more than enough breathing room to do what they want.....

ash_divine4972d ago

Actually I'd say they've got the right idea here. 4-5 years for a single game is ridiculous. (Versus might even push 6).

Especially since XIII-2 proves that they could have one out in half the time.

And as far as releasing games in between. The only problem with that is that all of their best people and resources are usually working on the FF's titles. So it still comes back to dev times that are way to long.

Kyosuke_Sanada4972d ago (Edited 4972d ago )

Look, if SE had other great JRPGS for next generation consoles that were released within the timeline of development, most fans wouldn't worry of time mainly because they had something within their grasp to occupy it until the next big Final Fantasy title is released. But none were found and compound that with the drought of good JRPGS lately, fans of the company starting to feel the burn of waiting for it.

The other problem I see in this announcement is that SE released that Final Fantasy XIII-2 will have two new DLC packages in less 6 months of release ranging from weapons to bosses. Call me pessimistic but I think Kitase said this to push more DLC packs to be released in future Final Fantasy games.

This will be a big problem because this means less and less actual content will be offered on disk for the sake of "Day One Downloads" which we have seen so much this generation.

When you see the bigger picture of the article, it only spells trouble......

I'm not having blind hatred for the company that provided me Brave Fencer Musashi, Final Fantasy Tactics and Xenogears but disappointed at what they have become recently....

-sigh-

ash_divine4972d ago

Well, I def agree about day one DLC. And if that's the way they plan to cut down development time then I agree that that could become a issue.

I'm hoping that that they simple mean that they could develop the games faster from here on out.(if true, we might actually see a KH3 soon.) Instead of them meaning that they will take a short cut and try to nickle and dime their fanbase.

I know it's probably foolish, but I have faith that SE mean the former. (Well, a little anyways.)

Ddouble4972d ago

I agree with this as well. If they can get back to how it was in the PS1 days then it would have been better but the dev time for those games can't compare to now.

FFVII came out in 1997, Parasite Eve and Xenogears in 1998, FFVIII and Parasite Eve 2 in 1999, FFIX, Chrono Cross and Vagrant Story in 2000 and FFX in 2001.

They can't churn out games at that rate but like you said if they can get some original games, maybe have some on the Vita since it's easy to develop for and some on the PS3 while, it would be good while we wait for the main FF's.

That way we don't have a drought. That's probbaly what they tried to do with the 3rd birthday but some people ignore portables and it didn't sound to great from what i heard.

Ddouble4972d ago

This in my opinion was the worst thing about SE this gen. Forget about XIII's linearity. I already knew that would be taken care of by the next game and Type-0 proved so.

However announcing 3 games and then releasing them 4,5 and probably 6 years after respectively is the worst thing for the fans. XIII coming out 4 years after it was announced just made it have too much hype which it could not live up too.

They need to find a way to turn these games out faster. I know they don't like cutting corners and they make games with great attention to detail but they need to find a way to carry on making these great games faster.

I'm pretty sure if we had Versus by now the amount of FF is dying articles will decrease a lot but until we get it people have no other choice but to complain about XIII flaws.

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280°

The Final Fantasy XIII Trilogy Deserves a Remaster

Final Fantasy 13 was first introduced to us back in 2009, almost four years after Final Fantasy 12 was released, and fans had been eagerly anticipating the next installment. But when it finally arrived, there were mixed reactions, including complaints about its linearity, the lack of towns and NPCs, and the limited control over the characters. At the time, Square Enix kept its game production behind closed doors and didn't take in a lot of feedback — especially from Western fans.

The game has been revisited by many different Final Fantasy fans since then, and some, like myself, have come to love it again. Almost all staple entries in the series have found their way to modern consoles, so it's about time that the FF13 trilogy gets a remaster

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dualshockers.com
shinoff2183761d ago

I've been thinking about this. I agree. While I really disliked it at first I never played it again. After hating ff15 so damn much I just think it can't be worse then 15 and if I'm not mistaken atleast it's turn based. I need more of that in my life.

nitus10761d ago

I actually finished FFXIII and on the second playthrough found I actually liked the game.

