First Trailer for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Released

During the Jump Festa event in Tokyo, Japan this weekend, Square Enix released the first official trailer for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.

The trailer, which can be viewed above, reiterates the game’s basic premise, which involves Final Fantasy XIII heroine Lightning saving the world of Novus Partus before it is destroyed in thirteen days. The trailer showcases the town of Luxerion, and also shows off the game’s new battle system, which is designed to give players more freedom during fights. In addition, interaction with the game’s environment can be seen, with Lightning climbing over obstacles, sliding down poles, and jumping from ledge to ledge.

Lightning Returns is set to be the final installment of the “Lightning Saga,” the trilogy of games that also includes Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2. Whereas previous games involved forming a party of characters to use in battle, Lightning Returns only features Lightning as a playable character. The game’s battle system, an evolution of the Paradigm Shift system from previous games, allows players to freely control Lightning’s movement in battle, with commands being mapped to controller buttons. The game’s story continues from the main ending of Final Fantasy XIII-2, and features returning characters such as Hope, who can be heard in the trailer, and Snow.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII was announced in September, and will be released in 2013 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Source: Square Enix