Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a console role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was released in 2011 in Japan and 2012 in North America and PAL regions, it is a direct sequel to the 2010 role-playing game, Final Fantasy XIII, and is part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis subseries. While a port to Microsoft Windows was released on Steam in December 2014.
The player directly controls the on-screen character through a third-person's viewpoint to interact with people, objects, and enemies throughout the game, just as in Final Fantasy XIII. The player can also turn the camera 360° around the characters, providing a full-angled view. Final Fantasy XIII-2, also includes normal and easy modes.
Instead of a caricature of the character roaming around miniature terrain, as found in the earlier Final Fantasy games, every area is represented proportionally. The player navigates the world on foot or by chocobo; a large flightless birds that appear regularly in the Final Fantasy series. The game world is divided into multiple regions and time periods, and, the player can visit a region in multiple time periods and multiple regions at the same time period.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 includes adapted 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. It also 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.
The story will continue as Lightning, the protagonist of the original game, has disappeared into an unknown world. Her younger sister Serah Farron, a returning character, and a young man named Noel Kreiss, journey through time in an attempt to find Lightning.
It is different to the previous game, because Lightning is the main character of XIII. The two main playable characters are Serah Farron, Lightning's sister and the second narrator, and Noel Kreiss, a young man originally from the distant future. Other characters from the previous game who appear in important roles are Hope Estheim, who becomes leader of the Academy, and Snow Villiers, Serah's fiancé, who set off to find Lightning for Serah. The three other main characters from the previous game, Oerba Dia Vanille, Oerba Yun Fang and Sazh Katzroy, appear in cameo roles. Three new characters are introduced: Caius Ballad, the game's primary antagonist; Paddra Nsu-Yeul, a seeress possessing the all-seeing Eyes of Etro; and Alyssa Zaidelle, a young girl who works as an assistant to Hope. A minor supporting character is Mog, a Moogle sent with Noel by Lightning as Serah's "good luck charm".
Final Fantasy XIII-2 will be available on Microsoft Windows on December 11, 2014.