Actually I have liked most of the FF games (I have not played FFIX unfortunately) and I do agree with you with regards to FFXV. Graphically IMHO FFXV is excelent but for some reason I just could not get enthusiastic in playing it.

As for "turn-based", I prefer active and real time although to be fair "turn-based" is a real plus especially when confronting a difficult protagonist. I found this to be especially the case when playing FFXXII where you could switch rapidly between "turn" and "active" although having a resonable knowledge of simple Boolean Algebra is IMHO essential when playing this game.

761d ago
Levii_92761d ago

Ridiculous comment, first of all i think you should replay 15, second of all that game is 10 times better than the XIII games especially the royal edition. And third .. turn based combat is a dying (almost dead) style of gameplay and i personally wont miss it at all so don’t act like that is some sort of big plus because XIII has it.. it is not.

jambola761d ago

Somebody needs to learn about subjective taste

shinoff2183761d ago

Ff15

Sucked imo. I don't need to give it another try. Last time was the 3rd time and I had 34 hours into it. It just wasn't good imo

Chriswynnetbh761d ago

How is turn based dying or almost dead? Pokémon is one of the biggest RPGs in the world and is and has always been turn based. To some it is a plus especially when it comes to FF since the first 10 of them all are and are arguably better games than any FF to come after

CDbiggen761d ago

XV was rubbish, but understandable given the development hell. That overworld for me is the biggest example, so strangely designed and empty. And parts of the story awkwardly cut for DLC, most egregious being that prompto part where he's like "I'm a clone", or whatever he was (it was that forgettable), and the other guys basically shrugging it off.

Tapani761d ago (Edited 761d ago )

Turn-based is alive and well: Pokemon, Dragon Quest, XCom, Civilization, Homeworld, Age of Wonders, Total War, Original Sin, Baldur's Gate, Warhammer, Yu-Gi-Oh, Company of Heroes, Wasteland, Pathfinder, Disco Elysium, Octopath Traveler, Chained Echoes and many, many more great games, both new and old, franchises and new IPs are selling well, reviewing well and sequels are coming.

If you don't play the game, maybe the turn-based has just died in/for you, but certainly the genre has never been so alive as in 2023! Plus, when you look at Final Fantasy franchise, it started going down in quality when it left turn-based combat behind. FFXVI may redeem some of the glory (and FFXIV was great), but the turn-based games were higher rated and deeper in terms of gameplay and had more interesting things to do in the world.

DarXyde761d ago

I'd say Persona 5 is one of the best of the best games in a couple of decades.

I don't think you manage that with a dying gameplay format.

shinoff2183761d ago (Edited 761d ago )

Levii92

Turn based is way funner imo then just some hack n slash rpg. I like both but prefer turn based.

Far as dying I doubt it. It's also kinda funny cause the best final fantasy have been turn based. Ff still to this day can't top ff6 through ff9. Interesting.

Far as someone who brought up persona 5. I dislike the art style so I've yet to play it but I'd throw dq11 in there. Best jrpg I've played in fkin years. Over a decade.

Last I was a bit iffy on chained echoes because of the sp and no traditional leveling system. I recently bought it. Looks gorgeous, story is fantastic so far, but I cannot for the life of me get over how much I truly hate the leveling system. It's just flat out whack to me. I'm still going to finish it cause unlike ff15 atleast chained echoes doesn't feel like a chore

goldwyncq760d ago

The XIII series (especially Lightning Returns) has far better combat than XV, and you don't need to watch an anime and a movie to make sense of the story.

FinalFantasyFanatic760d ago (Edited 760d ago )

15 was only fun for derping about in the wilderness, at least FF13 had a better story and was more coherent overall (plot, characters, gameplay, world, ect...).

15 was just beautify garbage, so much wasted potential, the Duke Nukem Forever of the FF franchise.

I really loved Persona 5, can't wait for P6 to be announced, I'd love ports of the first few games (we already have P3P/P4G/P5R available on almost everything now).

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 760d ago
sadraiden760d ago

People act like XV killed one of their family members. It wasn't the best FF ever, but it certainly wasn't a bad game. You "hated it so damn much"? Chill.

FinalFantasyFanatic760d ago

I agree, FF13 is better than FF15, but I don't think I can play through that trilogy again, I'd rather play one of the older games.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 760d ago
-Foxtrot761d ago

Not really

Let them move on and focus on good FF games

Hofstaderman761d ago (Edited 761d ago )

Thank you. A ton of FFXIII articles recently. Most of the people who like this game are not old enough to have played 4 to 9. Even 10 and 12 are vastly superior to this game. That being said a remaster would then make all the FF titles available on the PS platform.

jambola761d ago

Citation needed
Do you have some kind of official survey of ff 13 fans ages?
Would love a link
Also, all games are available on multiple systems, re released many times
"Not old enough" doesn't even make much sense

shinoff2183761d ago (Edited 761d ago )

That was part of what I was trying to say. I've gave 15 3 try ff13 deserves atleast a second. And like I said I could use some turn based in my life

I've also played through or played all of the ff games starting with ff1 way way way back.

goldwyncq760d ago

"Good" is subjective. I love FFIX but I know many fans who don't like it for the art style and the slow combat.

I_am_Batman761d ago (Edited 761d ago )

Recently replayed them and I agree a remaster would be great. The complaints about linearity are fair, but they only really apply to the first half of the first game and while I agree that it would've been nice to have proper towns, minigames and subquests, it didn't detract from the intriguing story, interesting characters, tactical gameplay and amazing soundtrack in my opinion.

XIII-2 fixes a lot of the issues of XIII and expands on the story in interesting ways. The combat and progression builds on top of the systems of XIII and the nonlinearity and discoverability of secrets is a big inprovement over the original game. It's easily the best game of the trilogy.

Lightning Returns was probably a bit too experimental for it's own good. It tried to reinvent the wheel for no reason. The solo party for most of the game and the outfit based combat felt like a downgrade over XIII-2 combat system. It does have a unique vibe, but the plot kinda goes off the rails and many of the story beats didn't land as much for me as they did in the first two games. The race against time aspect was an interesting idea, but it never felt like it mattered, because it wasn't much of a challenge to manage the remaining time even while doing all the subquests.

Eonjay761d ago

XIII-2 is one of the greatest games ever.

Snookies12761d ago (Edited 761d ago )

XIII-2 is by far the best of the trilogy. Went out of my way to get the Platinum trophy on it. Which is actually a fun one to go for. Didn't take too long, only about 70-80 hours to accomplish. Loved every second of it though.

Youngindy21761d ago

I don't think linearity is a fair critique, when every FF up until that point was fairly linear esp. in the first half of the game. People herald FF VII(including the remake), but it is just as linear as FFXIII was. The linearity complaints came at a time when open-world games were just starting to become a thing and people thought every game should be open-world, but now that every game is, people now want more linear experiences. Go Figure.

shinoff2183761d ago

Ff10 was pretty linear to. Haven't played through all of 13 but 10 was linear as fk until the end

I_am_Batman761d ago

Totally agree. I never fully understood why 10 was so universally praised when it had many of the same design philosophies xiii is criticized for.

CDbiggen761d ago (Edited 761d ago )

I felt the same for the most part except the LR combat system. I thought it was an upgrade on the party of three system the previous two games had as now you had more control over your moves with different sets being an L1/R1 click away, and could move the single character around in battle and attack limbs or tails of certain enemies, or reduce the distance between you and an enemy you're after saving ATB.

I_am_Batman761d ago

LR combat certainly has it's merits. I would've preferred it if it wasn't tied to the costumes which can make Lightning look quite ridiculous and out of place sometimes though.

But mainly I would've preferred to see an evolution of XIII-2 systems. Since they are so different it's obviously just a preference. Can't really compare them objectively.

CDbiggen761d ago

Yeah I get ya, and I can totally see why the costume part got to people. I'm someone that doesn't care what the character looks like as long as I'm happy with the stats (looking at Xenoblade). LR to me is just one of those odd games that I can't help respect for mixing things up, even if the outcome wasn't the best lol. But yeah too different to compare.

sadraiden760d ago

Why would a remaster be great? They exist in HD, on a console that is still compatible with modern televisions, and you just replayed it.

I_am_Batman760d ago

I replayed them on my PS3. I just think it would make sense for those games to be more accessible to Playstation gamers, which is where the majority of the modern FF fanbase is (due to the exclusivity deals of VII Re and XVI).

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 760d ago
gold_drake761d ago

yes.
remaster collection.

not sure why the hell we never got one.

sadraiden760d ago

Just dying to give SE money for nothing eh?

gold_drake760d ago

i enjoyed the games.
so it wouldn't be for "nothing".

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170°

Why The Final Fantasy XIII Trilogy Has Some of The Best Music In The Series

As we celebrate Final Fantasy’s 35th anniversary, let’s look back at the underrated soundtracks of the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy.

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game-grooves.com
goldwyncq918d ago

It really does. Caius’ theme is still one of the best villain themes ever.

SeTTriP918d ago

Barthandelus is a great boss theme to.

Snookies12918d ago

Come on... Even haters of Final Fantasy XIII have to admit the soundtrack really was great. There are some parts of the OST that stand out among even Nobuo's work.

CrimsonWing69918d ago

The battle themes are pretty amazing, man.

gold_drake918d ago

sat what you want about the games, but the soundtrack has always been good.

MehmetAlperTR918d ago

Agreed... Legendary Nobuo Uematsu was not involved with FF13.. So that has got terrible musics.

jambola918d ago

so any game without no Uematsu has terrible music?

MehmetAlperTR917d ago (Edited 917d ago )

@Jambola nope... But in PS1 era we played FF7-8-9 and in a PS2 era FF10... They were all involved with Uematsu San. We grove up with him and his musics.. SO FF means, him and his music to us.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 917d ago
-Foxtrot919d ago

It's alright but I mean with so many other FF games it's not even in the top 10 for me

You just can't beat IX, VII, X and my personal favourite VIII when it comes to music

Even the theme song sucks, instead of just having an English version of the Japanese theme they got X Factors Leona Lewis to do the song which didn't sound like FF theme song.

FinalFantasyFanatic918d ago

Yeah, that ending song was terrible, I'll never be able to fathom why that was chosen, it feels so out of place with that game.

RedDevils918d ago

Lol is was my wtf moment.

SoulWarrior919d ago

I agree, regardless of the general consensus of the game itself, FF rarely lets down when it comes to the music at least.

porkChop919d ago

Nah. VIII has the best music in the series. IX is a close second.

Hofstaderman918d ago

Yes; eyes one me, man with the machine gun, waltz to the moon, the oath, maybe I’m a lion…FF8 has the best music in the series by far. I have the original OST, the orchestra arrangement, the piano arrangement, the Black Mages tracks and a few other albums. My four disc original OST is my pride and joy.

ManMarmalade918d ago

I agree on VIII. I've started growing really fond of X's lately.

GoodGuy09919d ago

Music was pretty good yes. Pretty much all FFs do even the crappy ones lol.

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130°

Final Fantasy XIII-2 gets a 4.7GB AI-enhanced HD Texture Pack

Modder 'MJB' has released an AI-enhanced HD Texture Pack for Final Fantasy XIII-2.

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